This article is from page 14 of the 2006-12-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
MONEYPOINT, the country’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases, could be a candidate for technology which would allow the pollution to be buried.
The Clare power station is belching more poisons into the air than any other industrial source in the country, a recent report revealed.
But Carbon Capture – a technology which will be up and running in less than ten years – would enable the ESB to grab carbon dioxide and bury it before it can get into the atmosphere and do damage.
Figures published by the European Pollutant Emission Register show that Moneypoint tops the list for highest emissions of a number of environmentally damaging chemicals.
The coal-burning station near Kilrush is the greatest source of carbon dioxide emissions. Data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that between 2003 and 2005 Moneypoint emitted 16.8m tons of carbon dioxide.
It also featured as the leading source of arsenic and its compounds along with five other chemical pollutants.
But as it produces 14 per cent of the country’s energy, closing the coal-burning station down is not an option.
Moneypoint is currently undergoing a €360 million makeover designed to reduce emissions, mainly of sulphuric and nitrous oxides, which will extend it’s life by 15 years.
A spokesman for the ESB said that it would “look at any new technology aimed at reducing emissions”, but added that the carbon capture technology is so new that there has been no chance as yet for energy bosses to study it.
Harry Audas, general manager of the International Energy Agency(IEA) greenhouse research and development programme, said that Carbon Capture is viable.
“It could be demonstrated technically viable within the next five to ten years but there’s still no commercial incentives, so it’s up to the politicians to get the commercial incentives in place.”
The IEA is the organisation which advises governments in developed nations on energy policy.
A breakthrough which would enable power generators to capture and bury carbon dioxide – the main greenhouse gas, widely blamed for heating the planet – would be a technological leap towards greener energy production which would be worth millions.
Also featuring in the list for certain chemical pollutant emissions were the neighbouring, the Tarbert County Limerick ESB plant and Aughinish Alumina.