Renew On Line (UK) 66

 Extracts from NATTA's journal
Renew, Issue 166 March-April 2007
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Contents

1. Energy Policy: White paper delay, EAC blown away

2.Wind power : Micro-wind doubts, Offshore wind boom

3. Carbon Policy: Zero Carbon Houses, Carbon rationing

4. NCC: Green power reality check

5. Regional policy: Wales and Scotland

6. FoE say no to Severn Barrage: it could crowd out alternatives

7. News Roundup: Biofuels, Planning, Solar Fine, Clean Coal plant

8. Global Climate Worsens: IPCCC 4th report

9. European Roundup: EC on Energy Efficiency

10. USA: Bush unmoved on Climate

11. Around the world: Australia, China, Asia-Pacific Climate Pact

12. Nuclear News: UK, US, Germany and Bulgaria

Energy Policy

White paper delay

The dramatic high court ruling obtained in Feb. by Greenpeace, that the consultation process for the energy review was ' flawed' and 'unlawful' , may delay but not stop the DTI, who say they will ' press on' with the Energy White paper, with publication in May now looking likely, along with a new consultation document. Tony Blair commented that the high court ruling 'won't affect the policy at all...

    Wind power

Wind Blow-backs

Provocatively, in January, Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee claimed that ' 40% of all applications were refused in the past two years, most by Tory councils or the SNP' . She noted that ' Wind farms now trapped in planning hell by local Nimbys amount to nearly the whole extra capacity needed to meet the 2010 target' , and she provided chapter and verse (Guardian Jan. 5th). The 1GW London Array...

Carbon Policy developments

Zero Carbon Houses

Gordon Brown may not have introduced very radical green taxes in his Dec. pre-budget announcement- they amounted to around £1bn, or about 0.1% of GDP, whereas the Stern report, which Brown had commissioned, had suggested that 1% of GDP would be needed as the UK' s share of the global climate change response. But Brown did make a commitment to supporting carbon neutral houses...

NCC runs a Green power reality check

A National Consumer Council survey of green power tariffs for domestic consumers has found that many tariffs are not delivering the environmental benefits they claim; many suppliers are doing little more than meeting legal requirements; and even the best tariffs on offer will only reduce the total CO2 emissions of an average household by 6%.

Regional policy

Welsh raid seen off

The Government has responded to the quite critical report on ' Energy in Wales' produced by the Welsh Affairs Committee, with some clever twists. The Welsh Affairs Committee had complained that the Renewables Obligation skewed support in favour of wind: Wales perhaps had more than its fair share of wind projects, but the DTI statistics did not make this clear. The government replied that the RO was...

FoE say no to Severn Barrage

It could crowd out other green options

As we noted in Renew 164, Friends of the Earth Cymru is opposed to the construction of the Severn Barrage and supports the government' s energy reviews proposal for a comparative assessment of the potential of all tidal technologies in the Severn estuary, not just

News Roundup

More for Biofuels

The House of Lords European Union select committee says that Britain will not meet the EU target for the use of biofuels in road transport- it noted a statement by Environment Minister, Lord Rooker, that Britain is “miles behind” its target for 2010, whereas France, Germany and Sweden are on course to meet theirs. But the Committee did commend the Government for its decision to introduce a...

Global Climate Worsens

Climate problems and solutions

The results of the fourth review by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the first part of which emerged in Feb, were as gloomy as predicted- the science now looked much firmer and the prognosis was grim. The conclusions in the first report on the ' science' were that climate change will be worse (maybe even up to a 6.4 degree C rise), and will probably happen faster, than was

European Roundup

Climate Battles

Germany is to make fighting climate change a top priority now it has control of the G8 and will try to persuade the USA of its importance. Chancellor Angela Merkel said ' We urgently need agreements for the period after 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol expires. Germany will do...

USA: Bush unmoved on Climate

California, Arizona and 7 NE states may have by-passed President George W. Bush and set their own emission limits, but the Bush administration has no plans for mandatory national limits on greenhouse gas output. A White House spokeswoman said: ' The president has continually said ...

Around the world

Australia goes solar

Australia is to build a 154MW focussed-solar heat concentrator for electricity generation in Victoria. Similar plants have been built in the past in the US & Italy and Spain is building a 354MW unit. The Australian federal government has also announced a £146m project to produce cleaner energy...

Nuclear News

Ins and outs of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle

The Australian government seems increasingly keen on nuclear, and even though opposed, opposition Labor Party leader Kim Beazley has called on his party to scrap its ' no new uranium mines' policy. He said that ' banning new uranium mines would not limit the export of Australian uranium to...

In the Rest of Renew 166

Continuing our series on new wave and tidal power, our Feature looks at the Severn Barrage with views pro and con, while our Technology section looks at the DTI's critique of Tidal lagoons and reaction to it from Tidal Electric. The Feature also looks critically at micro wind. The Reviews section look at the idea of importing biofuels from Brazil and the energy developments in Central and Eastern Europe. There is also a review of the SPRU study on micropower. The Groups section looks at opposition to wind in Milton Keynes, last years WREC conference and the new Samsoe Academy.

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