News Archive

week ending 16 January 2009

 

David Cameron

Cameron has been forced to admit that he has abandoned his plan to generate electricity at home after deciding reluctantly that it will never really work. The Conservative leader fought a lengthy planning battle to win the right to put one there. “It is obvious that windmills in open rural spaces do better than Notting Dale, as it should be [called] because I live in a dip.”

Guardian 16th Jan 2009 more >>

Scottish Climate Challenge Fund

Cabinet Secretary for the Environment Richard Lochhead announced on January 15, 2009 the award of a total of £4,376,541 to 24 projects in the third round of grants from the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund, to help Scotland play a leading role in the international fight against climate change.

Scottish Government 15th Jan 2009 more >>

English Grants

The third round of the Community Sustainable Energy Programme (CSEP) capital grants scheme saw the number of applications increase by 25 per cent. Sixty-nine projects were assessed by the Selection Panel and 36 awarded funding totalling £770k. CSEP is an open grants scheme designed to help community based organisations in England reduce their energy bills and environmental impact through renewable energy generation. It is funded by more than £10 million from the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme.

Electrical Times 15th Jan 2009 more >>

York Eco Business Centre

York’s Eco Business Centre in Clifton Moor, developed by The Helmsley Group, York, is leased to City of York Council and sublet to Business Link. It has environmental features including a wind turbine, ground-source heating and cooling, and rainwater harvesting for flushing all communal area toilets.

York Press 15th Jan 2009 more >>

Warwickshire College

HUNDREDS of jobs will be created when work starts on a new £35 million college campus in Warwickshire next month. The building will feature many sustainable technologies, including a wind turbine, solar cells, pv cells, solar water heating, and rainwater harvesting.

Coventry Telegraph 15th Jan 2009 more >>

The Power Academy is part of the new Warwickshire College Rugby Centre and will focus on developing training in green and carbon-friendly power sources.

24 Dash 15th Jan 2009 more >>

Hydro Attraction

A TRAILBLAZING scheme to transform an old Otley mill into a water, sun and biomass-fuelled tourist attraction has received a ringing endorsement from councillors. The plan by Sustainable and Renewable Energy (Sure) in Wharfedale would see part of Garnett’s riverside site turned into a self-sustaining alternative technology centre powered by, among other things, hydro-electric turbines in the River Wharfe.

Wharfedale Observer 15th Jan 2009 more >>

West Midlands

Regional minister for the West Midlands Ian Austin has said the region can turn climate change into an opportunity and be at the forefront of a “low carbon industrial revolution”. Speaking at a seminar for the West Midlands Climate Change Office Mr Austin highlighted the region’s achievements and outlined his vision the work needed to deal with the problem is an opportunity.

Birmingham Post 15th Jan 2009 more >>

Scottish Budget

THE Greens last night appeared to be on the verge of landing a historic agreement that will ensure the current Scottish budget is passed. John Swinney, the finance secretary, appeared to concede ground to Holyrood’s two Green MSPs in their demands for £1 billion of free insulation for all houses over ten years. In his opening speech on the issue yesterday, Mr Swinney seemed to suggest he would offer them pilot schemes before a nationwide roll-out.

Scotsman 15th Jan 2009 more >>

The finance secretary also told MSPs that the Government was in “active discussions” with the Greens over their proposals for a home insulation programme.

Herald 15th Jan 2009 more >>

Worcester Bosch defies crunch

With growing interest in renewable technologies, Bosch Thermotechnology continues to expand its product range as it continues to invest in major research and development projects. Under the Worcester brand we will, for example, be launching two new air source heat pumps in the summer of 2009 to compliment the existing range of ground source heat pumps and solar panels. Other new technologies are also being developed here in Worcester and the expansion would create new high-tech job opportunities.

24 Dash 14th Jan 2009 more >>

H&V News 15th Jan 2009 more >>

This week’s Tesco Turbines

Tesco has applied for planning permission to put a 35ft wind turbine in the car park of its Paulton supermarket. The application will be heard at Wednesday’s meeting of the Bath and North East Somerset Council development control committee, and has been recommended by officers for approval.

