David Miliband

Foreign Secretary

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Wednesday 09 September, 2009

Clean coal

Today I visited Rotterdam to see the technology that is make or break on curbing emissions - carbon capture and storage. The idea is simple: take the emissions from coal power stations and bury them.

Easier said than done, but in operation in pilot form and the only way to ensure Chinese growth does not ruin all the assumptions about emissions.

Posted at 16:49 09 September 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[7]

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Is persuading China to use clean technologies in anyway realistic? Developed countries are that way through the assistance of dirty industry processes. Expecting developing countries to accept encumbrances on growth not faced by their developed competition is unrealistic unless the developed world foots the bill. When does the Clean Air Tax come in?

Posted by Zane on September 10, 2009 at 12:13 AM BST #

David, Years ago I believed this stuff. In fact I really believed that the climate was going down the gurgler any minute now. I could not understand why nobody else had any sense of urgency. The climate going down the pan and here we were having meetings about conferences about targets for the year 2050. I looked closer and first thing were some obvious lies like Al Gore's 'pacific island evacuation' that has just never taken place. It's a lie. More digging found peer-reviewed papers with schoolboy mistakes like wrongly-labeled graphs. Computer simulations that were run and run again until they reached a desired output. And now the 'solutions' seem to include rescuing the 3rd world as well as fixing the climate for all time. I am not linked to any political party and I am not in the pay of Big Oil - I just think this stuff is wrong.

Posted by Jack Hughes on September 10, 2009 at 02:03 AM BST #

Jack Hughes obviously had his head in the sand while the Carteret Islands were evacuated.

Posted by OwenE2 on September 13, 2009 at 09:39 PM BST #

Sir, to bury the carbon emission is the answer to make the low carbon footprint in the present but problem for the future. So, our efforts should be on the permanent reduction of carbon dioxide which is possible only with the help of trees which have photosystems and Calvin cycle to reduce it in to beneficial products without any side effects. Deforestation in forest areas should be stopped according to 'BORLAUG HYPOTHESIS'. This hypothesis was given by GREAT AGRICULTURAL SCIENTIST 'NORMAN BORLAUG'; this hypothesis explain that 'increasing the productivity of agriculture on the best farmland can help to control deforestation by reducing the demand for new farmland'. Apart from trees, the new hybrid geo-engineering will be helpfull in reducing carbon emission. World community should phase-out carbon energy by green energy through 'time bound' program.

Posted by Prabhat Misra on September 14, 2009 at 03:31 PM BST #

Sir, i have an unique suggestion for checking vehicles-based carbon emission and noise pollution. For checking such pollution, scientists should develop an unique 'sim card based rechargeable technique' similar to mobile phones. In this there should be limited-time charging based on distance; after such distance covered, the vehicle engine should be automatically shut down. Similar should be the technique for horns used in vehicles. Such technique will reduce pollution and will also generate revenue for the concerned governments, to tackle with environmental problems. [ Prabhat Misra, District Savings Officer, Etawah, U.P., India ]

Posted by Prabhat Misra on September 18, 2009 at 04:04 PM BST #

May I suggest that mass immigration runs counter to the desire to reduce emmisions, though of course Govt can rake in more Carbon Taxes, congestion charges, landfill and rubbish collection taxes and on and on and on....

Posted by Adrian Peirson on September 25, 2009 at 10:28 PM BST #

Sir, in developing nations there is urgent need of low carbon green fuel technology coz their daily energy needs, at grass root and village level, depends upon carbon fuels. I hope that Copenhagen summit will also consider this and developed nations will provide financial help and green technologies to developing nations. [Dr. Mamta Shukla, KGDC, Kanpur, U.P., India]

Posted by Dr. Mamta Shukla on October 03, 2009 at 03:31 PM BST #

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