Important decisions about the future of coal power in Britain are likely to be made today when the government's climate change committee sets out plans to de-carbonise the economy.
The committee will publish its first report recommending how Britain can achieve its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, which could eventually see the country ending almost all fossil fuel use to generate energy or run cars and public transport.
It will also urge quicker development of carbon capture and storage for coal power, and recommend whether government should allow coal plants to be built before the technology is fully developed.
Environmentalists hope the committee will set emissions standards from about 2020 which would force coal plants to fit at least some capture equipment, possibly with increasingly tough limits.
Critics believe such a move would make it too risky or expensive to proceed with a coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth, Kent, and up to seven others, unless the technology has been proved to work.
Jeff Chapman, chief executive of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association, said with enough government financial support there could be partial trials by 2015 and full capture in 2020."We've talked the talk, now it's walk the walk time," he said.
Under the climate change bill, which received royal assent last week, Britain set the world's first legally-binding target to cut emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. The climate change committee will recommend interim targets up to 2022, taking into account both the 2050 target and the EU's pledge to reduce emissions by 20-30% by 2020. Friends of the Earth has urged the committee to ask for a 40% cut by 2020.
The report, Building a Low Carbon Economy - Britain's Contribution to Tackling Climate Change, will set out a transformation of Britain's economy, including widespread reliance on electric energy for homes and industry, and to power transport.
Electricity generation is likely to be based on renewable energy, nuclear power and coal with carbon capture.
The committee will suggest what proportion of cuts can be "bought" as credits for overseas carbon-reduction schemes, and how the interim targets should be increased to account for emissions from aviation and shipping.
An interim report this year estimated the cost of meeting the 2050 target would be 1-2% of GDP. Ministers are due to respond to the full report in March.
The report comes as international talks on a climate change treaty resume today in Poznan, Poland. The negotiations aim to set the stage for a deal in 2012 on global warming to succeed the Kyoto protocol, which needs to be agreed by this time next year at a meeting in Copenhagen. Insiders say the Poznan talks are not expected to produce a breakthrough, as negotiators will wait for the new US administration to declare its intentions.
Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN climate secretariat, said the Poznan meeting was not likely to be "exciting" but important progress could be made on issues such as how rich countries help the developing world cope with the impact of climate change.
"The whole issue of adaptation needs to be taken off the back burner and receive a lot more serious attention," he said. The talks could also work out a way to pay tropical countries to protect their forests, as a cost-effective way to tackle rising CO2 emissions despite fears from green campaigners that a lack of land rights could see the money diverted.
The Poznan talks follow a meeting in Bali last December where countries agreed to formally negotiate a new treaty. Analysts say it needs to be agreed at Copenhagen for it to come into force by 2012.
De Boer said: "I think it is important that countries in Copenhagen reach a political agreement that is a response to what scientists tell us need to be done."
Andy Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said: "Over the next two weeks [Gordon] Brown's government will shape an international deal that could settle whether we conquer climate change, or let the planet cook. The UK needs to ... lead all developed countries in committing to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020."