week ending 20 February 2009
Peterborough School
New Peterborough school buildings feature the latest in environmental technology including ground source pumps for heating the buildings and a wind turbine to generate electricity.
Peterborough City Council 19th Feb 2009 more >>
Tesco going solar
A CALDERDALE supermarket has been given the green light to install 15 rooftop solar panels. Tesco at Aachen Way, King Cross, Halifax, could also have a 10.5m high wind turbine in the car park.
Halifax Evening Courier 19th Feb 2009 more >>
Mull and Iona
A proposal to turn Mull and Iona into ‘transition islands’ to tackle climate change has moved forward. Mull and Iona Community Trust also plans to employ a part-time renewable energy champion to teach residents how to reduce their carbon emission.
Aberdeen Press and Journal 19th Feb 2009 more >>
North East Renewables
BUSINESS is hotting up for renewable energy installers in the Tees Valley, with more householders switching onto green power as utility bills continue to rise. Last year the Energy Saving Trust (EST) in the North East dealt with 6,000 inquiries from householders wanting more information on green energy sy stems - 1,000 more than anticipated. Solar panels, ground and air source heat pumps and wind turbines are all high on the list.
Newcastle Evening Gazette 19th Feb 2009 more >>
Forest Turbine
Rosliston Forestry Centre is planning a small wind turbine to reduce energy costs and bolster the centre’s ‘green’ ethos.
Burton Mail 19th Feb 2009 more >>
School Turbines
A primary school has been given permission to install a wind turbine to help cut its energy bills. Councillors on Cumbria County Council’s development control panel agreed plans for the 15m-high turbine in the grounds of Stoneraise School at Durdar, near Carlisle.
Carlisle News & Star 18th Feb 2009 more >>
A school could soon be producing its own electricity – with plans to install its own wind turbine. Blue Coat CofE Primary School in Wotton-under-Edge plans to be able to generate 10kw of renewable energy using solar PV panels and a small wind turbine.
Stroud Life 18th Feb 2009 more >>
Eco House
The zero carbon building, developed by University of Cambridge architects as a prototype for future living, is based on a 600-year-old Medieval design that retains heat from the sun while cooling naturally in the summer. Any extra energy needs are provided by solar panels on the roof and a woodchip boiler.
Telegraph 18th Feb 2009 more >>
North Uist Plan
NORTH Uist residents have voted unanimously to support the development of renewable energy production on the island in a public meeting in Lochmaddy.
More than 30 residents turned out to hear a consultant from RD Energy Solutions outline the findings of their feasibility study into community renewable energy, commissioned two years ago by the North Uist Partnership.
Stornoway Gazette 17th Feb 2009 more >>
Solar Toilets sell energy
A small town centre public toilet block powered by solar panels is selling electricity to the National Grid to offset its energy bill.
BBC 17th Feb 2009 more >>
People Power
The battle against climate change can only be won “in the hands of the many, not the few”, a top scientist has said. Jacqueline McGlade, head of the European Environment Agency (EEA), warned the current approach left the public sidelined as “silent observers”. Political and business leaders were not able to tackle the problem without help from ordinary people, she added.
BBC 17th Feb 2009 more >>
Highland Carbon
In Highland Region, two fire stations and about 30 of the region’s schools draw some of their energy from renewable sources. Wind turbines, solar panels, biomass boilers and air and ground source heat pumps were among the devices installed to the buildings.
BBC 17th Feb 2009 more >>
Microgeneration can provide 30%
An energy company has welcomed the government’s proposals surrounding energy efficiency for green homes in the UK and stated that the use of Micro generation could provide 30 per cent of energy requirements. Ceres Power stated that incentive mechanisms could help accelerate the adoption of low-carbon technologies in homes across the UK.
DEA Direct 17th Feb 2009 more >>
Small wind attacked
Letter: I welcome the exemption from planning controls of solar panels and heat pumps, but the so-called failure to exempt domestic wind turbines is not “intolerable” as some campaigners assert, but good sense.
Herald 17th Feb 2009 more >>
Biogas Boost
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is launching a task force to help sectors including farming and the water industry meet goals to produce energy from anaerobic digestion, which generates gas from the break down of organic material without oxygen. More than 100 million tonnes of organic material per year could be used to produce biogas, 90 million tonnes of which comes from manure and slurry. The National Farmers’ Union has a target to have 1,000 on-farm anaerobic digestion (AD) plants by 2020, which will power farms and produce fertilisers as a by-product of the process.
