Third Update of January 2020 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

Below is this week’s summary. It should be a one minute read relevant to UK energy with links to documents for those who wish to read more.

(Click a bullet point to open the relevant article)

Tuesday – 14th January

• UK Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce suggests EVs can be good for the consumer and bring significant advantages to energy systems such as reducing transmission infrastructure requirements if properly rolled out.

Wednesday – 15th January

• The debate continues over the future of North West England coal mining. Developer claims mining displaces imported coal. Environmental pressure groups claim mining is incompatible with greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Thursday – 16th January

• As part of recent US/China trade deal, China has agreed to increase imports of oil, coal and gas from USA. This article from Reuters suggests that this will put upward pressure on global prices.

• Local community in rural Wales welcomes hydro-power generation plant but rejects community payments of £1000 as being too low.

• Toyota unveils a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle with a range of over 400 miles.

Sunday – 19th January

• Times reports that UK imported 600,000 tonnes of coal from Australia in 2019 and expects to import similar amounts in 2020.

• Construction has begun at what will become the biggest offshore wind farm in the world off the east coast of England, with an expected generating capacity of 3.6 GA when complete.