New Nukes
Two new nuclear power plants must be built by 2020 to meet targets on greenhouse gas emissions, the government’s climate change committee says today. Up to four coal-fired power plants must be fitted with carbon capture and storage technology by the same date, and another 8,000 wind turbines will need to be erected to increase the rate at which emissions are cut, the committee says in its first report to Parliament.
FT 12th Oct 2009 more >>
THE Government is set to give the green light to a new generation of nuclear power stations next month but is expected to fudge the issue of how they should be funded. A new nuclear strategy for the UK will be outlined in a National Policy Document to be published in November. At least eight new reactors are proposed, with companies such as EDF, Centrica and Eon lining up to take part in the building programme. The document is also expected to include a list of sites where the reactors could be located. Industry insiders believe many of the chosen locations will be near existing power stations.
Sunday Express 11th Oct 2009 more >>
Cumbria
Anti-nuclear campaigners will target the new Bishop of Carlisle’s enthronement this weekend to protest against his pro-nuke stance.
Carlisle News and Star 8th Oct 2009 more >>
Urenco
The Government’s stake in Urenco, which owns nuclear fuel plants in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, will be sold off to help to repay the country’s escalating debt mountain, the Prime Minister will announce today. The plan to sell off the Government’s one-third stake in Urenco could be the most controversial. The stake is controlled by the Shareholder Executive, which was created in 2003 to better manage the Government’s performance as a shareholder in businesses. The other two thirds are owned by the Dutch Ultra-Centrifuge Nederland and German Uranit. Downing Street sources said that the sale would be subject to national security considerations, which could lead to the Government maintaining a small interest in the company or other restrictions placed on the sale.
Times 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Telegraph 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Guardian 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Independent 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Terror
A physicist arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Islamist fighters while working for the world’s largest nuclear research institute reportedly made references to terrorist attacks in emails intercepted by US intelligence services.
Telegraph 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Guardian 12th Oct 2009 more >>
A nuclear scientist arrested by armed police is said to have admitted plotting an Al Qaeda terrorist atrocity, possibly in Britain. Dr Adlene Hicheur, 32, has confessed to talking over the internet with the North African branch of the terror organisation about attacks on ‘Western targets’, according to officials in France where he was held last week.
Daily Mail 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Daily Express 12th Oct 2009 more >>
The US and Britain tried to bolster confidence in Pakistan’s ability to retain control of its nuclear arsenal yesterday in the wake of an audacious weekend attack by suspected Taliban militants on the headquarters of the country’s army – previously described as impregnable.
FT 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Climate
What must be done? First, on the supply side, as high-emitting coal-fired power stations are retired, the “generation gap” must be filled by low-carbon alternatives. This is crucial, given that power generation accounts for 37pc of UK CO2 emissions and the future electrification of transport and heat will drive increased electricity usage. Secondly, policy needs to facilitate the installation of transformational technologies and services into homes and businesses by energy suppliers, building on the energy efficiency work they already undertake. These two elements will be at the heart of a first progress report to be published today by Lord Turner’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which is advising the Government on how to hit its 2050 target.
Telegraph 12th Oct 2009 more >>
The roads of the 2020s could look and sound very different if the climate change committee’s vision of transport policy is realised. Electric cars will zip noiselessly along roads depleted of commuters by better planning and more effective public transport.
Guardian 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Britain’s ambitious policies to cut carbon dioxide in the fight against global warming are still not enough, the official climate change watchdog warns today in its first annual report. Even though the Government has created a detailed plan for transition to a low-carbon economy, a “step change” is still needed in the pace of reducing carbon emissions, and in fact the rate should be more than doubled, says the Climate Change Committee.
Independent 12th Oct 2009 more >>
What this year’s lucid document shows compellingly is just how hard it is going to be to meet our climate targets, and also, that only massive action by the state, on home insulation, on low-carbon cars, on the energy market, is going to do it. The free market by itself won’t deliver the low-carbon economy, not by a mile. Yet the new mantra of Mr Clark’s boss David Cameron is to roll back the state wherever possible, and get Big Government out of things. Good luck, Greg; watching you square that particular circle will be fascinating.
