News archive

Tackling climate change

Sarah Boyack MSP and Mark Lazarowicz MP standing in front of a Renewable Devices Swift Turbine at a meeting they organised in Edinburgh on 25th January on “Tackling Climate Change: The Climate Change Bill and Micro-Renewable Technology”.

Other stalls at the event included Windsave; Solar & Wind Applications; Solartwin; and Changeworks.

week ending 30 January 2009

Scottish Budget doesn’t include enough insulation

PATRICK Harvie, joint leader of the smallest party at Holyrood, yesterday brought down Scotland’s entire £33 billion Budget, plunging the SNP government into chaos. Even just a couple of minutes before the vote, Mr Swinney believed he had won over the Greens. He had agreed to insulate 100,000 homes in Scotland – as Mr Harvie had demanded. What he could not do was give a guarantee that all the £33 million offered for the project would come from new funds.

Scotsman 29th Feb 2009 more >>

Whisky Biomass

A WHISKY distillery is to use its waste products to produce green energy. A £65 million bioenergy plant is being built at Diageo Scotland’s Cameronbridge Distillery in Fife.

Scotsman 29th Feb 2009 more >>

Peak Hydro

WETTON Mill, which was under investigation as a potential site for a micro hydro project to generate sustainable electricity for the Peak District, is unlikely now to be looked at further. Project leader Andy Tickle reports that an initial study found that most of the infrastructure has gone from the Manifold Valley site, making it more difficult to develop. Nevertheless the Friends of the Peak District - an independent organisation working to protect the Peak District - will continue to look for a site in the south/west Peak, to add to those sites already being investigated.

Ashbourne News Telegraph 28th Jan 2009 more >>

Huddersfield School

Stile Common School will be that is one of the most energy-efficient in the whole of the UK. Special green measures including a biomass boiler and a wind turbine are all to be included in the school, which is due to open for pupils in October.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner 28th Jan 2009 more >>

Energy Monitoring

Pupils at Holm Primary School in Inverness will be able to monitor how much of their energy use comes from the sun, now that solar panels have been installed.

Aberdeen Press & Journal 29th Jan 2009 more >>

Another Solar School

A SUTTON school is set to enhance its green credentials with the installation of new £20,000 solar panels. Quarrydale School is among the first UK schools selected to receive a grant from the Co-op’s Green Energy for Schools scheme, which also gained match funding from the Government’s Low Carbon Building Programme.

Mansfield Chad 28th Jan 2009 more >>

And another

Solar panels have been installed on the roof of a primary school as its owner Highland Council looks at ways of cutting energy costs across the board. The panels will allow pupils at Holm Primary in Inverness to carry out experiments to learn more about renewable power.

BBC 28th Jan 2009 more >>

Anaerobic Selby

A PLANNING application has been submitted for a £20m renewable power plant which would use left-over food to produce enough electricity to light up the whole of Selby. The plant would use the latest technology for treating organic waste, particularly food waste, by using anaerobic digestion. This involves sealing off organic matter in containers with no oxygen and breaking it down into a gas used to generate power.

Yorkshire Post 27th Jan 2009 more >>

Cleethorpes School

PLANS for a new school for Cleethorpes have been unveiled. Renewable energy – including solar panels, biomass boilers and ground source heat pumps – will be used to power the school.

Grimsby Telegraph 27th Jan 2009 more >>

This week’s Tesco Turbine

TESCO wants to build two 11-metre-high wind turbines in the car park of their Pinchington Lane store. The supermarket has submitted a planning application for two six kilowatt wind turbines, saying they could become a landmark encouraging people to think about renewable energy and recycling.

Newbury Today 27th Jan 2009 more >>

Tesco displays how the environment can be good for business which in the long run might not be great for the environment.

Ethical Corporation 27th Jan 2009 more >>

Social Entrepreneurs

Housing associations should be at the heart of the regeneration of communities in Scotland, argues a new report. Unlocking the Potential calls for housing associations to be in the vanguard of tackling problems such as joblessness, poverty, social immobility and ill health. It was written by EVH, an organisation that provides employment services to the social enterprise sector. Easthall Park housing co-operative in Easterhouse, Glasgow, which manages 800 homes and has developed a range of initiatives, including a community centre with internet access, lunch clubs and a cafe partly powered by wind turbines.

Herald 27th Jan 2009 more >>

Micro-CHP

The Netherlands-based heating equipment supplier has agreed to try and sell 30000 of Energetix Genlec’s micro-CHP units for the residential heating markets.

CityAM 27th Jan 2009 more >>

Climate Challenge Fund

Linlithgow Climate Challenge has been granted £93,845 of Scottish Government funding over the next two years.

Scotsman 26th Jan 2009 more >>

Peterborough Heat Pumps

RENEWABLE energy company Ice Energy heat Pumps is shortly to open a regional office in Shrewsbury Avenue, Woodston, Peterborough. It will consist of a showroom with working ground source and air source heat pumps.

Peterborough Evening Telegraph 26th Jan 2009 more >>

Aberdeenshire Biomass

Aberdeenshire Council has unveiled plans to heat Banff Academy and the town’s swimming pool with a biomass boiler.

Aberdeen Press and Journal 26th Jan 2009 more >>

Microgeneration

Over the past few years it has become fashionable to embrace the concept of microgeneration, that is, generating electricity on a small scale with the aim of using less from the national grid. A roof-mounted wind turbine, for instance, has become de rigueur for many politicians wanting to boost their green credentials. Sceptics argue that microgeneration is merely a niche market that is unlikely to contribute much to greenhouse gas reduction efforts. Critics say the technology currently available to households is expensive and not suitable for every location: micro wind turbines can be ineffective in sheltered, urban areas while solar panels need large amounts of sunshine to be cost-effective

FT 26th Jan 2009 more >>

Surfbury

GROUNDBREAKING plans for “eco-developments” dubbed the Prince of Wales’s “new Poundbury” have been approved. The developments, which will use state-of-the-art environmental technology, will be built on land in and around Newquay owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. The Duchy says that all three developments will aim to minimise carbon emissions by generating renewable energy on-site through biomass energy centres and maximising the energy efficiency of buildings.

Plymouth Herald 24th Jan 2009 more >>

Energise Hastings

A host of company directors have got together with Hastings Borough Council to launch the new organization - Energise Hastings – which they will offer a friendly and supportive environment in which to learn about energy efficiency in the home and how to generate your own electricity and heating from renewable sources.

Worthing Herald 22nd Jan 2009 more >>