Hinkley
Campaigners opposed to a new £16 billion nuclear plant on the Somerset coast have written to the European Commissioner for Competition in a bid to derail the project. Stop Hinkley have now written to competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia, who is in charge of state aid, urging him to reconsider and claiming that the subsidy deal had been “stitched up without any sort of competitive process”.
Western Morning News 3rd Oct 2014 read more »
Stop Hinkley’s letter to Almunia.
Stop Hinkley 3rd Oct 2014 read more »
The UK is pushing for huge state subsidies for new nuclear, Hinkley C in Somerset is the test case. What happens at Hinkley will have a knock on effect for the proposed new build in Cumbria -Moorside . Please help Stop Moorside by writing to the EU Commission urging them to turn down the UK’s plan for huge state subsidy for new nuclear.
Radiation Free Lakeland 4th Oct 2014 read more »
AUSTRIA has said it will launch a legal challenge if the European Commission approves plans to build Hinkley C. The warning comes just a week after it was suggested that the EU Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, who is responsible for ruling on competition, has found in favour of the deal. The European Commission has been investigating into whether the terms of the subsidy deal struck between energy company EDF and the Government constituted illegal state aid. A final decision on the £16billion project in Somerset is expected before November 1.
Somerset County Gazette 3rd Oct 2014 read more »
Europe
The recently nominated Spanish EU Commissioner for Climate and Energy has acquired an unwelcome title – “Mr Petrolhead”. This week, Miguel Arias Canete’s links to the oil industry have left him under increasing pressure to stand down. An online petition calling on Brussels not to confirm Mr Canete’s role has reached nearly 460,000 signatories. Almost 100,000 have been added since last Wednesday, when the former Spanish minister for the environment and agriculture was grilled at a confirmation hearing in Brussels. The hearing focused on the 64-year-old’s alleged family and financial links to two petrol companies. Mr Canete has only recently sold sizeable portfolios of shares in two Spanish oil firms, Petrolifera Ducar, of which he is a former president, and Petrologis Canarias.
Independent 5th Oct 2014 read more »
Iran
ISIS is urging its members to plan for war with Iran and has ambitions to seize Tehran’s nuclear secrets, according to a manifesto attributed to one of its most senior members. The document, typed on perforated sheets, is believed to have been written by Abdullah Ahmed al-Meshedani, a member of Isis’s highly secretive six-man war cabinet. It was picked up by an Iraqi special forces unit during a raid in March on the home of one of the commanders of Isis, also known as Islamic State.
Sunday Times 5th Oct 2014 read more »
Microgeneration
This week’s Micro Power News.
Microgenscotland 3rd Oct 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
The advent of hydraulic fracturing has already sparked a new gold-rush for shale gas and oil. Now the new mining technique, better known as fracking, is creating a rush for sand. Developers in the shale-rich regions of South Dakota and Texas are racing to build new sand mines, after demand for the material – a key ingredient in the fracking process – surged. Frackers are expected to use nearly 200m tonnes of sand this year, around a third more than in 2013, as they race to exploit as many shale sites as possible.
Telegraph 4th Oct 2014 read more »
SCOTTISH ministers have been accused of “sheer hypocrisy” over their demand for more devolved powers to tackle the threat of fracking. John Swinney, the finance secretary, prompted a backlash from environmental campaigners after he called for more powers to prevent oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing beneath residential homes. Under plans announced by Westminster, companies will be given the right to drill for onshore gas at depths of 300 metres or more under private land without negotiating a right of access. Swinney told MSPs last week that the Scottish government did not support the removal of the rights of householders to object to fracking but angry campaigners said ministers already have the power to prevent the controversial practice by using planning laws, which are devolved. Ed Pybus, from campaign g roup Frack-Off Scotland, said ministers were urged to ban fracking within 2km of residential properties in new planning guidance introduced earlier this year. The clause would have prevented fracking from taking place in Scotland as most of the underground gas fields are beneath settlements. “There’s a lot of anger that Scottish ministers are stating they need more devolved powers to tackle fracking – it’s sheer hypocrisy; they don’t need them,” said Pybus. “What they’re not saying is that they had a perfect opportunity to do this under new planning laws but they chose not to. We lobbied for a buffer zone to be specified in planning laws but we were ignored.”
Sunday Times 5th Oct 2014 read more »
