SSE receives £400mn loan for renewables development

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) announced that it had secured a £400mn loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support renewables development in the UK and Ireland. SSE finance director Gregor Alexander said: “The EIB funding will support our well-financed investment programme and help deliver assets which are needed to help meet EU, UK and Irish renewable energy targets.”
SSE

Guidance on CRC inadequate, says RWE survey

Half of all businesses expected to participate in the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency scheme said that government instructions were inadequate according to a RWE AG survey, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday 31 March. The study showed that 44% of participants believed the government’s guidance on the carbon program was inadequate, while 49% said they did not understand what was required of them.
Bloomberg

Green technology boost for Wales

The Welsh Assembly announced on Tuesday 30 March an £8.3mn investment programme to aid development of low-carbon technologies in Wales. Technologies to be supported include underground coal gasification and carbon capture and storage. The Welsh Assembly said the programme could create up to 150 jobs in the low-carbon sector.
Welsh Assembly

Moving to GMT+1 will save 500k tonnes CO2

10:10 has launched the campaign for brighter evenings, which has been backed by both the Labour and Conservative party. It would produce the equivalent to taking 185,000 cars off the road permanently.
Guardian

Siemens to invest in UK wind industry

Siemens is set to announce plans to build a wind turbine factory in the UK, according to a report in the Times on Monday 29 March. The newspaper said the investment is likely to be £50mn-£100mn and would seek to capitalise on the UK’s rapidly expanding offshore wind industry.
Times

Funds announced for smart grid development

DECC announced it had awarded eight companies a share of £7.6mn to support smart grid development at a proposed site in Glasgow. The technologies being supported included storage, demand response controls and distribution load management. Amongst the awarded companies were Energy Optimizers, Smart Grid Solutions and National Grid.
DECC

Scottish Government low-carbon economy consultation

The Scottish Government consultation on Scotland's progression to a low-carbon economy seeks views to help the development of a Low-carbon Strategy.
Scottish Government

DECC publishes energy statistics…

DECC published its Energy Trends and Quarterly Energy Prices reports and UK greenhouse gas emissions statistics. The reports concluded that total energy consumption dropped 5.5% from 2008 to 2009; total energy production had fallen 6% in the same period; and provisional 2009 carbon emissions were 8.6% lower year-on-year.
Energy trends Quarterly energy prices Emissions statistics Friends of Earth Comments

Budget

As part of the 2010 Budget on Wednesday 24 March Chancellor Alistair Darling announced: £2bn to set up a new Green Investment Bank; a commitment to reform the electricity market; financial support for SMEs to commercialise low-carbon technologies; £60mn for the development of port sites to support the offshore wind industry; and a commitment to reduce government estate carbon emissions by 30% by 2020.
Environmental Audit Committee CBI's reaction DECC

What the 2010 Budget means for Green

Treasury calculations suggested that the series of small but significant transport, tax and investment measures announced could cumulatively lead to the reduction of nearly 80m tonnes of CO2 - nearly 15% of all UK climate change emissions - by 2020.
Guardian

GE announces plan to build wind turbine factory in UK

Just a day after the government announces £60m investment to develop a new port facility in the North East to serve the burgeoning offshore North Sea wind-power industry, GE confirms it will locate a major new turbine manufacturing plant in the UK
BusinessGreen

A new £12 million Scottish Government fund for Wave and Tidal

A new £12 million Scottish Government fund to support the deployment of wave and tidal energy devices has been unveiled. The Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support fund - to be known as WATERS - will support the testing of new wave and tidal prototypes in the seas around Scotland.
Scottish Government

MSPs oppose new coal-fired station with CCS

MSPs have backed calls for the Scottish Parliament to reject plans for a coal-fired power station at Hunterston in North Ayrshire as CCS is unproven at this time.
BBC

New CCS plant applies for planning permission

On Monday 15 March Ayrshire Power (AP) confirmed that it had submitted a planning application to the Scottish Government for development of a new multi-fuel power station with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at Hunterston, North Ayrshire.
Ayrshire Power

SSE awarded £6.3mn for CCS

After the launch of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) industrial strategy, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) announced that it had been awarded £6.3mn to trial CCS technology at its Ferrybridge power station in West Yorkshire. SSE chief executive Ian Marchant said: “CCS could contribute significantly to meeting UK and EU climate change targets”.
SSE

DECC launches CCS industrial strategy

DECC published its carbon capture and storage (CCS) industrial strategy, which intended to promote debate on delivering CCS through the demonstration phase onto wider deployment. Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband said: “CCS presents a massive industrial growth opportunity for the UK. We have a strong, established and skilled workforce in precisely the sectors needed to get CCS deployed at scale. And we have some of the best potential sites in all of Europe for CO2 storage under the North Sea.”
DECC

CCS a “key element” of future policy, says Environment Agency

Responding to the Government’s announcement on carbon capture and storage (CCS), Environment Agency chairman Chris Smith said CCS was a key element of a clean energy policy. He added: “CCS has the potential to change the face of power generation and enable the UK to sell this technology to the rest of the world.”
EA

Salmond hails wave of energy deals

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond hailed the marine energy leasing announcement and said it underlined the “rich natural resources of the waters of Scotland”, the FT reported on Tuesday 16 March. But Salmond acknowledged there would be a need to improve grid connections, ports and construction facilities if its potential was to be achieved.
FT

Scotland unveils plan for giant 1.2GW marine energy hub

Scotland's dream of establishing itself as the "Saudi Arabia of marine energy" took a major step towards fruition today with the award of leasing rights to 10 projects, which combined are expected to deliver 1.2GW capacity by 2020, significantly more than the 700MW that had been anticipated.
Business Green

