Energy Policy
The ‘Autumn Statement’ delivered with such aplomb by the Chancellor is yet another attack on the UK’s sustainable future, write David Lowry & Oliver Tickell – cutting energy efficiency funds just as tens of thousands are set to die of cold this winter, betting £250m on pointless nuclear research, and raiding the renewables budget to fund subsidies to nuclear power and fossil fuels. Osborne slashed the budgets of the two key green departments, DEFRA and DECC by 22% and 15% respectively. He even failed to reveal to MPs in his Parliamentary Statement that, barely days before the major Climate Change Conference in Paris next week, he was cancelling the £1bn competition for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology – only six months before it was due to be awarded. The move has been greeted with widespread shock and dismay. “This is devastating”, said Dr Luke Warren, chief executive of the CCS Association. “Moving the goalposts just at the time when a four-year competition is about to conclude is an appalling way to do business. It is a real blow to confidence for companies investing in CCS. This technology is critical for the UK’s economic, industrial and climate policies.” Shell responded by saying its own CCS project at Peterhead in Scotland was now dead and its CCS work would henceforth be based in other countries: “Shell remains committed to CCS – as our involvement in demonstration projects in other parts of the world shows – and we view it as an important part of a low-carbon energy future.” In other regressive moves, the Chancellor decided to cut Government-backed schemes to promote energy efficiency and low carbon technology. He slashed spending on home energy efficiency by a whopping 83%, amounting to £132m, in winding up the energy company obligation (ECO) scheme. Osborne also said that The Spending Review and Autumn Statement doubles spend on energy innovation. However most of the money – £250 million over five years – is to go into an “ambitious nuclear research and development programme” into ‘small modular reactors’ (SMRs) – widely promoted by the nuclear industry as the ‘next big thing’ despite the lack of any demand for the technology or any prototype. At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn led with questions on renewable energy: “This week, 55 Labour councils have made a commitment for their areas to be run entirely on green energy by 2050. With the Paris climate talks just days away, will the Prime Minister join me in commending those councils, and will he call on all Conservative councils to do the same?”
Ecologist 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Nuclear nightmare, gas fracking free-for-all and fuel poverty: Tories unveil UK energy policy. In the UK the Tory government has set out the terms of what is probably the worst energy policy in living memory. Here Brian Parkin explains how the Tories’ latest ‘strategy’ will do nothing to address the climate crisis whilst lumbering future generations with a massive nuclear legacy, unaffordability of energy and yet further degradation of the environment.
RS21 26th Nov 2015 read more »
If the crucial Paris climate summit is the highest stakes poker game of international diplomacy ever held, David Cameron will sit down on Monday with little but bluff. The UK has thrown away trump card after trump card, with the latest being £1bn of support for carbon capture and storage, dumped by the chancellor, George Osborne, on Wednesday. Virtually everything done by the Conservative government since May has made meeting the UK’s carbon targets less likely, not more. CCS is seen as essential to meeting carbon targets cost effectively yet Osborne prefers to save £1bn now at the expense of many billions later. (He’s also sending €300m of CCS funding back to Brussels.) With a new dash for gas underway, no CCS means either busting carbon targets or shutting plants before they have paid for themselves.
Guardian 26th Nov 2015 read more »
The most encouraging news of the year comes from the fall in prices of solar power and the development in a range of universities and laboratories across of the world of advances in numerous different technologies – storage systems, grids, waste conversion, advanced materials and so on. At Cambridge university, Professor Clare Grey and her team have produced an advanced lithium air battery that costs and weighs a fifth of the lithium ion batteries on which most electric cars now run. The new battery can take a car from London to Edinburgh, a distance of about 650km, on a single charge. Others continue to work on ways in which coal can be cleaned. Such advances are not yet fully commercial but then laptops and smart phones as we know them now were not commercial 20 years ago. One or more of these advances could turn the energy system upside down. The appropriate response to Paris – a failure that will be dressed up as a success – is not despair or the inevitable finger pointing at those who did not promise enough, or who fail to meet their pledges. The better response is to put the political and legalistic process behind us and to focus instead on the science that could transform the economics of energy supply and consumption. All that counts is that the energy produced is cheap enough to undercut the low cost of uncleaned coal on which most of the world for the moment continues to depend.
