week ending 13 January 2012
Zero Carbon Tesco
It may have just seen £4bn wiped off its value following worse than expected results over the Christmas period, but supermarket giant Tesco has one cause to celebrate this week after the company opened its first “zero-carbon store” in Ireland.
Business Green 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Wiltshire AD
The UK’s emerging waste-to-energy sector took a major step forward this week, after a biogas specialist became the first company to benefit from the government’s £10m anaerobic digestion (AD) fund. Malaby Biogas was yesterday awarded an £800,000 loan to help build an AD plant at Bore Hill Farm, slated to be Wiltshire’s first green gas plant when it is commissioned in March.
Business Green 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Solar Court Case
Today the UK government attempts to overturn its lost court case on solar power. At the end of last year, with little warning, the nascent solar industry was plunged into chaos when ministers decided to slash support for clean energy. Uncertainty spread among companies and consumers alike, and nearly 30,000 jobs were jeopardised. After an initial rush to get solar panels installed on roofs before the 12 December cut-off date, orders dried up and businesses ground to a halt. At a time of economic gloom, one of Britain’s most successful home-grown industries has been spectacularly torpedoed – with ministers claiming they had no choice but to push the button.
Guardian 13th Jan 2012 more >>
The government will consider “other appeal options” if its legal bid to backdate cuts to solar power subsidies is rejected today in the High Court.
Business Green 13th Jan 2012 more >>
The Court of Appeal will today [Friday 13 January 2012] hear the Government’s challenge to last month’s High Court ruling that its solar subsidy cuts are illegal. The move follows a High Court ruling that Government’s plans to rush through sudden cuts to solar payments were illegal, following a legal challenge by Friends of the Earth and two solar firms, Solarcentury and HomeSun. The hearing will be “rolled-up” so the application for permission to appeal and - if allowed - the appeal itself will be held on the same day.
Foe 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Green Deal
The government’s flagship green policy to transform the energy efficiency of 14m homes and create 65,000 jobs appears doomed to fail, with the revelation of its own figures showing the number of lofts being lagged is set to plummet by 93%.
Guardian 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Business Green 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Wind Direct
A farm will soon have its electricity supplied by a 2MW wind turbine. Potato suppliers Greenvale AP, of Flood’s Ferry Road, March, have been given planning permission to build the turbine by Fenland District Council. The project is being developed by Wind Direct, which has taken the scheme through planning and will now go on to fund, install and operate the project.
Ely Weekly News 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Solar Century
The head of one of Britain’s fastest-growing businesses – Solarcentury - is joining the executive burnout trend and stepping down.
Guardian 12th Jan 2012 more >>
Dumfries & Galloway Solar
Dumfries and Galloway Council is seeking approval to borrow up to £2.2m to spend on installing solar panels on a number of its properties. A report claims saving to electricity costs and income from generation could boost its budget by more than £6m. The council also wants to investigate further renewable energy options which could be exploited. Among the possibilities being explored is a small hydro-electric scheme at the Caul on the River Nith in Dumfries. The report to the policy and resources committee warns that the council must act quickly to ensure the best return on its investment.
BBC 12th Jan 2012 more >>
Domestic Heating
There is no possibility that the UK can meet its 2050 target for CO2 emissions without a fundamental change to the way our homes are heated, according to a report published today (12 January) by the Royal Academy of Engineering. Even with the most modern gas boilers and state-of-the art insulation, we cannot continue to heat so many homes by natural gas and still achieve an 80 per cent cut in emissions as laid down in the Climate Change Act 2008. The Academy’s report, Heat: degrees of comfort, looks at the challenges of matching our demand for domestic heating with the binding requirement to reduce our overall carbon emissions. The report looks at new technologies including heat pumps, considers options such as district heating and combined heat and power schemes and looks at incentives and drivers for the creation of new markets.
