News

16/09/09 - Stern: Rich nations will have to rein in growth to stop climate change

Economic expansion cannot be achieved forever if greenhouse gases are to be curbed, warns Lord Stern. In a speech at People's University in Beijing Lord Stern said that although robust expansion could be achieved until 2030 while avoiding dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions, rich nations may then have to consider reining in growth.

10/09/09 - E.ON submits plans for £300m biomass plant

E.ON has submitted a planning application to the Government for a 150 megawatt (MW) capacity biomass-fired power plant at the Royal Portbury Dock in North Somerset. E.On is hoping for a decision on the £300 million development, potentially one of the UK’s largest biomass power plants, in the next 12 months.

29/07/09 - Africa’s biggest wind farm to be built in Kenya

365 giant wind turbines are to be installed in desert around Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, creating the biggest windfarm on the continent. When complete in 2012 the £533m project will have a capacity of 300MW, one of the highest proportions of wind energy to be fed in a national grid anywhere in the world. Read the full article here

16/07/09 - Government Announces Low Carbon Route Map

A number of government initiatives were announced yesterday spelling out the Low Carbon Route Map. They are:

The renewable energy strategy which sets out how the Government intends to meet its 15% target under the Renewable Energy Directive.
The renewable electricity financial incentives consultation which consults on the design of the FIT for small scale electricity and Renewables Obligation.
The low carbon transition plan which sets out how the Government intends to meet emissions cuts of 34% on 1990 levels by 2020, in line with the requirement to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 contained in the Climate Change Act 2008.
The low carbon transport strategy which looks at the range of possible approaches for low carbon transport, including technology, alternative fuels, trading and behavioural changes.
The low carbon industrial strategy which aims to ensure that British businesses and workers are equipped to maximise the economic opportunities and minimise the costs of the move to a low carbon economy.

Some of the key points from the documents are below.

Renewable Energy Strategy consultation document

· Split between sectors is reduced from the Renewable Energy Strategy: heat (12% down from 14%), electricity (31% down from 32%) and transport remains at 10%.

· A new Office for Renewable Energy Deployment (ORED) will be set up. It will be part of Decc and work with central government, local/regional authorities

· The Government estimates the strategy will create £100 billion in investment opportunities and half a million jobs. Further details on European Investment Bank money announced in April 2009 Budget are due later this month

· The Strategy and other policies announced July 2009 will add an average 6% to household bills by 2020. Including all previously announced policies this rises to 8%. These figures are very sensitive to the cost of fossil fuel

RO consultation & Feed-in-Tariff consultation document

FIT proposals

· 2% of electricity supply expected to come from renewables under the FIT - surprisingly unambitious

· Schemes installed from the 15th July 2009 will qualify for FIT/RHI payments

· Proposing a flat tariff structure (as opposed to tiered tariff)

· A fixed payment for every kWh generated + a guaranteed minimum export price

· Energy efficiency will not be a pre-requisite for payment of FITs

· Eligibility rules will be the same as under the RO

· The tariff levels are set on the basis of a 5-7% rate of return

· All generators <50kW will have to come under the FIT. Generators between 50kW and 5MW will have a one-off choice of whether to choose the FIT or RO

RO proposals

· Extension of the life-time of the scheme to at least 2037

· Introduction of a 20 year limit on support under the RO

· Removal of the maximum 20% target

· An increase in the level of headroom from 8% to 10% by 2014/15

· Opening up the RO to include renewable generation outside the UK that meets specific criteria

· consulting on whether to introduce, at a later date, a mechanism to reduce or remove the risk of fluctuations in the wholesale price of power (and possibly the ROC price)

DECC Low Carbon Industrial Strategy

· Further details on the £405million announced in Budget 2009 to support low-carbon industries: £120million offshore wind, £60million wave and tidal. Nuclear, low carbon transport and manufacturing receive smaller amounts. It is still unclear how almost half the money will be spent

· A UK investment fund with an initial £150million

· £50million additional funding for the Technology Strategy Board

· New low carbon economic areas. The first will be in the southwest of England for marine energy

