The U.K. government has withdrawn funding to the International Energy Agency’s London-based Clean Coal Center, a Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman confirmed to GHG Daily this week. “The department has decided to focus available resources on promoting the use of alternative and cleaner forms of energy rather than seeking to reduce the impact of coal use,” the spokesman said.
The IEA Clean Coal Center is staffed by a team of about 20 engineers, scientists, and information specialists and is funded primarily by member subscriptions. The center publishes technical reports and reviews, facilitates research and development, assists in the provision of networks, organizes workshops and conferences, and builds and maintains a number of databases regarding clean coal technology, according to the center’s website. DECC will no longer have free access to data from the Clean Coal Center.
With the loss of the U.K., the center now has 20 member countries and sponsoring organizations: Australia, Austria, the European Commission, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, South Africa, the United States, Anglo American, Banpu, BHEL, Beijing Research Institute of Coal Chemistry, Doosan Babcock, Drax, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, GE Power, Greenbank Group, Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute of China, and Suek.