FT 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Lord Stern: It is absurd that when government borrowing costs are so low, and opportunities for infrastructure investments are so large, many private investors find that the cost of capital is prohibitively high, restricting access to finance and creating a b ias against the low-carbon sector for which variable costs are so low. A strong agreement in Paris can deliver the confidence that will unleash the flow of low-carbon investments, generating sustainable growth and prosperity across the world.
FT 26th Nov 2015 read more »
A recent speech from UK Energy Secretary Amber Rudd had some important things to say about reducing carbon emissions. On the positive side, it included a commitment to phas e out coal-fired power generation from the UK energy mix by 2025. But rather than shift focus to renewable forms of energy, the UK Government proposes to replace this capacity with gas, including domestically sourced shale gas. In phasing out coal, Ms Rudd talks about setting an example to the rest of the world. But by shifting to another fossil fuel, the UK Government’s low-carbon ambitions appear at best half-hearted, at worst counterproductive to the process. Cost appears to feature heavily in the Energy Secretary’s calculations when determining the future direction of UK energy policy. Of course, how you define those costs has a critical impact on the decisions you make. If we fail to address climate change, acknowledged to be the single biggest long-term threat we face, the cost of inaction or of taking the wrong decisions will be astronomically high. What is more, the mantra of “being tough on subsidies” and resisting low-carbon energy “at any cost” sits in stark contrast with the huge levels of subsidy being committed towards a new generation of nuclear power stations and the enormous costs of decommissioning associated with that technology. Meanwhile, increased reliance on imported gas could further expose the consumer to sudden price rises. We all know the effect such rises have had on household bills in the recent past. It is also somewhat ironic to hear Ms Rudd talk up the positive economic benefits in building a new industry in the form of shale gas exploration when the renewables sector is facing the prospect of substantial job losses as UK energy policy pulls the rug from under it. In reality, the cost of renewables has reduced significantly in recent years precisely because of the positive policy framework that was, until recently, in operation in the UK. A premature, knee-jerk change in direction will kill that progress in its tracks. The signals it sends to the wider investor community are parti cularly negative. By sowing the seeds of uncertainty, the UK Government risks irrevocable damage to the fledgling supply chain we need to make the transition to a low carbon economy. Put simply, if we are unable to demonstrate a clear and consistent commitment to low carbon, the talent and innovation tied up in that supply chain will go elsewhere. Meanwhile, the UK Government is also in the process of dismantling policies previously introduced to deliver a step change in energy efficiency, generally considered to be the cheapest and most cost-effective mechanism to cut household energy bills.
Herald 27th Nov 2015 read more »
SMRs
The UK will invest at least £250 million ($377 million) over the next five years in an “ambitious” nuclear research and development program, according to the Conservative Party-led government’s Spending Review and Autumn Statement published yesterday. British Chancellor George Osborne’s ‘Comprehensive Spending Review’ says this program will “revive the UK’s nuclear expertise” and position the country as “a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies”. Funding for this program is included in the “settlement” for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). “The government’s doubling of investment in DECC’s innovation program will help position the UK as an international leader in small modular nuclear reactors, and deliver commitments on seed funding for promising new renewable energy technologies and smart grids,” according to the Review. The move is part of government plans to “prioritize energy security, whilst making reforms to meet our climate goals at lower cost”. This will include a competition to identify the best value small modular reactor (SMR) design for the UK, paving the way towards building one of the world’s first SMRs in the country in the 2020s. Detailed plans for the competition will be brought forward early next year.
