Decommissioning
THE bill to the taxpayer for decommissioning Britain’s ageing nuclear power stations has increased by £6 billion in a single year to almost £70bn, campaigners warned yesterday. Manchester-based Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) group said that further increases were expected and called for an end to the development of new nuclear power stations in Britain and an increase in renewable energy investment. The NFLA said that most of the increase was down to the soaring costs of decommissioning Cumbria’s Sellafield nuclear site. It questioned the government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s reappointment of Nuclear Management Partners to the decommissioning contract. “In this age of austerity, nuclear power remains the one part of public expenditure that is ‘cuts proof’,” said NFLA chairman Councillor Mark Hackett. “I am not surprised at the continuing evidence of ever-increasing decommissioning costs with the UK’s nuclear legacy.” And the group also challenged the government’s decision to invest billions more of taxpayers’ cash in new nuclear power stations including Hinkley Point in Somerset.
Morning Star 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Dungeness
THE future of Dungeness B will be discussed at tonight’s Community Overview Committee meeting. Martin Pearson, station manager, will attend and give an update on what the future holds.
Folkestone Herald 8th Sept 2014 read more »
Hitachi
Hitachi could move the headquarters of its nuclear operations to the UK from Japan to take advantage of London’s status as Europe’s financial hub and cement its commitment to building a new generation of power plants in Britain, its chief executive has disclosed. Hiroaki Nakanishi, who is also the chairman of the IT to machinery giant, described the British capital as a “very good place for looking over the global market” and an ideal location to base some of its more “sophisticated” technologies, such as nuclear energy.
Telegraph 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Radwaste
This Science and Technology Plan presents an analysis of the nature and timing of RWM’s future generic research and development activities. By ‘generic’, we mean those activities that can be undertaken without specific knowledge of the eventual host site for the geological disposal facility. The document is primarily an internal document, however publication of this document will provide opportunities for dialogue and involvement of interested parties in the development of our knowledge base for the safe geological disposal of radioactive waste. This document provides significantly more detail of our research needs, objectives and indicative scope than previously published. Feedback is welcomed, particularly in relation to innovative approaches which may address the identified research needs and objectives.
NDA 2nd Sept 2014 read more »
Politics
The junior coalition partner said it aims to attract a further £100 billion of private investment into low-carbon energy infrastructure by 2020, with an emphasis on carbon capture and storage (CCS), tidal power, energy storage, and ultra-low emission vehicles. Key to attracting this investment would be plans to set a 2030 decarbonation target range of 50 – 100gCO2/kWh, with “60 per cent of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030”. The ambitious decarbonisation target was not directly included in the 2013 Energy Bill as proposed by the Labour party, although the coalition did include a provision for the target to be set at these levels after the next general election. The manifesto says the party would end all unabated coal generation by 2025, and that any new gas-fired power stations built after 2030 would have to be fitted with CCS technology.
Utility Week 8th Sept 2014 read more »
Energy Security
Energy intensive industries may perhaps have responded positively to National Grid’s plans to curtail their demand, but there is little evidence so far that the new capacity mechanism – when it finally emerges – will engender investment in new stand-by or reserve capacity. And, while the proposal suggests that the UK’s grid operator has an expectation that commercial and industrial operators will support a narrowing reserve margin, even more troubling for those energy intensive industries is the fact that a constrained market inevitably means higher energy prices. Those without a large proportion of their energy demand locked down in forward contracts should be concerned that they are extremely vulnerable in the face of price volatility. The solution? On-site power production.
Cogeneration & On-site Power Production 8th Sept 2014 read more »
Japan
Japan’s nuclear regulator said on Wednesday it expects there will be some reactors that will not clear the safety standards required in order to be restarted. Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, also said there are no fully established regulations to decide on the decommissioning of reactors.
Reuters 10th Sept 2014 read more »
BBC 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Japan’s nuclear regulator gave the go-ahead on Wednesday for the restart of a nuclear power station, the first step to reopening an industry that was mothballed after the Fukushima disaster and which may involve the definitive closure of a dozen old plants. The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said Kyushu Electric Power’s two-reactor Sendai plant in southwestern Japan could restart, although that still needs the approval of local authorities. Japan is nearing the end of its first full year without nuclear power since 1966 and public mistrust of the sector remains high after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.
Reuters 10th Sept 2014 read more »
China
According to Cameco the largest publicly traded pure-play uranium miner, Europe will close 16 nuclear reactors between now and 2023, while opening only 10 new ones. That’s not surprising, since the Fukushima meltdown in Japan materially changed how nuclear power is viewed, particularly in Germany. However, China won’t close a single reactor while opening 58 over that same span. While countries such as Japan and Germany have either sworn off or reevaluated their commitment to nuclear power because of Fukushima, other nations haven’t reacted the same way. Indeed, the power needs of a rapidly growing nation like China almost mandates the involvement of nuclear power as a clean and, equally important, controllable power source.