DECC Announces CCS Projects

On Friday 12 March DECC announced that funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects had been awarded to E.ON and Scottish Power for design and development studies as part of the CCS competition. Work on the studies would be completed within 12 months after which the final winner would be selected.
DECC

EU set to meet renewables targets

According to a summary of national forecasts published on Thursday 11 March by the European Commission (EC), the EU is on course to exceed its target to generate 20% of its energy from renewables by 2020 by 0.3%. It noted that, if demand was reduced, the UK could also meet its target. Energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger said that the forecasts represented an “important milestone” towards EU goals.
EU

ERP report on Energy Innovation Milestones to 2050

Energy Research Partnership Report sets out how and when selected new energy technologies are expected to develop and what the implications of their deployment could be on the UK energy system.
ERP

CCS Explained

Understand the three main techniques for Carbon Capture and Storage.
Guardian

BIS publishes energy efficiency case studies

On Monday 8 March BIS published case studies of companies which undertook resource efficiency measures resulting in financial savings. The document––Practical resource efficiency savings: Case studies––showed a variety of measures, which other companies could draw upon, to implement their own efficiency measures.
BERR

FiTs favour solar over wind

According to RenewableUK inconsistencies in feed-in tariffs (FiTs) favour solar panels, the Guardian reported on Wednesday 10 March. RenewableUK argued that UK small-scale wind turbine manufacturers would lose out to foreign solar panel manufacturers. Currently a wind turbine would qualify for 26p/KWh -34p/KWh compared to solar panels, which would qualify for up to 41p/KWh.
Guardian

Scotland aiming to be world leader in CCS

On Wednesday 10 March 2010 the Scottish Government announced that it is to publish a plan to position Scotland as a world leader in carbon capture and storage (CCS). The plan "The carbon capture and storage roadmap" recommended actions including: development of CCS demonstration projects; and development of an offshore licensing regime. Scottish energy minister Jim Mather said: “Scotland already has elements of the required onshore and offshore infrastructure and our skills in the oil, gas and engineering industries can be utilised to help the industry grow and develop.”
Scottish Government

White House meeting aims to kick-start US climate bill

Obama says he wants comprehensive climate and energy legislation, and he wants it this year.
Business Green

Drax joins talks over CCS

The Yorkshire Post reported on Tuesday 9 March that Drax was in talks with regional development agency Yorkshire Forward over the development of a £2bn carbon capture and storage (CCS) cluster project at the site. Drax production director Peter Emery said: “The Humber cluster is credible and Drax needs to be in a position to capitalise on that.”
Yorkshire Post

Wind turbine Extension approved despite expert recommendation

Councillors approved a nine turbine extension to a wind farm in Stirlingshire despite the recommendation of planning experts to drop the project, the BBC reported on Tuesday 9 March. Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford said he welcomed the decision to go ahead with the wind farm. Construction is expected to begin in 2011.
BBC

Offshore wind costs higher than nuclear, says consultancy

Output costs from offshore wind generation were three times higher than those from nuclear power, according to engineering consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), Platts reported on Wednesday 10 March. PB said all-in costs for offshore wind were 15p-20p/KWh compared to nuclear at 6p-8p/KWh.
Parsons Brinkerhoff

Progress in international climate policy

China and India have formally endorsed the Copenhagen Accord the Guardian reported on Tuesday 9 March. The Accord looked to limit global warming to 2°C and provide $100mn of funding to developing countries for mitigation projects.
Guardian

Triple boost for councils tackling climate change

Housing and planning minister John Healey announced on Tuesday 9 March that three planning policies had been overhauled giving councils the latest guidance and targets on addressing climate change. He added that £10mn had been granted to improve green skills and welcomed the second wave of eco-towns. Healey said the changes would ensure councils put combating climate change at the heart of future development.
DCLG

Britain’s CO2 emissions for imported goods at 253mn tonnes per year

UK demand for imported goods resulted in the production of 253mn tonnes of CO2 every year, the Guardian reported on Tuesday 9 March. The newspaper quoted a study by the Carnegie Institute of Washington, which highlighted the issue of responsibility for CO2 released from the production of goods for foreign markets.
Guardian

Global warming is “man-made”, says Met Office

On Friday 5 March the Met Office published its review of climate change to update the International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) 2007 assessment. The review concluded that the case of man-made global warming was stronger than the IPCC had previously maintained.
Met Office

Miliband set to invest further in CCS

Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband is set to give E.ON UK and Scottish Power tens of millions of pounds to finish their designs for carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment that could be fitted to coal-fired power stations, the Sunday Times reported on 7 March. The newspaper said both companies were expected to finish their projects within one year.
Sunday Times

DECC launches home energy management strategy…

On Tuesday 2 March energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband, communities secretary John Denham and housing and planning minister John Healey launched the Government’s Warm homes, greener homes: A strategy for household energy management 2010 strategy. It set out plans for meeting a 29% reduction in carbon emissions from the household sector with targets for “eco-upgrades” to homes, which would include cavity wall and loft installation, smart metering and increased efficiency. DECC

Report on infrastructure vs climate change (water, buildings and transport)

Government report adapting energy, transport and water infrastructure to the long-term impacts of climate has been released. The report concluded that key issues arising from climate change that could affect the energy industry involved severe weather events, and reduced capacity/ efficiency of current infrastructure due to increased temperatures. DEFRA