Latest News
28 days for Businesses to Register with Carbon Cutting Scheme
September 2, 2010
With just 28 days to go until the end of registration for the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC), Greg Barker is calling on the remaining organisations to register now. Launched in April 2010 the CRC requires large public and private sector organisations to register with the Environment Agency by 30th September 2010. Greg Barker, Energy and Climate Change Minister, said: The CRC will encourage significant savings through greater energy efficiency and more importantly will make carbon a boardroom issue for many large organisations. The London Fire Brigade is one organisation that has registered for the CRC. Energy efficiency projects put in place by the Brigade have led to savings of 260,000 GBP in 2009/10 and over 1 million GBP since the Brigade started focusing on the need to be greener. Despite the organisation growing overall, carbon emissions on their buildings are down by over 18% on 1990s levels.
Local authorities to sell renewable electricity
August 18, 2010
Councils across Britain will from next week be allowed to sell renewable electricity to the grid and should assume their rightful place leading a local power revolution. At present only 0.01% of electricity in England is generated by local authority-owned renewables, despite the scope that exists to install projects on their land and buildings. In Germany the equivalent figure is 100 times higher. In one of the first energy policy actions of the coalition government, a ban on local authorities selling renewable electricity will end on 18 August. This will open new sources of income including the full benefit of the feed in tariff which incentivises renewable electricity. It could mean up to £100 million a year in income for local authorities across England and Wales.
Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) in the UK
July 27, 2010
To meet the 2020 Renewable Energy target of 15%, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) needs to develop new ways of generating renewable energy in all sectors, including heating. Heat generated from renewable sources currently accounts for approximately 1% of Total Heat demand . this may need to rise to 12% to hit the UK's binding EU targets. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) offers financial assistance to enable more people to afford Renewable Heating and, by expanding the market, will help bring costs down more quickly. Eligible Renewable Heating technologies include: Air and Ground Source Heat Pumps, Biomass Boilers, Solar Thermal Water Heaters and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plants which use renewable fuels. The Renewable Heat Incentive supports heating at all levels / scales, including households, businesses, offices, public sector buildings and industrial processes in large factories. Tariff levels have been calculated to bridge the financial gap between the cost of conventional and renewable heat systems at all scales, with additional compensation for certain technologies for an element of the non-financial cost and a rate of return of 12% on the additional cost of renewables, with 6% for solar thermal. While the DECC is aiming to launch the RHI Scheme in April 2011, renewable heating installations carried out as of July 15th 2009 are also eligible for RHI. To find out more, or to view the Table of Tariffs for the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme, please click on the Grants Tab off the Home Page. JULY 27, 2010 ANNUAL ENERGY STATEMENT: This Government is fully committed to taking action on renewable heat; this is a crucial part of ensuring we meet our renewables targets, cutting carbon and ensuring energy security. The Government is considering responses to the Renewable Heat Incentive consultation and will set out detailed proposals on how to take forward action on renewable heat through the Spending Review.
Britain's Third Largest Offshore Wind Farm Opens
June 16, 2010
One of Britain's largest offshore wind farms has officially opened, taking the country another step forward to meeting its 2020 renewable energy targets. The Gunfleet Sands offshore wind farm, located in the Thames Estuary, consists of 48 wind turbines off the Essex coastline. According to DONG Energy, the company which built the wind farm, the turbines will produce 172 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 125,000 British households annually. The first green power from the wind farm was transmitted to shore in August 2009, and the project went into production in March 2010. The new wind farm pushes the UK.s offshore wind capacity past the one gigawatt milestone, providing energy for 700,000 homes. It has taken 10 years to reach that goal and now industry and government hope to build 25 gigawatts by the end of the decade. At the start of this year, the Crown Estate, which owns the seabed, announced plans to build another nine offshore wind farms off UK coastlines by 2020, which will need thousands more wind turbines. The UK government hopes that offshore wind will be a major source of renewable energy in the years to come, boosting the low carbon economy and energy security. Source: www.direct.gov.uk
UK Government Energy Bill 2010
June 26, 2010
The UK Government's Energy Bill was announced during the Queen's Speech on May 25th 2010. It plans to introduce legislation to improve energy efficiency in British homes and businesses, to promote low carbon energy production, and to secure national energy supplies. The key elements of the Bill are as follows: (i) Implementation of a .Green deal. to deliver energy efficiency to homes and business . delivering a framework including potential incentives to energy suppliers and households that will transform the provision of energy efficiency in the UK by enabling a .pay as you save. approach. The Energy Bill may also contain measures to: (ii) Regulate the carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations. (iii) Reform energy markets to deliver security of supply and ensure fair competition. (iv) Put in place a framework to guide the development of a smart grid that will revolutionise the management of supply and demand for electricity. (v) Require energy companies to provide more information on energy bills in order to empower consumers and to ensure fair access to energy supplies. (vi) Ensure that North Sea infrastructure is available to all companies to ease the exploitation of smaller and more difficult oil and gas fields. (vii) Create a Green Investment Bank to support investment in low carbon projects to transform the economy. Source: Department of Energy and Climate Change, UK
