THE Government has announced that it is going to build more gas-fired power stations and exploit gas reserves which lie under large swathes of Britain, including under York.

I believe this to be the wrong way to power the country, as it will result in us failing our obligations under the Climate Change Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The government claims burning gas is low carbon; this is not do. Burning fossil methane may result in lower CO2 emissions per watt of electricity than burning coal or oil, but it is in no way “low carbon”, as it adds unwanted CO2 into our atmosphere, from carbon which has been safely and naturally stored for millions of years.

Low-carbon energy comes from renewable resources, such as the sun, wind, waves, tides and local biomass. Gas may be a useful primary fuel (in homes) but to use it for generating electricity is madness.

The recent announcement also reiterated that “Carbon Capture and Storage” would continue to be explored. If this were to work, I’d be in favour, but the trial technology has not worked well, and is years away from being a commercial proposition. Taking yet more gas out of the ground is lazy and shortsighted.

John Cossham, Hull Road, York.