week ending 1 March 2013
Solar Schools
Fitting solar panels will not only do the earth a favour, but will also save your school a wad of much-needed cash. The impact of harnessing the sun’s energy to help power the school, however, reaches far beyond financial benefits. As schools up and down the country have discovered, becoming solar champions has kick started a wave of other eco-initiatives, informed subjects across the curriculum and empowered pupils to take responsibility for determining the kind of world they want to live in when they grow up.
Guardian 1st March 2013 more >>
Abundance Energy
Abundance Generation is a new crowdfunding business that gives ordinary people the opportunity to invest in renewable energy projects – at low risk. Abundance has now raised all the money it needs for its first two projects, but a third project has just been launched and needs investment. The project is a solar installation on Hoo Farm in Monkton, Kent. Apparently, this part of Kent has some of the highest levels of sun in the UK.
Love Money 1st March 2013 more >>
Pickles Day in Court?
The Association for the Conservation of Energy (ACE) is considering whether or not to pursue its threat of seeking a judicial review against the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles after his controversial decision to scrap rules that would have required more homes to undertake energy efficiency improvements.
Business Green 1st Mar 2013 more >>
Solar Degression
UK energy supplier Ofgem has confirmed a 3.5% degression for solar PV up to 5MW for the period starting 1 May 2013 until 1 July 2013, as reported by PV-Tech’s sister website Solar Power Portal. Installations from 250kW to 5MW have decreased from £0.710 (US$1.067) to £0.685 even though there has been extremely low deployment in the higher tariff bands. The rates have been cut by 3.5% automatically due to stipulation from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) that if there was no degression for nine months then the tariff would automatically degress by 3.5%, regardless of installation levels.
PV Tech 1st March 2013 more >>
One of the key financial policy measures introduced as part of the FiT reviews last year was the automatic degression of solar PV feed-in tariffs, linked to national installation targets being met. The tariffs are split into broad bands 0-10kW, 10-50kW and 50kW+, and each band is assigned a 3-monthly target of 100MW, 50MW and 50MW each. If the target is reached, then tariffs degress by 3.5%, and if not met, they remain constant. The 0-10 and 10-50kW bands have decreased once, but all other tariffs have remained constant due to low installation levels. But if tariffs do not degress for 3 months running, then a degression will be triggered anyway.
Solar Portal 1st March 2013 more >>
Ofgem has confirmed the feed-in tariff (FiT) rates for solar photovoltaic technology for the period starting 1 May 2013 until 1 July 2013.
Solar Portal 1st March 2013 more >>
Business Green 1st March 2013 more >>
Cambridgeshire Solar Farm
TGC Renewables, an independent renewable energy project developer, is seeking planning permission for its proposed 13MW solar park in Cambridgeshire, UK. As reported by PV-Tech’s sister site Solar Power Portal, the proposed development will see 58 hectares of low-grade agricultural land in the southwest of Cambridge become home to 55,000 PV modules which will generate enough electricity to power 3,356 homes.
PV Tech 28th Feb 2013 more >>
Business Green 28th Feb 2013 more >>
Solar Aid
Solar lanterns are capable of emulating the likes of Coca-Cola and mobile phone companies by finding a route to mass markets in Africa, according to UK-based charity SolarAid. The British retail charity established in 2006 and funded by 5% of Solarcentury’s profits has announced that sales of solar lanterns by its wholly-owned social venture, SunnnyMoney, will break 320,000 for 2012-13. The boost in sales represents a 600% increase over last year’s sales.
Solar Portal 28th Feb 2013 more >>
Evo Energy
Nottingham-based renewable installer, EvoEnergy, has announced that it has secured investment from UK construction and civil engineering company, Stepnell. The partnership will provide EvoEnergy with the necessary platform to enter both the Green Deal and ECO markets in addition to solidifying the company’s solar market share.
Solar Portal 28th Feb 2013 more >>
Prison Turbines
Wind energy developer Partnerships for Renewables (PfR) has today unveiled its first completed turbine installation at HMP Standford Hill on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, with a formal opening by local MP Gordon Henderson. The two-turbine, 4.6MW development is the result of a collaboration with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Sheppey Prisons Cluster. The turbines provide the MoJ a rent based on a percentage from sale of the electricity. This saves money for the public purse, creates clean energy on public land and helps the MoJ to improve its sustainability credentials.
