Nuclear Subsidies
Ministers have abandoned plans to ensure that subsidies for wind farms can be cut if the developers gain excess profits after refinancing. The Government said it had scrapped the idea after a backlash from industry stoked fears foreign investors would take their money elsewhere. However, it suggested that subsidies for new nuclear reactors could still be subject to such refinancing clauses. Ministers are introducing a system of subsidies aimed at encouraging tens of billions of pounds of investment in new ‘low-carbon’ power plants this decade. Developers of wind farms and nuclear reactors will receive long-term contracts guaranteeing them a price for the electricity they will generate. The so-called “strike price” will be subsidised through levies on consumers’ energy bills. In November, ministers had “considered the potential role for ‘refinancing’ clauses, which would have reduced strike prices should certain refinancing events reveal particularly high returns”.
Telegraph 7th Aug 2013 read more »
Energy Costs
Energy secretary, Ed Davey, says keeping household energy bills down is at the top of his department’s priority list. But only 18 per cent of consumers think the government can keep the costs of its low carbon energy policies under control, according to a new report by consumer group, Which? The government is looking to attract around £75 million of low carbon energy investment, but Which? says the way the policies currently stand gives consumers a raw deal. It calls on the government to scrap the carbon floor price, reassess the capacity mechanism, and do more to convince consumers that a low carbon energy sector is worth paying for.
Carbon Brief 7th Aug 2013 read more »
The head of npower has blasted British Gas’ high profile plans to offer free power on Saturdays as a “gimmick” – as he upped the standing charge for 2m of his own electricity customers.
Telegraph 8th Aug 2013 read more »
Japan
HIGHLY radioactive water from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is pouring out at a rate of 300 tonnes a day, officials have revealed, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the government to step in and help with the clean-up. The admission indicates that, two-and-a-half years after the plant was hit by a huge earthquake and tsunami, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), which only recently admitted any water had leaked, has yet come to grips with the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Herald 8th Aug 2013 read more »
BBC 8th Aug 2013 read more »
Guardian 8th Aug 2013 read more »
Telegraph 7th Aug 2013 read more »
IB Times 7th Aug 2013 read more »
The Japanese Government is to take direct control of efforts to block a toxic leak at the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, which is releasing 300 tonnes of radioactive water into the Pacific every day. Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister, said yesterday that the operation would be taken out of the hands of the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). The company has long denied the existence of leaks of contaminated groundwater, 400 tonnes of which is channelled off the surrounding hills every day and used to cool nuclear fuel before being stored in makeshift vats and underground containers.
Times 8th Aug 2013 read more »
Radioactivity from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant leaks into the ocean, and into the sardines, mackerel and squid that three generations of Mr Ichida’s family once caught. Engineers are fighting what appears to be a losing battle to stop the leaks from worsening. Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) warned this week that the build-up of contaminated groundwater at the plant is on the verge of tipping out of control and that its operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), “lacked a sense of crisis” about the looming damage to the Pacific.
Independent 7th Aug 2013 read more »
The public must help fund Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s effort to freeze the soil around the reactor buildings at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, creating a barrier to prevent more groundwater from becoming radioactive, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday. It was revealed the same day that 300 tons of tainted water is flowing to the Pacific daily from the stricken plant.
Japan Times 7th Aug 2013 read more »
For more than two years we have watched how the Fukushima nuclear plant operator TEPCO has failed to take control of the disaster or be transparent about the real situation at the stricken plant, trying to hide problems such as leaking contaminated water. TEPCO’s mismanagement and ignorance of the facts played a key role both in causing the accident – the second worst nuclear accident in history – and increasing the severity of the disaster, according to the official Japanese government report.
Greenpeace 7th Aug 2013 read more »
The Japanese government said it would step in to help contain contamination at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, while the economy ministry estimated that some 300 metric tons of contaminated water were likely leaking into the ocean daily.
Wall St Journal 7th Aug 2013 read more »
Fukushima crisis update 2nd to 7th August. In response to worsening news about the radioactive water crisis in Fukushima, Shinji Kinjo, the head of a Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) taskforce, said this week that the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has reached a state of “emergency,” and TEPCO’s efforts to fix the crisis are failing.
