from Sunday Herald, 01 February 2009
Climate pollution from two major new coal plants planned for Scotland could force as many as 70,000 people from their homes around the world by 2050, campaigners have claimed.
The massive amounts of carbon dioxide emitted by proposed plants at Hunterston in North Ayrshire and Longannet in Fife would help disrupt the world’s weather patterns. The resulting storms, droughts and rising sea levels would make tens of thousands of people in Asia and Africa homeless.
Scotland would be responsible for contributing to the 200 million “climate refugees” predicted by 2050 if the globe continues to warm up, says the World Development Movement (WDM). It is urging the Scottish government to ban polluting new coal plants.
The Danish multinational, Dong Energy, is planning a £2 billion plant at Hunterston to generate 1,600 megawatts of electricity. At Longannet, Spanish-owned ScottishPower wants to install new coal-burning technology when the existing plant closes down within the next ten years.
According to calculations released by WDM, the two plants would together spew 575 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2050. This is enough, the group says, to turn up to 70,000 people into climate refugees.
Rising sea levels caused by melting polar ice caps could make many millions of people living in low-lying areas homeless. An analysis by the World Bank suggested that a rise of five metres could evict 92 million people in China, 32 million in Vietnam, 28 million in India, 18 million in Indonesia and 15 million in Egypt.
Droughts could also cause millions to move in southern and western Africa, while fiercer and more frequent storms could affect Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Philippines and the Caribbean.
“These people have done little to contribute to climate change, but they will suffer the worst consequences,” said Liz Murray, WDM’s head of campaigns in Scotland. “And Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions will have a direct impact.”
Along with other environmental groups, WDM is calling on the Scottish government to limit the amount of pollution allowed from new plants to 350 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour. A consultation on proposed limits ended on Friday.
Murray added: “The Scottish government must take a global view and realise that they can't promise to reduce carbon emissions on the one hand and give carbon intensive projects like the Hunterston and Longannet coal power stations the thumbs up on the other.”
The proposed coal plants have been backed by the government’s draft national planning framework, published in December. The hope is that they will make use of technology, yet to be developed, to capture and store carbon emissions.
But this is dismissed as “tenuous” by Duncan McLaren, the executive director of Friends of the Earth Scotland. "Such plants would drive a coach and horses through the government’s climate targets,” he said.
“Instead, the government must set a tough limit on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowed from new power plants. This could help them deliver real and rapid emissions reductions and restore the credibility of their climate change promises.”
Dong Energy declined to comment last week. ScottishPower, however, stressed that its vision for Longannet was as a host to the world’s first commercial-scale carbon-capture project for coal.
“If we are successful, and prove the technology, Scotland would have the opportunity to demonstrate a viable retrofit option for coal plants in other parts of the world,” said a ScottishPower spokesman.
“Longannet is an important facility in bridging Scotland’s transition to a lower carbon based future ensuring that Scotland can develop secure, diverse and sustainable supplies - both now and into the future when renewables will become an increasingly more important component to the energy mix.”
The Scottish government believes that new coal-fired power stations have a long term future in Scotland “as part of a balanced energy mix”. The government would insist that plants have to be “ready to incorporate” carbon capture technology.
THE MILLIONS FORCED TO MOVE BY RISING SEAS
country / millions of people made homeless by a five-metre rise in sea levelChina / 92
Vietnam / 32
India / 28
Indonesia / 18
Egypt / 15
Bangladesh / 14
Thailand / 8
Philippines / 7
Nigeria / 6
Myanmar / 6TOTAL / 226
source: World Development Movement
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