Utilities Savings Homepage Logo

Posts under ‘International’

Is Britain’s energy security at risk?

With EDF Energy still in talks with the government about building new nuclear plants, are we at real risk of running out of electricity? Britain could have a new ‘fleet’ of nuclear power plants by 2030, if all goes well, but the first of the 18 projects is under threat. EDF is negotiating hard with [...]

Japan extracts ‘frozen gas’ from seabed

The island nation has become the first country to extract natural gas from methane hydrates frozen underneath the sea. New technology could lead to the gas being commercially extracted in the coming years – as the technology improves and it costs less to extract. Although frozen gas is currently very expensive compared to other methods [...]

A 2013 UK Shale Gas Revolution? Unlikely.

Natural gas prices in the US have dropped by almost two thirds since they started ‘fracking’ for shale gas. Could we see a similar boost to the UK economy any time soon? Shale Gas – probably the only hope we have of producing a significant amount of useful, home-grown energy in the next decade or [...]

Ofgem report warns of blackouts by 2015

A lack of excess electricity generation has led the energy regulator to admit there could be shortfalls in supply in the near future. A report recently published by Ofgem predicts that the UK’s spare generation capacity will drop from its currently level of 14% to 4% by 2015. Under special terms in business electricity contracts, [...]

Business worried about keeping the lights on

A new report produced by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has revealed a lack of confidence in Britain’s infrastructure, compared to our European counterparts. The CBI/KPMG Infrastructure Survey 2012 provides a business-wide assessment of the state of the UK’s economic infrastructure networks. The survey underlines the critical role that infrastructure plays in making the [...]

London 2012: The ‘greenest’ games ever

The day after the 30th Olympiad ended, the London 2012 Olympics has been hailed as the “greenest games ever”. The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has hailed recycling and regeneration as a major success. However, they also noted that improvements can still be made for the next Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in [...]

Fracking gets go-ahead in the UK

An era of cheap, abundant gas could be on the way, as new report confirms risk of earthquakes and water contamination are minimal. In what could be the most significant step in Britain’s energy security since the widespread exploitation of North Sea oil, hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’ has been deemed safe in a new report [...]

Rio+20 calls for action on key global issues

Overpopulation, Overconsumption and Mass Extinction top the agenda at the ongoing environmental summit in Rio de Janeiro, but where are Cameron and Obama? Today is the second day of the Rio+20 Summit, formerly known as the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. It is 20 years since the original Rio Earth Summit in 1992, but unlike [...]

Sustainable development is ‘meaningless drivel’

James Lovelock, long-time environmental guru and the inventor of the Gaia Hypothesis says environmentalism is taking over from Christianity, and thinks we should ‘go mad on’ shale gas. In an interview in the Guardian, the celebrated environmental scientist also declares that he is not worried about sea-level rises, Germany is crazy for ditching nuclear power, [...]

Video – Draft Energy Bill

Are we setting ourselves up for another ‘dash for gas’ and should we be investing more in renewables? Watch this short video about the future of Britain’s energy security.