Farming Energy
Farms across the UK could become major players in the drive towards a low-carbon economy, according to a report launched by the Farm Power coalition. The coalition, which numbers well-known farming bodies, renewable businesses, NGOs and is led by Forum for the Future, calculates that UK farms could ‘easily’ hold 10GW+ of untapped energy potential. Iain Watt, project lead at Forum for the Future, explained: “Our research shows that it’s easy to quickly find at least 10GW of unmet potential across British farms, but that it’s also pretty easy to get up to 20GW, too – especially if we embrace ground-based solar.
Solar Portal 21st Nov 2014 read more »
Business Green 21st Nov 2014 read more »
Northern Irish FiTs
Northern Ireland’s feed-in tariff (FiT) is facing the possibility of a huge cut that could cost 1,000 jobs, according to the country’s Solar Trade Association (NISTA). A consultation has been opened to cut the existing FiT from 16.32p/kWh to 6.53p/kWh. The recommendation is the result of a report commissioned by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Industry (DETI). The country has just 25MW of small-scale PV capacity installed and is under developed compared to the rest of the UK but already employs 1,000 people.
Solar Portal 21st Nov 2014 read more »
Green Deal
The Green Deal scheme has continued its recent momentum, with the latest official figures showing that 7,207 households had Green Deal plans in progress as of the end of October. The government confirmed today that the number of Green Deal plans in the system increased 26 per cent during October, with almost 1,500 new households registering for the energy efficiency financing scheme.
Business Green 20th Nov 2014 read more »
Scottish Energy News 21st Nov 2014 read more »
Energy Efficiency Fund
A new report on the Government’s home energy efficiency programmes has shown energy efficiency measures installed through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme are up almost thirty-fold in just 6 months. Energy companies have installed an estimated 23,400 insulation types – such as in lofts and cavity walls – in rural homes, as a result of changes to the ECO scheme announced in April this year, a dramatic increase from 834 measures at the end of March.
Scottish Energy News 21st Nov 2014 read more »
Berwickshire goes Solar
Leeds-based Oakapple Renewable Energy has hailed its role in what it said was Europe’s largest ever crowdfunded solar energy project. The Yorkshire company is working in partnership with Glasgow-based Edison Energy to install up to 749 roof mounted solar PV systems with a total capacity of 2,595 kW for Berwickshire Housing Association (BHA).
Insider Media 21st Nov 2014 read more »
AD Generates Revenue
A year after installing a bio-energy plant at its sweet factory near Newcastle, Nestlé has revealed it has generated around £350,000 through energy bill savings and incentive payments as a result of the project. The anaerobic digestion (AD) plant converts 200,000 litres of waste water, by-products, and ingredients into electricity, meeting around eight per cent of the power that the Fawdon site needs to produce Fruit Gums, Fruit Pastilles, and Rolos.
Business Green 21st Nov 2014 read more »
Poo Bus
Wessex Water is hoping to supply biogas to more buses and trucks, after Bath Bus Company yesterday launched the UK’s first “poo powered” bus in a bid to slash its greenhouse gas emissions. The 40-seater Bio-Bus is set to start operating next week, providing an airport service from Bath to Bristol Airport that is run entirely on biogas derived from human excrement and food waste. The gas is produced by Wessex Water subsidiary GENeco from an anaerobic digestion plant at Bristol sewage treatment works. The majority of the gas is injected straight into the national gas grid, but GENco has also installed a gas refuelling plant for the new Bio-Bus.
Business Green 21st Nov 2014 read more »
Solar Cloth
A Cambridge start-up believes its flexible solar panelling solution could fundamentally change the landscape of solar installation in the commercial sector. The Solar Cloth Company’s award winning flexible thin film photovoltaics (FTFP) are a few micrometres thick and can be integrated into flexible and lightweight tensile structures called building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). In doing so, they provide an alternative to traditional photovoltaic panels that are heavy and cumbersome.
