Recall that he had a turbine on his roof, and a car following his bicycle.

On 01 March 2006, Yahoo News reported that:

Conservative leader David Cameron, who has made climate change and the environment core issues for his party, told his audience that it should not be a party political issue as everyone had a role to play.

When pressed on specifics, Cameron proved elusive ...

"We have got to show we can have green growth ... "

... was the closest he got to a specific proposal.

Writing in the Telegraph, in October last year, Geoffrey Lean posed the question: would Cameron be 'green' in govenment?

The answer seems to be a definite 'no'.

The dimension of the u-turn can be gleaned from his apparent commitments made in the Indie dated October 2006, and his advocacy of a carbon tax on carbon emissions from power plants!

First they killed the SDC. Now they are trying to kill off sustainable development itself.

The paper that Spelman put out on Monday, under the compelling title 'Mainstreaming sustainable development: The government's vision and what this means in practice', is without a doubt the most disgraceful government document relating to Sustainable Development that I have ever seen.

Far from demonstrating how sustainable development will be mainstreamed across government (which was the commitment it made when it axed the SDC), it reveals that its clear intent is to marginalise SD over the next four years to the point where it will be all but invisible ...

... the government has rejected out of hand the recommendations from the Environmental Audit Committee that SD should become the responsibility of the Cabinet Office. It will therefore stay within Defra – the weakest department in Whitehall ...

Spelman will apparently exercise her mainstreaming role via her (newly announced) membership of the Economics Affairs Committee.

One can only assume that Defra officials were having a laugh here as they crafted the words "to enforce the government's commitment to sustainability across policy-making".

And they must have been in hysterics in penning this little gem: "HM Treasury will support green growth and build a fairer, more balanced economy." ...

Guardian  04 Mar 2011

As I've said all along, there will be no comprehensive, independent scrutiny of government performance on SD.

Here's what it says:

"Independent monitoring of sustainability in government operations, procurement and policies by the Environmental Audit Committee."

Yesterday, at the SDC's valedictory event, Joan Walley, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, declared categorically that the EAC would not be able to carry out that function – especially as no additional resources had been made available.

The EAC is a parliamentary committee.

Ministers cannot instruct parliamentary committees as to what they should do ...

Guardian  04 Mar 2011

Flooding rated as worst climate change threat facing UK

The first comprehensive climate change risk assessment for the UK identifies hundreds of ways rising global temperatures will have an impact if no action is taken.

They include the financial damage caused by flooding, which would increase to £2bn-£10bn a year by 2080, more deaths in heatwaves, and large-scale water shortages by mid-century ...

Scientists and other experts, led by Defra, identified 700 impacts of climate change in the UK, including the possibility of refugees arriving from wars over dwindling water and food ...

Gdn  26 Jan 2012    Eating the Future Log    Fire and Floods

Climate Change     The End of Growth

Does the housing strategy focus enough on energy efficiency?

Baroness Maddock understates matters; as the recent C4 News report confirms, the government has washed it's hands of household insulation, all in the bogus interests of 'choice'. Given constant predictions - over several years - that 'the lights will go out' sometime around 2015, the current government is astonishingly complacent.

The House of Lords debated the government's housing strategy on Thursday, where Baroness Maddock admitted she was "a bit disappointed" that there is not more in the government's strategy on energy efficiency and sustainability.

The strategy states is that all new homes will meet the Zero Carbon Homes standard from 2016 and promises a review of building regulations to improve energy efficiency and carbon emission standards for new buildings ...

Gdn  23 Jan 2012    Energy Policy

Green Deal

George Osborne slams 'costly' green policies

How long until the lights go out?

Green Deal could hit UK climate change targets

You can still get insulation, but it's no longer free! Instead it will go on your monthly bill.

The Green Deal is meant to be at the heart of the government's stated ambition to be "the greenest government ever".

It is meant to deliver large cuts in carbon emissions.

But the government's own figures show that it will instead lead to a dramatic fall in the number of British homes which are being lagged or insulated to make them more energy efficient.

About a million homes a year are currently being insulated under a government arrangement that make energy providers pay for most of the work.

The result is vastly reduced utility bills for homeowners and significant reductions in carbon emissions from our old and leaky housing stock.

But all of that is about to change.

