The government is making a renewed attempt to encourage industry to develop ways of making power stations greener.

It is offering £1bn to the winner of a contest to develop carbon capture and storage - a system for trapping and then burying carbon dioxide.

A similar competition, launched in 2007, collapsed last year when all the companies involved pulled out - many on the grounds of cost.

But Energy Minister Charles Hendry says the scope of the contest has been widened and this time it could work:

"It could be an absolute global game-changer. We think this could be 100,00 jobs to the UK in the 2020s," he said.

"We think this is an industry where we can reasonably hope to lead the world because we've got some of the best skills which are available. We've got some of the best storage sites which are available."

Get in touch with Today via email , Twitter or Facebook or text us on 84844.