Press Release

10 August 2003

UK'S WORST CLIMATE POLLUTERS NAMED
Scottish plants top UK 'climate pollution' league table

Two Scottish coal-fired plants have topped a new pollution league table, published by Friends of the Earth to mark the launch of its 'Carbon Dinosaurs' campaign. The UK-wide campaign, which officially launches on Monday 11 August, calls for coal-burning plants to clean up their act or face closure. Using the most up to date figures, the league table reveals for the first time the UK's least efficient and most polluting power stations [1].

The UK's 16 remaining coal-fired power stations, which are more than 30 years old, still generate 35% of our electricity at enormous cost to the environment. Power stations are still the biggest source of emissions of greenhouse gases in the UK. While emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel generators (including coal-fired power stations) have been falling across the UK, in Scotland they increased. Emissions in Scotland have increased by 27% since 1990 in contrast with a fall of 22% in UK emissions. [2]

Top of the league table is Cockenzie, a 36- year-old power station in Scotland, which produces the most carbon dioxide per unit of electricity produced in the UK. The station is owned by Scottish Power, who despite making big strides in developing renewables, still operate two of the UK's dirtiest coal plants. Scottish Power's other coal-fired plant, Longannet, comes third.

Friends of the Earth Scotland Chief Executive, Duncan McLaren, said:

"The latest figures show that, compared to the rest of the UK, Scotland is falling behind in cutting its carbon emissions. One of the main reasons for this is the presence in Scotland of two of the UK¹s top three most polluting coal-fired power plants. The Government must ensure Scottish Power¹s plants clean up their act and make major cuts in its carbon emissions. Unless Scotland¹s carbon dinosaurs adapt, they will rapidly face extinction.

"Our climate is changing as a result of pollution. Along with other measures, greenhouse gas emissions from our inefficient and dirty coal-fired power stations must be cut. The Government must make the worst offenders clean up or get out of the market to make way for less damaging alternatives. Scottish energy policy must ensure that we are geared up to replace polluting coal and nuclear power with cleaner, more efficient forms of energy. This campaign is designed to put pressure on Government and industry to do the right thing and significantly reduce emissions."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The league table below ranks the UK's remaining sixteen coal fired stations according to their impact on global climate which is measured by calculating the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of electricity produced. The stations appearing at the top of the table are the least efficient. The table does not reflect the overall capacity of each station. Data used was for Jan-Dec 2002 and was provided by the Environment Agency, Campbell Carr, SEPA and Scottish Power.

 

Dinosaur	Location	Fossil factor*	Owning company
Cockenzie	East Lothian	9.9	Scottish Power
Ferrybridge	West Yorkshire	9.8	AEP
Longannet	Clackmannanshire	9.8	Scottish Power
Fiddler's Ferry	Cheshire	9.7	AEP
Kilroot	Northern Ireland	9.7	AES
Ironbridge	Shropshire	9.4	Powergen
West Burton	Nottinghamshire	9.4	London Energy
Tilbury	Essex	9.3	Innogy
Didcot A	Oxfordshire	9.3	Innogy
Kingsnorth	Kent	9.3	Powergen
Eggborough	North Humberside	9.2	British Energy
Rugeley B	Staffordshire	9.1	International Power
Cottam	Nottingham	9	London Energy
Ratcliffe	Nottingham	9	Powergen
Aberthaw	South Glamorgan	9	Innogy
Drax	North Yorkshire	8.8	AES
Gas powered station (av.)		5.4	-

*The fossil factor is the station¹s carbon emissions divided by the amount of electricity it produced, then multiplied by 10 to give an understandable number.

I.e. 6683500 / 6801348.27 = 0.982672808. Multiplied by 10 and rounded to one decimal place = 9.8

This league table and more information about individual stations and the companies who own them is available on the Friends of the Earth website:

http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/carbon_dinosaurs/

A fuller briefing (60k pdf) on the 'Carbon Dinosaurs' campaign can be found here.

[2] 'Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990-2000' http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/reports/cat07/aeat-r-env-1182.pdf

This report shows that Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by only 4.9% since 1990 - less than half the 12.8% average achieved by the UK as a whole. For carbon dioxide (CO2), the main climate change gas, Scotland managed only a 2.6% reduction compared to the UK average of 7.5%. England's CO2 emissions fell by 10.1% over the same period.

[3] The UK is the second highest emitter of greenhouse gases in Europe: Germany (987.978); UK (661.652); France (547.756) ; Italy (546.577); and Spain (385.78) (Figures in Million tonnes CO2 equivalent).

[4] Over the next few months the Government will be making decisions about how it implements two important EU Directives: the Large Combustion Plant Directive which places controls on emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide (causes of acid rain) and dust; and the Emissions Trading Directive which places a cap on emissions of carbon dioxide. These decisions will determine whether our heavy industries clean up their act or carry on as normal. Friends of the Earth is urging the Government to take a firm line.

ENDS

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