The Engineer 20th Nov 2014 read more »
Solar Futures
The Solar Trade Association (STA) have today published new analysis showing that the cost of generating electricity from a typical 10MW solar farm in the UK is set to fall faster than many think over the next 15 years. The report, Cost reduction potential of large-scale solar PV, is based on a survey of the trade association’s member companies and their cost forecasts between now and 2030. It finds that as long as the Government provides stable policy support, it will be cheaper to generate electricity from solar than by burning gas as soon as 2018 – just four years from now.
Scottish Energy News 20th Nov 2014 read more »
Solar Portal 19th Nov 2014 read more »
DECC secretary of state for energy and climate change Ed Davey has said that he is “absolutely convinced” the falling costs of solar will make it the cheapest form of energy available in the coming years. Solar Power Portal spoke to the minister as he visited the offices of China-headquartered panel supplier ReneSola in East Sussex last week. Davey praised the recent work of the UK solar industry and asserted that there is a strong case for investing in renewable energy.
Solar Portal 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Cumbria Solar Farm
Plans for Cumbria’s first solar park have been given the go-ahead. Allerdale Council’s development panel had voted in favour of the proposals for an energy-producing site near Aspatria at a meeting earlier this month. But a last-minute intervention by Government officials meant the decision was delayed, after they received a request to hold a public inquiry. This meant the development panel decision was not final until the application was scrutinised. Allerdale Council has now revealed it has received a letter from the Government that allows the original decision to stand.
News & Star 19th Nov 2014 read more »
Energy Efficient Appliances
The amount of energy that big screen TVs can use will be capped under an EU energy efficiency drive which the European commission expects will cut consumers’ energy bills by around 8bn Euros a year. After similar energy-saving rules for vacuum cleaners provoked a storm of criticism from UK newspapers last autumn, the planned TV rules may be a test case for new ‘ecodesign’ formulas for kettles, toasters and hairdryers, due to be announced next year. The new TV standards, which could come into effect as early as June 2016, would set more challenging energy use requirements for larger TV screens, which currently benefit from a ranking methodology that only measures internal components for energy efficiency. The regulation would also affect computer monitors for the first time, increasingly used for watching television programmes, and be accompanied by a tightening of energy labels.
Guardian 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Reuters last week revealed that the new European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has just circulated a letter to all the members of his Commission, arguing for the repeal of certain existing laws on the energy labeling of consumer products. Given that such minimum standard legislation is expected to deliver around 40 per cent of all the European energy efficiency objectives set for the next 15 years, the letter could send a very alarming signal to the marketplace.
Business Green 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Micro CHP
FLOWGROUP, the Cheshire company which has pioneered a combined heat and power (CHP) boiler for domestic use, has put it into production.The company, based at Capenhurst near Ellesmere Port, raised nearly £18m last year to fund the development of the boiler – a gas-fired domestic unit that generates electricity at the same time as heating a home.Its production partner is the US-based group Jabil Circuit which has started production at a 130,000 sq ft factory in Livingston, Scotland.
Business Desk 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Historic Buildings
Britain’s 5m historic houses – defined by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings as anything built before 1919 – should not be treated like new ones, and that green deal-style modern technologies were often inappropriate. Indeed, they said, slapping insulation inside or outside solid brick or stone walls, even installing double glazing, might not just be inefficient, unaesthetic and expensive, but could add to damp problems and harm the fabric of an old building. Far better to use natural building materials, heat only what you need and use traditional shutters and heavy curtains, they said.
Guardian 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Community Energy
The Church of Scotland has called for an expansion of community-owned renewable energy developments to combat fuel-poverty – particularly in remote Highlands and Islands parishes. The Kirk is also keen to combat global warming and cut C02 emissions and urges Scot-Government to make community energy schemes a ‘central part of Scotland’s energy mix’. In its response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on their Community Energy Policy Statement, a Kirk spokesman said: “Wewelcome the ambition of the Scottish Government and shares its aspiration to make community energy a central part of Scotland’s energy mix. “We recognise that this can help support local communities both rural and urban can make a considerable contribution to tackle fuel poverty.
Scottish Energy News 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Zero Carbon Homes
Green builders have criticised government plans to exempt small housing developments from zero carbon regulations. Allowing sites of 10 units or fewer to be built to lower energy standards is the government’s preferred option unveiled in a consultation today.