The Department for Energy and Climate change's figures show that they expect their new plans to reduce the take up of loft insulation by 93 per cent.

That's not a typo; it really is 93 per cent.

They also predict that the numbers installing cavity wall insulation will plummet by 67 per cent ...

C4 News  17 Jan 2012    Eating the Future Log    Energy Policy

The End of Growth

The true scale of Britain's woodland sell-off

Commodifying woodlands with Mrs Spelman.

A detailed inventory of woodland sold off by the [Forestry Commission], which is charged with protecting our forests for future generations, shows that it has raked in millions from sales to private companies, many of which hold licences to carry out logging.

Campaigners complain that several buyers have barred the public from newly acquired woodland, despite signing legally binding contracts saying they will preserve traditional rights of access.

The FC's own records show that between 1997 and 2010 it sold almost 12,000 hectares of forest, in contrast with the 5,403 hectares acquired for the nation in the same period.

An official account of transactions over the past decade obtained by this newspaper shows that more than 170 plots of public woodland have been sold to private buyers across the country since 2001 ...

Ind  18 Dec 2011    Cutting the deficit    Whither Britain? Log

Durban Conference: The forgotten planet

Not long ago, politicians were proclaiming that climate change was the greatest threat facing the world.

David Cameron drove a pack of huskies across a glacier, proclaiming that the Conservatives had to lead a "new green revolution and recapture climate change from the pessimists".

Today, amid the preoccupations of a global recession, the future of the world itself seems a secondary concern for the political classes.

The key villain remains the United States, which a year before presidential elections will not sign up to a new green target.

China will not play ball either. Japan, Russia and Canada have pulled out of the current negotiations.

Britain has witnessed the dramatic slide of environmentalism down the political agenda ... the Prime Minister's own "green guru", Steve Hilton, confesses he has doubts about the climate-change argument ...

Ind  04 Dec 2011    Durban COP17    Global Risks 2012    Last Nation Standing

Trapped in Neoliberalism's Addiction to Growth

New green alliance in savage attack on George Osborne

"Following the chancellor's autumn statement, we can say that the coalition is on a path to becoming the most environmentally destructive government to hold power in this country since the modern environmental movement was born," states one letter, signed by the green campaigners George Monbiot, Tony Juniper, Jonathon Porritt, Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party ...

A second letter, from the heads of the RSPB, Greenpeace and others, says:

"The stunning disregard shown for the value of the natural environment not only flies in the face of popular opinion but goes against everything the government said in June, when it launched two major pieces of environmental policy – the natural environment white paper and the England biodiversity strategy." ...

Gdn  03 Dec 2011

Wanted: more immigrants to boost British economy

George Osborne's economic strategy rests on continued high levels of immigration to Britain ...

If ministers were to succeed in reducing immigration down to their target, the UK's growth would be damaged, the OBR's economists believe – acknowledging the role that immigration plays in Britain's economic health ...

The OBR said: "Our assumption for population growth is based on average net inward migration of 140,000 per annum over the forecast period [2011-16]."

Net migration to the UK in 2010 was 252,000, according to the Office for National Statistics, the highest level on record ...

The OBR has also pointed out that falls in immigration would have economic implications.

Reductions in net immigration would have a negative impact on UK growth ...

Ind  03 Dec 2011    Coalition Log    George Osborne    Global Labour Market
Neoliberalism's Addiction to Growth    Whither Britain? Log

UK population 'to increase to 70 million by 2027'

UK population sees biggest increase in half a century

UN 'concerned' by world population growth trends

Green Politics

Population

Population Matters

George Osborne slams 'costly' green policies

The naked short-termism of the coalition's policies is confirmed.

The future is to be placed in jeopardy by their lock-in to free market dogma

In a clear attempt to redirect the coalition's green policies, the chancellor told parliament:

"I am worried about the combined impact of the green policies adopted not just in Britain, but also by the European Union … if we burden [British businesses] with endless social and environmental goals – however worthy in their own right – then not only will we not achieve those goals, but the businesses will fail, jobs will be lost, and our country will be poorer."

Osborne gave £250m worth of assistance and rebates to the most energy-intensive companies, scrapped a planned rise in fuel duty, announced a massive road-building scheme and hinted at a watering down of regulations to protect British wildlife.