World Nuclear News 26th Nov 2015 read more »
David Lowry: As Osborne doubles nuclear research support for small modular reactors in the UK, has he ignored the new, multiple terror risks this brings in its wake? Over 130 nuclear company representatives, R&D specialists and innovators, along with key policy players, met in the shadow of The Tower of London for Nuclear Energy Insider’s two-day Small Modular Reactor (SMR) UK summit. Westinghouse’s roving global chief, Jeff Benjamin, vice-president for new plants and major projects, chose the summit to unveil his company’s plans to offer the UK government a partnership in the deployment of small modular reactor (SMR) technology, “a move that would advance the UK from being a buyer to a global provider of the latest nuclear energy technology”, according to a Westinghouse statement. The proposal is intended to complement the current Phase 2 SMR study that the UK government has recently commenced. As proposed, the partnership would be structured as a UK-based enterprise jointly owned by Westinghouse, the UK government and UK industry, in which Benjamin revealed to the summit it would be expected the British government would take an equity stake, which could be reduced as the risk profile reduces. One omission from every single presentation at the summit was consideration of the long term management of radioactive waste arising from such a huge projected increase in nuclear capacity, especially as it is recognized that the greatest public concern over nuclear surrounds radioactive waste. And with the UK Energy Technology Institute proposing the proliferation of dozens of new SMRs across Britain, the terrorist risk has been ignored. Any future summit will surely need to address this.
Open Democracy 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Hinkley
EDF Energy has selected Schneider Electric, UK & Ireland as preferred bidder for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, subject to the final investment decision. Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, has been awarded preferred bidder status for a contract to supply its medium-voltage PIX switchgear range to ensure safe operations and reliable energy management at the site. Last month EDF and China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) signed a Strategic Investment Agreement for the construction and operation of the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. Final terms for contracts for Hinkley Point C have also been agreed with a number of key suppliers: AREVA NP (Nuclear steam supply system, instrumentation and control); Alstom France (turbines) and Alstom UK (services during operations); Bouygues TP/Laing O’Rourke (main civil works); BAM Nuttal/Kier Infrastructure (earthworks).
EDF Energy 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Energy Live News 26th Nov 2015 read more »
THE Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (HotSW LEP) has awarded the interim contract for business support services linked with Hinkley Point C to the Somerset Chamber of Commerce and its delivery partners SWMAS Ltd and Business West. This puts businesses across the HotSW LEP area – which covers the local authorities of Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay – in the best position to take advantage of Hinkley Point C contracts with EDF Energy and its industrial partners. The Somerset Chamber’s Hinkley supply chain Team already manages the supply chain portal for Hinkley Point C and is the first point of contact for South West businesses wishing to engage in the construction of the proposed nuclear new build project.
North Devon Journal 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Moorside
This Black Friday lets tell Toshiba that their diabolic nuclear ambition in Cumbria is not welcome. Toshiba’s blurb about their TVs and digital merchandise makes no mention of their nuclear agenda here in Cumbria where they have a majority stake in NuGen. Toshiba is putting their weight behind an agenda that would see the biggest nuclear development in Europe being built right next to the biggest pile of radioactive waste in Europe. #Boycott Toshiba and say a big fat NO to Moorside!
Radiation Free Lakeland 26th Nov 2015 read more »
HOMEGROWN workers must be given “every opportunity” to reap the benefits of a new £10 billion nuclear station, developers are being urged. Lena Hogg – Copeland’s deputy mayor and leader of the Labour group – has spoken out after it was revealed that Morson International, which has a base at Westlakes Science Park, will be the prime supplier of labour to the Moorside plant, planned for land next to Sellafield. Coun Hogg said she would “urge and expect” Morson – and the developers NuGen – “to ensure that every opportunity is given to those people in Copeland who are looking for work”.
Whitehaven News 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Hunterston
EDF Energy is underway with maintenance works on a power station’s nuclear reactor in North Ayrshire. During routine inspections, engineers discovered three graphite blocks were cracked on one of the two nuclear reactors at the Hunterston B power station. Known as keyway root cracking, the maintenance was predicted to start at this point in the station’s lifetime.
