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Offshore Wind is powering ahead. So far, under Rounds 1 and 2 of the
offshore wind programme, nearly 400 MW has been installed (see report
later). In addition planning consents have been granted for a further
3GW and the government had made clear it wanted this raised to 8GW.
And now under Round 3, it wants to see further expansion. Last year
John Hutton, the energy secretary, announced plans to open the whole
of Britain’s continental shelf to offshore wind ...
There’s been a debate over Merton Council’s ‘10%
from renewables’ rule, and over whether green power could be imported
from remote offsite renewable generators to meet it, and then over the
governments new target of having all new build attain zero emissions
by 2016. Under pressure to clarify her Departments position, the Minister,
Yvette Cooper, insisted that she strongly supported the Merton Rule
but also indicated that long distance imports should not be eligible.
She wrote to the Guardian (7/12/07) saying ‘Councils need to continue
to set Merton rules on the proportion of renewable energy ...
‘The security of our energy supply is best safeguarded by building
a new generation of nuclear power stations.’ So said Gordon Brown
last July, so we shouldn’t be surprised that the government decided
that, yes, companies should consider nuclear. Even so, it’s a
little odd since it’s always been open to private sector investors
to back a new nuclear programme. What the government now plans to offer
is help to ease this, though it insist that no direct finance ...
The legally binding target proposed by the EU for the UK as its contribution
to helping the EU as a whole to get 20% of its energy from renewables
by 2020, has been set at 15%. Most other countries didn’t get
off so lightly: Portugal’s target was 31%, Denmark’s 30%,
France got 23%, Spain 20%, Germany 18%, Greece 18%, Italy 17%, and Ireland
16%. The big hitters were Austria at 34%, Finland at 38%, Sweden 49%-
and Latvia at 42%. Some other ex-Soviet ...
‘By 2020, 1 million homes & businesses could be producing
2GW of electricity’. Oliver Letwin
The Conservative Party’s new policy on energy has been outlined
in their report ‘Power to the People’. It’s essentially
a charter for decentralised power, focussed on microgeneration, using
a FIT system to promote it. It says they will:...
Last November Prime Minister Gordon Brown outlined his views on climate
and energy policy at a WWF conference. He said that ‘over the
coming decades we must move from a largely fossil fuel based economy
to an economy primarily powered by low carbon energy: renewables; potentially
nuclear- subject to the outcome of our consultation; and the emerging
technology of carbon capture and storage’. He noted that ‘at
present around 9% ...
The UK’s first bioethanol plant opened last year at Wissington
in Norfolk. It will produce 70 million litres of ethanol biofuel a year
from locally grown sugar beet processed at Associated British Foods’
major British Sugar plant there. The bioethanol goes to blenders who
mix it with petrol and sell it on...
Under Phase I of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme which ran
up to 2007, industries, including power generators, were allocated free
permits to emit carbon and were allowed to sell any surplus over and
above what they need to meet the emission cap imposed on them under
the EU-ETS rules, to those who exceeded their ceilings. Michael Grubb,
Chief Economist at the Carbon Trust has calculated that this practice
gave the industry windfall profits of ...
Opening the Global Climate meeting he convened in Washington last Sept
(see Renew 171), with representatives from some major energy using countries,
President Bush said ‘we must lead the world to produce fewer greenhouse
gas emissions, and we must do it in a way that does not undermine economic
growth or prevent nations from delivering greater prosperity for their
people... With the work we begin today, we can agree on a new approach
that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen energy security,
encourage economic growth and sustainable development, and advance negotiations
...
Canada is at long last getting to grips with wind power. As Windpower
Monthly reported in Sept, ‘from a position perpetually at the
starting gate, the country has become a front runner, with 1590 MW in
the ground, at least another 7000 MW in view, and nearly 3000 MW of
that already building or contracted.’ It added that in the past
18 months nearly 1GW of wind capacity was installed. It says the catalyst
for market growth was the introduction of a flat rate wind power production
incentive in 2002, which provided a context for a range of initiatives
by each province. It noted that, ‘in one of the biggest calls
for wind capacity ever, the Ontario government wants to add an additional
2000MW of renewable energy to the province’s power grid from projects
larger than 10 MW in size’, and said this ‘should take the
pressure off a programme intended to support community development of
small wind ...
Opening the special Global Climate meeting he convened in Washington
in Sept (see earlier), President Bush said ‘My administration
established a new initiative called the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.
This partnership will work with nations with advanced civilian nuclear
energy programs, such as France and Japan and China and Russia. Together
we will help developing nations obtain secure, cost-effective and proliferation-resistant
nuclear ...
12. In the rest of Renew 172
The Feature in this issue look at the arguments for hydrogen as an new
green energy vector and at CAT green energy scenario. The Technology
section looks at progress on focussed solar- ‘Concentrating Solar
Power’ (CSP) and at some hydrogen projects . The reviews section
includes coverage of the biofuel option- and Worldwatch’s attempt
to rebalance the debate. There is also an overview of green energy in
the Balkans based on a new report. This issue also continues our coverage
of the battle to get a REFIT Feed In Tariff established in the UK- in
the Technology and Reviews sections. The Groups section looks at views
on tidal power as gathered by SDC, UKERC's progress, Innovation issues
and much more. And there's the usual disgruntled comments from all-comers
in Forum . Plus an Editorial arguing that maybe we need peak oil to
wake us up!
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