8.UK roundup
*Solarcentury, the PV installer,
was ranked as the 25th fastest-growing UK
technology company, with a 113% increase in sales, according to the
Sunday Times.
* Irelands Airtricity
is investing heavily in UK
wind projects- it’s appointed former energy minister Brian Wilson to
head its UK wing. It may invest
£800m in windfarms in Scotland
over the next five years & is developing £800m of projects in England,
Wales & offshore at Greater
Gabbard in the outer Thames Estuary. And as
noted earliet, it also wants to build a 10GW
windfarm network in the North Sea.
* The BOC Foundation is to provide funding to Hydrogen Solar
Ltd to develop & demonstrate hydrogen production using the ‘Tandem
Cell’ array at Beacon Energy in Leicestershire. IHSL will install a
100 sq metre array of Tandem Cells, and will demonstrate the array over
a six-month period. The hydrogen will be used in fuel cell applications,
to provide electricity for recharging electric vehicles, and for heat
and power for various buildings.
* German utility E.ON is to invest Euro 130m to build the largest
biomass power station in the UK,
at Lockerbie in Scotland. The
44 MW facility would, it is claimed, provide power to 70,000 homes when
commissioned in 2007. E.ON operates 6GW of wind, hydro and biomass stations
in Europe, 10% of its total power capacity.
Source: ReFocus Weekly, which is an excellent
e-source of up to date news: subscribe at www.re-focus.net
BP backs wind
BP plans to double its investment in renewable and low-carbon
energy technology, allocating some $1.8 billion over the next three
years, including wind projects, via a new business unit, BP Alternative
Energy, based at Sunbury in Surrey.
Green boom
A survey by the Co-op Bank found that in 2004 sales of energy-efficient
appliances went up by 23%, while spending on micro wind & PV solar
rose threefold, to £23m. Two-thirds of those asked considered environmental
impact when making purchasing decisions, up from 55% in 2003. 10% said
they used public transport for environmental reasons. Each household
spent an average of £140 on energy-efficient appliances, PV solar, mini-wind
& public transport- about £3.4bn in total, up 21% on 2003.
Solar grants
In addition to news of the LCBP funding, details emerged of the latest
round of 15 grants, worth £1m in all, under the solar scheme. Winners
included the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts .
Saving delay..
The full implementation of the UKs response to the EU Energy Performance in Buildings Directive,
which is now in force, will be delayed since there are still not enough
skilled building inspectors for the monitoring and measuring in buildings
it requires. The Minister, Evette Cooper,
pointed out that ‘there is a three year derogation period within
the directive to apply fully the requirements for energy performance
certificates and plant inspection’ and the government ‘proposed
to use this derogation and work with stakeholders to muster a cadre
of inspectors to support a phased programme of implementation’.
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