Construction News 26th Nov 2015 read more »
National Nuclear Laboratory
Strike threat over nuclear job losses. Sixty-seven voluntary redundancies were confirmed this week at NNL, affecting workers at its facilities at Sellafield (in the central lab and in B13) and Workington. Those taking voluntary redundancy are expected to leave next week, and a further 17 compulsory redundancies are also on the cards, and if confirmed, the staff are likely to go before Christmas. NNL says it is “continuing to mitigate against this”. Steve Gibbons, Unite’s regional officer, said the workers are represented by Unite, Prospect and GMB, and all three unions “have not ruled out balloting members for industrial action”. Mr Gibbons added: “There has been no meaningful consultation by NNL’s management – this is simply a cost-cutting exercise. “It is people’s worst fear to lose their job just before Christmas – and it is unacceptable behaviour by the company.”
Whitehaven News 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Radwaste
Research from The University of Texas at Austin shows that rock salt, used by Germany and the United States as a subsurface container for radioactive waste, might not be as impermeable as thought or as capable of isolating nuclear waste from groundwater in the event that a capsule or storage vessel failed. A team of researchers from the university has used field testing and 3-D micro-CT imaging of laboratory experiments to show that rock salt can become permeable. Their findings, published in the Nov. 27 issue of Science, has implications for oil and gas operations, and, most notably, nuclear waste storage. The team includes researchers from the university’s Cockrell School of Engineering and Jackson School of Geosciences. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, in Carlsbad, New Mexico, stores low-level nuclear waste in salt beds beneath the ground. However, high-level waste from the nation’s nuclear energy sector is stored at the power plants in pools or dry casks, methods that are considered temporary solutions. For decades there has been a proposal to build a permanent central repository under Nevada’s Yucca Mountains, but that proposal has stalled because of political and regulatory hurdles. This has renewed interest in rock salt as an alternative permanent storage solution for high-level nuclear waste. In this context, the findings of the team from UT Austin provide a timely reminder that rock salt is a dynamic material over long timescales.
Eurek Alert 26th Nov 2015 read more »
One of the main challenges faced by the nuclear industry is the long-term confinement of nuclear waste. Concrete is one of the barrier materials commonly used to contain radionuclides, both in nuclear reactors and nuclear waste-storing facilities. For this reason, it is extremely important that researchers and industry professionals understand the chemical and structural stability of cement (the basic binding ingredient in concrete) containing radioactive materials. A new study by researchers from the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub and the joint MIT-French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) lab known as Multi-Scale Materials Science for Energy and Environment (MSE2) is the first to show that cement is effective for nuclear containment of radioactive materials. The paper, coauthored by MIT postdoc Lucile Dezerald, visiting scientist Andres Saul, senior research scientist Roland J.-M. Pellenq, and Professor Franz-Josef Ulm, presents research that, for the first time, offers a quantum modeling of cement hydrate at the nano scale. “In short, what the research showed is that cement is a good choice for storing nuclear waste from the fission reaction in nuclear plants,” Pellenq says.
World Economic Forum 27th Nov 2015 read more »
Energy Supply
Centrica is to invest £63 million revamping a mothballed power station on Humberside to bolster Britain’s increasingly shaky electricity supplies. The owner of British Gas said that the decision to overhaul the gas turbines at its South Humber Bank power station in Lincolnshire would secure the future of the site until 2027. After renovation, the plant would return to full service in 2017, Centrica said.
Times 27th Nov 2015 read more »
Carbon Budget
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has today (26 November) published its recommendations for the UK’s fifth carbon budget, suggesting an emissions reduction target of 57% by 2028-2032. But is that ambitious enough? The CCC, established under the Climate Change Act to advise the UK Government on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, believes a 57% cut represents the “lowest-cost path” to the UK’s legally-binding targets.The Climate Change Act, which has previously established an overarching target for the UK to reduce its emissions by at least 80% by 2050, has also called for five-yearly carbon budgets en route to that final target. The level of these budgets is recommended by the CCC and then voted on in Parliament.
