It has been condemned as one of the main causes of global warming but is coal about to enjoy an extraordinary rebirth as the fuel of the future?

The first power plant in the world that will take the toxic emissions from coal and bury them deep in the ground opens today, carrying with it the hopes of scientists and environmentalists around the world.

If the power station in Spremberg, eastern Germany, is able to produce affordable electricity without polluting the atmosphere, it could mark the start of a new era for a fossil fuel whose days appeared numbered.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is designed to separate carbon dioxide from other chemicals during the process of generating electricity and siphon it off to be buried safely in disused oil or gas fields, where it can be stored indefinitely. The construction of the new plant by Vattenfall, the Swedish power company, was welcomed by engineers and environmentalists but raised fears that British attempts to develop the technology, which is expected to cut CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent, may be falling behind. A competition has been launched by the British Government to encourage the construction of a demonstration coal-fired plant with a capacity of at least 300MW — ten times the size of the German pilot — by 2014. It must be capable of being fitted, or "retro-fitted", to existing power plants.