Environmentalists may have gained some cheer though from the promise of £1.4bn for new railways and rail improvements ...

But his statement was notably light on references to the green economy or the job-creating potential of industries such as renewable power ...

Gdn  29 Nov 2011    Autumn Statement    Coalition Log    Peak Oil

"We must end our oil dependency"

Huhne insists carbon reduction strategy is 'on track'

Osborne tears up key countryside protection and green energy project

Liberal Democrats fight benefits cut to fund freeze in fuel duty

The itch to take a short-term populist measure subordinates any signal to the market that gas-guzzlers are anti-social

Liberal Democrat cabinet members are fighting a rearguard action to prevent the Treasury pressing ahead with plans to withhold some benefit increases for the unemployed to fund a delay in the planned 3p rise in fuel duty due in January ...

The lower than inflation benefit rises would save the government £1bn against what had been expected by the Office of Budget Responsibility.

That sum roughly matches the sum needed to fund a freeze in fuel duty ...

... some Lib Dems – including the business secretary, Vince Cable – were wavering over the issue ...

Gdn  18 Nov 2011    Coalition Log    IDS: Welfare Reform    Peak Oil    Third Meltdown Log

UK facing 1970s-style oil shock

Osborne's anti-green agenda splits Coalition

Mr Osborne is the leader of an increasingly influential faction within the Cabinet willing to sacrifice green policies if doing so is deemed helpful to economic growth ...

Mr Huhne will turn Mr Osborne's own words against him. Whereas the Chancellor said at the Conservative Party conference that "We're not going to save the planet by putting our country out of business," Mr Huhne will say in a speech this morning:

"We are not going to save our economy by turning our back on renewable energy." ...

From green back to blue: 10 anti-green Tory policies:

• Rural planning reforms
• Eco-homes
• Green Investment Bank
• Aggregates fund
• Gagging of agencies
• Oil spilltugboats
• Abolition of advisory panels
• 80mph speed limit
• Illegal tropical timber
• Forests sell-off

Ind  26 Oct 2011

Coalition Log    Eating the Future Log        Green Investment Bank

Cameron to miss Rio+20 earth summit for Jubilee

Earth Summit 2012

Osborne's Goldfinger killing attempts to be "greenest government ever"

So who is our Goldfinger of the day?

George Osborne, of course, whose free market ideology means he cannot comprehend that green regulations create growth far more often than preventing it.

This is why the government yesterday slashed between £400m and £1.3bn from the subsidies directed at creating a sustainable and clean energy supply for the UK and ultimately reducing energy bills.

It also follows the collapse of the only carbon and capture storage project bidding for £1bn of government money ...

Gdn  21 Oct 2011    Coalition Log    Eating the Future Log    

UK renewable energy subsidies slashed

Global warming 'confirmed' by independent study

Longannet carbon capture project cancelled

Climate change 'grave threat' to security and health

Longannet carbon capture project cancelled

A pioneering £1bn state-funded carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at the Longannet power station in Fife has been cancelled, as the government announced that "a decision has been made not to proceed with Longannet but to pursue other projects with the £1bn funding made available by the government."

Earlier this month, the Guardian revealed that Longannet, the only remaining project in the government's competition for CCS funding was on the brink of collapse because Scottish Power and its partners, Shell and the National Grid, were concerned about its commercial viability without more public backing ...

Government and industry have been fighting over the financing of the Longannet project for weeks.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) pledged £1bn, but the developers believed £1.5bn from the state was required ...

Gdn  19 Oct 2011    CCS    Energy Policy    

CCS

Ministers to consult on 80mph motorway speed limit

If Mr Hammond thinks about it at all, he is probably a peak oil denier. If his Department were realistic, speed limits would be reduced to 55 mph in the interests of conserving oil, and cutting C02 emissions.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the current limit, introduced in 1965, was out of date due to "huge advances in safety and motoring technology".

The consultation begins this year with a view to raising the limit in 2013.

The Department for Transport says as many as 49% of drivers flout the current 70mph limit.

It says advances in technology have made cars much safer, contributing to a drop of more than 75% in the number of people killed on British roads since the 70mph limit was introduced ...