DFT Low Carbon Transport Strategy

The Strategy proposes very little new policy, but looks at the range of possible approaches:

· Efficiency gains from technology

· Alternative fuels (although almost nothing on biofuels)

· Public transport and behavioural change

· Using market mechanisms

DECC - Low Carbon Transition Plan

This is the White Paper which sets out the UK’s first plan for meeting carbon budgets. Iin brief it sets out renewables’ contribution in the context of other low sources of electricity generation - including CCS and nuclear - and puts the RE strategy in overall context. Key news for us is: · the intention to legislate to introduce new duties for Ofgem, relating to security of supply and environmental objectives · taking up powers to set the transmission access regime.

22/06/09 - Energy bills could reach £4,700 a year by 2020

Gas and electricity bills have more than doubled since 2005. The average household energy bill could nudge £5,000 a year by 2020 if current price trends continue, nearly four times the present level, research from online switching service uSwitch.com warns. Read the full article here

21/05/09 - Zero-carbon eco home is light years ahead

Solar panels warm underfloor heating. Fifty square metres of solar cells generate electricity. Computer-controlled windows automatically regulate internal temperature. The world's first Active House stands at the crest of an estate in Lystrup, a suburb of Denmark's second city, Aarhus. Its south-facing roof is covered in solar panels and solar cells, which between them harness more than enough power to keep the occupants warm and the appliances running. In around 30 years' time, if designers have got their sums right, the excess electricity flowing from the house into Denmark's grid will have cancelled out the energy costs of building it, leaving a non-existent footprint on the earth's resources. Read the full article here

14/05/09 - PV - a real life example

Guardian reporter Ashley Seager spent £8,500 on a PV system for his terraced house which now supplys 90% of his families electricity needs. The 3kW peak system is now 2 years old and produced 2,730kWh in its first year and 2,703kWh in its second. Additionally Ashley is receiving payments under the governments Renewable Obligation Certification (ROC) of abour £35 per megawatt hour. Read the full article here.

13/05/09 - A Smart Meter for every UK home

All homes in Britain will have smart meters installed by 2020 under plans published by DECC. The DECC press release said that the UK would be the first country in the world to have an overhaul of this size for both electricity and gas meters. However Ofgem, who have been running trial of smart meters since September 08, says there is “no evidence” that smart meters actually cut domestic energy use.

29/04/09 - All new buildings to be zero energy from 2019 say MEPs

All buildings built after 31 December 2018 will have to produce as much energy as they consume on-site, says the European Parliament, amending the 2002 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. MEPs also call for more public investments in energy-efficient buildings. The legislative report was adopted by 549 votes in favour, 51 votes against and 26 abstentions.
By 31 December 2018 at the latest EU Member States must ensure that all newly-constructed buildings produce as much energy as they consume on-site - e.g. via solar panels or heat pumps, says a report drawn up by Silvia-Adriana Ticău (PES, RO). The Commission proposal did not include any specific target dates for zero-energy buildings.
Parliament also wants Member States to set intermediate national targets for existing buildings, i.e. to fix minimum percentages of buildings that should be zero energy by 2015 and by 2020 respectively.
MEPs define zero-energy buildings as buildings "where, as a result of the very high level of energy efficiency of the building, the overall annual primary energy consumption is equal to or less than the energy production from renewable energy sources on site". By the end of 2010, the Commission should establish a detailed common European definition of "net zero energy buildings", states the amended directive.
read more here

11/03/09 - PV Funding stream of LCBP suspended

The Stream 2 support for PV under the Low Carbon Building Programme (LCBP) has closed and no applications made since the 26 February are permissible. The funding pot for PV ran out on the 26 February and any further funding applications have been suspended despite the closure of the whole LCBP in June. The REA has recommended the immediate reallocation of remaining LCBP funds on a first come, first served basis so all microgeneration technologies can gain maximum benefit.

18/02/09 - BT rethinks wind farm plans

BT is to abandon plans to invest £250mn in wind farms due to concerns that the government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) cap-and-trade scheme would mean it could not benefit from Renewable Obligation Certificates. Under CRC rules if BT were to claim Renewables Obligation Certificates it would not be able to use renewable energy produced from the project to reduce its reported carbon emissions.

