Wylfa
One of Britain’s last remaining nuclear power stations is due to be switched off at the end of this month, raising fresh concerns about a shortage of UK electricity supplies during the period of peak winter demand. Engineers at the Magnox reactor at Wylfa on Anglesey, one of only eight operational UK nuclear power stations, will turn it off for the last time on December 30. The plant, which entered service in 1971 and is the last of Britain’s original generation of nuclear reactors, still generates nearly 460 megawatts of electricity – enough to supply a city the size of Manchester. The decision to switch it off has fuelled fears about a risk of blackouts next year amid severe and growing constraints on the UK’s electricity generating capacity. Last month National Grid was for the first time forced to use emergency measures to keep the l ights on after several power plants unexpectedly broke down. “It doesn’t seem to make any sense,” Dominic Whittome, an energy consultant, said. “It’s a very peculiar time to close it down – right in the middle of winter when we are operating at the lowest generating capacity since the mid-1970s.” The Wylfa unit is the last working Magnox reactor anywhere in the world. It uses British technology originally developed at Calder Hall, Cumbria, the world’s first civil nuclear reactor, which was inaugurated by the Queen in 1956. The Wylfa reactor is now running low on nuclear fuel, and the manufacturing line to produce new Magnox fuel rods shut down in 2008. A spokesman for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the government agency that operates the plant, said: “It can’t continue generating indefinitely. It’s been generating for 44 years, which is much longer than expected under its original design life.”
Times 14th Dec 2015 read more »
Energy Policy
The government has been warned that a major U-turn in energy policy is required if it is to avoid charges of blatant hypocrisy following the commitments it made in the Paris climate deal this weekend. Critics say that the first test for Amber Rudd, the energy and climate change secretary, will come later this week, when she announces whether or not she plans to go ahead with a proposed 90% cut in solar subsidies. Business leaders, academics and environmentalists all believe that a series of attacks on wind, solar and other “clean” technologies since the general election have undermined Britain’s ability to meet new CO2 targets. The warnings that urgent action is needed on energy policy came after 196 countries agreed a deal at a summit in Paris on Saturday evening aimed at limiting global temperature rises to less than 2C. Craig Bennett, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, agreed: “It will be outstanding hypocrisy for the government to trumpet the new climate change agreement unless it does a U-turn on energy policy. Tomorrow morning ministers need to write to our climate change committee asking for advice on how to introduce radical new policies. Clearly George Osborne and others needs to end their love affair with shale gas, diesel farms and trying to expand airport runways.” Jeremy Leggett, the founder of world leading renewable energy company Solarcentury, spelled out the challenge for Rudd and George Osborne, the latter being seen as the real axeman of green policies. “The government has a huge credibility problem, having signed a treaty of historic importance, and yet [having] been pursuing a path of [energy policy] travel that is 180 degrees opposed to what is needed,” he said. “To reach the Paris target of a well under 2C increase in emissions completely forbids the exploitation of shale gas and needs restoration of the green industrial policies talked about in the past. Anything else would be blatant hypocrisy,” he said. On Sunday, the energy secretary told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show that the government would deliver energy change to the UK in a different way and by “providing better value for money for consumers”. Asked about the previous subsidy cuts, Rudd said there was “no point in having renewables” which were permanently expensive. “Subsidies isn’t a long-term plan,” she said. “The costs of solar have come down over the past 15 years by 80%. If the cost comes down, then the subsidy comes down.”
Guardian 13th Dec 2015 read more »
BBC 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Ed Miliband is drawing up a cross-party campaign for a zero carbon emissions target in an effort to reinvent himself as a climate evangelist after leading Labour to defeat in May’s general election. Mr Miliband, a former energy secretary, is passionate about green causes and threatened to resign six years ago over plans for a third runway at Heathrow. As energy secretary, he played a role in helping to save a draft agreement at the 2009 Copenhagen summit on climate change. By making climate change his priority, Mr Miliband is eschewing the lucrative private sector opportunities that other former New Labour figures have exploited in recent weeks.