Heating & Ventilating.net 12th Jan 2012 more >>
RAE Report – huge efficiency push required
Plumbers are almost wholly unprepared for the “drastic change” to the way the UK’s homes are heated as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions, leading engineers said on Thursday, meaning householders could need to turn to architects and engineers at a potential cost of over £20,000 per house. In a report published on Thursday, the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) also warned that government plants for insulation and green energy are not adequate for the changes needed for a shift to low-carbon heating. They called for a massive switch to renewable energy such as solar water heaters and wood-burning stoves to a street by street effort to upgrade insulation in Britain’s draughty homes.
Guardian 12th Jan 2012 more >>
The “cautionary tale” in a new Royal Academy of Engineering report illustrates that simply installing renewable energy kit might not be the answer to reducing our power demands. Larger-scale renovation overseen by expert architects and engineers will be needed at homes up and down the country to ensure residents get the best combination of low-carbon technologies and insulation for their property. Only by financing such a nationwide upgrade will the government be able to hit its target of cutting carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, with domestic heating currently accounting for a quarter of Britain’s emissions, the report said.
Telegraph 12th Jan 2012 more >>
There is “no possibility” the UK will meet its 2050 emissions targets unless the government accelerates efforts to reduce reliance on gas boilers and dramatically improve the energy efficiency of buildings.
Business Green 12th Jan 2012 more >>
Waste Water Solar Sites
Portsmouth Water has turned unused industrial land into solar power hubs at six sites in southern England. The six sites of 50kWp each, installed across reservoir roofs and land at treatment sites, will produce power almost solely for on-site for pumping and treating water. All six new solar sites, which were installed by Solarcentury, were in response to rising electricity prices.
Edie 12th Jan 2012 more >>
Business Green 12th Jan 2012 more >>
Consumers Unconvinced on Renewables
Only 20% of homeowners would invest spare cash in solar panels, according to new research. New research by Puragen, which advises on installation and maintenance of renewable technologies, says consumers are ‘apprehensive’ to pay out in case they don’t ‘live long enough to reap solar rewards’. The survey of 2,000 consumers found just under a third (29%) believe a distinct lack of information holds them back from embracing renewables. While 13% say the installation process would cause too much inconvenience and also admit not understanding the subject at all.
Edie 12th Jan 2012 more >>
Good Good Energy
Good Energy, the UK ’s only 100% renewable electricity supplier, has been voted best electricity supplier in a customer satisfaction survey conducted by Which?, the independent consumer watchdog, for a second time.
Future Energies 11th Jan 2012 more >>
What is solar plan B?
Friends of the Earth has urged the government to reveal its contingency plans to protect the feed-in tariff budget, ahead of a Court of Appeal hearing on Friday that will finally determine whether its plans to rush through cuts to solar incentives can proceed.
Business Green 11th Jan 2012 more >>
Community Hydro
The UK’s first community-owned ‘high head’ power system is getting closer to becoming a reality in the Pennine villages which make up Saddleworth, an area rich in historic exploitation of hillside rivers through dams. It is one of these, Dove Stone reservoir, which will power around 45 local homes if Saddleworth Community Hydro can raise £120,000 for a turbine through a newly-launched share subscription. The mechanics are simple: United Utilities regularly lets water out of the reservoir into the river Tame – the ‘high head’ – and it is this controlled flow which will drive the turbine.
Guardian 11th Jan 2012 more >>
FiT funds raised
The government has quietly raised the feed-in tariff spending cap by nearly £200m in a bid to prevent the subsidy scheme exceeding its budget, after re-allocating funds previously earmarked for the Renewables Obligation (RO) incentive scheme.
Business Green 10th Jan 2011 more >>
Solar Chickens
An organic chicken farmer has installed 40 solar PV panels on her barn roof to provide carbon free electricity for the business. Chulmleigh-based farmer Louise Down uses solar energy to power everything from the belts that carry the eggs to the ventilation system to the barn’s lighting for her 4,000 chickens.
