Energy Policy

Focusing on a green recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic could boost the global economy by $10 trillion (£7.9 trillion) a year and create 395 million jobs by 2030 according to a new report by the World Economic Forum. Amid “unprecedented job losses and economic uncertainty”, focus on “nature positive solutions”, could provide a blueprint towards future prosperity, the organisation said. Putting nature first is good for business and for economic resilience, the organisation stated and the report includes case studies with examples of how “smart farming” using sensors and satellite imagery in Indonesia.

Independent 15th July 2020 read more »

Following months of delays and amid mounting pressure from businesses and climate advisors alike, the UK Government will publish the Energy White Paper, Heat Strategy and Buildings Strategy alongside the Autumn Statement, Alok Sharma has confirmed. Speaking at a BEIS Committee hearing late last week, the Secretary of State for BEIS was questioned on the state of key green policy packages which have faced delayed due to December’s general election, Brexit, and, latterly, Covid-19. After Boris Johnson confirmed that the National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) will now be published in the latter half of the year, to give civil servants time to align its measures with the 2050 net-zero targets, Sharma said that several supporting packages would be published this autumn. These include the Energy White Paper, which Sharma admitted has been “anticipated for some time under several secretaries of state”.

Edie 14th July 2020 read more »

The government is falling behind on a key plank of its net zero strategy, with the UK having installed less than two per cent of the heat pumps needed to decarbonise the nation’s homes, according to a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The think tank is today calling on the government to adopt a comprehensive Home Improvement Plan to catalyse progress on across the green heat sector to tackle the 14 per cent of total UK emissions that come from homes. If the UK is to meet its 2050 net zero target, at least 12 million homes will have to be fitted with heat pumps and energy efficiency measures such as insulation over the next 30 years, according to the IPPR’s report. Titled All hands to the pump: a clean heat plan for England the report estimates that the government has so far supported the installation of less than two per cent of what is needed. Even the recently announced £3bn energy efficiency fund provides only a “first step” towards delivering the mass roll out of green heat technologies, the report warns, calculating that across England it will take closer to £10.6bn a year of both public and private investment through to 2030, and a further £7bn from 2030 to 2050, to deliver the scale of change required to meet the UK’s net zero target.

Business Green 15th July 2020 read more »

The government’s new plans to upgrade the energy efficiency of homes will make only a fraction of the progress needed to help the UK meet its legally binding climate targets, according to a new study. A report by IPPR, a left-leaning thinktank, has found at least 12 million homes will need to be fitted with low-carbon heat pumps and energy efficiency measures, such as insulation, over the next 30 years for the UK to meet its net zero targets. However, Rishi Sunak’s pledge to fund a new energy efficiency plan with £3bn of spending is less than a third of the investment needed, and its plans to install heat pumps will deliver less than 2% of the number required, according to the report. Joshua Emden, a researcher at IPPR, said the government’s focus on energy efficiency in the recent summer statement should be paired with low carbon heating technologies, such as heat pumps, to “maximise the potential for savings on energy bills” and carbon emissions. By throwing its weight behind heat pumps now, the industry will be able to focus on the challenge of fitting the low-carbon tech to homes across the country, and begin creating new jobs and apprenticeships by training new workers, he said.

Guardian 15th July 2020 read more »

Tackling the global nature crisis could create 400m jobs and $10tn (£8tn) in business value each year by 2030, according to a report published by the World Economic Forum. The report warns that when the world recovers from the coronavirus pandemic there can be no business-as-usual, with today’s destruction of the natural world threatening over half of global GDP. In 2019 scientists warned that human society was in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems. The report, from the New Nature Economy project, published by the WEF, says a nature-first approach from business and political leaders will be a jobs-first solution.

Guardian 15th July 2020 read more »

Governments are spending vastly more in support of fossil fuels than on low-carbon energy in rescue packages triggered by the coronavirus crisis, new data has shown, despite rhetoric from many countries in support of a “green recovery”. Data from the Energy Policy Tracker, a new research effort by several civil society groups, shows that at least $151bn (£120bn) of bailout cash has been spent or earmarked so far to support fossil fuels by the G20 group of large economies. Only about a fifth of this spending is conditional on environmental requirements such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions or cleaning up pollution. The G20 countries are directing about $89bn (£71bn) in stimulus spending to clean energy, despite most of those governments being publicly committed to the Paris agreement on climate change. However, green campaigners are concerned that so much of the money is flowing to companies with no conditions to force them to take even basic measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or other pollution. Some countries have attached “green strings” to their bailout packages, including France and Austria on airlines. Canada has required some of its fossil fuel companies to clean up oil pollution or reduce leaks of methane as a condition of receiving bailout funds.

