ENVIRONMENTAL activists have given a cautious welcome to plans to develop a major carbon capture scheme in Yorkshire but warn it must not come at the expense of other more sustainable measures.
More reports »Previous plans for a partial carbon-capture power station at Kingsnorth in Kent drew huge protests from climate change campaigners but Friends of the Earth campaigner Robin Webster said the Hatfield project is very different.
"It all comes down to emissions," she said. "The Kingsnorth proposals were talking about a new plant capturing only 25 per cent of its emissions – Hatfield is nearly 100 per cent."
CCS was an unknown quantity not fully tested on a commercial scale. It was also a transitional technology, she said. "A low carbon economy dominated by energy efficiency and renewables is where we really need to be heading."
Greenpeace energy campaigner Jim Footner said his group was less worried about Hatfield than Kingsnorth but CCS must not be seen as a panacea