Western Morning News 10th Jan 2012 more >>
Barker bites back
Greg Barker: It is easy to see why solar is so popular. It is reliable, intuitive, easy to install and is a great solution for people worried about rising electricity bills or wanting to do their bit to fight climate change. But with the price of solar falling quickly in a very short period of time, the subsidised tariff payments were suddenly offering new customers financial returns completely out of step with other green technologies or government-backed schemes. Double-digit yields, index linked and guaranteed to be paid at that rate for 25 years.
Guardian 10th Jan 2012 more >>
Leeds primed for action
West Yorkshire could cut its carbon emissions significantly, slash energy bills, and create almost 10,000 jobs through cost-effective low carbon investments over the next decade. That is the conclusion of a report focusing on the West Yorkshire, including Leeds, York and Barnsley, which warns that without drastic action the area’s annual energy bill of £5.38bn will rise to £7.24bn by 2022.
Business Green 10th Jan 2012 more >>
Councils don’t understand
Councils and other social landlords are being ‘greenwashed’ into spending large sums of money on technology to cut energy bills despite having little understanding of how it works, a study has found. It means they are increasingly investing in equipment like solar panels and ground source heat pumps without knowing which are the most efficient. The two-year study by academics at Sheffield Hallam University accused councils of treating green energy as a “silver bullet” for fuel poverty. The report called on authorities to monitor the performance and maintenance costs of the equipment to determine how effectively it can reduce bills, rather than simply installing it and forgetting about it.
Telegraph 9th Jan 2012 more >>
Green Economy
Andrew Simms: When the solar industry should be looking skyward, the government’s abrupt and capricious decision to more than halve its feed-in-tariff (FIT) has left it downcast, gazing at an emptying order book and planning redundancies.
Guardian 9th Jan 2012 more >>
Solar Paralysis
Directors of companies in the West Midlands’ growing solar industry say the sector faces months of “paralysis” after the Government’s rush to cut subsidies was deemed to be flawed. A High Court ruling that the reduction in Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs) – a subsidy for people who generate solar electricity on their roofs – was “legally flawed” and has hit confidence in the renewable energy industry, according to Midland firms. Around 1,255 home solar panels were installed in Birmingham and Solihull between June 2010 and September 2011, as homeowners sought to profit from subsidies aimed at growing the solar sector.
Birmingham Post 7th Jan 2012 more >>
Energy Co-ops
A growing number of people are starting renewable energy schemes in their communities through co-operatives and other forms of collaboration. A recent report from Co-operatives UK and The Co-operative Group states 43 communities are in the process of or already producing renewable energy by investing money to install solar panels, large wind turbines or hydro-electric power in their area. £16 million has been invested by over 7,000 people in these schemes, which include a £2 million wind farm and a 98kW solar photovoltaic installation on the roof of a brewery. The report says green economy co-operatives are the most rapidly growing part of the UK co-op sector, jumping 24% since 2008.
Co-operative News 6th Jan 2012 more >>
Community-ownership
Over Half of Germany’s Renewable Energy Owned By Citizens & Farmers, Not Utility Companies.
Treehugger 6th Jan 2012 more >>
Domestic Heating
Gas network companies have warned the government that there is a “policy void” on the future for gas in domestic heating, as they prepare to commission a study looking at the costs and other implications of replacing gas with low-carbon electricity for domestic heating. Electricity and gas networks trade body the Energy Networks Association (ENA) said the research would include scrutiny of “the practicality of fully electrified domestic heating” and “the role of gas in the future space and water heating scenarios”. ENA head of press and public affairs Tony Glover said: “There is a policy void in government and this study is going to fill it. The government has indicated that it sees no role for gas in domestic heating in the future. It has over the past one or two years moved to a more realistic position on gas, but the focus is on using it in generation.” An ENA-commissioned report last year concluded that phasing out gas could cost consumers £700 billion up to 2050. The proposed study, according to Glover, would “drill down into the detail and ask the question: is there a future for domestic gas?”
Utility Week 4th Jan 2012 more >>