Renew On Line (UK) 64

Extracts from NATTA's journal
Renew, Issue 164 Nov-Dec 2006
   Welcome   Archives   Bulletin         
 


Contents
1. Energy Review and the RO

2. Scotland Accelerates
3. Micro power doubts
4. UK’s first combined PV and wind system
5. Marine Power - wave and tidal ups & downs
6. Tyndall say 90% CO2 cut needed
7. Local Biofuel growth stalled
8. Ramblers fear wind farms
9. Carbon Rationing
10. Planning for Decentral Power
11. UK funding for sustainable energy
12. UK Roundup
13. Renewables in Europe
14. World Renewables
15. Nuclear News

 

1. Energy Review and the RO

The Energy Reviews’ proposal for modifying the Renewables Obligation (RO) have met with mixed responses. The idea of introducing technology bands was widely welcomed, but there were concerns that making a radical change might disrupt progress.

For example, the British Wind Energy Association’s new CEO, Maria McCaffery, commented: ‘The RO is a market-based


 

2. Scotland Accelerates

While the Energy Review talks of expanding the UK Renewables Obligation to 20%, possibly by 2020, (see Renew 163), research by Scottish Renewables has suggested that by the end of 2007, 19% of Scotland’s electricity will be coming from renewables, meeting the Scottish Executive’s target three years early. And by 2010, they say that 33% of electricity could come from renewables, including a contribution from wave and tidal energy, and by 2020 more than 50% could come from renewables.


3. Micro power doubts

The Energy Saving Trust says that micropower could provide 30-40% of the UK’s electricity needs by 2050. However many local authorities insist householders apply for planning consent for micro-wind system- something Yvette Cooper, the planning minister, felt had to change: ‘It is patently absurd that you should be able to put a satellite dish on your house but have to wrestle with the planning process for small-scale micro-generation

 



4. UK’s first combined PV and wind system

Planning permission has been granted to the London Climate Change Agency for the first combined photovoltaic (PV) and wind turbine system in the UK. Southwark Council has granted permission to the Agency to install wind turbines to add to the photovoltaic cells on the roof of the new Palestra building, designed by architect Will Alsop, on Blackfriars Road in south London. Three floors of the building will become the new headquarters of the London Development Agency and the London Climate Change Agency starting in Sept. 2006. The renewable energy generated by



5. Marine Power - wave and tidal ups & downs

In association with the British Wind Energy Association, npower has produced the ‘npower juice Path to Power Report’, a route-map to utilising the full potential of the power of waves and tidal streams in the UK. The report says that marine renewable energy technologies could theoretically provide up to 8TWh p.a., or 2.1% of the UK’s electricity demand by 2020, enough it claims to power around 1.6 million homes, assuming a capacity factor of 30% and 3GW installed. 2.1% is less than the 3% suggested by the Carbon Trust, and even that seems rather low given the huge resource


6. Tyndall say 90% CO2 cut needed

In a new report ‘Living Within a Carbon Budget’, commissioned by Friends of the Earth and the Co-operative Bank, the Tyndall Centre, Manchester says that ‘the government’s carbon reduction policies continue to be informed by a partial inventory which omits the two important and rapidly growing sectors of air transport and shipping... There is a clear void between the scale of the problem and the actual policy mechanisms proposed.’


7. Local Biofuel growth stalled

The UK’s largest Biofuels processing plant on Teeside in northeast England was has been officially opened. It will eventually have the capacity to produce at least 250,000 tonnes of biodiesel each year from vegetable oils. This is just one of several large biofuel refinery operations being set up around the country, often using imported feedstock. But local level UK production of biofuel feedstock is still limited. A report for


8. Ramblers fear wind farms

The Ramblers Association, which has around 140,000 members, has come out strongly against the spread of large wind farms which it sees as invading sensitive areas. There have been some set piece battles in Scotland where they have successfully opposed a 24 turbine 66MW scheme near Crieff in Perthshire. They argue that, unless opposed, ‘there will be a necklace of these wind farm developments forming a strangle


9. Carbon Rationing

In a speech to the Audit Commission in July, David Miliband, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, floated the idea of introducing a credit card-style trading system based on the carbon emissions associated with consumers use of energy for air travel, as well as electricity, gas and petrol. Government estimates suggest that individuals’ use of gas, electricity and transport accounts for 44% of Britain’s


10. Planning for Decentral Power

Environment Secretary David Miliband has urged local councils and individuals to develop local solutions to combat climate change: ‘I believe decentralised energy should play a greater role in meeting future energy needs as we move to a low carbon society and the emergence of new technologies are there to make this happen. Other countries such as Holland and Denmark have


11. UK funding for sustainable energy

In response to a Parliamentry Question back in June, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks laid out the governments record so far on measures to encourage the use of cleaner and more efficient sources of energy such as



12. UK Roundup
Supergrid OK?

In response to a description by Alan Whitehead MP, during a parliamentary debate in June, of Airtricity’s Supergrid proposal for a 10GW network of wind farms linked across the north sea (see our Technology section), ‘equivalent of the generating capacity of 80% of our nuclear power plants’, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks commented: ‘The European supergrid proposal is an idea for the longer term, possibly connecting up future rounds of offshore wind projects to


13. Renewables in Europe

Wind in the Ukraine

The potential for wind power in Ukraine is 70 million MWh per year, and the country could be completely self sufficient in electricity generation through the use of renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency says the World Wind Energy Association.



14. World Renewables

Biofuels around the world

Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel can significantly reduce global dependence on oil, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute, released in collaboration with the German Agencies for Technical Cooperation and Renewable Resources. It notes that last year, world biofuel production surpassed 670,000 barrels per day, the equivalent of about 1% of the global transport fuel market.


15. Nuclear News

EPR public enquiry

Setting up a local public enquiry into the proposed construction of the European Pressurised-water Reactor (EPR) at EdF’s Flamanville site in N. Western France, prime minister de Villepin said the Flamanville reactor was ‘essential for our country’s energy future’. However, according to Modern Power Systems, current economic conditions have pushed the estimated cost


16. In the rest of Renew 164

The Technology section looks at a various new offshore wind, wave and tidal ideas, while the Feature looks at some of the key issues in transport and waste management and also include a report of the OU New Europe -New Energy Conference The Reviews include coverage of the debate over the deaths associated with Chernobyl and long term problems with renewables. The Groups section looks at some of the UKERC's latest activities , the GLA's plan for London, and problems at BedZed. The Forum section includes a discussion of Lomborg's view that Climate Change has a lower priority than other global problems


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