71% of Homeowners

Two thirds of the population think the Government’s suggestions for feed-in tariffs (FiTs) are under-ambitious, said the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and Friends of the Earth (FoE) in press releases on Wednesday 27 January. Based on data from a survey conducted on behalf of the groups, 71% of homeowners said they would consider installing home energy systems if there was the incentive to do it. Link

SSE to invest £100mn in Sustainable Glasgow

On Wednesday 27 January Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) announced £100mn investment over the next five years for a more sustainable Glasgow. The investment will focus on: the potential for a biogas network within the city; the launch of a unique energy tariff; and regenerating communities. SSE group services director Jim McPhillimy said: “Sustainable Glasgow” would bring environmental, economic and social benefits.
SSE

Scottish Power to develop smart grid for Glasgow

Scottish Power announced on Monday 25 January that it aimed to develop a smart grid in Glasgow to allow households to sell excess power back to the grid, as part of the Clyde Gateway regeneration project. Scottish Power made an application for £6mn of funding under DECC’s low carbon investment fund for the project. Scottish Power director of energy networks Frank Mitchell said the smart grid would “optimise” existing electricity networks.
Scottish Power

£125m for low carbon businesses

On Sunday 24 January Prime Minister Gordon Brown launched a new Innovation investment fund intended to provide £125mn of funding to low carbon businesses or technologies. Brown said the funding would “build a platform for the future” adding that the low carbon economy would create 2.5mn more jobs.
No10

Product and Supply Chain Emissions

On Wednesday 20 January 60 corporations began to pilot new frameworks to measure greenhouse gas emissions. The Product lifecycle accounting and reporting standard and the Scope 3 (corporate value chain) accounting and reporting standard are part of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative (GHGPI) and aim to provide methods of emissions accounting for individual products across their lifecycle and of corporations across their value chains. Link

Government threatened with legal proceedings

Friends of the Earth (FoE) said on Friday 22 January its legal department had written to energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband raising a number of concerns over the Government's draft energy National Policy Statements. FoE said the Government could face a judicial review unless its "fundamentally flawed" planning policies on major energy infrastructure were changed significantly.
Link

Government Data Website

Government website puts data in one place
On Thursday 21 January the Government launched a new website to provide access to government data, including topics such as domestic energy consumption, demand and carbon emissions. Link