BBC NEWS  29 Sept 2011    Eating the Future Log    Peak Oil: Not If but When    Third Meltdown Log

Green groups angered as biomass plant approved

The Union of Concerned Scientists seek to differentiate ...

" ... between beneficial biomass resources and those that are questionable or harmful ... "   YPTE

A differentiation which seems not to have occurred to the coalition!

Charles Hendry, the energy minister, said the 300MW power station on the coast of Anglesey would provide a "secure, flexible and renewable source of power" while creating hundreds of jobs.

The Holyhead biomass facility would help Britain meet its renewable energy targets ...

"It is widely assumed that bioenergy is inherently carbon-neutral. However this assumption is flawed," said the scientific committee of the European Environment Agency in the report seen by Reuters ...

A second recent report undertaken by the RSPB wildlife group estimated that almost 40 new biomass schemes were in various stages of planning in the UK alone, with an explosion of similar projects expected all over the world.

It is not just green groups who oppose the bioenergy drive.

The wood timber industry says prices have already shot up by 50% over the past three years as energy companies seek out new supplies for their biomass plants.

The industry say timber factories in Britain are now threatened by closure ...

Gdn  16 Sept 2011

Biomass is a versatile energy source. Organic matter that is used as a source of biomass energy includes trees, timber waste, wood chips, corn, rice hulls, peanut shells, sugar cane, grass cuttings, leaves, manure, sewage, and municipal solid waste.   YPTE

... like all our energy sources, biopower has environmental risks that need to be mitigated. If not managed carefully, biomass for energy can be harvested at unsustainable rates, damage ecosystems, produce harmful air pollution, consume large amounts of water, and produce net greenhouse emissions ...   UoCS

Eating the Future    Energy Policy

Alternative to Fossil Fuels

The Energy Crisis of 1593

Renewable Energy: Biomass Energy

Biomass

Biomass and bioenergy

Wildlife groups 'are failing to protect nature'

Peter Marren, the naturalist and writer, says the Government's wildlife agency, Natural England, has gone from being an independent-minded watchdog to a "pathetic delivery boy" of ministers' wishes, while the various wildlife pressure groups no longer put up enough of a fight to defend the natural world ...

Too many of the green groups have become used to working with the Government, or are dependent on it for funding, to be able to criticise it effectively, he says, adding:

"We need an independent voice, led by a powerful and knowledgeable personality who can speak up for wildlife."

Mr Marren's opinions reflect a growing feeling among senior conservationists that protection of wildlife is falling by the wayside.

There is great dismay over the decline in influence of Natural England, which has been forbidden by the Government from commenting publicly on policy ...

Jonathon Porritt, who was chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission until its recent abolition, said:

"This is a decisive moment for those who care about wildlife and the countryside in the UK.

"The Coalition Government has silenced Natural England and the Forestry Commission, and severely constrained the Environment Agency ...

Ind  14 Sept 2011    Eating the Future Log            

Bid to cut environment red tape

The Government today called on businesses to suggest ways to reduce the "burden" of regulations which protect the environment, as part of its drive to cut red tape ...

Ministers said that over the next three weeks the red tape challenge, which aims to reduce regulation for businesses, would be focusing on the 287 environmental regulations that apply to companies.

The rules cover issues such as wildlife protection, rubbish and climate change emissions ...

Climate Change Minister Charles Hendry insisted that the Government had no intention of drawing back from commitments to tackle climate change.

"Quite the opposite, if we are going to tackle climate change we must work with industry to reduce our emissions.

"It is vital that we make sure our regulations are supporting that effort, not undermining it with red tape that is ineffective, burdensome or unnecessary." ...

Ind  01 Sept 2011    Eating the Future Log    Third Meltdown Log

Government cuts a threat to butterflies

Funding for recovery schemes for 24 butterfly species, provided by the Government's wildlife agency, Natural England, has now been completely ended, the charity Butterfly Conservation says ...

Ind  22 Aug 2011    Biodiversity    Cutting the Deficit    Eating the Future Log

Coalition scraps national network of charging points for electric cars

The Department for Transport, which had planned to have 9,000 recharging points by 2013, has decided that the programme is not viable ...

At present there are about 700 points. The 8,600 electric vehicles expected to be sold by the end of this year would require some 4,700 points.

