News archive
week ending 7 August 2009
Zero Carbon Village
A FORMER colliery that produced tons of coal for 150 years will be transformed into a zero carbon village after the government gave the go-ahead for more than £19m in funding to be released.
Manchester Evening News 7th Aug 2009 more >>
Energy Efficiency
Owners of poorly insulated homes should not be allowed to sell or rent them until they have invested in energy efficiency measures, the Government’s advisory body on domestic energy use says. The Energy Saving Trust said that the 5.5 million homes in the lowest two bands for energy performance more than a fifth of all homes should also be subject to higher council tax bills and additional stamp duty. It believes that tough measures will be needed to achieve the Government’s target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from home heating by 29 per cent by 2020 and to “almost zero” by 2050.
Times 6th Aug 2009 more >>
It is cost-effective in the long term to install energy-efficient appliances.
Times 6th Aug 2009 more >>
Micro CHP
Baxi Ecogen Case Study.
Low Carbon Economy 6th Aug 2009 more >>
Forest Hydro
The power of rivers running through land owned by Forestry Commission Scotland (FSC) could be increasingly harnessed to generate electricity. It hopes to drum up interest from companies in developing projects to help the Scottish Government meet renewable energy targets.
BBC 5th Aug 2009 more >>
Press and Journal 6th Aug 2009 more >>
Welsh Permitted Development
From September, householders in Wales will find it easier to install renewable energy devices in their homes. Under plans announced today by the Welsh Assembly Government, rules for microgeneration equipment such as solar panels will be relaxed so that planning fees will no longer need to be paid for installing the green technology.
Click Green 5th Aug 2009 more >>
Zero Carbon
What makes a home zero carbon, and what is the government doing about existing housing stock?
Guardian 5th Aug 2009 more >>
Warwick house
Proposals for 22 new houses in Harbury are expected to be put forward soon by Warwickshire Rural Housing Association and Harbury parish council. The company plans to build a system which filters out the houses’ drainage on-site and renewable energy will be used to provide heating and hot water.
Warwick Courier 4th Aug 2009 more >>
Eco Bradford
Bradford’s proposed ‘eco-settlement’ of up to 5,000 new homes will be the last of four sites to be completed on urban land in West and North Yorkshire.
Telegraph and Argus 4th Aug 2009 more >>
Cumbria School
A HEADTEACHER is celebrating after her school was given permission to become the first in Cumbria to install a wind turbine and solar panels. Jeni Boothman, headteacher at Pennington School, near Ulverston, believes the additions will prove priceless in educating the pupils in how electricity works and how important sustainable energy is to their future lives.
Westmorland Gazette 4th Aug 2009 more >>
Solo Heating
Solo Heating Installations are installers of all wet based green and renewable energy systems. From Biomass Boilers to Ground Source Heat Pumps, Solo will take you from system selection to final commissioning. We offer our clients a turn-key service including all plumbing, above ground drainage, heating and heat recovery systems.
ADF Online 4th Aug 2009 more >>
Planet Power
Planet Power positions Baxi as an authority on renewable energy products, established with the launch of its new Ecogen micro-combined heat and power (CHP) boiler, which generates 1kW of electricity for use in the home while it supplies heat hot water. Baxi Ecogen has won several prestigious awards for innovation, and was a finalist in this year’s Grand Design Awards.
Creative Match 4th Aug 2009 more >>
Smart Meters
The two-way flow of information between home and power provider has an important advantage. Smart meters will enable utilities to balance intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar with more traditional energy supplies. The RES also envisages that significant amounts of electricity will come from domestic micro-generation technologies like CHP and domestic solar. The idea is that any surplus power produced will be injected into the grid and then transferred for use elsewhere. In both cases, smart meters are an absolute prerequisite.
Greenbang 4th Aug 2009 more >>
Smart Grids
Mini “smart grids” will be built that will be able to handle more unpredictable large volumes of power from intermittent wind farms. The grids will also make it easier for households that have their own micro-generation – such as solar panels on their roofs – to supply electricity back to the grid. Smart meters will be fitted in homes, which are better able to manage demand unpredictable supply peaks from renewable forms of generation, such as wind and solar power.