FT 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Britain risks being left “out on its own” pursuing even tougher green targets in the wake of the Paris climate agreement, as the “toothless” deal means other countries may fail to deliver on their promises, MPs have warned. The UK’s own legally-binding climate change goals could be further strengthened in the wake of Saturday’s agreement, which commits countries to keep global warming to “well below” the previous UN goal of a 2C limit, experts said yesterday. Peter Lilley, a Conservative MP and member of the Environmental Audit Committee said: “The agreement is fairly toothless. The only people who take any notice will be people like us. “We’re already out on our own, we’re the only ones with such a legally binding target and that’s going to be hugely costly and as a result of this treaty we’ve got greater legal obligations than we had previously.”
Telegraph 14th Dec 2015 read more »
Lang Banks: THE UN climate negotiations may have run over and everyone might have been exhausted but when the president finally brought down his gavel on Saturday evening, clapping and cheering erupted in the sprawling venue that has been my work-place for the past two weeks. In my own team, there were hugs and even some tears. Sure, we did not achieve all that we had wanted from the Paris agreement for people and nature most threatened by climate change. But I finally knew that we could all now return home with what we need to enable us to press our respective national governments on delivering on the promises they did make, as well as strengthening the national actions triggered by the deal. The transition to a fully renewable future is unstoppable, with the fossil fuel industry living on borrowed time. If governments are to stay true to keeping global temperature rises well below 2C, then greater amounts of fossil fuels will now need to remain in the ground and unburned. And now that the talks are over, it’s time for the real action to step up a gear. This week’s draft budget will be an acid test of the Scottish Government’s commitment to climate action. A clear, long-term funding plan for boosting the energy efficiency of our homes and tackling fuel poverty would send a strong signal about Scotland’s intent to meet future targets. Indeed, all political parties should be responding to the global challenge that has been laid down in Paris by setting out manifesto pledges that will ensure we meet our climate act targets and fully grasp the benefits of Scotland’s climate change ambition.
The National 14th Dec 2015 read more »
THE Scottish Greens have urged Finance Secretary John Swinney to deliver “serious investment” in low carbon technology following the weekend’s landmark global climate change deal struck in Paris. Patrick Harvie, co-convenor and finance spokesman for the party, said it was vital this week’s draft Scottish Budget – due to be delivered by John Swinney on Wednesday – reflected the agreement by providing funds for low carbon infrastructure and jobs.
The National 14th Dec 2015 read more »
Energy Costs
Families could be offered cheaper electricity to use their washing machines and dishwashers when it’s windy or sunny, as Britain builds more renewable energy to tackle global warming. Amber Rudd, the energy secretary, said the UK was “committed” to renewables, including more offshore wind farms, after agreeing to an “historic” climate change deal in Paris on Saturday night. The growth of intermittent wind and solar power is forecast to herald a radical new model of energy usage in which households are offered power prices that vary with the weather, to encourage them to use renewable energy when it is available. Duncan Burt, head of real time operations at National Grid, said: “You want people’s behaviour to change, so you use the power when the sun is shining.” A model where “power is cheaper when it’s sunny” could become commonplace after 2020, once ‘smart’ energy meters, which monitor usage in real time, are installed in every UK home, he said.
Telegraph 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Terror
George Osborne has been accused of risking national security by failing to guarantee that the three forces which guard railways, military sites and nuclear installations from terrorist attack would be protected from spending cuts.
Independent 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Telegraph 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Mirror 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Companies
Nationalising Rolls-Royce’s nuclear submarine business, which powers the UK’s Trident deterrent, is one option under consideration by the government should the crisis at Britain’s premier engineering group deepen.
FT 13th Dec 2015 read more »
The nuclear submarine business of Rolls-Royce could be nationalised if the financial crisis at the company deepens after five profit warnings in the past 20 months. The government is also considering options of merging some or all parts of Rolls-Royce with BAE Systems — UK’s largest independent aerospace and defence company. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) prepared the emergency plans in October and has a range of options, which the government could avail to protect its interests in the 100-year-old company, in the event of a hostile takeover bid by foreign investors. People familiar with the matter told Financial Times that “officials are concerned that Rolls-Royce’s management has no substantial experience of defending against hostile takeovers”.
