13 December 2007Ian Sample
The government must develop green technologies, such as clean-burning coal and renewable energy sources, to combat the worst effects of climate change, the incoming chief science adviser told an influential group of MPs yesterday.
Professor John Beddington, who will take over from Sir David King as the government's chief scientist in January, said there was now a global acceptance that climate change was a serious threat and urged ministers to explore technological fixes to lessen its impact.
He said Britain would need to forge links with China and India to encourage the use of clean coal technology among some of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Clean coal processes are designed to capture and store carbon dioxide which would otherwise be released by coal as it is burned.
"We need to develop science and technology solutions to mitigating this problem as soon as we can," Beddington told the innovation, universities and skills committee. "Using clean coal technology may well be the most cost-effective way of doing it."
Beddington backed plans to expand nuclear power, but said renewable energy sources would also be necessary for Britain to meet its target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050.
Beddington, currently chair of the science advisory panel for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, also gave support to GM technology as a means of meeting the future demand for food, but cautioned that crops should be approved only on a case by case basis.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/dec/13/energy.energytechnology
