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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
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.
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
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
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
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.’
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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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