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Miliband pursues clean coal tech as UK growth sector

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 17 March 2010

* Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Industrial Strategy outlines industry worth up to £6.5 billion and sustaining up to 100,000 jobs by 2030.

* Yorkshire and Humber identified as the UK's first low carbon economic area for CCS.

* £6.3 million awarded to SSE's (Scottish and Southern Energy) 5MW carbon capture project in Ferrybridge, Yorkshire.

* New Government Office of CCS takes up work driving development of policy, technology, regulation and funding.

Industrial growth, energy security and action on climate change are the three prizes to be had in backing Carbon Capture and Storage technology, Ed Miliband said today.

The Energy and Climate Change Secretary said:

"CCS presents a massive industrial growth opportunity for the UK. We have a strong, established and skilled workforce in precisely the sectors needed to get CCS deployed at scale. And we have some of the best potential sites in all of Europe for CO2 storage under the North Sea.

"Coal is the most abundant worldwide energy resource but it is also the most polluting, so there is no solution to climate change without CCS.

"Yorkshire and Humber is well placed to see the benefits from the jobs that investment in CCS can bring, other regions will too.

"For the UK economy as a whole these benefits could be worth up to £6.5 billion a year, sustaining jobs for up to 100,000 people, by 2030."

Rosie Winterton, Minister for Yorkshire and The Humber, said:

"Today is an extremely important day for the economy of Yorkshire and The Humber. Our region has been designated the UK's first Low Carbon Economic Area for Carbon Capture and Storage - technologies with the potential to cut CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel power generation as well as from our energy intensive industries.

"In addition, the Government's £80 million investment in Sheffield Forgemasters will enable it to supply the civil nuclear power industry and other markets and to compete globally in this lucrative sector.

"Both these announcements position Yorkshire and The Humber as a world leader in the development and production of the type of energy needed in a low carbon economy and will mean more jobs and further investment in our region."

The CCS Industrial Strategy sets out how the UK can make the most from its knowledge and skills in engineering, geology and the subsea sector and become a centre for CCS innovation and business.

As part of the strategy, Yorkshire and Humber was today named as the first low carbon economic area for Carbon Capture and Storage. The region's Ferrybridge power station, owned by SSE, was today awarded £6.3 million towards its £21 million 5MW carbon capture trial by DECC, the Technology Strategy Board and Northern Way.

Other regions like Teesside, Merseyside and Thames Valley could also become centres for this technology.

The UK is at the forefront in the global development of CCS technology. The Government has an Energy Bill before Parliament to provide funding for four commercial-scale CCS demonstration projects and last week announced funding for the Front End Engineering and Design studies as part of a competition to build one of the world's first commercial scale carbon capture and storage demonstration plants.

A new Office of CCS starts work today inside DECC, and will facilitate the delivery of CCS in the UK and help to promote its rapid take up globally.

Today the Government marked the first year of New Industry, New Jobs - a strategy to put Britain at the cutting edge of new industrial development, especially in the infrastructure and skills they need to meet future challenges and take advantage of new opportunities.

Notes for Editors

1. For the full "An Industrial Strategy for the development of CCS across the UK" and the Office of CCS website:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/occs
2. The UK Government's 'Framework for clean coal' is unmatched both in ambition and commitment, delivering four commercial-scale demonstrations and ensuring that no new coal fired power stations are built without CCS.

3. More information about the UK's CCS programme:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/ccs/ccs.aspx
4. Low Carbon Economic Areas were introduced on the 15th July 2009 as part of the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy which builds on the Government's commitment to a low carbon future for Britain. LCEAs aim to pull together national, local and regional agencies to focus on accelerating the growth of low carbon industries, skills base and supply chain.

5. SSE's Ferrybridge carbon capture trial bridges the gap between the various laboratory-scale trials that are under way and the larger-scale projects envisaged by the UK government. SSE is collaborating with Doosan Babcock and Vattenfall on the project.

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