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| PM voices support for coal-fired energy |
3/16/2007 |
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AMSTERDAM - Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende supports the construction of coal-fired power plants if the greenhouse gas CO2 released is stored in underground former gas fields.
The prime minister said this last week after the EU climate summit in Brussels. Balkenende says that the first trial with such a power station will most likely take place in the northern part of the country.
The underground storage of CO2 is seen as an important technology in the struggle against global warming. The UN''s climate organisation IPCC says that it should be possible to put 20 to 45 percent of all the CO2 released worldwide in underground storage by 2050. This development could offer many opportunities for the Netherlands because of its abundance of empty natural gas reserves.
Environmental organisation Greenpeace said Balkenende''s support for a clean coal-fired power plant was "not well thought-out." The organisation says that the technology for storing CO2 has not yet been adequately proven. The plan would also continue the practice of coal mining. Greenpeace wants more support for technology that makes use of sustainable energy sources like wind, sun and waves.
[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007]
Subject: Dutch news
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