Low Carbon Economy 28th Feb 2013 more >>
Earthship
Daren Howarth and his partner Adi did what many of us can only dream of: they built their own eco home, in a clearing in the middle of a French oak forest. The house, an ‘earthship’, is constructed from 150 tonnes of earth rammed tightly into old tyres, costs nothing to run and in fact earns the couple money from the generous French ‘Feed In Tariffs’ for the solar electricity the house generates from its roof. Just last month they received a cheque for £800 from EDF Energy, and even the rainwater system provides drinkable water.
Telegraph 28th Feb 2013 more >>
Zero Carbon Homes
In support of the 2016 Zero Carbon Homes target and beyond, the microgeneration sector’s business and supply chain have been gearing up to address the 230,000 projected new households a year. Substantial business investment in manufacturing facilities and jobs has occurred, yet the lack of progress by Government on implementing the changes to the building regulations in part L is seriously undermining investor confidence.
Micro Power Council 27th Feb 2013 more >>
Role of Anaerobic Digestion
Welcoming today’s [27 Feb] announcement on the future of the Renewable Heat Incentive and committing to working with government to resolve remaining issues, Charlotte Morton, chief executive, ADBA said: “We are pleased that government has published its response to this consultation on the Renewable Heat Incentive. In discussions with ADBA this week, DECC officials have reiterated the government’s commitment to delivering renewable heat through biogas and biomethane. This deployment will be critical to meeting the UK’s 2020 targets, along with closing the energy capacity gap identified by Ofgem in recent weeks.
Farming Monthly 27th Feb 2013 more >>
RHI
Payments available under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) will be cut automatically if installations exceed the government’s forecasts by 50 per cent, as part of new plans revealed today to ensure the £860m scheme stays within budget. This so-called “degression mechanism”, which is modelled on similar rules governing solar feed-in tariff incentives, will be introduced to the non-domestic RHI scheme from this spring. Similar plans for the domestic RHI programme will be announced at a later date, according to the government’s official response to a consultation on the topic first published last summer.
Business Green 27th Feb 2013 more >>
Industry welcomes the announcement from DECC today from the RHI consultation on “Providing Certainty, Improving Performance”. It indicates some movement towards certainty and clarity for the RHI scheme and industry will welcome many of the proposals. In particular the slight tweaks to the budget management mechanism mean degression will only be triggered once the deployment of a particular technology hits 150% of its estimated levels and individual trigger levels will not apply if the scheme’s overall deployment is under 50% of its estimated target.
Micro Power Council 27th Feb 2013 more >>
Green Oscar
SOUTH Tyneside’s greenest homes have been shortlisted for a prestigious housing ‘Oscar’. When Sinclair Meadows was built, more than 500 people applied for the much sought-after 21 timber homes that were hailed as the UK’s first carbon negative social housing development. The 52 residents in the homes, off Laygate, South Shields, even underwent auditions to embrace an eco-friendly lifestyle, such as using the homes’ rainwater harvesting system to flush toilets.
Shields Gazette 27th Feb 2013 more >>
Green Property
The Honest Buildings real estate network will today officially launch in the UK with the announcement the company has teamed up with BRE Global to share information on properties carrying the popular BREEAM green label. As revealed by BusinessGreen the US-based start-up entered the UK market last year and now has 9,500 commercial properties boasting 14.1 million square feet of real estate profiled on its website.
Business Green 27th Feb 2013 more >>
Solar Style
A solar panel business has created 27 jobs at its new offices in Leicester and plans to increase its workforce to 100 in the coming months.
Leicester Mercury 27th Feb 2013 more >>
Skills
A RENEWABLE energy company has opened a training centre and showroom. Amgen Renewables has launched a series of MCS-approved training courses for system installers and the public. Typically run over one to four days they provide education and installer training in biomass boilers, solar photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal, heat pumps, unvented heating systems, water regulations, rain water harvesting, biofuels and other renewable energy sources.
Carmarthen Journal 27th Feb 2013 more >>
Heat Storage
Aside from political uncertainty, most renewable energy developers would agree the need to store variable wind and solar energy supply is the major challenge facing their industry today.
Now, two new reports produced on both sides of the Atlantic have found smart storage heaters could solve at least part of the problem by offering affordable demand side management services that would help automatically balance the grid, matching demand with renewable energy supplies.