12/01/09 - Banana plant sets fruit in UK

For what is believed to be the first time ever, banana plants growing in a domestic property have set fruit.

Mike Hillard bought 3 Musa Basjoo plants 2 years ago hoping they would provide shade at his energy efficient home in Gloucestershire.

The banana plants were put in his solar room, which maintains a temperature of 10 -16 degrees above the outside temperature - just right for the exotic crop. Despite warnings that the trees would not fruit they produced an impressive yeild of more than 70 bananas.

06/01/09 - Food-energy plant gets planning OK

Planning has been approved for the Fairfield Bio anaerobic digestion plant in Bredbury, Stockport, which will create green energy from food leftovers with the aim of cutting carbon emissions and preventing tonnes of waste food ending up in landfill.

The site will process commercial food waste through a natural process that produces bio gas to generate heat and electricity. Some of the bio gas could in turn be purified and used to fuel vehicles.

The procedure involves the waste food being macerated, heat treated and then pumped into tanks where anaerobic bacteria break down the food. The bio gas is then released, captured and stored before being used as a fuel for a combined heat and power generator or purified for use in vehicles. High quality solid and liquid fertiliser will be used on local farmland to displace fossil fuel based fertilisers.

The project is a joint venture between Manchester-based social enterprise Fairfield AD Ltd and the national renewable energy business Bio Group Ltd.

Steve Sharratt, chief executive of Bio Group, said: “The Stockport site will be a first in the Northwest and will feature a number of innovative low carbon processes all of which will make for a lower carbon footprint and put the project at the forefront of the battle against climate change.”

Work on the plant is expected to begin in the spring, with the first food waste being accepted in November.

17/12/08 - University of Salford solar panel grant

Researchers at the University of Salford have received a grant to develop a new technique which could make thin film solar cell panels more efficient and cost effective.

The Joule Centre for Energy Research, a partnership of North West Universities, is giving one year’s funding to Professor Arthur Hill and a team at the university’s Institute for Materials Research to work on a method of laying down a more efficient solar cell material on a scale suitable for mass production.

The work aims to solve problems associated with the large scale deposition of a new material, Copper Indium diselenide (CIS), in thin film form.

The University team will be working in partnership with locally based company General Vacuum Equipment Ltd, based in Heywood.

Professor Hill said: “There are many benefits from being able to use CIS which could revolutionise the way in which we use solar power. At the moment the main obstacle to being able to mass produce CIS solar cells is a method to deposit thin films of the substance on an industrial scale.

“Following our initial very positive results using a method called PDMS, which is already used in the coated glass manufacturing industry, we are hopeful of being able to create a cost-effective and improved solar cell.”

The applications for the new cells are varied and, due to CIS’s high resistance to radiation, they would be ideal for use on earth or in space. The cells can absorb 99% of sunlight which hits them and theoretically can convert more than 20% of this into useful electrical power.

“This research could represent a significant step-change in the way in which people are able to generate electricity from the sun.”

03/12/08 - Co-op store powered by water

The Manchester-based Co-operative Group says it has become the country’s first retail to have a micro-hydro-powered store.

The group is powering its food store in New Mills, Derbyshire, from the fast-flowing waters of the river Goyt.

The micro-hydro installation is forecast to produce 240,000kWh of green electricity a year, taking into account seasonal variations in water level — enough to power over 50 per cent of the 7,340 sq ft store’s electricity needs.

The Co-op said the micro-hydro electricity project in New Mills is the first in the country to be owned and funded by local people though a share scheme which has led to the community forming an Industrial and Provident Society.

Chris Shearlock, sustainable development manager at The Co-op, said: “In addition to buying the hydro electricity for our food store in New Mills, The Co-operative’s family of businesses have worked together to support the innovative scheme, with a grant from The Co-operative Fund to help with the establishment of community-ownership and The Co-operative Bank helping with commercial finance. We are also planning to extend this support to further micro-hydro schemes across the country.”