Edie 26th Nov 2015 read more »
By the 2030s around 1 in 7 UK homes are heated using low-carbon sources of energy, helping to reduce emissions significantly and drive further innovation in delivering sources of low-carbon heat; By the 2030s, the majority of new cars and vans bought in the UK are fully or partially electric, removing a significant proportion of emissions from transport, improving UK air quality and potentially boosting UK manufacturing; By the 2030s, the UK is largely powered by low-carbon sources of electricity, delivering power with emissions of below 100 grammes of CO2per kilowatt-hour (compared to 450g today). Low-carbon options in the power sector are important to support emissions reduction in other sectors, such as transport and heating, as well as to reduce emissions from the power sector itself; By the 2030s, insulation is installed in nearly all UK homes where it is cost-effective, reducing the cost of energy to households.
Scottish Energy News 27th Nov 2015 read more »
The government’s climate change advisory body has today set out its proposals for the fifth carbon budget – the greenhouse gas reduction targets government should aim for in order to stay on track with its 2050 carbon goals. The budget covers the period for 2028 to 2032 and the government now has until June to respond and confirm whether it will enshrine the plan in law.
Business Green 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Areva
French nuclear power giant AREVA Inc. said Wednesday it has garnered several contracts totaling more than $11 million to provide cyber security services to several U.S. utilities. Through these services, the company will enhance the protection of the digital systems at the customers’ nuclear power plants. As part of the future AREVA NP business in North America, AREVA Inc. will execute cyber security engineering scopes of work that include completing control assessments of more than 5,000 critical digital assets, supporting programmatic infrastructure improvements, and designing mitigation strategies to meet U.S. regulatory requirements, the company said in a statement.
Nuclear Street News 25th Nov 2015 read more »
France
Designed to shift France on to a greener footing ahead of next week’s climate change conference in Paris, the adoption of a new energy law has instead alarmed the country’s powerful nuclear industry and raised fundamental questions about the country’s energy mix. The long-awaited energy transition law was finally passed with nearly 1,000 amendments and after a gruelling 150 hours of parliamentary debate. Under the controversial legislation parliamentarians agreed to drastically reduce the country’s output of nuclear energy from 75 per cent of the current total to 50 per cent by 2025. They also committed to sizeable increases in the use of renewable energy to make up for the shortfall in nuclear energy production and targeted a 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Overall energy consumption would fall by a fifth by 2030 under the new law. But just four months after the law was passed, scepticism is mounting about whether the country can meet some of the key promises contained in the legislation, primarily the sharp reduction in nuclear energy output. According to some experts, France could have to close as many as two dozen nuclear reactors over the next decade to meet the target, costing billions, reducing capacity and almost certainly leading to higher electricity prices — which are currently among the lowest in Europe. “Meeting the 50 per cent target by 2025 will likely be hugely expensive,” says François Lévêque, economics professor at l’Ecole des Mines in Paris and author of The Economics and Uncertainties of Nuclear Power. “If power demand continues to decrease it could mean shutting down as many as a dozen profitable and safe reactors — it’s just money down the drain,” he says.
FT 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Cambodia
Russia will help Cambodia work towards building a nuclear power plant under an agreement the two countries signed this week, said Sergei Kirienko, the head of state nuclear firm Rosatom. Cambodia depends heavily on imported fuel and power. Electricity in the country is among the most expensive in Southeast Asia and a common source of complaint from investors.
Reuters 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Nuclear War
Modelling World War Three: What would happen if a nuclear bomb were fired at Britain?
Independent 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Mirror 26th Nov 2015 read more »
If indeed war did break out, the possibility that a nuclear attack could hit the UK becomes a chilling possibility. But if you are in a city that is about to be hit by a nuclear missile is there anything you can do that will increase your chances of survival? It entirely depends on where you are when the blast happens. If you are a few miles away from the explosion your chances of survival are better – if you follow some simples rules. Assuming the attack was not known to be coming, the first thing you would see is an intense bright flash in the distance. With a 10 kiloton bomb the blast will be visible from a distance of around 10 miles.