This is Somerset 14th Jan 2009 more >>

& Tesco CHP

Multinational supermarket chain Tesco has opened its first ‘green’ superstore. The new building at Cheetham Hill, Manchester, is timber framed and claims to have a carbon footprint 70% smaller than an equivalent store built in 2006. The store uses a variety of energy efficiency measures, has CO2-cooled fridges and uses recycled cooking oil to provide energy in a combined heat and power facility.

Green Building 14th Jan 2009 more >>

London Efficiency

Cllr Darren Johnson: An immediate London-wide programme to improve the energy efficiency of all homes could create up to 17,000 new jobs for builders, joiners, plumbers, electricians, roofers, heating and structural engineers and builders’ supply merchants. Their work would lead to an 80 per cent reduction in domestic emissions as well as saving a typical householder around £300 per year on their fuel bills.

Bexley Times 14th Jan 2009 more >>

Bromley Times 14th Jan 2009 more >>

Highgate

THE ECO-minded antics of people living in salubrious Highgate have won them recognition as the “greenest” in the capital. Residents topped a Green League that found they were the most enthusiastic about ecological issues. Figures from Haringey Council show less evidence of green beliefs turning into large-scale action. In the year to March 2007, 10 applications were submitted to install renewable energy facilities including solar panels across the borough.

Hornsey and Crouch End Journal 14th Jan 2009 more >>

Bridgwater Youth Centre

BRIDGWATER will soon boast an exciting new youth centre after multi-million pound plans were approved yesterday. The scheme is designed to be eco-friendly, and includes plans for a wind turbine.

Bridgwater Mercury 14th Jan 2009 more >>

Bridgwater Again

Thousands of jobs and new homes are set to lift the economic gloom in Bridgwater as developers submit blueprints for a credit-crunch busting scheme. One wind turbine is also included to help meet Government guidelines that 10 per cent of the energy for the site should be renewable.

This is Somerset 14th Jan 2009 more >>

Northern Ireland Challenge

AN ANTRIM Alliance Councillor has thrown down the gauntlet to Environment Minister Sammy Wilson to make Northern Ireland a world leader on green issues with a focus on green projects like building zero carbon social housing, and greater energy efficiency and renewable energy in the public sector.

Antrim Times 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Leicester Leading

LEICESTER is signing up to a pledge to make far-reaching environmental improvements. The city is signing up to the Covenant of Mayors – a Europe-wide agreement to meet goals which are beyond the EU’s own targets for sustainable energy and emissions. The scheme means cities will try to make dramatic improvements by 2020, including cutting emissions, developing sustainable energy sources, and sharing knowledge on how best make further progress. The move ties in with Leicester’s own targets of cutting energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by 50 per cent by 2025.

Leicester City Council 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Bristol Turbines

Two wind turbines are set to be installed by Bristol City Council on a site next to the Severn estuary at Avonmouth. The council is applying to its own planners on Wednesday for permission to put the turbines on the former Shell tanker site, off Severn Road.

Bristol Evening Post 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Councillors have given planning permission for the wind turbines, which will supply Bristol City Council with a fifth of its energy needs.

Bristol Evening Post 15th Jan 2009 more >>

Ballymena Solar School

Broughshane Primary School has just fitted solar photovoltaic panels (PV) on the roof. The 4kWp PV system, which was funded by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) through the Northern Ireland Programme for Building Sustainable Prosperity (PBSP), Northern Ireland Electricity’s Smart programme and the North Eastern Education and Library Board, will produce over 3,000 units of electricity each year, a saving of around £400 on the school’s energy bills.

Ballymena Times 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Farm Turbine

A FARMER is helping sow the seeds of a green revolution with plans for a domestic wind turbine for his home and farm. If planning permission is given Michael Lount could be using wind energy to power a corn dryer at his farm at Leconfield this harvest-time.