Guardian 4th Aug 2009 more >>
Telegraph 4th Aug 2009 more >>
FT 4th Aug 2009 more >>
Times 3rd Aug 2009 more >>
Northumberland Target
NORTHUMBERLAND Council’s carbon emissions could be cut in half in the next five years. The ambitious target has been set by Northumberland County Council as it signs up to the Local Authority Carbon Management Programme.
Morpeth Herald 3rd Aug 2009 more >>
Botanic Turbine
The new Edinburgh Botanic Gardens visitor centre has a wind turbine, bio-mass boiler, solar panels and rainwater collectors. “Obviously it helps us as it will provide a lot of energy for the building, but as well as that we wanted to show people how this technology works, and how it can be incorporated into a modern building.”
Scotsman 3rd Aug 2009 more >>
Air source heat pumps
“Many alternative technologies have claimed to be ‘low carbon’ but few have lived up to expectations so far, yet heat pumps can deliver affordable and sustainable heating for our social housing sector,” explains John Kellett, general manager of Mitsubishi Electric’s Heating Systems Department. Many are aware of the efficiencies available with ground source heat pumps, yet few properties can afford the space or capital costs needed. Now the cheaper and easier to install sister technology – air source heat pumps (ASHP) – is available, with a host of manufacturers proclaiming the performance, viability and sustainability of their products.
ADF Online 3rd Aug 2009 more >>
Green Building
The UK’s green building sector received a dual boost last week with the announcement of plans for a new £4m fund to support building improvements in London and the opening of one of the country’s first community energy developments in Hackney. The developments came as the UK Green Building Council downplayed reports that the industry will struggle to meet targets to ensure all new-build homes meet “zero carbon” standards by 2016.
Business Green 3rd August 2009 more >>
Eco-home
Combined old-fashioned insulation (Cumbrian lambs wool in the roof, new triple-glazed windows) with renewable energy (five wood-burning stoves and one open fire, fed with logs from his arboriculture business) and the highest-tech digital thermostats in 14 different ‘‘zones’’ in the house. This involves a new heating system with an inbuilt compensator that constantly analyses the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures and adjusts the heating.
Telegraph 3rd Aug 2009 more >>
Solar Asia
For years India and China have been cast in the West as the biggest obstacles to international agreement on how to tackle climate change. Now the two emerging economic giants of Asia have challenged the West to match their bold plans to develop solar power. India’s unveiling of a National Solar Mission comes soon after China revised its solar energy targets upwards to 2 gigawatts (2 billion watts) installed capacity by 2010 and 20GW by 2020. India now aims to produce 10 per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, while China is targeting 20 per cent. China is already the world’s fourth largest producer of wind power and makes half of the world’s solar panels.
Times 3rd Aug 2009 more >>
Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, will chair a meeting today to decide whether to approve a National Solar Mission designed to curb India’s carbon emissions and ease its crippling power shortages. It proposes boosting India’s solar power generation capacity from almost zero to 20 gigawatts (20 billion watts) by 2020, 100GW by 2030 and 200GW by 2050, according to a draft seen by The Times. The entire world can generate about 14GW of solar power today.
Times 3rd Aug 2009 more >>
Zero Carbon Problem
If Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, is to be believed, by 2016 every new home built in Britain will be carbon neutral. It’s a laudable goal, but even compared with the highly ambitious targets that have become so typical of the march toward Britain’s “green revolution”, it is a tall order. The building industry has issued a fresh warning that the plan poses a greater danger than a few missed targets. Fewer new houses will be built, price rises will make new developments too expensive for aspiring homebuyers, and a recovery of the sector will be hindered.
Times 2nd August 2009 more >>
London Plan
London Mayor Boris Johnson has pledged £4 million to a scheme that could see some of the capital’s public buildings supplied with small scale renewable energy.
New Energy Focus 31st July 2009 more >>
Low Carbon Economy 3rd Aug 2009 more >>