Mirror 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Renewables
3R Energy, a Scottish wind and biomass developer, has been granted planning permission for an integrated 45MW renewable energy project on a former opencast coal site in South Lanarkshire – which will create up to 15 new jobs. The development, near Lanark town, comprises 15 wind turbines with a maximum height to blade tip of 126.5m (around 3MW each in power rating) and a wood fuel drying facility, which will use some of the electricity produced on site by the wind turbines to dry locally sourced wood chip for use in biomass and CHP systems.
Scottish Energy News 27th Nov 2015 read more »
District Heating
An SSE-built district heating scheme in Glasgow has become on the first in the UK to register with the new Heat Trust consumer protection scheme. The Heat Trust will provide free independent complaint resolution and minimum customer service standards for the Wyndford Estate in the city’s Maryhill area. The project provides low-cost heating and hot water to more than 1,500 tenants and around 300 owners.
Scottish Energy News 27th Nov 2015 read more »
Local Energy
George Osborne’s concept of a “Northern Powerhouse” is a good and timely idea. The UK economy is disproportionately skewed to London and the South East. Other regions need development and jobs. The cities of the North – from Liverpool and Manchester to Leeds and Sheffield provide a strong base with great potential. What they can achieve could provide a model for other neglected areas. But good ideas need to be translated into tangible actions. So here is one possibility – Northern Power – a municipal energy business for the North of England. Municipal enterprise is nothing new. In the UK the idea goes back to the nineteenth century developments of water supply and sanitation. In many areas that led directly on to energy – many older readers will remember the municipal gasometers which held what we called “town gas” produced from coal. Almost all the local ventures were absorbed after nationalisation into regional and then centralised entities most of which were subsequently privatised in the 1980s. Local energy companies do still exist. In Southampton a local company supplies the city’s port and council buildings and is developing district heating and insulation schemes for council houses. In Nottingham Robin Hood energy – an arm’s length business set up by the City Council – aims to provide cheaper energy and to tackle fuel poverty. Bristol has just decided to create a new business – Bristol Energy – which will focus on locally generated electricity and district heating schemes.
FT 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Energy Efficiency
When the Chancellor stood up and announced that households would save £30 on their energy bills thanks to his new energy efficiency scheme, some naively assumed he meant that people would save cash by using less energy in their new insulated home. He wasn’t. Instead he was referring to the cost of the energy efficiency scheme itself (the thing used to help households cut bills) which is levied by energy suppliers on household bills and – it turns out – costs around £36 a household. The new scheme the government is introducing will come in at £640m a year, funding insulation for around 200,000 homes per year for five years. That may sound a lot but it’s actually a big cut. A calculation by the Association for the Conservation of Energy suggests the current cost the existing scheme – the Energy Company Obligation – is around £1.1bn. So a new scheme costing £640m a year would work out as a 42% cut in the amount of money energy companies have to spend insulating people’s homes. A widely cited analysis by lobby group the energy bill revolution suggests that between 2010 and 2015 the government’s various (and there were many) insulation policies managed to improve the efficiency of 5 million homes, so 80% more than Osborne is now planning. The chancellor did earmark nearly £300m to boost insulation in schools, hospitals and such like – but failed to offer any other incentives, such as stamp duty benefits or money for efficiency and insulation within the government’s huge infrastructure spending pot. Awkwardly all of this comes as the latest winter deaths figures announced by the Office of National Statistics show they are at the highest level in 15 years – though that has far more to do with problems with the flu virus than the cold weather alone. Ultimately it’s a slightly bizarre political move. In the red book the government boasts its new scheme could save those lucky consumers who use it up to £300 and could also be useful in cutting emissions. Instead he’s offering most households a £30 saving which they can spend on the next increase in the gas price.