Telegraph 17th Feb 2009 more >>
Times 17th Feb 2009 more >>
Daily Post 18th Feb 2009 more >>
Farmers’ Guardian 18th Feb 2009 more >>
Euro Solar
The Mediterranean Solar Plan. Identified as one of the priority initiatives of the Union for the Mediterranean, its aim, as the name suggests, is to increase the use of solar energy in the Mediterranean. By facilitating energy production from renewable energy sources, we are confident it will provide a boost for green electricity trade and encourage the development of a “Euro-Mediterranean green electricity market”.
eGov Monitor 16th Feb 2009 more >>
World Business Council for Sustainable Development 16th Feb 2009 more >>
Specialists in Design
BOOTLE-BASED Eco Environments is holding a double celebration this week. Not only has it been revealed as one of the major sponsors of Liverpool’s Year of the Environment, but it has also scooped the Sefton Chamber of Commerce Best New Business Award. Eco Environments mainly specialises in the design, installation and commissioning of wind turbines and solar panels to reduce company’s and household’s carbon footprints.
Liverpool Daily Post 16th Feb 2009 more >>
Cold Proven
WIND turbines from a Scottish micro-generation company are supplying electricity to the first Antarctic base powered only by renewable energy. Eight turbines from the East Kilbride-based Proven Energy have been installed at the Princess Elisabeth Station, a new revolutionary building that was officially opened yesterday.
Scotsman 16th Feb 2009 more >>
Business Green 16th Feb 2009 more >>
Interactive Investor 15th Feb 2009 more >>
Small wind study
The impact small wind turbines placed on homes and business could have on birds and bats is to be studied by researchers at Stirling University.
BBC 16th Feb 2009 more >>
Scotsman 17th Feb 2009 more >>
Solar on Listed Buildings
PIONEERING work begins today to install solar water heating panels on the roofs of seven B-listed Georgian tenements in the historic heart of Edinburgh. The £200,000 Renewable Heritage project will benefit Lister Housing Co-operative social housing properties. Renewable energy installations in listed properties are rare. The panels should provide over 50 per cent of the annual hot water requirement of 49 properties. Jenny Lewis, Chair of Lister Housing Co-operative, said: “This project will help reduce our tenants’ fuel consumption, save carbon and support Scottish jobs, without in any way jeopardising our Georgian tenements.”
Scotsman 16th Feb 2009 more >>
US Micro-wind
WIND turbines typically spin from tall towers on hills and plains. But in these green times, some companies hope smaller turbines will soon rise above a more domestic spot: homes and garages. One new model, the Swift Wind Turbine, is designed to do its job quietly, said Dave Anderson, co-director of Renewable Devices in Edinburgh, which has partnered with Cascade Engineering in Grand Rapids, Mich., to offer the turbine in the United States.
New York Times 14th Feb 2009 more >>
Ceramic Fuel Cells
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited, a global leader in fuel cell development, and E.ON, welcome today’s Government announcement outlining a major review of its Heat and Energy Savings Strategy. The announcement signals a big increase in the Government’s ambition for decarbonising heat use in the domestic sector, and reinforces its support for schemes such as the exclusive new agreement between CFCL and E.ON to develop and deploy fuel cell micro combined heat and power (mCHP) units in Great Britain.
Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd Press Release 13th Feb 2009 more >>
Renewable Heat Measures
Government plans to provide incentives for renewable heat systems have been welcomed by the industry. Philip Wolfe, director general of the Renewable Energy Association, said that the announcement yesterday by energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband that he would introduce a heat tariff was a positive step. However, he urged the government to act quickly to provide the incentives, noting that heat is the biggest use of energy in the UK and that renewable heat is expected to compromise a third of the EU renewables target.
DEA Direct 13th Feb 2009 more >>
Great British Refurb
Ministers want to make all homes “near zero carbon” by 2050. But there was a feeling at the launch press conference that more difficult renewable energy work is being held off in favour of cheaper energy efficiency measures. Significantly, the consultation has excluded any in-depth analysis of the proposed Renewable Heat Incentive, which ministers now say is going to be consulted on later in the year. Philip Wolfe, director of the Renewable Energy Association (REA), urged the minister to announce a concrete timetable for the Incentive, and to address the funding gap caused by the end of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. A second consultation, launched alongside the Heat Strategy, was on a revision of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), the mechanism by which energy suppliers are obliged to reduce the carbon footprint of their customers. In the CERT strategy, the government proposes increasing the target by 20%, and extending it to December 2012.
New Energy Focus 13th Feb 2009 more >>
Heat Strategy
The government’s draft Heat and Energy Saving Strategy is now out to consultation until May 8, aiming to first cut the demand for heat energy and then to “decarbonise” UK heat generation.
New Energy Focus 13th Feb 2009 more >>
Industry and environmentalists have broadly welcomed the government’s new Heat and Energy Saving Strategy - but have questioned the urgency of measures within it, and how it will be funded.
New Energy Focus 13th Feb 2009 more >>