News that the British government is set to announce in November that it will invest up to £1bn in a competition to develop the world's first green coal-fired power station is to be welcomed. It is understood that the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) will kick start the contest by pledging to invest £300m in each of three new power stations.

The technology to be implemented will include piping harmful gases, such as CO2, into empty North Sea oilfields, which are said to be some of the most promising geology in the world for storing carbon dioxide. Several power companies are said to be interested in entering the competition with the goal of getting the first power station operational between 2011 and 2014.

The carbon capture and storage scheme, mooted by journalist George Monbiot in his book Heat, offers a real solution to addressing not only Britain's ongoing energy requirements but also to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. He said: “With sufficient political will, gas-fired power stations fitted with carbon capture equipment could provide roughly 50 per cent of our grid-based electricity by 2030.”

Significant and viable alternatives on such a scale to make a real difference to climate change are rare, and the initiative is to be applauded if not the manner by which it intends to achieve its aim. Surely schemes to reduce climate change, which the former PM Tony Blair described as being “the world's greatest environmental challenge”, should be centrally funded and not left open to the vagaries of a contest.