Carbon capture and storage will play a big role in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions goal of a 20% reduction by 2020. However, technical and cost challenges will have to be addressed before Canada can “turn the corner on climate change.”

Federal Environment Minister John Baird announces an updated green plan for coal plants, allowing Ontario Power Generation and other large polluters to receive and purchase carbon credits. However, some environmentalists are opposed to this and want coal plants shut down altogether.

Australia Energy Minister Martin Ferguson has stated that the Offshore Petroleum Act will be amended to permit carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations to be stored in the ocean floor around Australia. Exploration will began in 2008.

The Guardian

Everything now hinges on stopping coal. Whether we prevent runaway climate change largely depends on whether we keep using the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel. Unless we either leave it – or the carbon dioxide it produces – in the ground, human development will start spiralling backwards. The more coal is burnt, the smaller are our chances of future comfort and prosperity. The industrial revolution has gone into reverse.

“Ottawa will unveil new climate-change regulations this week that would force new oil sands projects and coal-fired electricity plants to capture and store the bulk of their greenhouse gases rather than spew them into the air.”

Critics believe the effort from energy companies to decrease the burning of coal has led to the UK’s 2% emission reduction evident in 2007. The United Kingdom is now emitting 18% less compare to 1990 levels.

The cost of the cheapest solar power could be on par with that of electricity from coal plants by 2010.

Saskatchewan is planning to invest C$1.4 billion into the Boundary Dam power plant project, which will utilize carbon-capture to decrease CO2 emissions by an estimated 1 megatonne annually.

During the global concerts, Gore asked fans to commit to a seven-point pledge aimed at cutting carbon emissions. One of these points was “to fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2.”

Ontario’s coal-fired power plants are the greatest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions.

“The Liberal provincial government has proposed regulation that would make it mandatory under the Environmental Protection Act to shut down the operation of the province’s four remaining coal-fired plants by the end of 2014. The proposed regulation, which has been posted for a 30-day public review on the Ministry of Environment’s registry system, would be binding on future provincial governments unless the act was amended.”