Independent 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Energy Supplies
The World Gas Conference in Buenos Aires last week was one of those events that shatter assumptions. Advances in technology for extracting gas from shale and methane beds have quickened dramatically, altering the global balance of energy faster than almost anybody expected. Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive, said proven natural gas reserves around the world have risen to 1.2 trillion barrels of oil equivalent, enough for 60 years’ supply – and rising fast.
Telegraph 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Liberalisation of the UK’s energy market should be reversed, with ministers taking more control of decisions such as building new renewable energy generation, the government’s Committee on Climate Change will say today. The call for a U-turn on 20 years of government policy that has created one of the world’s most liberal energy markets came as the committee, chaired by Lord Turner, concluded that the deregulated markets produced neither the needed investment in low-carbon forms of energy nor a diversity of supply.
FT 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Energy Efficiency
Insulation freebie wins Kirklees praise Local authority cuts annual carbon emissions by 28,000 tonnes by offering residents free home insulation package Promise a Yorkshireman something for nothing and he will immediately ask for the catch. This innate caution was the challenge facing a council that decided to offer all its residents free cavity-wall and loft insulation, with a £40 carbon monoxide detector and energy saving light bulbs thrown in. When householders in Huddersfield-based Kirklees realised that the scheme was not going to be means-tested, they decided to fill their boots. The £20 million, three-year Kirklees Warm Zone initiative grew into the UK’s largest council-run home insulation programme, hailed as a trailblazing example to authorities across the country. Since the initiative’s birth in 2007, insulation work has been carried out in 32,000 private homes, producing an average household reduction of £200 on annual fuel bills, a total yearly saving of £6.5 million. The scheme has also helped Kirklees to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 28,000 tonnes per year. More than 100 jobs have been created.
Times 12th Oct 2009 more >>
The Climate Change Committee directed its heaviest criticism at the government’s leading policy, to reduce carbon emissions from homes by 35% by 2020. The carbon emissions reductions target (Cert) came into effect last year and places an obligation on energy suppliers to help homeowners reduce household emissions until 2012. “Cert has been very good at insulating old ladies’ lofts and sending energy saving lightbulbs through the post,” said Kennedy. “But we need a national programme for energy efficiency.” He added that companies selling energy were not always best placed to advise customers on how to reduce demand. The committee recommends insulating 10m lofts and 7.5m cavity walls by 2015, plus solid wall insulation for 2.3m homes by 2022. This would require a “whole-house approach” under which an audit of each house is carried out, says the report, and schemes that would see work carried out street by street. Dramatic improvements in the energy efficiency of buildings must be coupled with a 50% cut in the carbon emitted by the energy sector by 2020, says the committee. It backs the government’s plan for coal stations with carbon capture and storage, but says three new nuclear plants should be operational between 2018 and 2022. Nuclear and wind aren’t good bedfellows because nuclear produces a steady baseload and can’t step in when wind is down.” He also noted that the CCC was pushing back the likely timescale for new nuclear power stations and expressed doubt that the suggested construction timescales could be met.
Guardian 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Iran
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, turned the spotlight on Iran on Sunday, warning that the “world will not wait indefinitely” for an agreement over its nuclear programme.
Telegraph 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Herald 11th Oct 2009 more >>
Trident
Gordon Brown is considering cutting Britain’s arsenal of nuclear warheads by a quarter, it has been claimed.
Telegraph 12th Oct 2009 more >>
Coal
A funding package worth up to £1 billion to help Britain to build the world’s first “clean coal” power station could be delayed by the Government after E.ON’s decision to freeze plans for a new coal plant at Kingsnorth in Kent for up to three years. In an interview with The Times, Paul Golby, the chief executive of E.ON UK, said that the Government had agreed to retain Kingsnorth in a competition for the funding, even though it would now be impossible for the project to meet a key deadline.
Times 12th Oct 2009 more >>
