World's first carbon offsetting lottery launches in the UK

A new Carbon Lottery offering businesses and individuals a chance of scooping a weekly €4m (£3.5m) jackpot while offsetting emissions is to be launched at the end of the month.

BusinessGreen

EU Carbon Intensity Top 300

Environmental Investment Organisation's (EIO) has produced a list of the 300 biggest EU companies and ranked them with regard to the carbon intensity of their operations.
EIO

Solar Partnership to provide solar thermal to benefit from RHI

Solar Fusion has agree to install solar thermal systems manufactured by London-based Surface Power. They announced they would be working in partnership in a £52million  equipment deal to capitalise on the RHI which comes into force this July for businesses and 2012 for households.  The RHI offers payments for 20 years to projects producing heat from renewable sources.

BusinessGreen

21 FTSE 100 undertake carbon offsetting

A report  by Carbon Retirement shows that 21 of the FTSE 100 companies carry out voluntary carbon off-setting, six of these claiming to be carbon neutral. Renewable energy projects were found to generate the most popular offset credits, being purchased by 12 out of the 21 FTSE 100 offsetting companies.
Carbon Retirement

Scotland is a Net Carbon Sink

The Scottish Government announced the results of a report on Emissions and Removals of GHG's from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) which highlighted Scotland as a net sink of GHG's from LULUCF activities. A report produced by the Centre of Ecology & Hydrology showed that the size of forests in the country contributed to the removal of 8.7MtCO2e.
Scottish Government | LULUCF Report | DEFRA

Renewable energy targets not met despite billions in investment

Billions of pounds in grants to the wind industry have failed to assist the UK in meeting its renewable energy target for 2010, prompting one industry organisation to call for a review of what it describes as "infeasible" green energy.
Energy Ecosse

SNP Manifesto

• New coal-fired stations must demonstrate carbon capture and storage on at least 300 MW of its capacity from day one and retro-fitting for those stations by no later than 2025, with 100% CCS expected on new builds from 2020.
• Increase domestic energy generation from renewables to 100% by 2020, ensuring 130,000 jobs are delivered in the low-carbon economy.

BBC

Solar firms file for judicial review against feed-in tariff cuts

A group of 11 solar firms filed a claim in the High Court late yesterday, seeking a judicial review against the Government's decision to launch a fast-track review of the feed-in tariff incentives available for larger solar installations.

BusinessGreen 

IEA CCS Roadmap

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has release a CCS roadmap which includes the expected projects to 2050.

IEA

UK Carbon Price to 2020

Budget 2011 confirmed that the Government would introduce a carbon floor price of £16/tCO2 from 1 April 2013. The floor price will follow a linear path to reach £30/tCO2 in 2020 equating to a £2 per annum increase.

Biomass could provide 4% electricity demand

Biomass could provide 4% electricity demand
The UK Energy Research Council published research stating the UK could meet 4% of electricity demand by using Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) biomass. It found that 39% of land in the country is unsuitable for SRC because it is prime agricultural land or protected, but large areas of marginal land could produce 7.5mnt of biomass without damaging agricultural sustainability.

UK ERC

Shale gas 20% more emissions than coal

Research carried out by Cornell University showed that up to 8% of methane escapes during shale gas production through venting and leaks. The study comes at an inappropriate time for the fledgling shale gas industry where the resource has been advocated as being “clean”.
Reuters

UK to Miss its 2010 Renewables Target

Research by the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) claims the UK failed to reach its 10% renewable electricity target for 2010, generating only 6.5% of power from green technology sources.
ClickGreen

CCS Adoption to be Accelerated

Energy Ministers from around the world have agreed to proposals to help speed up the global deployment of carbon capture and storage. 

The UK’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne said “there can be no solution to climate change and energy security globally without carbon capture and storage.”DECC

Solar Power May Already Rival Coal, Prompting Installation Surge

Bloomberg, the London-based research company says solar is viable against fossil fuels on the electric grid in most sunny regions such as the Middle East.

“We are already in this phase change and are very close to grid parity,” Shawn Qu, chief executive officer of Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ),

Bloomberg

UK 2010 Provisional Greenhouse Gas Emissions Figures Published

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced on 31 March that it has published provisional 2010 estimates of UK greenhouse gas emissions
Sustainable Scotland Network

Study finds UK renewables funding gap smaller than previously expected

The UK’s renewable funding gap is about £37bn––81.5% less than a previous estimate of £200bn, according to a report published on Monday 7 March by financial service company Paradigm Change Capital Partners but raised concerns that the timing and concentration of the finance will not be sufficient to meet UK and EU targets.
Paradigm Change Capital Partners

Scotland Government Slashes Renewable Red Tape

The Scottish Government announced on Thursday 24 February that owners of public buildings and businesses will soon be able to generate energy using renewables without the need for planning permission. A Parliamentary Order has been laid that will permit various micro-generation technologies to be installed on non-domestic buildings from 18 March including:

• Solar thermal panels;
• Solar photo voltaic panels;
• Pipework for ground source heat pumps;
• Pipework for water source heat pumps;
• Biomass boilers

Scottish Government

More debate over FiT's

Huhne hits out at large-scale solar project developers stating that an increase in the largest-scale solar projects risked “skewing the costs of the whole scheme” and could increase costs for consumers.
DECC

