Fifth Update of October 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 – 27th October

• The Guardian reports on plans to capture and store carbon dioxide, from north England industrial centres, beneath the north sea. The project is a partnership of energy companies, led by BP with Shell, Total, ENI and Equinor. Storage is expected to start in 2026.

Wednesday – 28th October

• Nuclear waste, originally from Germany, reprocessed at Sellafield nuclear power plant in England, is being returned to Germany.

• UK renewable energy plans to double 2020 generation by 2030 will be met by 2026 according to a study published this week.

Thursday – 29th October

• Behind the scenes, governments around the world are trying to make progress on ‘trading’ greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the delayed CoP26 meeting next year in Glasgow Scotland.

• Article describes plans to reduce the carbon footprint of the UK horticulture industry’s energy use by using hydrogen.

Friday – 30th October

• Equipment designed to generate power by nuclear fusion has been switched on for the first time in England according to this report from the BBC. Work began on building the machine 7 years ago and has cost £55 million so far. Nuclear fusion, unlike the usual fission reactors, creates no long-term radioactive waste.

• Greenpeace is warning that China needs to improve capability of recycling of batteries for its growth in production of electric vehicles.

Saturday – 31st October

• An investor in offshore wind generation is saying that meeting UK government targets for offshore wind will require regulatory change. Speed of approval of onshore connections is identified as the problem.