Electricity market reform 'unworkable'
Government plans to reform the electricity market to favour low-carbon power are "unworkable" and will lead to "a train wreck" in the sector, and higher and more volatile energy prices for consumers, according to a group of the UK's leading renewable energy companies. Click here for full story
EMR only benefits nuclear
A group of Britain’s leading renewable energy firms have written to the Energy Secretary to express concerns about the planned Electricity Market Reforms. Scottish and Southern Electric (SSE), Ecotricity, Good Energy, Renewable Energy Systems, Natural Power and Fred Olsen Renewables have written to Ed Davey warning that EMR proposals will only benefit nuclear generators and dissuade long-term investment in British renewables.
Click here for full storyThe government should do more to help green industries boost economic growth, stop the UK falling behind international rivals, and avoid losing its global leadership on the environment, William Hague has told cabinet colleagues, in a private letter seen by the Guardian.
Click here for full storyYesterday (15 May), giving evidence to Parliament, the Energy Minister Charles Hendry appeared to be unable to guarantee with certainty that any of the five agreed new nuclear power plants would go ahead….. With EDF expected to make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the UK projects by the end of the year the change of [French] Government could not have come at a worse time. Click here for full story
Is 'hard work' only growth strategy?
Green businesses will be furious to hear senior ministers implying they are lazy and guilty of moaning too much.
Click here for full storyInvesting billions in new nuclear power stations would have forced a credit-rating downgrade on energy giant RWE, the company's chief executive has revealed. The head of another big six energy company, E.ON, blamed the abandonment of its nuclear plans on a lack of "financial firepower". Click here for full story
UK solar still viable
P&O ferry becomes wind flotel
P&O Ferries' ship the European Seaway is to become an accommodation vessel for the wind farm industry. The company has converted the roll-on roll-off vessel to serve technicians working offshore in the North Sea.
Earlier this month the 23,000-tonne ship started a three-month charter with Centrica Renewable Energy Limited after having hull access doors, cranes and boarding ladders installed during a short refit at the Arno shipyard in Dunkerque, France.
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Green motoring = £13bn govt hole
The drive to promote greener, more efficient motoring will blow a £13bn hole in the public finances as revenue from fuel and road taxes dries up, leading thinktanks have warned. Tax breaks for electric cars and lower fuel consumption from efficient vehicles will mean a collapse in income even as road traffic increases, the Institute for Fiscal studies has found. Click here for full story
Jones Lang LaSalle RE Capital team
Financial and professional services firm Jones Lang LaSalle has recently launched a new Renewable Energy Capital team to help raise capital and provide commercial and financial advice for UK renewable energy project developers. The team, which is part of the Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Finance EMEA, has formed links to a number of investor groups who are currently seeking opportunities in the renewables sector. Click here for full story
Rampion met mast causes 999 calls
A meteorological mast used to survey the site of a proposed wind farm has caused people to dial 999 believing it is a ship in distress. The 110m (360ft) mast has been installed by energy company E.ON, which hopes to construct up to 195 turbines off the Brighton coast. Its red and white flashing lights have been mistaken for S.O.S. signals. Click here for full story
Hydrogen as alternative to petrol
The European Technology Initiative, "Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking" (FCH JU), is providing approx 2.3 million euro of finance for the development of new hydrogen solid-state containers on the basis of boron hydrides. These compounds absorb much more hydrogen, the tanks remain compact. The Bor4Store project is being coordinated by the Institute of Material Research at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht.[Note from Editor: Bert De Colvenaer, Executive Director of FCH JU is speaking at All-Energy on 24 May].
