Aged UK Coal Plants Will Remain Open For Years; Cameron Unveils Giant New Road-Building Plan

The UK is set to miss key targets on carbon emissions, because too many of the country’s most polluting coal-fired power plants are set to stay open far longer than the Government had pledged, a new report warns. Promises to introduce policies that would force coal plants to close have not been fulfilled, says the report by Imperial College London.

Ageing coal plants must close by 2025 if the UK is to get anywhere near its legally binding commitment to slash carbon emissions by 60 per cent of 1990 levels by 2030.

But while the Government said it would make it so expensive for coal plants to operate that they would have no choice but to close within a decade, it has failed to do so, warns the report. This means a significant portion of the hugely inefficient coal plants from the 1960s and 1970s – a major source of carbon emissions – are likely to keep operating into the 2030s, making it virtually impossible for the UK to meet key targets.

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He will promise at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference in London “over 100 improvements to our major roads, hundreds of extra lane miles on our motorways and trunk roads and the green light given to major projects that have stalled for years”. Chris Todd, of the Campaign for Better Transport lobbying group, said: “The Government is tearing up its green credentials and throwing them out of the window. On the same day it announces a massive road-building programme, we also discover that dirty coal plants are going to be staying open for longer.”

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-carbon-emissions-the-stench-of-missed-targets-as-coalitions-green-credentials-are-torn-up-and-thrown-out-9850180.html