The government is consulting on its plans to implement a trading scheme for large combustion plants that have to install anti-pollution measures by 2020 to meet EU restrictions.
The regulations, applied under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), limit emissions of particulates, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from 1,500 power plants, including those on industrial sites. Plants have to meet new limits by 1 April 2016 or close down, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) estimates that around half of UK capacity fails to meet those limits.