Click here for full storyShould a tidal barrage be built across the Severn estuary? Peter Hain has stepped down from the shadow cabinet to launch a campaign to build the Severn barrage. But what would its impact be on the environment? Leo Hickman investigates with help from readers. Click here for full story
Banks Renewables’ £4.7m community fund
UK clean energy developer Banks Renewables has unveiled a £4.7m community package for residents in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which would be derived from the 76MW Middle Muir wind farm. Charities, youth groups and voluntary organisations are set to benefit from the fund, should the project be approved by planning authorities. Click here for full story
Nova Scotia’s tidal plans
The government of Nova Scotia has set a target to replace 10 per cent of the province's current power supply with tidal energy over the next decade and beyond as part of its vow to reduce fossil fuel consumption. The provincial Energy Department released a marine energy plan Monday that is aiming for 300 megawatts of power to be generated from tidal energy by around 2020. Click here for full story
Google's offshore wind cable moves forward
A proposed $5bn transmission line connecting wind farms off the East coast of the US to the mainland is on track to come online by 2017, after the Google-backed project cleared another regulatory hurdle. The Department of the Interior said on Monday there was "no overlapping competitive interest" in the areas earmarked for building the line (see map), which clears the way for an environmental review. Click here for full story
Onshore wind ‘buffer zones’
Wind Turbines (Minimum Distance from Residential Premises) Bill [HL] 2012-13 is a House of Lords Private Members’ Bill that seeks to make provision for a minimum distance between wind turbines and residential premises according to the size of the wind turbine, and for connected purposes…. It has just started on its journey having had a first reading.
Click here for full storyHgCapital LLP, a London-based private equity company, invested in a wind park and received a 36 million-pound ($58 million) Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc loan to help finance the northern England project. RBS acted as lead arranger, agent and hedging bank for the loan, HgCapital said today in a statement. Click here for full story
Ex-BP executive TMO Renewables CEO
UK-based TMO Renewables has appointed former BP executive David Weaver as chief executive officer, the advanced biofuels firm said on Tuesday. Weaver, who takes over from interim chief executive Robert Parker, was until last year chief executive at UK renewable energy firm GSS Energy and from 2000 to 2003 managing director for Northern European gas, power and renewables at BP.
Click here for full storyAccording to a new report from Marketsandmarkets, a marketing research company, the global smart cities market is expected to top $1 trillion by 2016. Currently, the report estimates the value of the smart cities market at $526.3 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of about 14.2 percent from 2011-2016. Over that time, the smart energy industry is expected to see the largest growth, from $22.9 billion in 2010 to $80.7 billion in 2016, a 28.7 percent compound annual growth rate.
Click here for full storyA Larne-based renewable energy company is to build a plant to produce electricity at a Portrush landfill site. B9 Organic Energy has joined forces with Craigahulliar Energy to develop and operate the first of several landfill gas projects it plans to exploit in Northern Ireland. The plant will be constructed at the Craigahulliar landfill site and will turn gas from waste into around 850 kW of electricity, enough to power over 500 homes.
Click here for full storySouth Korean conglomerate SK Group said Tuesday that it has signed a contract with Denmark's Topsoe Fuel Cell to cooperate in commercializing solid oxide fuel cells. SOFCs are particularly efficient and can be used in households, buildings and factories, SK Group said. Fuel cells generate electricity by using sources such as liquefied natural gas and diesel.
Click here for full storyEnvironment group Greenpeace says governments are wasting public money on carbon capture and storage (CCS) research. Carbon capture and storage is the process through which emissions from power stations would be captured and then stored underground to reduce carbon pollution. Click here for full story
When sustainability becomes a duty
The head of Schneider Electric's Smart Cities initiative explains why efficiency and technology are key to making cities more liveable. Click here for full story
Viruses used to power tiny device
Scientists in the US have developed a way to generate electricity using viruses. The researchers built a generator with a postage stamp-sized electrode and based on a small film of specially engineered viruses. When a finger tapped the electrode, the viruses converted the mechanical energy into electricity. Click here for full story
Algal sustainability: UK could lead world
A new report by bioeconomy consultants NNFCC says that the U.K. can be an international leader in algal sustainability. “There has been a massive increase in interest in algae as a potential feedstock for commodity markets such as biofuels, bioenergy and bulk biobased chemicals,” said lead report author Claire Smith from the NNFCC. Click here for full story
ENER-G opens new Romanian HQ
A U.K.-based renewable energy solutions provider is expanding to Romania. Ener-G has opened a new corporate headquarters in Bucharest to meet the needs of the fast-growing markets of Central and Eastern Europe, according to a statement issued by the company. Click here for full story