The solar industry has launched two separate online campaigns calling on the Government to cancel its early review of the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Scheme, We Support Solar and Power to Society, warned the Government that its review of the scheme had left many solar farm owners unable to plan for the next financial year.
Businessgreen

Alex Cunningham (Stockton North, Labour) stated that solar development in the UK has been “knocked off course”, during a debate in Westminster Tuesday 29 March. He said the fast-track review of feed-in tariffs was “one more victim of ideologically-driven policy”.
Epolitix

CBI Advises Reinstating the Recycling Payments or Scrap the CRC

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) is unworkable in its current form and the government must now either reinstate the revenue recycling mechanisms that were scrapped last autumn or replace the scheme altogether, the CBI has says
CBI
A few weeks back, KPMG also claimed the CRC has suffered from “over consultation”, which has led to delays and a loss of clarity and simplicity. It also raised concerns that the scheme had “lost its purpose”.

Feed-in tariff fight intensifies as developers predict halt to solar projects

DECC says it is in "listening mode" as evidence suggests virtually all mid-sized solar projects will be ditched if incentive cuts go through. Officials saw presentations from three solar developers - building giant Kingspan, solar specialist Suntech and insulation and solar technology installer Mark Group - all of which demonstrated that the scale of the feed-in tariff cuts proposed in the government's ongoing review will make the full range of 50kw plus projects unviable.

Most notably, Kingspan used three real life projects with capacities of 100kW, 250kW and 500kW to undertake a detailed analysis of the rates of return available to firms at different locations and under the current and proposed tariff regimes.

The analysis found that, with the current tariffs, firms deploying the projects could expect to receive rates of return before tax ranging from 7.1 per cent for a 100kW installation in Edinburgh to 11 per cent for a 500kW array in Plymouth.

In contrast, once the tariff proposed in the government's consultation is applied, none of the projects attains the five per cent rate of return DECC has said in its impact assessment that it wants to achieve. The best rate of return is 4.7 per cent for a 100kW array in Plymouth, while all other projects would deliver returns of between 3.8 and -1.2 per cent.

Business Green

Scottish Onshore Wind Turbines operated for just 21.9 per cent of the time

SCOTLAND'S onshore wind farms were idle for record periods last year because of unusually calm weather, which industry analysts claimed could lead to higher power bills.

Turbines operated on average for just 21.9 per cent of the time - more than five percentage points less than in 2009, the Renewable Energy Foundation claimed. They are expected to operate at an average output of about 30 per cent of maximum capacity.

The Scotsman

The Australian Carbon Farming Initiative - REDD

The Australian government aims to pass the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI). The scheme aims to generate farm and forest-linked carbon credits for sale. Agriculture, deforestation and burning emit more than 20 percent of Australia's greenhouse gases.
CFI could become an important revenue stream for some farmers.
Reuters

Climate Bonds Public Consultation

The proposed International Standards and Certification Scheme for Climate Bonds is open for public consultation. The Scheme will be aimed at mobilising investment from the private sector to help address the challenge climate change. Climate Bonds are themed asset-backed or ring fenced bonds issued to raise finance for climate change mitigation or adaptation related projects or programs.
Climate Bonds Standards will help grow the market by:

• Providing assurance for investors about the environmental integrity of climate bonds.
• Providing governments with an easy-to-use tool to preference investments.
• Supporting liquidity in secondary markets

Climate Bonds

Transport Scotland's Low Carbon Vehicles Report

A progress report on Low and Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles has been published by Transport Scotland.

“The Scottish Government is committed to achieving decarbonisation of road transportation by 2050, along with a mature market for low carbon cars by 2020 – resulting in lower emissions by 2020.

“As noted in this report we are pushing ahead with schemes to enable us to achieve these world leading targets - we have supported the public sector procurement of over 100 LCV’s through the Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Support Scheme, have started with the installation of an initial 375 electric vehicle charging points, capitalising on the UK-wide Plugged-in Places scheme, as well as provided over £4.4m of funding this year for the Green Bus Fund.

“As we move forward we are working with stakeholders, including the 2020 Climate Change Group, on the future Low Carbon Vehicle Action plan about the scope for further intiatives and priorities for action, including reviewing the autonomy for Scotland to tailor fuel and vehicle excise duties.

Transport Scotland

Annual Plug-in Electric Vehicle Sales to Cross the 1 Million Mark by 2015

Pike Research has released research:

Auto manufacturers are in the process of launching plug-in vehicles in two different forms: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). Both types of plug-ins offer many advantages over traditional non-electrified vehicles, including improved fuel economy or no petroleum-based fuel usage, lower or zero emissions while driving, and a quieter ride. While the penetration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) will remain low for the foreseeable future in relation to the total light duty vehicle market, a recent report from Pike Research forecasts that sales volumes will reach a critical mass in the next several years, and by 2015 global PEV sales will cross the 1 million unit threshold for the first time.

“Electric vehicles have received a great deal of attention in recent months due to the launches of several high-profile vehicles,” says senior analyst Dave Hurst. “The PEV market is already becoming a highly competitive market and over the next few years, the marketing initiatives of multiple manufacturers will help build consumer familiarity with, and drive adoption of, plug-in vehicles as a viable alternative to internal combustion engines.”

Pike Research