Energydesk 25th Nov 2015 read more »
A poor energy efficiency rating on a property could be a deal breaker for house buyers, a new survey by Populus has found. A survey conducted for the website Selling Up last week asked more than 1,000 people what “hidden” factors would make them reduce their offer or entirely lose interest in buying a property. Significantly, three-quarters of respondents said a poor energy efficiency rating would lead them to either reduce their offer price or withdraw from the sale. More than one in three – 36 per cent – said a poor energy efficiency score would lead them to cut thousands of pounds from their offer price, while a further 23 per cent said they would reduce their offer by a few hundred pounds. An additional 16 per cent said a low rating would lead them to withdraw the offer entirely. The findings suggest Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are a factor in a house purchase, alongside concerns over energy bills
Business Green 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Housing built in the UK today and in the next few years may have to be expensively retrofitted with energy-saving technology within the next two decades, according to the government’s climate advisers. The warning from the Committee on Climate Change came as it launched its five-year review to parliament on Thursday, setting out a new “carbon budget” for the UK that would require an emissions cut of 57% by 2032. The so-called fifth carbon budget would require substantial new investment in renewable energy and other low-carbon power, and new projects such as carbon capture and storage plants. It would also req uire substantial investments in home energy efficiency improvements, and measures to help households install their own renewable energy, such as solar panels or heat pumps. The chancellor, George Osborne, unveiled plans for 400,000 new houses on Wednesday. But if those houses are not built to high standards of insulation and energy efficiency, they could put the UK in breach of its carbon budgets.
Guardian 27th Nov 2015 read more »
Fossil Fuels
SNP criticised for links to drilling company. Environmental campaigners and opposition politicians have raised concerns about more than £27,000 donated to the Scottish National Party by a drilling company that could benefit if the moratorium on fracking were to end. Hydracrat Limited, based in Motherwell, donated £17,500 to the SNP, as well as £3,750 to Neil Gray, SNP MP for Airdrie and Shotts, according to the Electoral Commission. Hydracrat director Bobby Hill also gave £6,500 to the SNP branch in Airdrie and Shotts ahead of the 2011 Holyrood elections. Hydracrat lists its principal activity as ‘test drilling and boring’. The company currently works extensively in renewables and mineral exploration but envisages opportunities for groundwater monitoring if shale gas exploration were to get the go-ahead in Scotland.
Ferrett 26th Nov 2015 read more »
Fracking could start in Britain within months after the government intervened to fast-track applications to drill shale gas wells in Lancashire. Greg Clark, the communities secretary, wrote to lawyers for Cuadrilla yesterday saying that he had decided to have the final say on its appeals against Lancashire county council’s rejection of its fracking applications. The government has pledged to go “all out for shale” and in August announced changes in planning rules under which such appeals “will be treated as a priority for urgent resolution”.
Times 27th Nov 2015 read more »
CCS
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury argued on Channel 4 News the promised £1bn for CCS manifesto pledge was actually subject to ‘value for money’ considerations, which begs the questions as to how an apparent cost-to-benefit analysis was applied, why cost concerns were not raised far earlier in this five year-long process, and how CCS apparently offers worse value for money than the R&D funding for small nuclear reactors the Chancellor announced yesterday? For several years now CCS has been the fig leaf which the government has used to justify pretty much every controversial high carbon energy policy it has pursued. “Why are you planning to build more gas power plants at a time when we need to pretty much fully decarbonise the power sector?” critics asked. “CCS can solve that,” Ministers replied. “Why are you looking to build a fracking industry and maximise North Sea production when we have to more than halve emissions by the early 2030s?” green groups inquire. “CCS can solve that,” ministers countered. “Why are you exempting heavy industry from carbon costs,” campaigners queried. “Because we want those industries to stay here and decarbonise over time,” Ministers responded, “CCS can solve that.” Ministers have promised to look at the UK decarbonisation strategy once again next year and set out how we will meet the legally-binding fourth and fifth carbon budgets. But in the interim the assault on renewables, the reduced ambition on energy efficiency, and now the scandalous scrapping of CCS funding leaves the country’s supposedly cost effective low carbon plans collapsing under the weight of their own contradictions. The government could yet deliver a credible new strategy out of the wreckage they have created – one which, inspired by the strategies now being pursued by the likes of the US, Germany, and China, delivers economic and environmental benefits alongside investment in cost-effective cutting-edge clean infrastructure. But after the past few days you will forgive me for feeling cynical.
Business Green 26th Nov 2015 read more »
