Business leaders urge Cameron to support ambitious fourth carbon budget

Rumours suggest Treasury is leading opposition to Committee on Climate Change recommendations for ambitious fourth carbon budget proposing to cut ghg emissions post-2010 by 50 per cent by 2025, putting it on track to reduce emissions 60 per cent by 2030.

Business Green

Edinburgh hoping to Stake its claim to home the Green Investment Bank

An alliance of Scotland's finance sector, power and renewable energy firms and universities is backing a campaign being taken to Westminster to house the GIB in Edinburgh.
BBC  |  The Scotsman

China Sets Carbon Targets

China, the world's biggest producer of climate-changing greenhouse gases, has pledged to cut carbon produced per unit of GDP by 17 percent by the end of 2015, with energy intensity also slated to fall 16 percent.Reuters

The world’s new growth frontier: Midsize cities in emerging markets

Over the next 15 years, 400 cities that most executives have never heard of will power global growth. New research from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) seeks to arm executives with the knowledge they’ll need to tap into global urban growth. Midsize cities in emerging markets are poised not only to generate much of the world’s growth in the years ahead but also to become dramatically richer.

McKinsey Global Institute |  Interactive Map of Cities

Budget 2011-12 23rd March - What it means.

• Allowances under the Carbon Reduction Commitment will be priced (as expected) at £12/t. The Government hopes it will publish draft regulations to implement allowance sales later in 2011.
• UK Aiming to be the first country to introduce a floor price for carbon at £16/tonne CO2 in 2013 rising to £30/tonne by 2020.
• Introduce relief for CCS and CHP.
• Remove an existing exemption in the CCL for electricity CHP plants who supply indirectly to an energy consumer.
• Funding for CCS demonstration programme – The Government remains committed to providing public funding for CCS demonstration plants. However, consistent with its objectives for tax simplification, it will not proceed with the CCS levy. It will instead fund its commitments to CCS demonstration from general taxation.
• £3bn has now been allocated for a Green Investment Bank. The GIB will not have borrowing powers until 2015-16, with the caveat that the Government’s target for national debt as a percentage of GDP has been met.
• Fuel duty will be cut by 1p/litre with immediate effect.The Government will also abolish the fuel duty escalator and replace it with a fair fuel stabiliser.
• However there is an increasing the supplementary charge on oil and gas production companies from 20% to 32% which industry says it will have to pass onto the consumer.

New HP Products are 50% More Energy Efficient

HP announced that on average, the company's products are 50% more energy efficient today than they were in 2005.
This will make the business case for an IT refresh much more attractive.Sustainable Life Media -Linkedin

Scottish Government paves the way for its climate change adaptation

The Scottish Government published various 'Environment' documents relating to its Climate Change Adaptation Plan. These included; a progress report on climate change adaptation in Scotland; and a study on Scotland’s low-carbon and environmental services sector. 16th, 17th March.Scottish Government Environment Reports

Government Solar Feed-in-Tariff U-turn proposals

Government proposals contained in the consultation highlights new installation FiT's at:

• 50kW to 150kW will receive 19p/kWh. 
• 150kW to 250kW capacity will receive 15p/kWh (from32.9p/kWh). 
• 250kW and 5MW will receive just 8.5p/kWh (from 30.7p/kWh). 

These dramatic changes will cripple the solar industry in the UK.

Business Green    |   Click Green

Glasgow Named an IBM Smarter City

Glasgow City Council announced that it has become the first UK city to win a grant from the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge initiative. The grant, worth up to £250,000, provides Glasgow with access to IBM experts who will immerse themselves in local issues and offer a range of options and recommended next-steps. Among the issues examined will be healthcare, education, safety, social services, transportation, communications, sustainability, budget management, energy, and utilities. The bid for a Smarter Cities Challenge grant was made through the city's Sustainable Glasgow initiative. 

Glasgow Council. | SSN  |

Sustainable Scotland Network's Scottish Local Authorities - Sustainability Round-Up

• Scottish Local Authorities Invest in Low Carbon Vehicles
• East Lothian Council Approves Environment Strategy 
• Clackmannanshire Use Thermal Imaging to Assess Heat Loss
• Fife Council Move Forward Plans for Anaerobic Digestion Facility

European Commission Sets Out 'Cost-Effective' Roadmap to 2050 Low Carbon Economy

The EU Commission adopted a Roadmap setting out how Europe could meet its targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% of 1990 levels by 2050. The Roadmap uses comprehensive economic modelling to show that the most cost-efficient pathway to the 2050 target requires a 25% emissions cut in 2020, to be achieved through internal measures alone, rather than the current 20% reduction target.

Sustainable Scotland Network

Launch of £860 million Government Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

DECC announced the launch of the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme on 10 March. The £860 million government scheme - the world's first such financial incentive - will encourage installation of equipment like renewable heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal panels.
Sustainable Scotland Network  |  DECC |  RHI FAQ's

Scotland has CCS capacity to process a century of CO2 output

Rocks deep beneath the Moray Firth are capable of storing decades of CO2 output from Scotland’s power stations. Scotland's potentially massive offshore CO2 storage capacity is of European significance. The European Union has specified that three of the eight CCS demonstrator plants that it will fund under its multi-billion euro demonstrator programme must inject into saline aquifers. The results from this study place Scotland in a strong position to secure future EU support for more detailed assessment of CO2 storage in saline aquifers. ClickGreen

The impact of a global temperature rise of 4ºC

An interactive map from the Met Office showing the effects globally of a 4degree rise.

National Archives

Government Releases Carbon Plan

The Government has released its draft plan of ongoing and planned cross-Government action on climate change that takes into account the first three UK carbon budgets covering the period 2008-2022. Following the fourth carbon budget (2023-2037) in June an updated ‘live’ Carbon Plan will be published in October 2011 that will take all four carbon budgets into account.

The Carbon Plan sets out the Government’s vision of cleaner, more efficient energy, secure supply and stable energy prices as well as the growth that a low carbon economy will bring.

BT calls on procurement standard to cut supply chain CO2 emissions

BT has introduced a climate change procurement standard that will apply to all its suppliers. The initiative includes three "minimum expectations" to be undertaken by all contracted suppliers.

• Firstly the supplier must demonstrate it has a policy in place to address the challenge of climate change.

• Secondly the supplier should be actively measuring and reporting carbon, as well as other relevant green house gas emissions. 
• Finally, the supplier must have in place "challenging targets" to reduce emissions and is reporting on progress.

Procurement Leaders

Smart Grid Investment in Europe to Total $80 Billion by 2020

By 2020, almost 240 million smart meters will have been deployed in Europe and smart grids are an essential element in realizing the vision of a low-carbon Europe  A new report from Pike Research forecasts that, during the period from 2010 to 2020, cumulative European investment in smart grid technologies will reach $80.3 billion. The cleantech market intelligence firm anticipates that smart grid revenue in Europe will peak at $9.8 billion in 2017 before declining somewhat to $9.1 billion by 2020.

Pike Research

NASA study reveals global sea levels could rise 12 inches by 2050

A 20 year study reveals the pace at which the polar ice sheets are losing mass was found to be accelerating rapidly and that sea levels could rise more rapidly than previously expected.
Click Green

EU will fall well short of a target to sharpen its energy efficiency by 2020 on current trends.

The Commission will stick to a plan to tighten the supply of emissions permits to its carbon market, in a proposal it will publish on Tuesday, as it tries to shore up action to fight climate change.

Meeting the EU's goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 will require an extra 270 billion euros annually, or 1.5 percent of EU economic output or GDP.

Reuters