Will ending onshore wind farm subsidies make a real difference to customers’ bills? June 18, 2015 Amber Rudd, energy and climate change secretary, says Yes If we’d allowed the existing subsidy arrangement to continue, we could have ended up with more projects than we can afford – which would have led to either higher bills, or other renewable technologies losing out on support. Our cap on renewable energy spending gives as [...]
How energy subsidies are teaching the EU an invaluable lesson in competition May 20, 2015 Of all the functions performed by the EU, competition policy is arguably the most important – and where it could stand to do the most good. Unfortunately, many of the Commission’s attempts at trust-busting have been misguided. Last month, for instance, its authorities issued formal charges against Google. And last week, we found out that [...]
UK government’s Green Investment Bank joins E.On to fund Rampion offshore wind farm May 18, 2015 The government-backed UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) yesterday announced it has bought a £236m stake in a joint venture with E.On to build and own the Rampion offshore wind farm off the coast of Brighton. The project is receiving £1.3bn of funding in total, and will continue to be partly owned by Germany’s E.On following [...]
Global carbon dioxide level is at its highest in over three million years May 7, 2015 The amount of carbon dioxide in the world's atmosphere has reached its highest point since humans came into existence, and there's little chance of reversing the damage. In March 2015, the US National Atmosphere Administration (Noaa) measured the global concentration of the gas as 400 parts per million (ppm), adding that the last time it [...]
Audi is driving down carbon emissions with a diesel made of nothing but air April 28, 2015 If zooming around London in your flashy Audi seems to annoy the people on the streets around you, at least you'll soon be doing the environment a big favour. The German car maker has created a new kind of “carbon neutral” diesel at its research centre in Dresden, made using nothing but three components [...]
Let’s get ethical: Abundance’s Bruce Davis on what crowdfunding is offering investors with a conscience March 18, 2015 Are we becoming more ethically aware when making investments? According to recent research conducted for Triodos Bank, more than one in 10 Brits say that they plan to remove any investments they hold involving fossil fuels over the next 12 months. And among 18 to 34-year olds, the proportion rises to 40 per cent. But [...]
Saudi Arabia won’t cut production – because it knows the oil age is ending March 12, 2015 There have been many explanations, including on these pages, for why Saudi Arabia has not cut production to shore up the price of oil. These range from the use of the oil price as a foreign policy weapon – whether to wage economic war against rivals Iran, or to help their US allies bring Russia [...]
Solar Impulse-2: This is why solar planes would be so much better than traditional planes March 9, 2015 A completely solar-powered plane took off from Abu Dhabi this morning, and will now attempt to fly around the world using nothing but the sun's rays. Called Solar Impulse-2, it will first head to Muscat in Oman, and from there will spend five months travelling across Asia, the US and southern Europe. It won't [...]
The government plans to build a series of tidal lagoon power plants in the UK – here’s everything you need to know March 2, 2015 The government is considering building the world's first tidal lagoon power plants in the UK. There would be six of them – four in Wales and two in England, and the energy generated would be used to power as many as eight per cent of the UK's homes. The company behind the idea is [...]
Election doubt puts renewable firms off the UK March 1, 2015 THE UK’s status as a top destination for renewable energy investors is under threat, according to a new study released today by Ernst and Young. The decline is largely due to a lack of clarity from politicians as to where renewables fit into the country’s energy mix. EY says that the upcoming election in May [...]