In a new strategy document, the department said: "Most recharging is likely to take place at home and at work, so an extensive public recharging infrastructure would be under-utilised and uneconomic." ...

The Committee on Climate Change has said that the UK needs to have 1.7 million electric vehicles by the year 2020 to be on course to hit ambitious carbon-reduction targets.

Ind  02 July 2011    Coalition Log    Eating the Future Log

'Last Nation Standing'

Climate policies 'need new tools'

The UK's greenhouse gas emissions are not falling fast enough to meet government targets, say advisers.

Emissions rose by 3% during 2010, says the Committee on Climate Change.

This was due to extra energy demand in cold weather; but the general trend is flat, which is "incompatible" with the 3% annual cuts needed, the CCC says ...

Rhian Kelly, director for business environment at the Confederation of British Industry, said recent policy changes had slowed decarbonisation.

"Recent policy shifts have dented investor confidence, such as the sudden removal of the incentive behind the Carbon Reduction Commitment.

"To get back on track, the government must clarify a number of grey policy areas, including the Green Deal, electricity market reform and the Green Investment Bank."

BBC NEWS  30 June 2011    Coalition Log    Eating the Future Log

Alternatives to Fossil Fuels    Energy Bill    Energy Policy

Solar industry takes tariff fight to Lords

The Merits Committee ... is to consider a letter co-signed by some 58 organisations and businesses – including the Solar Trade Association, the Co-operative, and the Town and Country Planning Association – calling for a rethink of Government plans to slash the "feed-in tariff" (FiT) scheme barely more than year after it was introduced.

The committee could trigger a parliamentary debate and vote on the Government's proposals to cut the subsidy rates available to solar power projects of more than 50 kilowatts (kW) – roughly the size of a hospital or housing association scheme – by between 38 and 70 per cent.

If the changes go ahead the industry argues it is unlikely any projects of more than 50kW will be built.

Much of debate centres on the comparative cost of solar power.

A report from the Climate Change Committee last month backed new nuclear as the cheapest option for the green power Britain needs to hit its carbon-reduction targets.

But the solar industry disputes the point, claiming that solar costs should be compared with retail prices, because of the scale of the technology ...

Ind  21 June 2011    Coalition Log

Alternatives to Fossil Fuels    Nuclear Power

The Government needs to firm up its energy policy to support solar

Government subsidy cut prompts solar outrage

The Government's decision to cut subsidies for solar energy to all but the smallest projects will threaten investment and job creation in the alternative energy sector, environmental and industry groups warned yesterday ...

Friends of the Earth said the consultation had been "a farce" and that the results threatened the creation of thousands of new jobs in the fledgling green energy sector.

Donna Hume, Friends of the Earth's green energy campaigner, said: "With mounting concern about the rising cost of fossil fuels and the impact of global climate change, the Government should be increasing financial support for clean, green energy – not cutting it.

"Our schools, businesses and housing estates could become mini-power stations so we all play our part in the green energy revolution."

The Solar Trade Association said the Government was "crippling" the industry just as countries such as Germany, China and Japan were moving it to the centre of energy policy ...

Ind  10 June 2011    Energy Bill

Britain's solar industry feels the cold chill of government rejection

Ministers bid to stem nature loss

The Natural Environment White Paper aims to put a value on nature, and use economic levers to conserve it.

Businesses building on green space may have to pay "biodiversity offsets".

The government intends to establish an index of "natural capital", to sit beside GDP and the new index of well-being as markers of society's health ...

The white paper calls for the establishment of 12 "improvement areas" in places where ecological health has been degraded.

Some public funds will be available to restore them, to be allocated on a competitive basis ...

BBC NEWS  07 June 2011    Eating the Future Log    National Ecosystem Assessment    

New 'landscape scale' approach to conservation

England's protected habitats 'failing wildlife'

Nature 'is worth billions' to UK

What is an ecosystem?

UK blocks European ban on fuel from tar sands

The Coalition Government's claim to be the "greenest government ever" has come under fresh scrutiny from politicians and environmental groups who accuse Britain of undermining a Europe-wide forecourt ban on one of the most climate-polluting fuels.

Britain is one of just two major European nations opposing efforts to prohibit sales of petrol and diesel obtained from the Canadian tar sands ...

