news & information about the UK nuclear industry
The Arab world has connected its first nuclear power to the grid – but why when solar electricity in the sunny region is much cheaper than nuclear electricity? “Barakah”, in English “divine blessing”, is the name of the first nuclear reactor in the Arab world. On August 19, 2020, it fed electricity into the grid for the first time in the industrial town of Ruwais on the Persian Gulf – a good eight years after construction began and with a three-year delay.
EWS 24th Feb 2021 read more »
Ukraine’s electricity grid needs the construction of new nuclear power units, Yuriy Boyko, the country’s deputy energy minister said last week. Speaking to delegates at Atomic Energy: The Future of the Industry on 17 February, Boyko described the importance of at least three new units. Nuclear power plant operator Energoatom published Boyko’s comments on its website.
World Nuclear News 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
HOLYROOD has passed new legislation on heating that could be “crucial” in Scotland’s response to the climate change emergency. MSPs unanimously approved a bill that aims to “accelerate significantly” the number of properties covered by heat networks. Such systems see networks of pipes transport hot water or steam to buildings, with this then being used to heat them. Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said heating buildings, which typically relies on gas or electricity, currently accounts for 21% of greenhouse gas emissions, the third largest source of these in Scotland. And he said there needed to be a “transformational change” in how homes and businesses are supplied with heat. The Scottish Government has set the target of having a million homes heated by low carbon or renewable sources by 2030 – with Wheelhouse adding that heat networks will have “a strong role, perhaps the predominant role to play, in achieving this”. Currently just 34,000 properties across Scotland benefit from such systems – which can save people almost a fifth in annual fuel bills, he said.
The National 24th Feb 2021 read more »
A Key question is whether district heating systems can be fed with renewably generated heat rather than by fossil fuels. The Nordic countries, which get 65% of their heat from district heating, have led the way on this. Sweden, blessed with plentiful hydropower, sources over 70% of its district heating from renewables. Iceland is close to 100%, thanks to its geothermal resources. A total of 70% of the district heating in windy Denmark is from renewables or waste heat. So far, Denmark is the only country with a significant amount of district heating coming from wind and solar installations rather than hydro, geothermal or biomass. The country accounts for a whopping three-quarters of the installed capacity of solar thermal energy in district heating worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Energy Monitor 22nd Feb 2021 read more »
Cambridgeshire County Council’s Stanground solar farm has been given the green light. The 2.93MW solar and battery storage park will be installed on a former landfill site, which has been closed and capped. It is no longer suitable for waste disposal or development, as the cap must be maintained to protect the environment from the waste buried there. As such, the solar farm has been welcomed as a constructive use of the site, as well as supporting Peterborough and Cambridgeshire to achieve their net zero carbon ambitions. Planning permission has been granted by Peterborough City Council’s Planning and Environmental Protection Committee, following extensive consultations with the local community, as well a number of ecological surveys being undertaken and built into the application.
Solar Power Portal 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
If the Green Homes Grant fiasco is any indicator of the government’s climate action, we are in trouble. Next week’s Budget must provide clarity over the future of the Green Homes Grant Scheme, writes Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.
Business Green 24th Feb 2021 read more »
The Chancellor has been sent another letter urging him to fully rollover unspent Green Homes Grant funding into 2021/22. The letter comes from the Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Group (EEIG), a coalition of industry groups, NGOs, charities and businesss, and follows on from a similar letter penned by 11 NGOs and thinktanks including Greenpeace UK and Friends of the Earth that called on the Chancellor and Prime Minister to improve the scheme over cutting the funding available for it. It follows the announcement that the unspent funds will not be rolled over, with reports also coming out last week that the scheme may in fact be shuttered next month. The £2 billion Green Homes Grant was announced last summer and is designed to provide vouchers for green home technologies such as solar thermal, heat pumps and – in the Local Authority allocation – solar PV.
Solar Power Portal 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
Loch Ness pumped hydro developers win consent for 50MW battery project. Planning consent has been granted for a 50MW battery energy storage project in Aberdeenshire for developer Intelligent Land Investments Group (ILI Group). ILI said in a press release sent to Solar Power Portal that Aberdeenshire Council Garioch Area planning committee approved its proposed project at Fordham Farm in the Aberdeenshire town of Kintore, today.
