Carbon sequestration, which offers the possibility of capturing carbon produced by dirty power stations and storing it underground, is a prime candidate.
To meet European laws on dirty power stations, and to help meet its long-term carbon emissions targets, the government is closing some of the UK's biggest coal-fired plants in the next five years.
It has told countries that promised to hand dirty power plants all the permits they needed for years to come that they could not do so, because such pledges might undermine any chance of introducing a tougher regime after 2012.
Because it's dirty, power generators want to replace it, as they pay a heavy cost if they don't.
The technologies of the 21st century are still largely powered by the dirty coal power of the past, with over half of the companies rated herein relying on coal for between 50 percent and 80 percent of their energy needs.
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Mr Huhne said the government would aim to encourage new entrants into the energy market, make clean energy more attractive to investors, develop reserve plants to ensure "the lights stay on" during periods of high demand, and limit the amount of carbon emissions from "dirty" power stations.
Firms can propose anything that would cut greenhouse emissions, from distributing electric bulbs to substituting clean fuels for dirty ones at power plants.
Once we stop concentrating dirty, legacy power sources in poor communities, our public health costs will drop and the quality of life for millions will improve.
For a decade now, the Environmental Protection Agency has been using a provision of the Clean Air Act to force dirty, older power plants to clean up.
As small heat-and-power units spread to homes and offices, the inefficiency of dirty coal-fired power plants would be exposed.
Nevertheless, he thinks it can capitalize on a shift in the global energy business toward liquefied natural gas, especially as China seeks alternatives to dirty coal-fired power plants and Japan trims its nuclear fleet.
But he said for it to be "fully convincing", Mr Cameron should be clear he would rule out all "dirty" coal fired power stations - including plans for a new plant at Kingsnorth, Kent.
They seem to believe we can replace those dirty coal plants with solar and wind power.
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As a result, you end up arming the person who has the power to promote or fire you with your dirty little secrets.
"Here we have power steering fluid, some diesel oil and some dirty old crankcase oil, " he says, creating a mess on a paper plate.
Its diesel cars in the 70s and 80s were dirty, smelly and unreliable, and tarnished the reputation of diesel power in America for decades.
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Lower gas prices will increase energy consumption and displace some lower-carbon nuclear power and renewables, but will also squeeze out some dirty coal and oil.
The conventional wisdom is that dirty, polluting coal is the fuel of the past, and that any day now the power plants that burn coal will be phased out and shut down.
Right now we are chained to dirty and outdated energy sources that contribute to global warming, including oil and coal and to nuclear power, which produces dangerous waste.
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Although economic success wins rewards in both systems, in clean ones, it adds 40% to a president's time, whereas in dirty ones, the rewards of growth are swamped by those of rigging, which more than doubles the time in power.
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