Motley Fool 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Romania
China General Nuclear Power Holding Corp. submitted the only non-binding bid for Romania’s 6 billion euro ($7.7 billion) construction project for two new nuclear reactors at the Cernavoda plant on the Black Sea coast. Romanian nuclear power operator Nuclearelectrica SA and China General Nuclear may sign an accord to set up a new project company for the reactors by end-year, Daniela Lulache, chief executive officer of Nuclearelectrica, told reporters in Bucharest today.
Bloomberg 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Finland
Finnish-Russian nuclear consortium Fennovoima has replaced its chief executive officer as well as the head of its Finnish owners as the company struggles to find new investors ahead of a crucial parliament vote.Fennovoima, owned by Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom and around 40 Finnish companies with small stakes, is planning to build a new reactor to western Finland, and the government has instructed it to increase its local ownership from just over 50 percent towards a “clear Finnish majority”.
Reuters 9th Sept 2014 read more »
US
Two Washington, D.C. reporters were able to drive through the outer security gates of a Maryland nuclear power plant without being challenged, according to a report published Tuesday. The Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Md., had an unattended and padlocked guard gate when journalists drove through – on two separate occasions. They easily accessed a parking lot within 550 feet of a working nuclear reactor without prompting any kind of contact with uniformed security. ‘No one stopped or even seemed to notice them,’ The Daily Caller reported
Daily Mail 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Nuclear Testing
In the Norwegian Arctic, what looks like a series of huge metallic spiderwebs is strewn through a 1.5 kilometre swathe of the Bardufoss forest. But the network of steel acoustic pipes are actually infrasound detectors, gently probing the ground for any rumbles below 20 hertz – beyond human hearing – that might signify a nuclear detonation. The array is one of 60 such stations in 35 countries that make up the International Monitoring System for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
New Scientists 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Demand Management
The Belgian market illustrates what can be accomplished by giving the same monetary value to a megawatt saved as a megawatt generated, says Pieter-Jan Mermans. Across Europe, the decrease in available peak generation capacity is an escalating problem, as countries cope with mothballed gas-fired plants, nuclear phase-out and the integration of renewables into the energy mix. However, while some issues are common to most or all European nations, it is national energy policy that often dictates how easy – or hard – it is for a country to mitigate the threat of blackouts. One option to alleviate supply and demand problems is demand-side response: reducing demand instead of increasing generation. The US physicist Amory Lovins coined the term “negawatt” to convey this concept of energy management, and it is an apt way of describing the process of selling unused energy back to the grid at peak times. The potential for demand response is considerable. In the UK, Ofgem estimated in 2012 that demand-side response could reduce peak demand on a winter weekday by up to 4.4GW. But selling negawatts is not always easy. The regulatory environment must create a level playing field for demand response operators and generators alike.
Utility Week 8th Sept 2014 read more »
Local Government
Local governments around the world are sending a clear message: we are concerned about climate change impacts, we are taking action ourselves, and we are calling on national governments to increase our joint efforts. Over the last two decades, the role of local governments in international governance has been growing. But can local actions result in global change? Contributing author Monika Zimmermann, Deputy Secretary General at ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, showcases the powerful momentum of local governments in the global effort for sustainability in the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2014: Governing for Sustainability.
Worldwatch Institute 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Renewables – solar
To mark Community Energy Fortnight Hackney Energy will be hosting a Solar Celebration in Homerton Grove Adventure Playground! Homerton Grove Adventure Playground was home to one of the first solar installations in the borough back in 1995. However, for the last three years the panels have not been working. Hackney Energy and young people from the neighbouring Banister House Estate therefore dived in and rewired the panels and replaced the inverter to get the panels generating again for this important community space. Hackney Energy is a community group that aims to create renewable energy and low carbon projects that benefit the Hackney community. We are currently working with Repowering London on Hackney’s first energy co-operative. The co-operative will be installing 120kW of solar panels on the Banister House estate later this year.
Community Energy Coalition 9th Sept 2014 read more »
The first solar-powered ambulances will be introduced in England from November as part of a Government initiative to reduce the impact of exhaust fumes on the environment. Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust has been awarded a £166,000 grant to install solar panels on 175 of its vehicles to power their electrical systems prevent their batteries going flat when stationary.
Telegraph 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Renewables – Grid Connections
A Swiss engineering group has won a £500 million contract from SSE for an underwater power cable that will transport electricity generated by Scottish wind farms. ABB will design and commission two 320-kilovolt converter stations in northeast Scotland, one at Blackhillock in Moray and one at Spittal in Caithness. The two stations will be linked by a 100-mile cable being built under the Moray Firth that is due to become operational in 2018. The cable will be capable of transporting up to 1200 megawatts of electricity, twice the capacity of the London Array, one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, in the Thames Estuary. The £1 billion project will help to relieve bottlenecks on the transmission network caused by the growth in renewable energy in recent years.
