Hinkley
Campaigners opposing plans to install 400,000 volt power lines through a North Somerset valley say National Grid should rethink the route.
BBC 2nd Jan 2010 more >>
Lib Dem candidate Tessa Munt has attacked David Heathcote-Amory MP for not bringing up the pylon issue in parliament last week.
Burnham on sea.com 1st Jan 2010 more >>
Proliferation
One of the few brighter spots in Obama’s troubled national security landscape is North Korea. Though relations with the nuclear-armed rogue state are always unpredictable, recent signs point to a potential thaw in relations. A US envoy recently visited the country and Pyongyang’s annual New Year’s message expressed a desire for a peace treaty with the US and South Korea. Iran, however, remains problematic. Tehran’s quest for a domestic nuclear programme, and international efforts to prevent it from developing weapons, will this week enter into a new phase of diplomatic brinkmanship.
Observer 3rd Jan 2010 more >>
THE West has until the end of the month to accept Iran’s counterproposal to a UN-drafted plan on a nuclear exchange before it starts producing nuclear fuel, Tehran warned yesterday.
Scotland on Sunday 3rd Jan 2010 more >>
Electricity Costs
Household gas and electricity bills are expected to rocket fourfold to nearly £5,000 a year by the end of the decade to meet Government-imposed green targets. And the price heavy industry will have to pay by 2020 is so high that energy-dependent firms could be wiped out, causing thousands of job losses, said an industry spokesman. A massive rethink on the cost of ‘green energy’ is taking place in Whitehall among senior regulators and industry, leading some to question whether the public will be prepared to pay increasingly high bills for the UK to become greener than most countries.
Mail on Sunday 3rd Jan 2010 more >>
Renewables
Shell has become embroiled in a major row with the World Bank and green energy companies after allegations that it is unfairly refusing to honour warranties on solar power systems sold to the developing world. A widespread breakdown of its equipment in Sri Lanka and elsewhere has left the oil firm accused of abandoning a responsibility to impoverished communities while damaging the prospects of the wider renewable power sector in a world desperate to reduce carbon emissions following the Copenhagen climate change summit.
Observer 3rd Jan 2010 more >>
