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Northern Nuclear

The director of a northern think-tank has urged the Government to set up a ‘sovereign wealth fund’ to help use the North’s “unparalleled expertise” in nuclear power to lead the world in its transition to green energy. Ahead of the Budget, Tom Lees, said the UK has had a “longstanding lack of so-called ‘patient capital’ taking higher risk, higher return bets in truly transformational schemes, businesses and technologies” despite being a global financial centre since the 1980s. Last March Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the creation of the UK Advanced Research Projects Agency with at least £800m of funding for advanced and pioneering science.

Yorkshire Post 2nd March 2021 read more »

Hinkley

The parkland landscape at the Stables Business Park in Rooksbridge has been enhanced with the planting of more than 5,000 trees by Hinkley Connection contractors working for National Grid. With a mixture of native broadleaf trees that include oak, beech, hazel and holly the plantation was created in January and is set to form a substantial woodland area as the trees mature. “We had wanted to create a woodland habitat to encourage the deer, foxes, badgers and birdlife that already visit the park,” said business park owner Tom Dalley, “and when Hinkley Connection said they had a scheme for landowners to plant trees along the route of the new power lines we took them up on the offer.” Hinkley Connection is a joint project featuring National Grid, Western Power and EDF at Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station to replace the existing electricity cables and pylons between Hinkley Point and Seabank just north of Avonmouth.

Cheddar Nub News 1st March 2021 read more »

Carbon Market

The UK’s domestic emissions trading scheme (ETS) is finally poised to launch in early summer, with the first auction of carbon allowances for since Britain’s exit from the European Union’s carbon market earmarked for 21 May, the government has confirmed. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which was appointed by the government in December to oversee the UK’s new carbon market – and which also operates the EU’s ETS, of which the UK was a member until December – published its carbon allowances auction calendar for the year on Friday.

Business Green 1st March 2021 read more »

The UK Government has confirmed that England’s post-Brexit environmental watchdog will launch in July on an interim basis and that its domestic emissions trading scheme (ETS) will launch in May.

Edie 1st March 2021 read more »

Energy System Institutions

Energy system institutions fit for the future: Re-wiring government for a net zero world. Laura Sandys and Josh Buckland set out a targeted set of changes on Whitehall they argue are needed to drive the UK’s monumental transition ahead. Getting a move on Reaching the UK’s target of net zero emissions by 2050 will require a complete transformation of the energy system.

Business Green 2nd March 2021 read more »

Green Recovery

Green apprenticeships would prepare young people for jobs in renewable energy and the restoration of the UK’s natural landscape, and stop young people having their careers blighted for life by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, a report says. The report found that 250,000 green apprenticeships and a network of skills centres at further education colleges could be created with about £10.6bn of government money. Local authorities could create more than 44,000 apprenticeships in London with the right investment, along with about 20,000 in the West Midlands and 14,000 in Greater Manchester. Other regions also have high potential, as the report found scope for nearly 12,000 apprenticeships in West Yorkshire and 6,400 in the Sheffield area. About 500,000 young people aged 16 to 24 are out of work, and that number could double when the furlough scheme is withdrawn, according to the report, commissioned by Friends of the Earth from Transition Economics. The authors say the consequences of this past year’s setbacks for young people thrown into unemployment could last for years. If wages remain lower for young people through their working lives, from the “scarring” effect of early unemployment, the cumulative loss to their earnings could reach £39bn over the next 20 years.

Guardian 2nd March 2021 read more »

A vast skills pipeline of 250,000 green apprenticeships leading to full-time jobs across the burgeoning low carbon economy could address both climate breakdown and the post-Covid crisis in youth unemployment, research released today by Friends of the Earth contends. Carried out by analyst firm Transition Economics on behalf of the green campaign group, the study sets out how a major skills push backed by £10.6bn of government funding to cover wage subsidies and training schemes across the UK could create much-needed jobs in renewable energy, woodland creation, and peatland restoration.

