Save the world: drink EV-E.ON

Well it seems that someone has finally come up with a solution to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
The marketing geniuses have come up with EV-EON an "unnaturally carbonated water drink", which gets rid of all the pesky CO2, giving John Hutton the green light to go-ahead with his dream of a coal-fired UK.

On their April 1st launch day EV-EON said:

"Whilst we were outside the Houses of Parliament we came across some pesky students who were chanting against our proposed coal fired power station at Kingsnorth, so we interrupted and in front of the world’s media explained that it would all be ok because we now have the solution; carbon capture bottled water. They were so impressed they left happy as larry."
EV-EON

So there you go - a solution to the carbon capture problem we can all drink - provided of course that no-one ever burps.

Find out more about Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

Drink EV-EON and help stop climate change*

*remember: no burping!

Cabinet split on Kingsnorth: Hutton v Benn

It seems that the many thousands of people who are opposed to the new generation of coal power stations, and who are shocked at John Hutton's veiled support for dirty coal are not alone. Support for Kingsnorth is waning within the government as well:

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is being urged to oppose the scheme by officials unless there are guarantees it would be able to exploit new "carbon capture and storage" (CCS) technology, according to a report in the Independent today.

As we've already seen (thanks to Greenpeace), CCS has been dumped by Hutton. Following a series of emails between power company E.ON and the government, CCS was dropped as a requirement - Hutton's department reversed the government's climate and energy policy in six minutes and four words.

John Sauven, the executive director of Greenpeace, said:

"Gordon Brown needs to get a grip on his cabinet. What we're seeing is ministers jostling for position. If Brown gives the go-ahead for a new fleet of coal-fired power stations, with CCS technology still unproven, it's hard to see how the UK will meet its legal requirement to reduce emissions by 80 per cent by 2050."

In the meantime, for those who are not in the cabinet, you can put pressure on Hutton to call a public inquiry into the coal power scheme here.

George Monbiot: Carbon capture is turning out to be just another great green scam

From the Guardian website:

Coal is so clean and fresh that the prime minister brushes his teeth with it, Downing Street said last night. Mr Brown said advances in coal technology meant it was now one of the cleanest substances on Earth, and an unrivalled remover of stains and scaling." So says the satirical website the Daily Mash. The real claims are scarcely battier.

Ministers are about to decide whether to approve a new coal-burning power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. This would be the first such plant to be built in Britain since the monster at Drax was finished in 1986. As well as coal, it will burn up the government's targets, policies and promises on climate change.

John Hutton, the secretary of state in charge of energy, has started justifying the decision he says he hasn't made. "For critics," he argued last week, "there's a belief that coal-fired power stations undermine the UK's leadership position on climate change. In fact, the opposite is true." Quite so: if we don't burn this stuff the Chinese might get their hands on it. Or could he be a true believer? Does he really think there's such a thing as clean coal?

Read the full article on the Guardian website.