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 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Carbon Emissions’
2013 budget announces shale gas tax breaks
Tax breaks for shale gas companies, and Climate Change Levy Exemption for ceramics companies were announced in the 2013 budget. The Chancellor George Osborne today unveiled his 2013 budget, which he said would help “those who want to work hard & get on”. But there was no sign of the new, simpler ‘carbon tax’ that [...]
FiT charges to inflate business electricity bills
Due to the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) costing more than expected, all companies that pay a business electricity bill could face extra charges. Since the 1st April, any household or business that generates their own renewable energy receives a subsidy for every unit of energy they produce. This subsidy is paid for through the bills of [...]
Drax power station: coal to biomass
The largest carbon emitter Britain is to stop burning coal to comply with EU laws, and will instead burn imported American wood chips. Running on coal, Drax has long been a symbol of Britain’s energy industry, but its move to biomass means it is fast becoming a symbol of our confusing and convoluted present day [...]
Fracking ‘could be fast tracked’
The Growth and Infrastructure Bill, currently going through the House of Lords could give shale gas the go-ahead faster than expected. Shale Gas is the reason many parts of the U.S. are seeing their economy boom. Energy prices have halved in some areas, as their planning and drilling regulations have allowed shale exploration to progress [...]
CRC Scheme league table to be published late
The performance table for the CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) Energy Efficiency Scheme is due to be published in the coming days. The Environment Agency (EA) has confirmed that the Energy Efficiency Performance League Table (PLT) is almost ready, with over 2,700 organisations being measured and ranked in order of how efficiently they use the energy [...]
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 [...]
2012 Energy Bill Omits 2030 Carbon Target
Details of the government’s new energy bill have now been released, with plans to keep the lights on and keep carbon emissions down. Labour are calling it a “humiliating failure” for the Lib Dems and Greenpeace say David Cameron has given in to “militant tendencies” in his own party. However you look at it, the [...]
Minister: “Wind farms; enough is enough”
Conservative MP John Hayes has been in hot water recently for commenting on the vast number of onshore wind farms “peppered” across the UK. Mr Hayes has been publicly ‘slapped down’ by Lib Dem boss Ed Davey over comments he made in an interview with the Daily Mail. He was discussing a speech he was [...]
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, [...]