Ferrari to launch £527,000 hybrid
From horsepower to battery power, Ferrari is joining the growing ranks of green carmakers by launching its first ever hybrid vehicle at the end of the year. The Italian firm, one of the most elite names in motoring, indicated that one of its glitziest products, the Enzo, will be released in a hybrid version. Click here for full story
Street light switch-off mapped
An interactive map showing where street lights are to be switched off overnight has been produced by Shropshire Council. The council approved plans to convert 70% of its street lights to "part-night lighting" in September 2011. Click here for full story
Award for Stewart Milne Homes
Stewart Milne Homes has won the Homes for Scotland award for Best Low Carbon Initiative after impressing judges with the delivery of its first low energy and low carbon homes in Portlethen and Prestonpans. Click here for full story
All-Energy: register to attend free of charge
All-Energy 2012 (Aberdeen, UK, 23-24 May) will be the largest-ever event in the exhibition and conference’s twelve show history. Information on booking space (some 80% booked/reserved) and on sponsorship is available on-line. All-Energy 2011 attracted close on 8,000 and some 580 exhibiting companies. Introductions this year in the exhibition are zones for ‘Offshore maintenance – where offshore wind meets oil and gas’, ‘Smart Energy’ (energy efficiency and energy management), and low carbon vehicles (encompassing infrastructure as well as vehicles). Sector specific trails will help visitors plan their visit. All-Energy, the UK’s largest renewable show, remains free to attend for all with a business/professional interest in renewables – and this includes exhibition, conference and Giant Networking Evening. Registration is now open online.
Click here for full storyEurope should focus on cutting carbon emissions, rather than just repeating an existing range of EU green policy targets that expire at the end of the decade, Britain's energy and climate chief said on Monday.
Click here for full storyScotland and Norway could make a huge contribution to Europe's green energy targets, the first minister has said. Alex Salmond highlighted the renewables links between the two countries during a visit to Norway.
Click here for full storyDouglas Fraser writes about North Connect, the five-company, three-country consortium that plans to put a large amount of copper across the North Sea in the form of the first of two such High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cables between Norway and the UK, with the potential for injection points across the North Sea, where it can link into the giant wind farms being built there.
Click here for full storyCo-Operative Bank Plc will provide about 300 million pounds ($482 million) in loans for U.K. renewable energy projects this year and may increase its overall lending target, its head of renewables said. The British mutual bank plans to commit the same amount of loans as last year for about 30 projects in 2012, James Sutcliffe, senior manager for renewable energy, said in an interview.
Click here for full storyA global green energy competition with a £400,000 prize is to be launched in Scotland's capital. Sir Richard Branson is supporting the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable business ideas and inventions. The winner will receive £400,000 to develop and create their product within two years and Sir Richard is calling on all entrepreneurs to enter the online competition.
Click here for full storyHistoric Scotland and Norwegian partners to capture development of hydro-industry …. The pioneering role of Scotland and Norway in the development of hydro-electric power is to be celebrated in a new digital partnership between the two nations announced by First Minister Alex Salmond today (14 May). The First Minister, who is undertaking trade and political engagements in Norway over two days, announced the initiative at an international renewable energy conference in Bergen.
Click here for full storySeveral thousand kilos of CO2 will be pumped into the seabed off west Scotland from Monday to simulate what happens if a leak occurs from a carbon capture store. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a way to lower emissions from fossil fuel power plants by stripping CO2 from smokestacks of gas and coal power plants, and then transferring it to a former oil or gas reservoir underground.
Click here for full storyAir Products has submitted evidence to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee inquiry into low carbon vehicles, calling on the UK Government to work with industry to create a market for renewable hydrogen. Air Products, the world’s largest hydrogen manufacturer and the market leader in hydrogen fuelling stations, explained in its written evidence (which has been published on the Transport Select Committee website) that current subsidies like the plug-in grant do not do enough to build up the essential infrastructure needed to support a low carbon transport system.
Click here for full storyFriends of the Earth has warned that the upcoming Electricity Market Reform (EMR) is David Cameron’s last chance to keep his promise to lead the ‘greenest Government ever’. The environmental charity believes that the upcoming Energy Bill, which was included in the Queen’s Speech, is a unique opportunity to ensure that the UK’s electricity system is largely free from fossil fuels by 2030.
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