IB Times 14th Dec 2015 read more »
Reuters 13th Dec 2015 read more »
The government has fired a warning shot across the bows of Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems, lead industrial partners in the programme to renew Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent, amid concerns over their readiness for the £31bn project. The Trident replacement, known as Successor, is the single biggest UK defence programme in the next two decades. It will maintain Britain’s permanent sea-based strategic nuclear strike capability after the existing submarine fleet carrying the missiles reaches the end of its working life.
FT 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Radhealth
During the Cold War, they guarded America’s nuclear weapons facilities. Now they are dying of cancer, as the U.S. government looks the other way.
Slate 11th Dec 2015 read more »
Capacity Market
The Capacity Market – a scheme designed to promote energy security – cleared at £18 per kW, a price considered low and perhaps unviable for many projects, and at a cost to consumers of more than £1 billion. And the winners of the government’s second Capacity Market Auction have now been announced – and reveal the continued subsidisation of polluting energy forms, side-tracking the renewable energy transition, according to the Renewable Energy Association.
Scottish Energy News 14th Dec 2015 read more »
China
Nuclear power sector in China saw major growth this year and this will help the country’s nuclear powerhouses go global, said a senior official on Tuesday in Beijing. Liu Baohua, head of the nuclear power department of China’s National Energy Administration, said eight nuclear power units are expected to put into operation in 2015, a record number in history. China is expected to have 30 nuclear reactors in operation by the end of this year. China saw nuclear power units using the second-generation technology pulling the plug and reactors using the third-generation technology start construction in 2015, a great progress in nuclear power technology upgrade. Talent training for the nuclear power sector accelerated this year, with about 600 operators being certified, expanding the talent pool to about 2,000 people nationwide, Liu added. China is well prepared for the nuclear power industry to go global, with its advantages in technology, costs, management, industry chain, international relationship and coordination, said Liu. China’s third-generation nuclear power technology, with Hualong One and CAP1400 as representatives, won recognition worldwide in 2015, spreading its wings in the global market. According to contracted deals signed this year, Hualong One, China’s homegrown third-generation nuclear technology, will be used in the fifth reactor in Argentina and the Bradwell B nuclear power station in Essex, Britain. The export of the CAP1400 nuclear technology, which is based on the AP1000 reactor technology developed by the United States-based Westinghouse Electric Co LLC, to South Africa and Turkey is in pipeline.
China Daily 14th Dec 2015 read more »
Submarines
HMS Artful, the third of the Royal Navy’s new Astute Class attack submarines set sail for sea trials this summer. The Defence Secretary announced the news as he visited the home of the UK’s submarine manufacturing.
Daily Mail 13th Dec 2015 read more »
An enormous, 1,000-tonne nuclear submarine part brought traffic to a standstill while it was slowly driven through a Cumbrian town. The cylindrical unit is the heaviest ever moved by technology and defence giant BAE Systems. Road blocks were in place while the unit was taken on its 20-minute journey from Devonshire Dock Hall to a new assembly shop in Bridge Road, Barrow. The unit will form part of an Astute class nuclear-powered submarine. The first two submarines of the seven-sub programme – HMS Astute and HMS Ambush – are already in service. Four more are in various stages of construction at Barrow – the Audacious, Anson, Agamemnon and an as-yet-unnamed submarine.
BBC 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Daily Mail 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Climate
As the climate change talks concluded in Paris, new figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) show that Scotland has outperformed the UK on carbon emission reductions and called on the UK Government to “raise its sights” on the issue. The figures show that since the Scottish climate change targets were introduced, Scotland has reduced its carbon emissions by 34% while the fall for the UK was 27%. SPICe has also confirmed that Scotland outperformed the UK on total emission reductions in each of the last three years (2011 to 2013).