Business Green 27th Feb 2013 more >>
Energy Farming
FARMERS are turning to renewable energy to help make ends meet, according to the NFU’s Farm Energy Service. The Service, which has just marked its first anniversary, has so far helped 1,550 farms throughout the UK. In a year which saw crop yields reduced and productivity down to 1980s levels, renewable energy provided some much needed support for British farms.
Farmers Guardian 26th Feb 2013 more >>
Renewable UK 26th Feb 2013 more >>
Business Green 26th Feb 2013 more >>
Local Authority Role
The rising cost of fuel and an unsustainable use of fossil fuels means that how we generate and consume energy is now one of the biggest threats to social and economic welfare. Does the answer to the energy crisis lie in local government? In his blog for the network last week, commentator Richard Vize stressed that council involvement in energy supply was vital: “Energy is yet another example of a part of our lives which few perceive as being a local authority responsibility, yet which depends in a myriad of ways on council action. As the government searches for a way through what may be decades of energy shortage, local government’s ability to change behaviour and consumption needs to be central to its deliberation.”
Guardian 26th Feb 2013 more >>
Solar House
The UK’s first carbon neutral ‘Solar House’ has been granted planning permission by Harborough District Council. Built by Caplin Homes, the Solar House will utilise hybrid solar panels in order to meet all the property’s heating and hot water requirements as well as its electricity demands. Solar energy collected in the summer will also be stored by heating the ground beneath the building with the energy being retrieved through a heat pump when required in the winter.
Solar Portal 26th Feb 2013 more >>
Lutterworth Mail 26th Feb 2013 more >>
Leicester Mercury 26th Feb 2013 more >>
Solar Immersion Heater
Stroud District Council is installing 100 SOLiC 200 units from Earthwise Products Ltd as part of an ongoing renewables investment. The SOLiC 200 - an intelligent solar immersion controller - makes the most of solar PV installations by monitoring energy being fed back to the grid and diverting the viable-excess generated power to the immersion heater circuit.
Industry Today 26th Feb 2013 more >>
Biomass Boilers
A group of companies across the biomass supply chain have come together to draft a Biomass Charter which aims to “set the foundations for a meaningful collaboration with government on the decarbonsiation of domestic heating in the UK by 2030”. The group believes that in order to achieve the UK’s ambitious decarbonsiation targets the UK needs to target the 4th Carbon Budget recommendation of deploying 1 million domestic biomass boilers by 2030.
Solar Portal 26th Feb 2013 more >>
RHI
The Micropower Council has submitted its response to the Energy and Climate Change Committee Enquiry on the Renewable Heat Incentive. In the submission, the council stated four key issues it wanted to discuss regarding the RHI. The first key issue concerned the RHI’s budget. The council stated: “The RHI targets the limited off-gas grid market and heating replacements are fundamentally intrusive; there are less than 100,000 replacements a year made in this sector and consumers will not upgrade ‘early’ for the RHI.
H&V News 25th Feb 2013 more >>
British Gas
New jobs designed to help British Gas meet the Energy Company Obligation, which came into effect last month and forces power companies to provide efficiency technology and home improvements to low-income households and those considered to be at risk of fuel poverty.
London Evening Standard 25th Feb 2013 more >>
Telegraph 25th Feb 2013 more >>
Solar Printing
A new printing medium could be a game-changer as 3D solar cells, despite advances in energy storage, can capture more sunlight than conventional PV models. How? They are more precise (using copper, indium, gallium, selenide: CIGS), less complex and weigh less. Greater efficiency in lieu of not having direct sunlight overhead is something I believe is extremely encouraging for 3D solar considering many pessimists who continue to question the longevity of solar power produced in a day by ordinary flat PV cells.
Guardian 22nd Feb 2013 more >>
Prince of Biogas
He has already found success as a purveyor of biscuits and his own line of fine food, but the Prince of Wales is carving out a role as an energy entrepreneur, pioneering the use of waste to generate power. A biogas plant on land owned by his Duchy of Cornwall estate in Dorset is among the first commercial projects to feed gas back into the national grid. Poundbury, the Prince’s experimental new town on the outskirts of Dorchester, has been able to draw power from organic waste produced by nearby chocolate, potato and cereal factories, using micro-organisms to break down the material though a process called anaerobic digestion. At peak capacity the plant will provide gas for about 4,000 homes during the winter and up to 56,000 homes during the summer. The project is the tip of a diverse industry that has become big business as investors and corporates have recognised that waste – from food to municipal sewage – has a role to play in the evolution of the energy sector.
FT 22nd Feb 2013 more >>