Extracts from NATTA's journal
Renew, issue 145Sept-Oct 2003

1.Renewable Routemap

‘We will not prescribe the precise routemap, rather we want to create the market that delivers the result we want’. So said Patricia Hewitt, Trade and Industry Secretary, at the Conference organised by the UK Business Council For Sustainable Energy Conference, back in May. However, the Renewable Power Association (RPA), was clearly not content with this and on the same day launched a ‘Renewables Routemap’ to show the way... MORE

2.Tidal turbines proliferate

The summer has seen tidal turbine systems being tested around the UK. First in the water, in June, was Marine Current Turbines who successfully installed their 300kW sea bed mounted Seaflow turbine... MORE

3. More Offshore wind- biggest expansion yet

A new series of offshore windfarms with the potential to power ‘1 in 6 UK households’ was given the green light in July. The DTI released proposals for the next round of offshore windfarms which could supply up to 6 gigawatts of energy by 2010, ‘enough to power 15% of all ... MORE

4. ARBRE’s fate still unclear

The fate of the £30m ARBRE wood chip combustion plant in Yorkshire remains unresolved. It has been inoperant since July last year, after the developers pulled out of the project due to the long delays in full commissioning (see Renew 141). The 10MW project was meant to be the flagship of the UK’s energy crops programme, but had been been bedevilled with technical teething problems- perhaps inevitably given the novel technology- a wood chip gasification unit...MORE

5. Clear Skies - first projects

Stephen Timms, the new Energy Minister, has announced the first round of 22 community-based renewable energy projects to receive funding under the £10m Clear Skies programme- £500k. Projects included solar water heating for converted housing for the homeless; a new rural pilot to provide heating for bungalows... MORE

6. MP’s on Energy

The House of Commons had a debate on energy policy back in June, focussing on the Energy White Paper, a report by the Environmental Audit Committee and the report on Non-Fossil R&D, produced by the Select Committee on Science and Technology (see Renew 144). The debate was a lively one. The White paper was at one point described as ‘green at the edges but with a yellow streak’, having failed to decide on the future of nuclear power... MORE

7. Renewables in Scotland Wind hit by planning delays

Scottish Power has warned that delays to planning permission for a series of wind farms was jeopardising more than £800m of investment in renewable energy. Scottish Power has run into a serious dispute with BAA, the airports operator, over its plans to build two relatively large onshore wind farms at Whitelee, near Glasgow and Black Law, near Edinburgh. BAA claims the wind turbines pose a threat to radar... MORE

8.DTI says LPG is OK

The government sees Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) as an alternative to petrol and has been pushing it ahead with tax concessions- the duty on LPG was reduced by 29% in the 1999 Budget and 40% in the 2001 Budget, and the Government has pledged to freeze the duty level in real terms until at least 2004. Around 25,000 new LPG vehicles or conversions are produced a year and nearly 100,000 vehicles are currently using LPG... MORE

9. SE Regional Targets

Indicative Regional Renewable energy targets were outlined last year (see Renew 137) and around the country, the local Regional Assembly organisations have been responding- by producing modified Regional Planning Guidelines, after local consultation. For example... MORE

10. Getting the Wind up

The Council for the Protection of Rural England NE region hosted a conference last Sept. in Newcastle on windpower, which provided some interesting insight into the ongoing debate on the acceptability or otherwise of wind farms. There were certainly some divergent views... MORE

11. Energy Bill passes its first and second readings

The private members bill on Energy, which solidified the rather loose or non-existent targets in the Energy White Paper and requires regular reports on progress towards achieving them from the authorities concerned, has received widespread support from MP’s... MORE

12. UK cuts emissions

We tend to focus on the problem areas, but overall the UK is doing quite well on emission cuts- mainly of course due to the dash for gas. A recent report published by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) noted that the UK had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.8% between 1990 and 2000, successfully... MORE

13. Only £268m for energy efficiency

The Association for Energy Conservation has been attacking the government for not living up to the rhetoric in its Energy White paper by avoiding any specific targets for energy efficiency in the paper. With other groups, it has been supporting the private members Sustainable Energy Bill tabled by Brian White MP (see previous page) which sets a target of a 20% energy saving by 2010... MORE

14.NETA prices not right

The National Audit Office, the independent body that looks at government programmes, has concluded that although the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA), has been associated with a 40% fall in the wholesale price of electricity since 1998, when the market was liberalised, these savings have not be passed on to consumers. MORE

15.UK Carbon Trading

Nearly 1000 companies transferred over 7m tonnes of carbon dioxide credits during the first year of the UK’s voluntary Emissions Trading Scheme, according to figures published by Defra. Speaking at the 3rd Annual Emissions Trading Conference in London in May, then Environment Minister Michael Meacher said: "these are...MORE

16 World Developments EU Carbon Market

The new EU carbon trade market, which it is planned will be launched in 2005, could be worth as much as 1.8 bn euros a year by 2012, according to a report ‘Corporate Carbon Strategies Outlook to 2012’, by Reuters Business Insight, based on estimates of the annual value of the market on CO2 prices of around five euros a tonne in 2005, rising to more than... MORE

17.Nuclear wasteland

The UK has separated out a lot of plutonium from spent reactor fuel- BNFL has at least 55 tonnes. Some see it as dangerous waste, others as a potential new fuel. What should be done with it? The main options are: immobilizing the separated plutonium, or using it as a mixed oxide...MORE

In the Rest of Renew 145

In a special 34 page edition, the Feature ,Groups and Reviews sections in Renew 145 look at the skills and educational provisions needed for the UK renewable industry to grow-drawing on the recent EERU Conference on that topic and the new ETA report on this issue. The Features section also has an assessment of whether we could ever obtain 100% of our power from renewables by David Olivier. There is an article by Tam Dougan in the Technology section on the recent AECB conference at the Earth Centre, along with an update of the state of play with PV solar form Godfrey Boyle. In the Reviews section Dave Toke and Horace Herring put forward conflicting views on energy efficiency and energy policy generally . The Groups section includes coverage of the battles over wind power in Scotland , and there’s more on the battle between WCRE and WEC and on the proposed new UK Energy Research Centre.