Yorkshire Post 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Portsmouth Wind

Giant wind turbines look set to be built in Portsmouth to provide power for up to 20,000 homes. A study has revealed that the city is suitable for enough eco-friendly turbines to provide 40 megawatts.

Portsmouth News 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Proposals for the Lakeside North Harbour site at Portsmouth include two wind turbines to contribute energy to the whole site, plus options for ground-source and air-source heat pumps for the buildings and combined heat and power units and solar heating for the hotels.

Southern Daily Echo 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Peterborough Architects

With sustainability a key issue in the construction industry, work has almost completed on a highly sustainable office building for DEFRA in Northumberland. Key energy efficiency and low carbon features include locally-sourced Biomass-fuelled space heating, natural ventilation, wind power via local wind turbines, small scale photo-voltaic power generation, water heating via solar panels and solar shading. Davis Langdon is finding that these sustainable elements are being required and considered more and more in large and small scale developments.

Peterborough Evening Telegraph 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Micro-CHP Agreement

Disenco Energy plc, technology leader in the development and manufacture of highly efficient, energy-saving micro-combined heat and power (m-CHP) appliances for homes and small to medium businesses, today announces that it has entered into an agreement with National Grid, one of the world’s largest investor-owned utilities.

Trading Markets 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Grants

The Renewable Energy Association has labelled as “embarrassing” the government’s phasing out of a grant scheme for public sector bodies investing in microgeneration technologies, accusing it of undermining the embryonic industry as it awaits the introduction of a new incentive scheme in the form of feed-in tariffs.

Business Green 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Urban Wind Turbines

Wind turbines mounted on town houses like David Cameron’s often do not provide a great deal of electricity because of a lack of wind in urban areas, according to research into the new technology. Alex Murley, of the British Wind Energy Association, said small and micro wind turbines could provide more than 10 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs if sited correctly. He said: “Although this may be the first trial to look at micro-wind turbines within urban environments, low samples sizes, extremely poor sighting and patchy data renders the trial unrepresentative of the wider sector. Clearly micro-wind turbines do not work everywhere, but there are literally millions of excellent sites – If correctly sited and installed, micro-wind turbines can cut bills, cut carbon and deliver real economic, and environment benefits.”

Telegraph 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Guardian 13th Jan 2009 more >>

H&V News 14th Jan 2009 more >>

Belgian Antarctic Research Station

Video of solar panels and Proven turbines being unloaded.

Princess Elisabeth Antactica 13th Jan 2009 more >>

Herefordshire Grants

Herefordshire Council has already given out 500 grants to help people reduce their energy bills. Councillor Phil Cutter, Herefordshire Council’s energy champion, said: “I am delighted so many people have taken advantage of the Special Energy Efficiency Scheme (SEES) grants which offer up to £500 towards energy saving measures such as improving home insulation.

Herefordshire Council 12th Jan 2009 more >>

Swansea

Swansea Council has gone into a partnership arrangement with the Energy Saving Trust to deliver free and impartial advice to householders in Swansea. Swansea residents are able to access free advice on home energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies, waste reduction and water saving measures.

City & County of Swansea 12th Jan 2009 more >>

Staffordshire

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council is investigating renewable energy options to try to reduce its carbon footprint. Consultants have been commissioned to focus on eight council-owned properties

Staffordshire Sentinel 12th Jan 2009 more >>

Green Sky

It was the first UK broadcaster to go carbon neutral and now Sky wants to do more. The company’s latest plans, announced today, include energy-efficient studios, upgrading set-top boxes to automatically go into standby mode, and encouraging production companies to develop more sustainable ways to make programmes.

Guardian 12th Jan 2009 more >>

Scottish Water’s Anaerobic Digester

Scottish Water’s plans to build an anaerobic digestion facility at Cumbernauld which will generate electricity and heat have made a major step forward with the signing of agreements to design and build the 30,000 tonne-a-year capacity plant.