Business Green 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Solar Charity
Outdoor activity centre and charity, BF Adventure, has installed solar panels just four days after being awarded £11,572. Based in Penryn, Cornwall, BF Adventure won the £11,500 grant at community energy group, Energyshare Cornwall’s Energy Fund Awards, held at the Eden Project on the 10 November. By 14 November BF Adventure had installed its solar panels. BF Adventure is an outdoor activiy centre and charity helping disabled and disadvantaged people to experience the outdoors.
Solar Portal 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Cannock Community Solar
Construction, maintenance and energy efficiency expert J Tomlinson has been appointed as part of a pioneering community solar investment project. Chase Community Solar, a community benefit society in Staffordshire, is believed to be the first scheme in the UK aiming to put solar panels on the roofs of council houses funded by a community share offer. The project aims to raise at least £400,000 to install solar panels on up to 400 council-owned bungalows in Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. Energy efficiency experts at J Tomlinson have been selected to fit the panels, which are designed to help council tenants cut their energy bills through free electricity generated by the solar photovoltaic panels.
Industry Today 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Efficient Lighting
London’s National Gallery may be nearly 200 years old, but that has not stopped it from deploying the latest in green technology. In a bid to protect the works of Da Vinci, Holbein, Van Gogh and Monet from harmful UV rays and slash its lighting costs by 85 per cent, The National Gallery has installed new LED lighting and a smart digital control system. The suite of technologies is expected to save the Gallery about £53,000 a year on its energy bills, as well as around £36,000 in reduced maintenance costs. It is also expected to help the gallery reach its target of slashing carbon emissions 43 per cent by 2014.
Business Green 18th Nov 2014 read more »
Carbon Clever Highlands
OVER one hundred delegates have been debating how low carbon can benefit the Highlands. Highland Council’s second Carbon Clever Conference in Inverness is titled “Working Together for a Low Carbon Highlands”. Conference chair, and authority convener, Jimmy Gray said: “The event will showcase progress the Highlands has made in the past year to become a Carbon Clever region. “It will provide opportunities to form new partnerships and collaborations and give delegates a chance to outline key priorities for the Carbon Clever initiative over the next few years.
Scotsman 17th Nov 2014 read more »
Good Energy
Good Energy Group PLC, the AIM-quoted renewable electricity supplier and generator, is pleased to announce that it has received planning permission for three new solar farms totalling more than 25MW. Two of the solar farms (5.8MW and 4.9MW respectively) are located in Dorset and are expected to be commissioned within the first half of 2015. In respect of the third 15MW site, in Wales, due to uncertainties around subsidies and grid connection availability which are unlikely to be resolved until 2017, the Board does not consider that this site will deliver any meaningful return until that time. Earlier this year, Good Energy commissioned its first two solar sites in Dorset and Cornwall (totalling 6.8MW).
ADVFN 17th Nov 2014 read more »
Solar Portal 17th Nov 2014 read more »
Energy Storage
Across the world, efforts are underway to improve the way we store and distribute energy, as we move towards more sustainable but intermittent forms of energy generation, such as wind and solar power. Improving the way we store energy is important for the UK’s energy security, as it will allow us to decouple energy generation and its usage. If we can find a better way to store energy it will allow us to save it when it’s generated and use it when it’s required, replacing our current awkward system where generation has to match demand in real time. The UK’s first two-megawatt (MW) lithium-titanate battery is to be connected to the energy grid as part of a new research project to tackle the challenges of industrial-scale energy storage. The project aims to test the technological and economic challenges of using giant batteries to provide support to the grid. We’ll also test whether used battery packs from electric vehicles can be given a second life, and applied in hybrid systems to lower the cost of storage.
Guardian 14th Nov 2014 read more »
Essex Solar
Solar developer, Lightsource Renewable Energy has forged a partnership with local developer Push Energy to commission a 10MW solar farm. The 19 hectare solar plant is located near Little Bardfield Village, in Essex and will power 2,900 homes.
Solar Portal 14th Nov 2014 read more »