Business Green 2nd March 2021 read more »

Centrica

Energy giant Centrica has pulled forward two of its leading green pledges by five years, aiming to become a net zero business by 2045 and to operate a fully electric vehicle (EV) fleet by 2025, it announced last week. The parent company of British Gas said it planned to reduce its own emissions, as well as those from customers that use its electricity of gas, in line with the Paris Agreement’s more ambitious 1.5C warming scenario. That means becoming a “net zero business” by 2045 – five years ahead of its original 2050 target unveiled last year – while also “helping its customers be net zero by 2050”, it said.

Business Green 1st March 2021 read more »

Robotics

Vast, futuristic-looking building, check. Lots of men in smart overalls stood at computerised control desks, check. Masses of shiny hi-tech equipment performing mind-bending feats of precision. Check. But this isn’t some underground lair on a remote Caribbean island, it’s on an industrial park on the fringes of the Black Country. And this anonymous-looking site is home to one of the biggest players in Britain’s nuclear industry. Thousands of people will drive past Ansaldo Nuclear in Ettingshall, Wolverhampton, without giving a second thought to what goes on behind its gates. But inside the huge yellow building, equipment that would once have been the preserve of sci-fi programmes is made with laser-like precision.

Express & Star 1st March 2021 read more »

Fusion

Nuclear fusion is the process that powers the Sun and all other stars. During fusion, the nuclei of two atoms are brought close enough together that they fuse together, releasing huge amounts of energy. Replicating this process on Earth has the potential to deliver almost limitless electricity with virtually zero carbon emissions and greater safety, and without the same level of nuclear waste as fission. But building what is essentially a mini star on Earth and holding it together inside a reactor is not an easy task. It requires immense temperatures and pressures and extremely strong magnetic fields. Right now we don’t quite have materials capable of withstanding these extremes. But researchers like me are working to develop them, and we’ve found some exciting things along the way.

Reaction 1st March 2021 read more »

The Conversation 1st March 2021 read more »

Climate Policy

The budget this week will be a vital test of Boris Johnson’s green credentials, with campaigners watching keenly to see whether plans match up to the government’s repeated claims to be creating a “green industrial revolution”. After this week, there are no more formal budgets to come before the UK hosts the vital UN Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow later this year. Meanwhile several of the government’s flagship green policies are in difficulties. The measures to be unveiled by Rishi Sunak, chancellor of the exchequer, include boosting cash for the national infrastructure bank, some of which will be invested in low-carbon projects, and a government-backed green savings bond for retail investors. Sunak said: “The UK is a global leader on tackling climate change, with a clear target to reach net zero by 2050, and a 10-point plan to create green jobs. We’re also launching new competitions that will unlock innovation in renewable energy, and help us develop the cutting-edge technology we need to reach net zero.”

Guardian 1st March 2021 read more »

Climate Policy – Scotland

Climate change: As Glasgow prepares to host UN summit Cop26, Scotland’s plans may not actually add up – Stop Climate Chaos Coalition. The Climate Change Plan update, which is intended to set out how to achieve these targets, has just been published and is being scrutinised by parliamentary committees. Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, a coalition of 58 organisations campaigning together on climate change, welcomes some of the new proposals included but believes there is a real risk the current plans don’t get us on track to meeting the targets, with too many promises to review, consult and plan, and not enough action. There is also a worrying reliance on unproven technologies which might never materialise at the scale required. The plan also has no mention of commitments to international climate justice issues nor ensuring that we hear the voices of those people most impacted by the climate crisis but who have done least to cause it. Transformative changes are needed across all areas of life to ensure a recovery from the pandemic that is greener and fairer for everyone and protect and enhance our land and seas. Here, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland members working in the transport, agriculture and marine sectors share some thoughts on the content of the Climate Change Plan update and outline what it needs to deliver.

Scotsman 1st March 2021 read more »

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