Energy Policy
Energy UK will on Monday use electoral successes made by Eurosceptics to call for a rethink on “green” power policies in Brussels. The lobby group headed by former Conservative MP, Angela Knight, says it is time to move away from “an emotion driven and expensive [energy] agenda.” The attempt to use political advances by the UK Independence party and others to dilute measures to counter climate change will infuriate environmentalists and renewable energy executives. It follows a survey by Ernst & Young (EY) that found the attractiveness of the UK renewables market in the eyes of investors and developers has decreased dramatically over the last 18 months. Last week RWE, one of the big six energy companies in Britain, expressed frustration as Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, blocked planning for an onshore wind farm application in Yorkshire. Pickles has already turned down a string of onshore wind farm projects and is understood to be a key figure behind proposals for the next Conservative party manifesto to make a commitment to end subsidies to onshore wind industry.
Guardian 2nd June 2014 read more »
Friends of the Earth has accused the chancellor George Osborne of exacerbating climate change by handing out £2.7bn of incentives to energy companies to fuel North Sea oil and gas production. FoE said he was too focused on propping up oil companies at the expense of making renewable energy cheaper. David Powell, economics campaigner at FoE, said: “The chancellor falls over himself to claim renewable energy is expensive, while bending over backwards to offer oil barons massive tax breaks. “Reducing the tax bill for rich oil companies will either bolster their already fat profits, or cause more climate changing fossil fuels to be extracted that would have been left in the ground, or both.”
Guardian 1st June 2014 read more »
The coalition has effectively abandoned a pledge to make all new homes “zero-carbon” by 2016, as new legislation in the Queen’s speech would not apply to housing built in small developments and companies would be allowed to buy exemptions from new green standards. Ministers have repeatedly watered down the goal of making sure all new housing does not create any carbon emissions and the new infrastructure bill would hand another gift to developers in an effort to encourage the construction of more homes. The bill would exempt all small housing developments from the new green standards and allow builders to pay their way out of their full obligations. Where the developer chooses not to go “zero-carbon”, they can build a home with emissions 44% lower than 2006 levels and make up for this by contributing to alternative green schemes at a rate of between £38 and £90 per tonne of carbon to be saved.
Guardian 2nd June 2014 read more »
The UK has slipped down the rankings of global destinations for investors in renewable energy because of policy uncertainty leading into next year’s election, according to EY. The conflicting signals over the future of support for renewables beyond the 2015 election and the proposed cap on solar power projects eligible for support being brought in earlier than planned has meant the attractiveness of UK’s renewables market has fallen back to the levels last seen in November 2012. EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index now rates the UK behind the US, China, Germany, Japan and Canada.
Telegraph 2nd June 2014 read more »
Sellafield
The consortium working on the £70bn-plus clear-up of the Sellafield nuclear facility in Cumbria has been accused of “American-style union busting”. After protracted negotiations, the GMB union recently succeeded in securing a pay rise for employees known as health physics monitors, who include industrial experts measuring radiation levels. Their roles have been considerably expanded in recent years. The deal with Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), the US-led consortium overseeing the decommissioning, resulted in 400 staff being bumped up a pay grade. But GMB’s national secretary for energy, Gary Smith, told The Independent that rather than just handing over the deserved pay rise, NMP was “punishing” the union for its public criticisms of the consortium’s mismanagement of Sellafield. “This is good old-fashioned, American-style union busting,” he said.
Independent 2nd June 2014 read more »
Nuclear Subsidies
After a week which saw the use of renewable energy support schemes in Australia described as “plain crazy”, it seems like a good time to take another look at the study published last month by Agora Energiewend that shows European subsidies for solar and wind essentially come at half the price of those for nuclear or CCS. The analysis – based on a comparison of European subsidies for low-carbon energy systems – found that new wind and solar PV could generate energy for an overall cost of up to 50 per cent less than new nuclear or coal or gas with (as yet unavailable) carbon capture and storage technology.