Times 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Energy Efficiency
Forever the Cinderella of climate and energy policy, two reports published this week say we should remember to invite energy efficiency to the ball. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says investing in efficiency can boost growth, jobs, health, government budgets, industrial productivity -and those are just the benefits backed by robust analysis. Meanwhile left-leaning thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says efficiency could reduce EU reliance on Russian gas. It’s an impressive list of benefits. So what’s going wrong?
Carbon Brief 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Energy efficiency has graduated from the “hidden fuel” to the “first fuel.” That’s the word from a new analysis the International Energy Agency published Tuesday, looking into the benefits of investments in energy efficiency upgrades.
Climate Progress 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Fuel Poverty
Working Together to End Fuel Poverty. Ending Cold Homes: Affordable Warmth Manifesto.
End Fuel Poverty Coalition 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Smart Meters
Installing smart meters in every house in the UK will save consumers “only 2%” on their annual bills, a committee of MPs has warned. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said that, on average, consumers will save just £26 a year. MPs also warned that the technology could be out of date by the time the roll-out is complete. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said smart meters will lower bills and make switching easier. Installing the meters – which begins in earnest next year – will cost £215 per household, or £10.6bn. Consumers in 53 million homes will be charged an annual amount on their bills to cover the cost, peaking at £11 a year in 2017. The £26 annual saving does not include the cost of installation.
BBC 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Guardian 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Telegraph 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Climate
Ed Davey has insisted that economic growth and carbon reduction can go hand in hand as the Energy and Climate Secretary has set out the UK Government’s vision for a legally binding global climate deal in Paris next year. ‘Paris 2015: Securing Our Prosperity Through a Global Climate Change Agreement’ is a new document released today (9 September), which argues that action on climate change is needed ‘on a coordinated global scale from every country in the world’.
Edie 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Carbon Brief 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Most studies show tackling climate change will be a drag on the economy, but a new report from Cambridge Econometrics is different. It says the UK economy would be 1.1 per cent bigger in 2030 if it met its carbon targets, despite the costs associated with decarbonisation. To understand how it came to such a counterintuitive finding, read on.
Carbon Brief 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Households will be more than £500 a year better off by 2030 if the UK meets targets to cut emissions in the next 15 years, experts estimate. Analysis suggests that meeting the first four “carbon budgets”, a series of five-year goals that require emissions cuts of around 60% on 1990 levels by 2030, will give a net boost to economic output of 1.1% and create an extra 190,000 jobs. The average household will be £565 a year better off as a result of energy efficiency in the home, lower running costs of more efficient cars and increases in wages and jobs due to significant investment in low carbon technology and services. Moves to cut carbon from the power sector, transport, homes and businesses will also reduce imports of oil and gas by £8.5 billion a year by 2030, t he study by Cambridge Econometrics in collaboration with Paul Ekins of University College London said. It will increase Government revenues by £5.7 billion a year by 2030 due to a stronger economy and improve the UK’s energy security, the research for environmental charity WWF-UK showed.
Daily Mail 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Business Green 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Business Green 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Climate change policies have been a controversial area of UK politics for a number of years. Regular headline-grabbing claims on the impacts of these policies on energy bills have played their part in this. But equally problematic is the fact that a lot of the debate to date has centred on the upfront cost of low-carbon policies, with very little attention paid to understanding the broader economic impacts of reducing the UK’s emissions. Earlier this year, the UK government rightly confirmed its acceptance of the Fourth Carbon Budget recommended by the Committee on Climate Change. This requires the UK to cut its emissions of greenhouse gases by around 60 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Today’s report by Cambridge Econometrics, commissioned by WWF-UK, attempts to shed a light on the costs and benefits of meeting these targets. To do this, Cambridge Econometrics used its well-known “macro-econometric model”, which differs from the “equilibrium models” often used by the UK Treasury. As Harvard economist Frank Ackerman explains in an excellent blog for the FT, equilibrium models tend to assume that the economy is always in a perfect state and working at “full capacity”. Any unemployment is voluntary.
Business Green 10th Sept 2014 read more »
A new joint report from Green Alliance, WWF, Christian Aid, RSPB and Greenpeace believes we will have a global agreement on tackling climate change by the end of next year. If we do, it will be an exceptional event. Nations working together is no longer the fashionable way to deal with problems. The UN is looked upon as indecisive, the EU is seen as technocratic and even the United Kingdom is barely living up to its name.
New Statesman 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2013, according to the latest measurements by the World Meteorological Organisation. As announced in their annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached 396 parts per million (ppm) – 42 per cent higher than pre-industrial levels.
Carbon Brief 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Climate Progress 9th Sept 2014 read more »
FT 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Times 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Guardian 9th Sept 2014 read more »
Herald 10th Sept 2014 read more »
Fiercer tornadoes, more prolonged periods of drought and loss of native fish species are some of the damaging impacts predicted for the US as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.
Climate News Network 10th Sept 2014 read more »