Greenpeace 7th Aug 2013 read more »
To stem the advance of radioactive water to the sea, the operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant has tried plugs, walls, pumps and chemicals that harden the ground into a solid barrier. But as TEPCO prepares this week to start work on a new set of measures designed to ring off and cap the area where the most highly contaminated water has been found, some experts and regulators are saying that the battle to completely contain radioactivity to the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents may be a losing one.
Wall St Journal 6th Aug 2013 read more »
Iran
President Hassan Rowhani said Tuesday that Iran was ready for “serious” talks on its nuclear programme without delay and that US calls for tougher sanctions showed a lack of understanding.
Middle East Online 6th Aug 2013 read more »
Renewables
The heat is on: heat pump field trials report reveals that heat pumps are now more important than ever, and can play a significant part in helping the UK reach its carbon emissions reduction targets. Field trials conducted by the Energy Saving Trust examine the comprehensive performance monitoring of the heat pump system, improvements to system performance through design and control, and user behaviour.
EST 7th Aug 2013 read more »
Ground source heat pumps could earn homeowners without access to mains gas up to £3,000 a year in savings and income, according to new research by the Energy Saving Trust (EST). A new paper to be published today provides fresh evidence that ground source heat pumps can generate significant financial and environmental benefits, while also showing that air source heat pumps could generate annual savings and income worth around £1,350.
Business Green 7th Aug 2013 read more »
The UK has today further cemented its position as the world’s leading offshore wind energy market with the official opening of the £1.3bn Greater Gabbard project off the coast of Suffolk. The 140-turbine project, which was jointly developed by SSE renewables and RWE npower renewables, is officially the second largest offshore wind farm in the world, after the London Array in the Thames Estuary, which was opened last month by Prime Minister David Cameron. The 500MW Greater Gabbard project is now expected to provide an average of 1,750GWh of electricity a year, delivering enough power to the grid for 415,000 homes, exceeding the domestic electricity demand of the whole of Suffolk. The project is also expected to double in size when the planned Galloper wind farm extension is completed in 2017. Maf Smith, deputy chief executive at RenewableUK, said the latest opening provided further evidence of the “opportunity at hand for British companies in the offshore wind industry”. “Greater Gabbard alone has already brought half a billion pounds of new investment to companies across the UK,” he added. “This opportunity is here and now, and UK companies are rightly seizing the chance to become part of the burgeoning offshore wind supply chain.”
Business Green 7th Aug 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Voters in the Tory home counties heartlands fear fracking will “make their houses fall down” because David Cameron has failed to make the case for it, claim grassroots activists.
Telegraph 7th Aug 2013 read more »
He knew it would be a tough job when he took it on last year, but Francis Egan, chief executive of fracking firm Cuadrilla Resources, could not have imagined the role would bring with it death threats and reporters turning up at his house trying to “frack” his garden. Environmentalists have been campaigning against fracking for years, but Egan’s attempt to drill in the pretty West Sussex village of Balcombe has turned hydraulic fracturing (to give it is proper name) into a highly emotive subject that has galvanised opinions across the political and environmental spectrum and threatens to align some of the highest ranking members of the Tory party with a new generation of eco-warriors.
Guardian 7th Aug 2013 read more »
The two-week protest against potential fracking in Balcombe took a dramatic twist today as it emerged that the local parish council had lodged “no objection” to the planning application, without consulting the West Sussex village – a decision the council chair said she was now “gutted” about.
Independent 7th Aug 2013 read more »
A report by experts at The University of Nottingham has shown that the British public is beginning to warm to the idea of shale gas. This doesn’t mean shale gas is a wildly popular alternative to other forms of energy but opinion appears to be shifting. The research team, led by Professor Sarah O’Hara, School of Geography and Professor Mathew Humphrey, School of Politics and International Relations, carried out regular surveys over a 16 month period to look at people’s perceptions of shale gas. Their results show that despite warnings about earthquakes, water contamination, and increasing carbon emissions, the UK public increasingly approve of the exploitation of shale gas as an energy source.
Click Green 6th Aug 2013 read more »
