Old king coal has reared his head in Scotland this week! (apologies to William Wallace Denslow)

In the same week that the Scottish Government published its consultation on planning guidance for new power plants in Scotland, there was also an announcement about a proposed new coal fired power station at Hunterston (currently home to a nuclear power station). 

So, if Longannet is upgraded by Scottish Power (as we're anticipating that it will be) then there could effectively be two new coal-fired power stations in Scotland in the next few years. And in the meantime, the Scottish Government is about to set a target for Scotland to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.  Of course, this doesn't add up. There is no need to new coal in Scotland.  We have a fantastic renewable resource here in Scotland - for both electricity and heat. Indeed the Scottish Government has set a target of getting 20% of our energy (not just our electricity) from renewables by 2020.  And Scotland is well placed to succeed in that. 

WDM Scotland is calling for the Scottish Government to think again about coal and to put into its planning guidance for new power plants a requirement that they don't emit more than 350g of CO2 per kWh - meaning that any new power stations (or substantial upgrade) would have to be fitted with fully operational carbon capture and storage.  We say - look at energy efficiency and demand reduction (in a concerted way that will really make a difference) as well as renewables - and forget coal - or risk making a mockery of that 80% target.

Find out more about groups in Scotland opposing new coal.

Something rather interesting has been happening in the last few days - when you google 'EON' this site has been appearing high up in the search results.

EON - which itself stands for Energy On is the name of the German electricity company who are behind plans to build the new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. Since EON is mentioned quite a lot on the site, these pages have gradually been appearing in the google search results.

What's made a big difference recently is a campaign by a group of committed bloggers who have been writing about this site, and it's relevance to EON in their blogs. You can read more about their online campaign (and the tactics they're using) here.

We will be publishing a lot more information about EON in the comming weeks - particularly about the 48 hours of action against EON

Update: This site now appears 5th in google search - more information about the online campaign can be found here and a list of supporting sites has been published on the Climate Change Action website. Thank you to everyone for your support and buzz about this site - we're now getting a lot of traffic, so the message about EON's involvement in coal power is getting out to a wider audience.

EON have put together a handy guide to going green on their website. Featuring some hints and tips from the coal giant about saving energy around your home.

Easy ways to do your bit for the environment (thanks to EON)

"We offer advice, products and services that can help you reduce your home energy costs and help you build a sustainable future."

Superb - you can have a look round their virtual house, get some advice on saving energy, buy some things from their shop (I for one love Benji the Basset who has an 'on off function' and 'moveable arms'), and check out their line of energy efficient products.

There's even advice from English Heritage about saving energy in case you live in a castle, which EON themselves could use in their ancient coal-fired power stations.

Saving energy is a good idea - as is trying to help the environment. So we'd like to suggest to EON a few handy ways in which they can reduce their carbon output. Particularly as our website stats indicate that they read this blog.

• Don't build a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth: did you know that coal is the most polluting way of generating electricity?
• Boost renewable energy instead of continuing to use dirty coal for electricity - this is one of the most important ways to help prevent global warming spiralling above the danger threshold.
• Lead the way: The world looks to rich countries like the UK to lead the way towards a low-carbon future, not one blighted by coal. Only by showing alternative ways of developing can we expect other countries to follow.
• Really, don't build a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth: did you know that one new Kingsnorth will produce the same amount of CO2 as the whole of Ghana?

We also have a page of useful climate busting things you can do - most of which involve stopping Kingsnorth from being built, from campaigns as diverse as Greenpeace and Oxfam.

Here's one of their adverts about saving energy:

Check out Greenpeace's new Coalfinger video:

For more info (and to watch it in widescreen) see www.coalfinger.com

The voice of Coalfinger is played by Brian Blessed. David Mitchell of peep show plays the secret agent Graverson Green.

So what's your favourite Bond-inspired one-liner catchphrase? leave them in the comments!