Clean Technica 30th May 2014 read more »
New Reactors
These days, the long-term role that nuclear power will play in the global energy market remains uncertain. That would have come as a surprise to the scientists and engineers who, during the 1950s and 1960s, pioneered the study of nuclear fission, built test reactors, and designed nuclear-powered airplanes and rockets. They would also have been surprised, and likely dismayed, that the light-water reactor — the technology that powered the first nuclear submarine, in 1954 — remains the dominant commercial technology for producing fission energy. The glacial rate of change in nuclear technology over the last 60 or so years is why many energy analysts characterize current nuclear reactor technologies as “mature.” Other highly regulated U.S. industries, such as biotechnology, commercial aviation, and even commercial space launch, have enjoyed far faster rates of innovation than nuclear energy. The slow pace of nuclear innovation results primarily from the high costs and risks the industry presents to would-be first movers: even before they begin the time-consuming process of building a new plant, utility companies and the firms that manufacture reactors must invest a great deal of capital and then wait a long time to acquire licenses from the U.S. government. And in the last few years, utilities have lost interest in building new reactors in the United States thanks to the boom in the domestic production of shale gas, which has made natural gas the preferred fuel for new U.S. power plants.
Foreign Affairs May/June 2014 read more »
Small Reactors
The US Department of Energy (DOE) said it would provide $217 million in matching funds over five years to NuScale, which builds small, ready-made reactors that can be strung together. Small-scale nuclear plants can be strung together and might save utilities on capital costs. But critics question the efficiency and operating costs of small-scale nuclear plants.
Christian Science Monitor 1st June 2014 read more »
Nuclear expertise in the UK is under threat as new projects are being given away to foreign companies, a new report claims. It suggests the UK Government needs to do more to ensure British firms benefit from nuclear projects over the coming years else “risk losing its £4 billion a year industry”. The news comes as three foreign companies – French state-owned EDF and Japan’s Toshiba and Hitachi – are set to build new nuclear power stations in the UK. In the report by think tank Civitas, Candida Whitmill, Managing Director of Penultimate Power, a UK-led consortium to build Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) – i.e. reactors that are less than 300MW – calls for government support for a new line of smaller reactors.
Energy Live News 2nd June 2014 read more »
Areva
French nuclear reactor builder Areva, controlled by state, is dealing with a weak global nuclear market and lack of investment possibilities, as stated by the chairman of its supervisory board in the daily Les Echos on Wednesday. Areva’s shares, which dropped to a seven-month low of 16.01 euros earlier this month, declined 1.6 percent at 16.5 euros by 1214 GMT, contrary to a 0.1 percent increase in the French CAC 40 index. Areva worries about the closure of numerous nuclear reactors in Germany and in the United States. The uncertainty about a potential restart of Japan’s 48 nuclear reactors – over 10 percent of all reactors globally – is another concern of the French company. Russian, Japanese and South Korean reactor builders are being strongly sustained by national export credit agencies, having continually eclipsed Areva in important international contracts.
Energy Market Price 29th May 2014 read more »
Protest
A campaign vessel docked in Remich at the weekend as part of a two-month tour to rally support for the closure of aging nuclear power plants. Greenpeace flagship, The Beluga II, stopped over in Luxembourg for the weekend to deliver its message and allow visitors to take a tour. The trip concluded on Sunday with a rock concert by the band Antifragile. The magnificent 33-metre long ship was constructed for Greenpeace thanks to a legacy left by Ilse Vormann. It was built in 2004 at a cost of 2.4 million euros. The Beluga II began its latest tour in Fessenheim, France, where it unfurled its 7.5-metre tall banner displaying the message: “Stop Risking Europe!”
Luxemburger Wort 1st June 2014 read more »
Radwaste
The traditional owners of a Northern Territory site earmarked for a nuclear waste storage site fear it will poison the land and will not be satisfied by shifting its location, a court has heard. At the opening of a federal court trial, Justice Anthony North asked if there was an alternative and suitable site on the same parcel of remote Aboriginal land, on Muckaty Station near Tennant Creek. Ron Merkel QC, representing the traditional owners, replied: “I don’t think we’d have a 13,000 page court book if there was an alternative site. “What we’re here to say is ‘no more’ and that this process was so legally flawed that it is invalid. “The opposition is in no small part based on a spiritual affiliation to the land and that radioactive waste will poison the land,” Merkel said.
Guardian 2nd June 2014 read more »
US
U.S. President Barack Obama is set to deliver a landmark speech on the regulation of greenhouse gases from existing power plants on June 2 that has the potential to completely alter the trajectory of America’s energy future. It will also highlight the enormous amount of common ground that exists between two constituencies who are often at odds: the nuclear power industry and environmentalists.
Oil Price 1st June 2014 read more »
The Obama administration will propose sweeping new environmental rules on Monday, cutting carbon pollution from existing power plants by 30% over 2005 levels by 2030, according to people briefed on the plan. The new power plant rules – which will be formally announced by the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday morning – represent the most ambitious effort by Barack Obama or any other president to deal with climate change. The regulations could lead to a sweeping transformation of America’s energy economy, if they survive an onslaught from business and conservative groups, and Republicans in Congress.
