A committee in the United Kingdom's Parliament released a report this week concluding that carbon capture and storage will not be commercially-ready in the country by 2020, calling into question the achievability of the country's lofty greenhouse gas-reduction goals. The House of Commons' Energy and Climate Change Committee report on the UK's energy security concluded that contrary to the country's projections, the UK will likely not have CCS commercially tested and available by 2020-the target year used in much of its climate modeling-and that the government should find another way to meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals, especially in the near-term. "If CCS technology is not commercially available by 2020, the UK could face an energy dilemma: either provide energy security but exceed carbon budgets by running new unabated fossil plant; or, meet climate change obligations but risk energy security by shutting down (or using only very sparingly) unabated fossil plant," the report concludes. The document recommends that the government "draw up plans immediately" on what should happen if CCS is not commercialized by 2020.
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