New Energy Focus 12th Jan 2009 more >>

Fuel Poverty

Tackling climate change will reduce poverty by cutting heating bills and providing jobs, a report concludes. Installing insulation and investing in public transport to reduce car numbers would both help. The report, Tackling Climate Change, Reducing Poverty, says that the poor are likely to be worst affected by rising temperatures because they tend to live in less energy-efficient housing, have less access to insurance against floods, and have less money to adapt to higher prices of fuel and food. The authors of the study, by Oxfam and the New Economics Foundation, base their findings on work by organisations including Friends of the Earth.

Times 12th Jan 2009 more >>

Renewables

The government is to close a key support programme for renewable energies almost a year before it launches a new regime, creating a funding black hole that the industry has warned could lead to thousands of green job losses. The government is planning to close the major part of its controversial low carbon buildings programme in June. But it will not launch “feed-in tariffs” until April 2010 at the earliest.

Guardian 12th Jan 2009 more >>

Scotland

As negotiations between government and opposition parties continue ahead of this week’s vote on the Scottish Budget, the Greens have released figures showing the huge impact their free insulation plans would have on the economy. The party has been campaigning through the website warmscotland.org for an ambitious 10-year scheme to provide free insulation for every home in Scotland. They say that by spending 100m a year to do the job, this investment

would be repaid many times over not just in terms of savings per household, particularly those facing fuel poverty, but in the contribution to the country’s carbon emissions target.

Herald 12th Jan 2009 more >>

Darlington Plan

A draft blueprint on how a council wants Darlington and its surrounding area to develop over the next few years has been created. On an environmental level, the document recommends all major devlopments should be powered by at least 10pc renewable energy. All developments should make the most of sunlight to improve energy efficiency.

Northern Echo 10th Jan 2009 more >>

Bristol Shops

Clothing chains Peacocks and New Look are to open shops in Portishead. The two companies have each taken a lease at one of four units being created in a former industrial building at Old Mill Road and are due to open their stores in August this year. The redevelopment would include environmentally friendly features such as a ground-source heat pump (which draws heat from the ground into a building) and a wind turbine.

Bristol Evening Post 9th Jan 2009 more >>

Bristol Evening Post 12th Jan 2009 more >>

Home Turbine

SOARING electricity bills and a concern for the environment led one Woolston couple to seek out different ways to power their home. BJ and Christine Howlett already have solar panels on their roof and now the couple has applied for planning permission to add a wind turbine to their home.

This is Cheshire 9th Jan 2009 more >>

Feed-in Revolution

More than 195,000 wind turbines will spring up outside homes across Britain over the next 12 years, according to energy advisers, after the Government pledged to pay people for generating their own electricity. A “feed-in tariff” will be introduced to ensure any household generating power through renewable power sources like wind, solar or biomass will be paid for the energy they produce, as part of measures to tackle climate change. The Energy Saving Trust, the independent body in charge of improving energy efficiency in the UK, predicted that the introduction of the tariffs could persuade 8.6 million people - around a quarter of households - to invest in combined heat and power, wind turbines or other low carbon technologies.

Happy Topics 9th Jan 2009 more >>

Grants running out

The government has issued a warning to charities and public sector organisations such as schools and hospitals that “time is running out” and they have only a few months left to access grants worth £24m. The funding has been made available to support the installation of renewable energy equipment such as solar panels and wind turbines. The grants are available from the government’s Low Carbon Building Programme, which offers charities, public sector bodies and homeowners the chance to apply for grants that help towards the cost of small scale energy generating equipment.

Green Building 9th Jan 2009 more >>

Wyoming

The installation of a six kilowatt wind turbine on a historic oil field about 35 miles north of Casper showcases a new type of smaller wind turbine that is growing in popularity for home, farm, or business use. The new turbine will serve both Casper College and the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center. Standing just 49 feet high, the wind turbine, manufactured by the Scottish company Proven Energy, will be used as a training tool to educate college students as they learn to be renewable energy technicians.

ENS 30th Dec 2008 more >>

 

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