Guardian 2nd June 2014 read more »
Telegraph 2nd June 2014 read more »
BBC 2nd June 2014 read more »
China
China will commission the first new generation of nuclear reactors in 2015 aimed to strengthen its nuclear power plants along the country’s east coast, a senior member of the industry said. State Nuclear Power Technology board chairman Wang Binghua was quoted by Xinhua as saying that an AP1000 pressurized water reactor is currently undergoing trials and is expected to be connected to the grid by the end of next year. The new nuclear power reactors have been introduced by a US company and improved by Chinese researchers, Binghua said at the Gen III AP/CAP Qualified Suppliers Symposium in Shanghai. Another reactor of this kind is also expected to commence operation in nuclear plant in the beginning of 2016, Binghua added. An upgraded version of AP1000, CAP1400, is being developed by China with 65% of the design and construction completed and is due to commence operation in 2018.
Energy Business Review 2nd June 2014 read more »
Azerbaijan
At first glance, it doesn’t add up; why is Azerbaijan, a country brimming with oil and gas, interested in developing nuclear power capacity? It’s a question befuddling local experts and environmental activists in Baku. But the questions don’t stop there. Under a May 8 executive order, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has given responsibility for the nuclear project not to the Ministry of Energy or the Ministry of Industry and Economy, but to the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, specifically, to a National Center for Nuclear Research that is answerable to the ministry.
Oil Price 1st June 2014 read more »
Fuel Poverty
Tour buses and cars are already crawling up the A9 and on to the island ferries, as summer approaches and with it a swarm of sight-seers keen to admire our glorious countryside. As they swish along verdant Highland roads, or admire the standing stones at Callanish, few of these visitors will realise that the picture-postcard scenery hides a shameful truth. A report from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) published today reveals that nearly 60% of over-60s in rural parts are living in fuel poverty. That compares to 45% in towns and cities. Thus, remoter areas – those that for many are what make this land especially unique and memorable – are also places of quiet misery. Urban poverty is better documented and harder to ignore, since it lies under the noses of the majority of the population, most notably politicians. Not so those experiencing serious hardship in the countryside who, the SRUC report says, are “falling through the cracks” in government policy. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the fuel poverty rate is highest on the islands – 76% in the Western Isles and 75% in Orkney – and lowest in Glasgow, Renfrewshire and others near the central belt, where it is only 40%. I say only, but of course even 1% anywhere, be it Govan or Glencoe, would represent too many householders in trouble.
Herald 2nd June 2014 read more »
Sunday Herald 1st June 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Fracking will take place in the East Midlands next year for the first time, under plans from shale gas explorer IGas. Andrew Austin, IGas chief executive, told the Telegraph it was preparing to submit planning applications to drill and frack to test the flow of gas at two new locations, one either side of the Pennines.
Telegraph 1st June 2014 read more »
Educating the public rather than paying communities thousands of pounds for hosting shale gas drilling is the best way to win the debate over fracking, a poll of industry professionals says. Nearly half of those questioned said that community benefits, which could be worth up to £10 million for each site, were not enough on their own to secure support for the industry. More than two thirds said the government should do more to educate the public about the economic benefits of a shale gas boom, and allay their fears about the environmental impact.
Times 2nd June 2014 read more »
More than 150 celebrities, scientists and politicians have joined a new campaign calling for fracking to be suspended while a debate is held into its “potential dangers”. Supporters of “We Need to Talk About Fracking” include Sir Paul McCartney, his daughter Stella, Yoko Ono, Helena Bonham Carter, Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Greta Scacchi, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Bianca Jagger, Lily Cole, Thom Yorke, Russell Brand, Dame Vivienne Westwood, Stephen Frears, Miranda Richardson, Alison Steadman, Chrissie Hynde, Matt Lucas, Alan Carr, Nick Grimshaw, Sir Anthony Gormley and Tracey Emin. They have signed a letter, published in The Times today, which says: “We the undersigned believe that the government must suspend fracking immediately while a genuinely independent, balanced and thorough public debate is held on the potential dangers this industry holds for the UK.”
Times 1st June 2014 read more »
Letter: We urge the government to suspend fracking immediately while a genuinely independent, balanced and thorough public debate is held into the potential dangers this industry holds for the UK.
Times 2nd June 2014 read more »
