EU says CDM projects may be eligible post 2012

The European commission on 24 June clarified rules on UN measures that could help scale up programmatic CDM projects and ensure more foreign offsets are eligible for the EU ETS after 2012.

Under current EU rules, if a CDM project is registered after 2012 its credits will only be eligible for use in the EU’s carbon market if the scheme is located in a least developed country (LDC)

Solar industry collapse could be avoided without busting feed-in tariff budget

The crippling cuts to feed-in tariffs for large solar installations could have been avoided, according to a new report from Ernst & Young that argues that more modest cuts to incentives would have allowed larger projects to remain commercially viable while still ensuring that the scheme does not breach its assigned budget.

BusinessGreen 

EU gets tough with energy firms in bid to cut consumption

Energy companies will be forced to offset sales with energy-efficiency measures and public buildings face green makeovers as part of new EU plans to cut energy consumption by 20 per cent.

Europe's utilities could be obliged to save 1.5 per cent of their energy sales by volume by installing more efficient boilers, fitting double-glazed windows and insulating lofts for their customers, if today's proposed Energy Efficiency Directive is approved.

BusinessGreen

Salmond's green energy policy 'will double power bills'

Professor Ian Fells makes a public attacks Alex Salmond's green energy policy in the light of Scottish Power’s price hike. He claimed that household bill's in 2020 "will be double what they are now.”

Telegraph

Energy giants' plan for new Scots onshore CO2 pipeline

Longannet project requiring a CCS pipeline from Falkirk to Peterhead for the combined Scottish Power, National Grid and Shell UK project.  Hoping to use an existing natural gas line.

BBC

Future green cars and planes could be made from bananas

Scientists have developed a more effective way to use fibres from bananas, pineapples and other plants to make a new generation of green vehicles.

Brazilian researchers have found the natural solution to a new generation of automotive plastics that are stronger, lighter, and more eco-friendly than plastics now in use.

ClickGreen

Energy firms fear "tremendous decline" in CO2 price

The Europe Union's carbon market could be flooded with excess pollution permits over the next decade, deflating prices and undermining investment in green energy, five EU energy companies warned on Tuesday.

The utilities, including Britain's Scottish and Southern Energy and Denmark's Dong, said falling carbon prices could: "severely hamper business incentives to invest in low-carbon technologies."

One leaked study seen by Reuters foresees carbon prices falling to 14 euros per tonne, compared with a business-as-usual price of 25 euros. Another sees the price dropping to zero.

STV

Google invests $280 million in partnership with SolarCity

 Google has now entered the residential solar industry with its largest investment into the renewable energy industry by partnering with SolarCity which provides roof leasing to domestic customers. 
RenewableEnergyWorld.com

Nearly half UK's biggest companies failing to act on carbon emissions law

Carbon Trust finds forty of the FTSE 100 do not have emissions targets, despite years of legislation and campaigning.

Guardian

New microchip could prevent 'standby' energy loss

Japanese scientists have developed a new micro-processing chip which they claim could do away with the energy loss caused by appliances while on "standby".
Guardian 

Government confirms deep solar incentive cuts

DECC approves proposed cuts to solar feed-in tariffs, slashing support for large projects by up to 70 per cent.

Business Green

NASA Study finds rainforests can store 25 years of carbon emissions

An article by ClickGreen outlines that NASA has produced a detailed report for forests in more than 75 tropical countries globally which is the first detailed study of its kind.

"Previous studies have estimated the carbon stored in forests on local and large scales within a single continent, but there existed no systematic way of looking at all tropical forests. To measure the size of the trees, scientists typically use a ground-based technique, which gives a good estimate of how much carbon they contain. But this technique is limited because the structure of the forest is extremely variable and the number of ground sites is very limited. "
  ClickGreen

'Green deal' may cover cost of solar panels for homes

Small-scale energy generation may be eligible for the government-backed loan scheme for householders.Guardian

Biomass and RHI for public sector - the government expect that by 2020, 90% of all new builds in the public and commercial sector will be heated by renewable sources. When we add this to the existing buildings that will be “retro-fit” with biomass we will see a very large number of buildings switch to renewables.Green Energy Net

Prospect of limiting global temperature rise looks bleak

Energy-related carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2010 were the highest in history, according to the latest estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“Our latest estimates are another wake-up call,” said Dr Birol. “The world has edged incredibly close to the level of emissions that should not be reached until 2020 if the 2ºC target is to be attained. Given the shrinking room for manœuvre in 2020, unless bold and decisive decisions are made very soon, it will be extremely challenging to succeed in achieving this global goal agreed in Cancun.” Dr Fatih Birol, Chief Economist at the IEA
IEA

UK misses 2010 carbon reduction goal

.The latest analysis by Cambridge Econometrics confirmed that the UK has missed its long-standing target to cut carbon by 20% by 2010, Forecast shows the UK will miss its targets to cut emissions over the next decade if it relies on existing policies.

Under the EU rules, the UK has to supply 15% of all energy – including heating and transport as well as electricity – from renewables. However on current policies renewables are set to make up 17.5% of electricity generation by 2025, well below the government's stated aspirations of 30% by 2020.

Guardian

100% Renewables by 2020

The Scottish Government's 2020 renewable electricity target has been raised to 100% and it has already met its interim 2011 target of generating 31% of electricity from renewable sources.

Salmond announced that offshore wind will play a key role and ht launched Scotland's offshore wind portal offshorewindscotland.org.uk . By 2020 the First Minster said we will be 'generating twice as much electricity as Scotland needs'.
Alex Salmond | Energy Minister Fergus Ewing