Tag: climate

First Update of February 2020 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

10th Feb 2020 • 0 Comments

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 – 4th February

UK Prime Minister has launched a ‘year of climate action’ including phasing out coal in power generation a year sooner than previous target (2025 to 2024) and bringing in a ban on petrol, diesel and hybrid private vehicles 5 years sooner (2035 to 2030).

Wednesday – 5th February

Scottish Transport Strategy has been published with a vision based on four priorities: 1. reduced inequalities 2. takes climate action 3. helps deliver inclusive economic growth 4. improves health and well-being.

Ferries being built in west Scotland shipyards will be the first to be powered by Liquid Natural Gas in the UK. Proponents say the fuel is cleaner than diesel which is by far the most common fuel in UK waters but opponents say that gas is imported from the middle east and that hydrogen would generate even less greenhouse gas emissions.

Thursday – 6th February

UK Government Department for Transport has announced plans for UK towns to bid for £50 million to become the first to run an entirely electric-powered bus service by 2025. Almost £100 million has been set aside for other bus service initiatives.

“I” reports that UK Government plans to increase offshore wind power capacity from 9 GW to 40 GW in the next decade mean installing 5 new turbines per week. Article says that this is equivalent to 2017 construction rates.

Friday – 7th February

BBC reports discussion in UK Government to shift the cost of net-zero emissions from energy bills which disproportionately hit the less well-off. Head of UK’s biggest household energy supplier, Iain Conn of Centrica says “Before the costs get much higher I would advocate that the government needs to move the funding to income tax”.

Wind turbine blades from 1990’s USA are heading to landfill. Plans are in place to recycle today’s materials into plastic and other products including a children’s playground in the Netherlands.

UK imports of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) doubled in 2019 with increases from Qatar, Russia and USA.

Third Update of November 2019 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

25th Nov 2019 • 0 Comments

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)

Wednesday – 20th November

Guardian article covers a Price-Waterhouse-Cooper report that shows opportunity for carbon capture and sequestration in depleted north sea fields supported by CEO of UK independent Committee on Climate Change.

Of 40 industrialised countries, ranked by Ernst and Young for attractiveness of investment in renewable energy generation, UK now ranks 7th. This is an improvement based on recent growth in offshore wind.

Thursday – 21st November

Energy regulator OFGEM has announced it will no longer exempt small-scale, <100 MW (household) renewable electricity generators from paying balancing service charges.

The British Ambassador to Germany has laid out the opportunity of using excess offshore wind power to generate zero-carbon hydrogen for the energy mix of both countries.

Friday – 22nd November

The majority of UK residents responding to a Newcastle University survey indicated support for using hydrogen to heat homes in order to benefit the environment but majority also indicated they would be unable or unwilling to pay higher energy bills for such a conversion.

Norwegian gas imports to UK have been down recently due to repair works at Troll Field.

Sunday – 24th November

A company has carried out a trial to use inverters at solar power generation sites to balance grid voltage at night when panels are not generating electricity.

Second Update of September 2019 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

27th Oct 2019 • 0 Comments

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 – 10th September

Glasgow, Scotland will host 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), in 2020 aiming to tackle global climate change. 30,000 delegates and 200 world leaders: it will be the biggest summit held in the UK.

4th Generation blog makes the case for nuclear power in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with growing global demand for energy. Nuclear power supplies approximately 20% of US electricity. Global supply is about 8% which is half that of 1996 peak.

Wednesday – 11th September

A report from DNV GL describes a future of gas, renewables and CCS working together to provide a global energy supply.

Thursday – 12th September

As the latest UK auction for offshore wind fixed price gets underway the industry is predicting a further drop in price due to a combination of factors including bigger turbines, more efficient installation and market competition. The Bloomberg report suggests the maturing and more predictable industry is attracting investors requiring a lower return.

Friday – 13th September

A more distributed electricity generation system is causing an increase in emissions of the most potent greenhouse gas Sulphur Hexaflouride or SF6. Used for insulation to prevent short circuits and arcing, the material is 23,500 times more potent a greenhouse gas compared with Carbon Dioxide and increasing in the UK by 30-40 tons per year according to research from Cardiff University.

Saturday – 14th September

UK Liberal Democrat Party conference gets underway with promise to beat UK Government net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 5 years (2045 versus 2050). (Liberal Democrat Party has 19 seats in Parliament’s 650 seat House of Commons).