EDF
French energy giant EDF plans to turn the former British Energy into a multi-billion pound centre of excellence capable of building nuclear plants around the world. EDF bought British Energy from the Government in September for £12 billion, but the sale received clearance from the European Competition Commission only after Christmas, allowing the creation of the new merged business called EDF Energy. EDF Energy is still eight years from building its first nuclear reactor in Britain, but is already targeting the US and China as markets ripe for expansion.
Mail on Sunday 11th Jan 2009 more >>
Energy Supplies
Whether the industry likes it or not, companies have effectively become arms of the state, at least in Whitehall’s eyes. They are expected to deliver secure and clean supplies of energy, all at an affordable price. Britain has signed up to the EU’s renewable energy targets, which require one third of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, up from barely 3% today. Building wind farms is a lot more expensive than building conventional coal and gas plants. Poyry Energy Consulting estimates that it will cost at least £2,000 per household on top of current utility bills to meet the target by 2020, or about £200 extra per year.
Observer 11th Jan 2009 more >>
Energy Efficiency
Energy-guzzling flatscreen plasma televisions will soon be banned as part of the battle against climate change, ministers have told The Independent on Sunday. “Minimum energy performance standards” for televisions are expected to be agreed across Europe this spring, they say, and this should lead to “phasing out the most inefficient TVs”. At the same time, a compulsory labelling system will be drawn up to identify the best and worst devices.
Independent on Sunday 11th Jan 2009 more >>
Peter Ainsworth MP: The Green Energy Bill, which I am introducing, aims to ensure that tomorrow’s technologies will be accessible to all. It will be a major step towards decentralised energy, bringing power, literally, to the people. People must be able to create their own energy and profit from it, or we will not be able to shift from the model of centralised power that ruins the environment and makes homes and businesses dependent on foreign fossil fuels. The Bill aims to introduce a “feed-in” tariff. It’s a way of paying people and businesses for the power they produce. The Conservatives successfully fought for this mechanism in last year’s Energy Act, against government opposition, and we will soon be launching a Green Paper on a realistic strategy for achieving a low-carbon economy. My Bill requires the Government to put it in place. If renewable energy is going to be widespread, it has to be economical and easy to install.
Independent on Sunday 11th Jan 2009 more >>
Thanks to shops starting to withdraw from sale old-style 100-watt bulbs ahead of a looming Europe-wide ban, Britain’s domestic lighting traditionalists have belatedly realised that the forces of Brussels and eco-progressivism are in the process of doing away with the light they have read and lived by all their lives.
Independent on Sunday 11th Jan 2009 more >>
Test Veterans
Ministers have been accused of blocking compensation claims brought by hundreds of nuclear test veterans who believe they developed cancers and other illnesses after being forced to witness atomic bomb experiments in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Independent on Sunday 11th Jan 2009 more >>
Iran
The fear is that the wars in Gaza and Lebanon are small sideshows compared to the one that threatens Israel’s existence. Israel sees Iran’s hand in both conflicts and worryingly Tehran could soon be a nuclear power. And that looming confrontation is a truly frightening prospect for the world.
Mirror 10th Jan 2009 more >>
Slovakia
The Slovakian government decided in an extraordinary session Saturday night to reopen its Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear power plant closed at the beginning of the year as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute. “I am aware that we are violating our accession agreement with the European Union with this decision, and I accept the full political responsibility for it,” Prime Minister Robert Fico said during a press conference broadcast on TV news channel TA3.
Earth Times 10th Jan 2009 more >>
Bloomberg 10th Jan 2009 more >>
Coal
A controversial plan by a Danish energy company for a new coal-fired power station in Scotland would not be permitted in Denmark because it causes too much climate-wrecking pollution. Environmentalists, experts and Danish politicians say that DONG Energy, based in Copenhagen, would not be allowed to build the kind of carbon-emitting plant it is proposing for the North Ayrshire port of Hunterston in its home country.
Sunday Herald 11th Jan 2009 more >>
Fuel Poverty
This winter’s death rates could well be the worst since the turn of the century, as freezing temperatures and virulent flu take their toll on tens of thousands of Britain’s frail and elderly. Winter always sees an increase in death rates – on average, 25,000 more older people die between December and March. But experts are already warning that this tough winter could see at least a doubling of that figure.
Observer 11th Jan 2009 more >>