Solar Power Portal 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
Boris Johnson and Sir David Attenborough have both warned world leaders that climate breakdown represents the single gravest threat to global security, as the UK Prime Minister today chaired the first ever UN Security Council meeting focused on the climate change. Marking the first time a UK PM has chaired the UN Security Council in around three decades, the virtual session saw Johnson urge nations to take urgent action to address the climate crisis or risk worsening conflict, displacement and insecurity.
Business Green 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
The climate crisis presents the “biggest threat to security that modern humans have ever faced”, Sir David Attenborough told a UN meeting held today. Speaking at the first UN Security Council meeting on climate and security, Sir David said that the world had “left the stable and secure climatic period that gave birth to our civilisation”.
Independent 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
Climate change will bring “huddled masses” of climate refugees to the borders of richer nations unless the world takes action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday. Mr Johnson said climate change posed a grave threat to international peace and security. Urgent action was required to guarantee global security in the years to come, he stressed. The Prime Minister was chairing a meeting of the UN Security Council convened to focus on climate change and security. It is the first time a British leader has chaired the Security Council since 1992.
iNews 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
The climate emergency is already hitting “worst case scenario” levels that if left unchecked will lead to the collapse of ecosystems, with dire consequences for humanity, according to the chief executive of the Environment Agency. Warning that this is not “science fiction”, Sir James Bevan said on Tuesday that in recent years several of the “reasonable worst case scenarios” had happened in the UK, with more extreme weather and flooding. And he urged politicians to take action to reduce emissions and adapt to the “inevitable” impacts of the climate emergency.
Guardian 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
Climate change is profoundly altering our oceans and marine ecosystems. Some of these changes are happening quickly and are potentially irreversible. Many are taking place silently and unnoticed. In recent years, tipping points – thresholds where a small change could push a system into a completely new state – have increasingly become a focus for the climate research community. However, these are typically thought of in terms of unlikely changes with huge global ramifications – often referred to as “low probability, high impact” events. Examples include the slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the rapid disintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet. In a new paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, my co-authors and I instead focus on the potential for what we call “high probability, high impact” tipping points caused by the cumulative impact of warming, acidification and deoxygenation.
Carbon Brief 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
Sizewell C uncertainty mounts as potential backer rules out support for nuclear plant. Legal & General (L&G) has ruled out helping to fund the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Sussex.
New Civil Engineer23rd Feb 2021 read more »
A planned nuclear power station at the Sizewell facility on the Suffolk coast has suffered a significant setback after major investors have ruled out providing funding for the £20bn project, according to reports. Legal and General Capital – the investment arm of the financial services company – has reportedly said it is not backing French energy firm EDF’s Sizewell C plans, which involve building two new reactors at the site. L&G has not made a public announcement, but according to The Daily Telegraph, in a written response to a pension-holder, one of its investment service consultants said: “I have had it confirmed that Legal & General will not be investing in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant.”
Independent 22nd Feb 2021 read more »
EXPERTS in the nuclear industry have said that one third of the UK’s clean energy could be produced by nuclear power by 2050 – potentially putting Copeland at the forefront of the climate strategy. The Nuclear Industry Association has published a roadmap to net zero, hailing hydrogen as the key to reducing decarbonisation. It is welcome news to those backing the Green Energy Hub plans for Moorside. The site, next to Sellafield, could house Small Modular Reactors, and if a new bid led by Cumbria LEP is successful a prototype nuclear fusion reactor. Copeland MP Trudy Harrison, who is backing the clean energy campaign, said it is ‘exciting’ news that nuclear fusion could come to the borough. “What’s also important, and why I’ve called a meeting of industry leaders and community leaders in and around Copeland, is to make sure all the projects and opportunities are linked up.” There is a fresh impetus amongst concerned parties to secure the Rolls Royce SMRs, and potentially nuclear fusion, at Moorside. Mrs Harrison said: “We can’t keep saying these are exciting opportunities without delivering.”
Carlisle News & Star 22nd Feb 2021 read more »
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