Independent  01 June 2011    Coalition Log    Athabasca Tar Sands    The Anthropcene

Drilling halted by earthquake

THE company drilling for shale gas on the Fylde coast has stopped its controversial “fracking” programme after an earthquake hit the Fylde.

Cuadrilla Resources began hydro-fracking – sending water and chemicals thousands of feet underground to break rock and release gas – in Weeton last week.

But the company has now halted the process while investigations are made into what caused yesterday’s earthquake, which measured 2.2 on the Richter Scale ...

Blackpool Gazette  30 May 2011

According to geologists of the Arkansas Geological Survey, fracking was not responsible for the rise in seismic activity. However, because the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, shale gas drillers don’t have to disclose what chemicals they use. According to a report issued by the Environmental Working Group, fracking has already been linked to drinking water contamination and property damage in Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wyoming. In Dimock, PA, levels of methane in some water wells are so high that homeowners are able to set water on fire as it comes out of the tap ...

Fracking Earthquakes

Shale Gas    Shale Gas Off Site Links    The Anthropocene Home Page

MPs urge backing for UK shale gas

Does Gas Fracking Cause Earthquakes?

What’s With all the Fracking Earthquakes?

Firms suspend activities after Arkansas earthquakes linked to fracking

Caroline Spelman intervenes over King's Lynn incinerator

Switch to biogas, Caroline!

A minister has stepped into a row over a controversial £600m energy-from-waste incinerator scheme in West Norfolk.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has told Norfolk County Council she is "greatly concerned" over opposition to the scheme planned for King's Lynn.

Defra had promised to provide £167m in private finance credits to build the plant if it had community backing ...

In a borough council poll, 98% of residents said they opposed the plan but county councillors approved it ...

BBC NEWS  28 May 2011    Alternatives to Fossil Fuels        

Burning refuse undermines recycling targets and wastes resources

Debunking the Waste-to-Energy Scheme

Why Friends of the Earth opposes incineration

Anaerobic digestion

Biogas in the UK

What's the official line on incinerators? There isn't one

Chancellor opposes waste disposal on his doorstep

Clegg unveils long-awaited details of green investment bank

Clegg said the bank's initial £3bn of funding from the public purse - to be ringfenced by the Treasury - would lead to £15bn in new investment in green infrastructure by 2015, as the bank's funding would act as a "catalyst" to other investors.

Although the legislation for the bank may take longer than a year, funds should be released within 11 months so companies can start to make plans to apply for funding for green projects, including offshore wind farms, waste and industrial energy efficiency ...

Gdn  23 May 2011    Coalition Log

Green Investment Bank    

Green bank is coalition's biggest environmental test

FOE

Green Politics

Chris Huhne briefs MPs on long-term carbon target

Chris Huhne has committed the UK to cut carbon emissions by 50% of 1990 levels by 2027 and change the way Britain produces energy ...

Mr Huhne said the decision would be reviewed in three years to ensure the targets are "aligned" with other members of the European Union ...

He also revealed the government was "working up a package of measures" to be announced by the end of the year to help energy-intensive industries "adjust" to the transformation while remaining competitive.

Mr Huhne told MPs the budget would "set Britain on the path to green growth" ...

Green MP Caroline Lucas remained critical of the announcement which "risked being a sham" ...

She concluded: "On the crucial issue of how we now meet the targets, the government has shunned the CCC's recommendation that the budget should be met through domestic action alone.

"Allowing the use of trading mechanisms such as offsetting essentially means outsourcing our emission reduction responsibilities to other countries - thereby weakening the drive to achieve more green technologies and industries, with all the jobs those can bring, here in the UK." ...

BBC NEWS  17 May 2011    Coalition Log    The Carbon Plan

Behind the rise in auto sales    Carbon Trading    Inequality, Consumerism & Biodiversity

Chris Huhne pledges to halve UK carbon emissions by 2025

CCC advises UK to cut emissions 60% by 2030

Committee on Climate Change

G8's hot air on climate and REDD

REDD

UK misses CO2 Target

Coalition 'losing way' on green policies

The letter ... goes on to urge the prime minister to accept the key recommendations of advisory body the Committee on Climate Change on cutting emissions "to create clarity for investors and citizens about the UK's direction".

