Shared grid promises to slash offshore wind costs

The UK Energy Research Centre report, entitled Great Expectations, suggests that current costs of £150/MWh could fall to just over £115/MWh in the next 15 years but only if government and industry work together.
Business Green

Britain now has more Wind power than all other countries combined.

With the completion of Vattenfall's 300MW Thanet wind farm, according to the trade body RenewableUK, the UK now has more offshore wind capacity than the rest of the world put together. While the global total excluding the UK is estimated at 1,100MW, the UK now has 1,341MW.

The Thanet wind farm will power 200,000 homes
Business Green

UK set for solar rush as first plant approved

Cornwall Council in the southwest of Britain approved the country's first medium-scale solar power project Monday, scratching the surface of an industry which could attract up to 1 billion pounds ($1.58 billion) to the area, the local council said.
Reuters

Scotland to get 100 percent green energy by 2025

Scotland should produce enough renewable electricity to meet all its power demand by 2025, First Minister Alex Salmond said Tuesday.

"Scotland has unrivalled green energy resources and our new national target to generate 80 percent of electricity needs from renewables by 2020 will be exceeded by delivering current plans for wind, wave and tidal generation," Salmond said.
Reuters

Finance sector is willing to help fund CCS if....

• An indicator of performance across the whole capture and generation chain must be provided by a well-regarded equipment supplier or contractor.
• Major sponsors who have successfully managed sizeable and complicated construction projects must be involved.
• Economics of CCS must have a route to being competitive with other forms of generation, without public funding.

The reporting "indicates that excluding any government contribution, power prices would have to be around €160/MWh to make it worthwhile building a coal fired power station with post-combustion CCS today." Allowing for efficiencies... "the required power price might drop to €140/MWh – still well above the €80/MWh that might be required to justify the same coal fired power station without CCS but which has to pay €20/t for CO2 emitted to the atmosphere."
Climate Change Group

Wal-Mart to try thin-film solar technology

Wal-Mart is looking at installing thin film panels rather that traditional crystalline panels in up to 30 locations.

Thin-film panels absorb light more easily than crystalline silicon so require less semiconductor material and are cheaper. But they tend to be less efficient in energy conversion.
Reuters

Coalition Accused of reneging on promises

Coalition accused of going back on pre-election promises such as cracking down on illegal timber market and on feed-in-tariffs for previously installed solar panels.
Guardian

EU creates CCS Project Network

The European Commission completed the launch of the EU tool that supports early large-scale demonstration of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technologies. The CCS Project Network is the world's first network of CCS demonstration projects to foster knowledge sharing and raise public understanding of the role of CCS in cutting CO2 emissions. This will accelerate learning and ensure that the Commission can assist CCS to safely fulfil its potential and become a commercially viable technology.
EU

Westminster Forum Discusses CCS

The Westminster Energy, Environment and Transport Forum hosted a seminar on 9 September on the latest developments in carbon capture and storage (CCS).

CO2 Deepstore director Ian Phillips argued that CCS technology worked, but was expensive in energy terms where losses due to the process of capturing carbon can be up to 30%. He suggested funds for decommissioning and monitoring of carbon stores should be accrued from revenue streams once projects were operational, rather than developers being liable for the costs up-front. Finally he stressed that current liabilities for possible leakage of carbon dioxide from stores were too high, and would prevent most from progressing with plans to develop projects.
Westminster Forum

Chris Goodall claims Electric cars: Boris backs the wrong technology.

The London EV charging scheme has opted for a single phase 3-pin charging points. Chris Goodall points out that the standards coming will be three phase 7-pin and that London must reconsider.
Chris Goodall

Carbon Trust launches new UK solar company

Cambridge Enterprise, part of the University of Cambridge, and the Carbon Trust announced the launch of a new company called Eight19. It will develop and manufacture high-performance, low-cost plastic solar cells for high-growth volume markets. The Carbon Trust said Eight19 would “revolutionise” solar power production by opening up new markets and reducing costs, driving forward mass production and making the technology more affordable.
Carbon Trust

Advisors warn UK needs “rapid” action to hit renewable targets

The UK is unlikely to meet its commitment to generate 15 percent from renewable sources, according to the Government’s influential group of climate change advisors.
ClickGreen

Heriot-Watt University handed golden £1.3m donation

A gold-mining tycoon is donating £1.3m to a Scottish university to boost research into sustainable energy. Canada-based philanthropist Robert M Buchan is giving the cash to Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh, where he studied more than 40 years ago.Mr Buchan hopes the new chair will keep Scotland at the forefront of sustainable energy engineering.
BBC

Iberdrola to invest in UK infrastructure

The Scottish Government and Scottish Power announced that Scottish Power's parent company Iberdrola planned to invest €4.8bn in the UK over the course of 2010-12. It said two-thirds of the planned investment would go towards wind power, smart grids, carbon capture and storage and distribution networks. A considerable portion will be use to capitalise in Scotland's potential in renewable energy generation.
Scottish Government Scottish Power

Scotland supports extending permitted development for micro-renewables

The Scottish Government published responses to its recent 'Extending Permitted Development Rights for Domestic Wind Turbines and Air Source Heat Pumps' consultation. The responses showed general support for plans to expand the scope of permitted development.
Scottish Government

DECC confirms enhanced capital allowance technologies

DECC published its updated energy technology product list for energy efficient technologies eligible for the Enhanced Capital Allowance Scheme. ECA enables businesses to claim 100% first-year capital allowances on their spending on qualifying plant and machinery such as certain energy saving and renewables including; AMR/aM&T, boilers, solar thermal systems, biomass, HVAC, heat pumps, lighting control, refridgeration and more.
DECC

Scottish Power invests £5m for CCS Alliance

ScottishPower has announced its sponsorship of the UK's first alliance between industry and academia to focus specifically on carbon capture and storage (CCS). The Scottish Power Academic Alliance will fund 12 full-time researchers at University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London.
ClickGreen

Scotland is Halfway to 2020 climate target

Greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland have fallen by 20 per cent since 1990, according to the latest official statistics published today.

Taking emissions trading into account, Scotland's emissions have fallen by 21.2 per cent from 1990 - meaning Scotland has reached the halfway point in achieving its 2020 Climate Change Act target of reducing emissions by 42 per cent.
Scottish Government

Solar PV market to grow in 2010

Growth predictions for the global photovoltaic (PV) market this year range between 9GW and 24GW of newly installed capacity, according to a report published by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). The Ninth Annual Photovoltaics Status report noted in 2009 PV cells world-wide produced 22GW of electricity, with 70% located in Europe. For 2010 it noted steady investment of $33.9bn (£22bn) and predicted the increasing number of market implementation programmes, combined with rising energy prices, would push demand up further.
JRC

HSBC said the global market for low-carbon energy and efficiency projects will triple to $2.2 trillion by 2020 but that a U.S. cap-and-trade program will not be reliased this decade.
Bloomberg