Guardian 15th July 2020 read more »

A group of leading businesses is calling on the UK government to beef up efforts to accelerate the adoption of zero emission vehicles by targeting 100 per cent electric vehicle (EV) sales for cars and vans by 2030 and supporting the new target with a raft of supply- and demand-side measures.

Business Green 15th July 2020 read more »

The government must work with the banking sector to coordinate action to support a ‘just transition’ to a low-carbon economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report published today, which urges Ministers to establish a UK-wide national investment bank to support the shift. Researchers from Leeds University and the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics (LSE) analysed a range of social risks associated with the transition to a net zero emission economy. Titled Financing climate action with positive social impact, the report focuses on the jobs and skills mix in several key cities and regions, including Bristol, Cardiff, Cornwall, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Leeds. Its conclusions highlight an urgent to need to recognise the social dimension of climate action, particularly in terms of new green job opportunities and the potential risks of ‘stranded workers’ where jobs are lost in high carbon industries and employees struggle to develop new skills and find new employment.

Business Green 14th July 2020 read more »

Richard Dixon: Ahead of last week’s UK mini-budget, there were rumours that there would be a strong green element to the recovery spending plans, even talk that it might be called a Green New Deal, following the Prime Minister’s attempt to channel Franklin Roosevelt the previous week. In the end, the only identifiably green element from Chancellor Rishi Sunak was £3 billion to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, £2bn of that in the form of grants to homeowners. Little help, though, for people renting a leaky home from a landlord who can’t be bothered to invest. For comparison, the identifiably green parts of Germany’s recovery package totals 12 times more. Specifically on improving homes, Denmark, with a population 13 times smaller than the UK, has allocated £3.6bn to a six-year programme focusing on social housing. Even worse, the £3bn isn’t even new money.

Scotsman 13th July 2020 read more »

Energy secretary Alok Sharma has said the energy white paper will “hopefully” be published this autumn. During a BEIS Select Committee hearing, Sharma was asked by Alan Brown, MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, about how he plans to “definitively get back on track to meet net zero in 2050”, with Brown making reference to the lack of progress on the milestones outlined by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). As part of his response, Sharma said that he is aware the energy white paper has “been anticipated for some time” but continued to say that the department “very much hopes” that the white paper “will come out in the autumn”.

Current 10th July 2020 read more »

If you’d love to replace your ageing car with an electric model but have been put off because you don’t have a drive on which to charge it, it’s time to think again. The latest electric cars can travel 230-260 miles between refills. This, plus improvements to the infrastructure that allow 80% recharges in just 30-40 minutes, means they can almost be run in the same way as conventional models – with a once-a-week refill. Figures out this week showed that 6% of new cars sold in June were fully electric models – making it the fastest growing sector. There are now 300,000 plug-in cars on the UK’s roads, compared with just 3,500 in 2013, and almost 120,000 of them run purely on battery power.

Guardian 11th July 2020 read more »

Sharma updates on energy white paper timetable. The business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) secretary of state has insisted that the government will publish its long-delayed energy white paper in the autumn.

Utility Week 9th July 2020 read more »

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said nuclear power is playing an important role in the world’s production of clean energy, “contributing massively” to avoiding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in many countries and providing innovative solutions that could be very useful to emerging economies. Grossi spoke today as part of a panel discussion on electricity security and sustainability at the International Energy Agency’s Clean Energy Transitions Summit. The virtual event brought together ministers and senior figures from around the world to discuss “measures to boost economies, create jobs, reduce global emissions and make energy systems more resilient” amid the economic slowdown during the global pandemic, according to the Paris-based IEA.

IAEA 9th July 2020 read more »

Nuclear power emerged as a radioactive topic for speakers at an International Energy Agency online global summit held Thursday dedicated to the clean energy transition. Policymakers and industry leaders from nearly all corners of the globe, such as China’s Director of the National Energy Administration Minister Zhang Jianhua and U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, outlined their countries’ energy plans at the summit aimed at hashing out a roadmap for how the world transitions away from fossil fuels, linked to greenhouse gases and rising global temperatures. In opening remarks, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries to bet their billion-dollar COVID-19 recovery funds on a green future. “We can invest in fossil fuels whose markets are volatile and whose emissions lead to lethal air pollution,” he said. “Or we can invest in renewable energy which is reliable, clean and economically smart.”

Karma 10th July 2020 read more »

Sama Bilbao y Leon of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency describes how resilience – the capacity to withstand and bounce back from major disruptions – takes many forms at nuclear power plants. The following is an abridged version of the presentation she gave during the webinar the Paris-based organisation held today to discuss its newly published Policy Brief, Building low-carbon resilient electricity infrastructures with nuclear energy in the post-COVID-19 era.

World Nuclear News 10th July 2020 read more »