UN At Odds With World Bank Over Coal Power
By Paul Homewood
http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2015/03/un-agrees-to-keep-funding-clean-coal.html
The UN’s green climate fund seems to be at odds with the World Bank regarding support for coal plants in developing countries.
PEI report:
The United Nations has agreed to maintain funding of coal power plants in developing countries.
The UN’s green climate fund (GCF) refused an explicit ban on fossil fuel projects at a contentious meeting in Songdo, South Korea.
The rationale for the decision is it will help developing countries ultimately fight climate change as otherwise these nations will opt for more polluting coal-fired models.
Dr Andrew Minchener of the IEA Clean Coal Centre welcomed what his organisation has been urging as the most suitable and pragmatic approach to the funding situation, telling Power Engineering International: ‘’I am very pleased to see a further rejection of the World Bank and others blanket ban on support for clean coal technology. The provision of financial support for high-efficiency low emissions coal-fired power plants is an effective means to reduce the overall carbon intensity of the world’s coal power fleet, while also helping many people in developing countries to escape poverty’’.
The IEA CCC’s Head of Communications, Debo Adams echoed her colleague’s remarks, telling PEi: "At this stage, the options are not clean coal or 100 per cent renewables, they are largely dirty coal without much help, or clean coal if support is given to cover the higher installation costs of more efficient plants with pollution control technologies."
Japan designated $1bn in loans for coal plants in Indonesia as climate finance, according to reporting by the Associated Press. Last week Japan counted another $630m in loans for coal power plants in India and Bangladesh as climate finance.
“Japan is of the view that the promotion of high-efficiency coal-fired power plants is one of the realistic, pragmatic and effective approaches to cope with the issue of climate change,” Takako Ito, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, told AP.
Trackbacks
Comments are closed.
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
One small step forward Homo sapiens, one small step back for Homo fatuos.
I love the smell of clean coal in the morning, and the sound of it, the coal industry following the lead of assigning the word “Green” to everything to make it sound good, can’t wait till they start calling it green coal, then we can love the smell of steaming greenies in the morning.
Anyway, I suspect that the World Bank and the UN funds will sink into little significance as China increases its funding of developing countries, including the poor old UK’s lack of a nuclear industry.
I thought they were calling it “green coal” back in the 2000s? Your second paragraph is an excellent point and a hard to swallow reality for Western capitalists. On your note about the UK, it appears South Africa’s stagnant nuclear industry is getting a massive adrenaline shot from the Russians. Who cares if it economically kills them, just as long as it revives them enough to funnel some money into certain people’s pockets. 😐 Check out my take on it here… https://hansworldtravels.wordpress.com/2015/07/25/south-africas-base-load-addiction/
For the boatman people on a barge (me: 4 years), coal is absolutely the cleanest cargo. The coal has already been dust off with sprinkling water (gee, H2O) and then is kept dust-free wet even up to the time it is blown into the fireplace of the power plant.
Clean coal, I was alway in favor of clean coal, that means ultimatively less work for the boatman. I’m so happy that UN has begun to disburden all the boatman people of the world /sarc
But I understand Germany plans on burning lignite coal. –AGF
The demand for cheap energy is so strong (energetic?) that it will blow away the killers who want to curtail it.
Once the stupidity of the CO2 demonisation is put to the circular file where it belongs, many of these semi or un developed countries will hopefully be given that coal and fossil fuel development benefits that allow us in the so-called ‘developed’ world take for granted.
Atmospheric CO2 concentration will then continue to climb, to the benefit of mankind and all other life on this glorious planet of ours.