Amazon unveils $2bn net zero venture capital fund June 23, 2020 Tech giant Amazon today announced a $2bn (£1.6bn) venture capital fund to help the firm reach its commitment to be carbon neutral by 2040. The Climate Pledge Fund, as the initiative is known, will be used to back sustainable services and technologies that will allow Amazon and other countries to meet their climate targets. Last [...]
National Grid secures £580m loan for Viking Link power cable June 16, 2020 The National Grid has today secured a $734m (£580m) loan to help build a new €2bn power link between the UK and Denmark. The Viking Link, which is expected to be completed in 2023, will be able to provide renewable power to 1.4m households. The 1400 megawatt cable is being developed in a joint venture [...]
Will hydrogen fuel the UK’s net-zero coronavirus comeback? June 12, 2020 As the UK begins to take its first cautious steps out of the lockdown that has precipitated the worst economic crisis in modern history, thoughts have inevitably begun to turn to the question of what comes next. For some, the devastation wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic gives the UK a chance to fundamentally reset its [...]
Total acquires 51 per cent stake in Scotland’s largest wind farm June 3, 2020 French oil giant Total has taken a 51 per cent stake in SSE Renewables’ £3bn Seagreen 1 wind farm, which was today greenlit for construction. The 1 gigawatt wind farm, which will be located in the Firth of Forth, will be Scotland’s largest renewable energy project. Once completed, it will provide enough electricity to power [...]
UN confirms November 2021 date for landmark COP26 climate summit May 28, 2020 The United Nations has tonight confirmed that the so-called COP26 climate summit will be held from 1 to 12 November 2021, a year later than originally planned, due to coronavirus. The talks, which will be held in Glasgow, are widely tipped to be the most critical since 2015’s landmark Paris conference, with world leaders expected [...]
Seize the opportunities of carbon capture technology March 23, 2020 Right now, the government’s only focus is getting the country through the current coronavirus pandemic. But once we are through the worst, we will turn once again to tackling another global crisis: climate change. That the government claims to take the climate crisis seriously is impossible to deny. The 2050 target for carbon neutrality is [...]
We’ve got the power: Decarbonising our transport on the road to a greener nation February 21, 2020 The government will soon publish its strategy on cutting emissions from cars, trains, boats and planes — and already the transport secretary has suggested that sales of combustion and hybrid vehicles could be banned from 2035. Change comes with questions. For example: how clean is our electricity? And can Britain’s energy infrastructure meet the demand [...]
Put your money where your morals are: ethical ideas for ESG investing February 12, 2020 Whether or not you agree with activists like Greta Thunberg or campaign groups like Extinction Rebellion, there’s been a clear societal shift in recent years to recognise the need to tackle problems like climate change or global poverty. One aspect of that shift is the increasing trend for savers to consider the environmental, social, and governance [...]
Wind turbines: UK must double 2010s spend to hit energy target February 10, 2020 The UK government will need to spend £48bn on installing new wind turbines, double what it spend last decade, if it is to reach its target of 40 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030. According to renewable energy analysts Aurora, in order to fulfil the goal, 260 wind turbines will have to be installed [...]
Octopus limits losses as customer base triples January 25, 2020 Challenger energy supplier Octopus more than tripled its customer base in the last financial year, growing from 199,000 to 691,000 households by April 2019. The company, which now has over 1.4m customers, also increased its revenue by 256 per cent to £460m in the same period, today’s annual results showed. Notably, considering its rapid growth, [...]