Scottish Energy News 13th Dec 2015 read more »
What is needed is a new burst of investment, research and development to make eco-friendlier energy sources profitable too. Where the money comes from government, it must be carefully targeted and geared for return. Britain’s green subsidies have so far been wasted on wind farms that work at 10 or 20 per cent capacity for most of the year. Advanced solar and nuclear technology, including the as-yet elusive possibility of generating power using nuclear fusion, could hold more promise. The best outcome of the Paris agreement would be a global race to invest in and profit from cleaner energy of this kind, energising the global economy with new productive capacity and opportunities for yield. The best outcome for Britain would be for it to be one of the winners. Ministers have taken some encouraging steps in this direction. The green investment bank, established by the coalition government in 2012 to invest in clean energy, was the first of its kind in the world. Last year it turned a modest profit before tax, and as the infrastructure it has paid for is built, it expects profits to rise. This is an opportunity to attract investments as well as make them. The much-vaunted “green economy” should flourish after the Paris deal as investors across the world receive the signal that fossil fuels are, however gradually, on their way out.
Times 14th Dec 2015 read more »
It is fitting that it was Paris that last night was the site for what President Hollande called the start of “the most beautiful and most peaceful revolution”. After all, it was France that provided the location for one history’s great unpeaceful revolutions. That was a revolution which turned into the subject of one of the most astute historical jokes. The story may be apocryphal, but asked whether he thought the French Revolution of 1789 was a success, 20th century Chinese leader Zhou Enlai is said to have replied “it’s too early to tell”. The same is true of the Paris Agreement and its commitment to a low carbon and sustainable future. We won’t have to wait a few centuries to judge its success, but we may have to wait a few decades. We can comfortably declare the past two weeks an unalloyed triumph for French diplomacy (Nobel Prize winner Laurent Fabius sounds about right, doesn’t it?), but the ultimate gauge of success – the meeting of the Agreement’s 1.5C temperature goal, the creation of a net zero emission economy this century – will take some time to be measured. As Barack Obama observed yesterday, “we may not live to see the full realization of our achievement – but that’s okay”.
Business Green 13th Dec 2015 read more »
Mere mention of the Paris climate talks is enough to make James Hansen grumpy. The former Nasa scientist, considered the father of global awareness of climate change, is a soft-spoken, almost diffident Iowan. But when he talks about the gathering of nearly 200 nations, his demeanour changes. “It’s a fraud really, a fake,” he says, rubbing his head. “It’s just bullshit for them to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.’ It’s just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned.”
Guardian 12th Dec 2015 read more »
After the stomping and cheering died down, and the hugs and toasts ended, a question hung in the air as the climate conference came to a close: What does the new deal really mean for the future of the Earth. Scientists who closely monitored the talks here said it was not the agreement that humanity really needed. By itself, it will not save the planet. The great ice sheets remain imperiled, the oceans are still rising, forests and reefs are under stress, people are dying by tens of thousands in heat waves and floods, and the agriculture system that feeds seven billion human beings is still at risk. And yet 50 years after the first warning about global warming was put on the desk of an American president, and quickly forgotten, the political system of the world is finally responding in a way that scientists see as commensurate with the scale of the threat. “I think this Paris outcome is going to change the world,” said Christopher B. Field, a leading American climate scientist. “We didn’t solve the problem, but we laid the foundation.”
New York Times 12th Dec 2015 read more »
Holding temperature rise to 2C – let alone hitting the aspirational target of 1.5C in the climate agreement concluded in Paris at the weekend – is going to require the deployment of technologies to suck carbon out of the atmosphere, the pope’s climate change adviser said. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, who provided scientific advice in the drafting of the pope’s encyclical, said countries would have to move quickly to build up new solar arrays and wind farms, as well as scale up technologies still in the lab phase, to have any hope of reaching the target. “One thing is clear is that in order to even aspire to 1.5C you need not only rapid decarbonisation of the global economy by the middle of century, but you probably have to remove some carbon from the atmosphere, in particular afforestation on degraded lands, which is a win/win option anyway,” said Schellnhuber.
Guardian 14th Dec 2015 read more »