The CCC's Fourth Carbon Budget report suggests signing up to a 50% cut in emissions on 1990 levels by 2025 and 60% cuts by 2030.

Andy Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth, told the BBC's Today programme that if the government failed to accept the committee's key recommendations, it would make it "very difficult" for it "to achieve many of the other things that it says it wants to do".

He added: "We think that out of integrity they've really got to do it if they want to be seen as the greenest government ever."

Mr Atkins said he was concerned that the government was moving away from accepting the committee's recommendations because of economic considerations, which he called "stone age economics" ...

BBC NEWS  14 May 2011    Coalition Log

Letter

Fourth Carbon Budget

PM's pledge of greenest government 'vanishingly remote'

Supporting the environment – 12 months on

Unmentioned in Ms Spelman's torrent of self-congratulation, is the coalition's failure to set up the Green Investment Bank as anything other then a hollow shell.

One year on from the Prime Minister’s pledge to become the greenest government ever, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs is pressing ahead with the vital changes necessary to protect Britain’s wildlife and natural environment, to support a strong food and farming industry, and to help build a strong green economy ...

“The idea of being the greenest government ever isn’t a sound-bite or a quick fix solution.

"It’s about embedding the value of our environment and its resources in the economy and our national consciousness. Forever.”

Defra  11 May 2011    Coalition Log

Is the Coalition Eco-friendly?    'Last nation standing'    The Carbon Plan    The Green Investment Bank

Caroline Spelman's review of the year

Porritt attacks Cameron's 'green' record

Green failure UK

How well has the coalition done on the environment?

Green 'revolution' hit by new curbs on investment bank

Government's climate adviser steps in to carbon budget row

The chairman of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) met the business secretary, Vince Cable ... (who) ... believes the proposed target will harm prospects for jobs and growth ...

The (carbon) budgets put the government of the day on target to meet a reduction of 80% of carbon emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2050.

The CCC recommended that to reach this end target, carbon should be cut by 60% by 2030 ...

In that letter, dated 19 April, and seen by the Guardian, Cable says the proposed carbon budget is not "cost-effective" and asks for a Treasury impact analysis to be made available to all involved in the decision.

He wrote: "Agreeing too aggressive a level risks burdening the UK economy, which would be detrimental to UK, undermining the UK's competitiveness and our attractiveness as a place to do business.

"I have a number of concerns about supporting the CCC's recommended level at this time.

"It is important that we strike the right balance between our pursuit to decarbonise the UK economy whilst ensuring that UK economic growth and employment is sustained." ...

Gdn  10 May 2011    Coalition Log    Third Meltdown Log    

This energy bill is not so green

Energy Bill 2010 / 2011

Porritt attacks Cameron's 'green' record

Jonathon Porritt, former chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, warned that policies which would have enabled the Government to deliver its green pledges are being delayed, watered down or abandoned.

The commission was abolished in March and there is now no official body taking stock of the Government's record on the environment ...

Ind  07 May 2011

Is the coalition eco-friendly?    The Carbon Plan    Where's green Dave now?

How well has the coalition done on the environment?

Green failure for the UK is on the way

Sustainable development, RIP

The Government needs to firm up its energy policy to support solar

There are two issues at stake here. The broader point is that when governments ask private sector energy companies to make long-term investments – in renewables or fossil fuels – on the understanding that the relevant tax regimes will be supportive for a time, if they go back on the commitment, they should not be surprised when people say they are not prepared to continue investing.

Second, if one wants to build a solar industry with critical mass in this country, restricting meaningful incentives to families who put a solar panel on their home's roof just isn't going to cut it. We need the larger commercial enterprises that Mr Huhne no longer seems prepared to support ...

Ind  03 May 2011    Alternatives to Fossil Fuels

UK marine energy sector 'could be worth £76bn and support 68,000 jobs'

Eco labels 'mislead consumers'

UK marine energy sector 'could be worth £76bn and support 68,000 jobs'

A government thinktank has predicted that the British marine energy sector could be worth £76bn to the economy and support 68,000 jobs by 2050.

The analysis, released this week by the Carbon Trust, comes only weeks after coalition ministers ended the industry's subsidy programme ... the Carbon Trust says new wave and tidal technologies need to be accelerate at a time when the government's £42m marine renewable deployment fund has been eliminated and the most ambitious marine project – the 10-mile long Severn Barrage – has been given the thumbs down by the energy secretary, Chris Huhne ...

