Archive for October, 2008
October 30, 2008 at 10:07 am
· Filed under Green Energy, UK energy ·Tagged emerging-energy-research, Green Energy, scotland-energy, scottish-power, vestas, wind-energy, wind-power-scotland, wind-turbines
News from the BBC this morning of the delay of a planned closure to the vestas wind turbine plant in Cambeltown, Western Scotland. 100 workers were in line to lose their jobs. It amazes us that this situation has been allowed to fester without a solution, however it seems that this scheme has been something of a political football from the start. Aside from the fact that these skilled people would be out of work, there is something quite sad about this plant being decommissioned at a time when demand for wind turbine technology is so high. Indeed, leading US clean energy research and advisory firm Emerging Energy Research expects the international wind power industry to increase 500 per cent over 12 years. Scotland should be at the forefront wind energy and a significant volume of Scottish power needs should be met by wind energy. The powers that be of each party must take control of this situation before we fall even further behind.
Wind Power - Scottish Energy Saviour?
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October 27, 2008 at 12:08 pm
· Filed under Green Energy, UK energy ·Tagged auntie-beeb, bureaucracy, channel-4, emissions-trading-scheme, Green Energy, renewable energy, UK energy, UK Green Energy
Required Reading – BBC/Channel 4 Green Energy Q&A – EU Energy Policy
The complexities of EU bureaucracy can be difficult for anyone to comprehend, particularly when it comes to the issue of climate change. Thankfully, good old Auntie Beeb and Channel 4 have recently published excellent Q&A pages regarding the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). I have struggled with the comncept of this scheme for ages – therefore it was interesting to have it clarified by these two sources. Many of the issues regarding the function of the ETS are covered, including:
- What is the ETS?
- How will the ETS develop?
- Is the ETS working?
- What is carbon capture?
- What about CO2 emissions not covered by the ETS?
- What are carbon offsets?
- What role does the EU envisage for renewables?
Included in the BBC report are EEA Graphs which detail the scale of the task ahead for the new UK Deptartment of Energy and Climate Change. Due to starting from a low initial renewable energy base, the UK has to increase its capacity more than any country in th EU in order to meet the EU 20% renewable energy target by 2020. Good luck, Mr Milliband.
UK Energy - Sobering Graph
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October 3, 2008 at 4:14 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged cabinet-reshuffle, climate change, energy, gordon-brown
A desperate bid to win green votes or a pioneering move to tackle climate change?
In the latest Cabinet Reshuffle Gordon Brown has created a new Energy and Climate Change Department, to be headed up by Ed Milliband. This has to be seen as a positive move, as the previous line of climate change responsilbility was always rather conveniently blurred between DEFRA and BEER. Now there can be no doubt as to where blame will be apportioned if the green energy message doesn’t begin to make a significant impression. At the very least we can look forward to a slew of new energy initiatives and announcements over the coming weeks. We will be watching with interest.
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