Gdn  02 May 2011    Alternatives to Fossil Fuels    Tidal Power

The Government needs to firm up its energy policy to support solar

Green laws labelled as red tape

All of Britain's 278 environment laws [are] under review ...

The Wildlife and Countryside Act, National Park Act, Clean Air Act and the Climate Change Act are among the packages of environmental safeguards included in the "red tape challenge" – a crowdsourcing exercise launched by the government to establish which regulations restrict business in the UK.

All of the UK's more than 21,000 pieces of regulation are included on the government's website for an evaluation.

Users are told only the issues of tax and national security are exempted.

Participants are assured the "onus" will be on ministers to make the case for keeping a regulation recommended for cutting ...

Gdn  17 Apr 2011

Red Tape Challenge

China tops global clean energy table

The 'greenest ever government' clocks at 13th place

China remains the world's leading investor in low-carbon energy technology, a global study has shown.

The table, published by the US Pew Environment Group, showed that the Chinese invested $54.4bn (£34.1bn) in 2010, up from $39.1bn in 2009.

While the US saw investment increase by 51% to $34bn, it still slipped from 2nd to 3rd in the ranking, behind Germany's $41.2bn.

However, the UK slipped outside the top 10 as investment fell by 70% in 2010.

Globally, the sector - which does not include nuclear power - attracted $243bn of investment, a 30% increase from 2009 and a whopping 630% rise since 2004.

The authors also said that 40 gigawatts (GW) of wind and 17GW of solar energy were installed during 2010, taking the global clean power capacity to 388GW.

BBC NEWS  29 Mar 2011    'Last Man Standing'

Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race?

Osborne springs fuel price surprise

"If we we don't reduce our dependence on oil ... we will continue to expose ourselves to the uncertainty of the oil market. It is important that we reduce our dependency far more quickly than perhaps people thought was necessary."

No you didn't hear/read that on Budget Day; quite the opposite. It was said by Alistair Darling more than two and a half years ago, only it's even more true today than it was then.

Osborne's cancellation of the escalator is an entirely understandable but very short-termist measure.

He could also have announced measures to encourage people to buy fuel efficient cars/van/juggernauts - ditto manufacturers - and worse, he could have leaned on the AA and the RAC to get into the real world and start pointing out to the many drivers who think our roads are variously called 'Silverstone Way'; 'Nurburgring Avenue' or 'Monza Road' that oil needs to be eked out by changing driving habits, such as installing the LRF to your gas peddle.

The alternative is that rationing might come sooner than we realise.

Independent  23 Mar 2011

Statoil halts North Sea oil development

UK solar panel subsidies slashed

The UK government has proposed cuts of up to 70% to the feed in tariff for large scale solar energy production.

The proposal would be implemented on the 1 August, reducing payments to farmers or owners of large commercial buildings ...

BBC NEWS  18 Mar 2011

REA

UK government unveils plans to slash solar feed-in tariffs

Green 'revolution' hit by new curbs on investment bank

The row over the bank is critical as ministers need to kick start a green technological revolution to create jobs and meet climate change targets through a low carbon energy infrastructure.

In the past few days the Treasury has intervened again to argue that the Office for National Statistics will classify the bank as part of the public sector, so undermining the government's deficit reduction strategy.

The Treasury is insisting that a decision on whether the bank can borrow will not be made until the next spending review, in 2014, or even if it is agreed that it can borrow in principle, it will not be able to do so for the life of this parliament, with the decision reviewed in three years ...

Guardian  18 Mar 2011    Cameron's 'Enterprise Culture'

Green investment bank 'must operate commercially'

Huhne backtracks on bank for green projects

Chris Huhne signals frustration with Treasury

How will the spending review affect the environment?

Japan's power crunch will be felt globally

The energy gap widens

... the disaster engulfing the Fukushima power station could change the global energy landscape ...

As Japan faces rolling power blackouts, LNG tankers are already being rerouted to Japanese ports.

In the LNG spot market tankers set sail but can be quickly diverted if a buyer slaps down a higher bid for the cargo – and the price is up about 6% since the earthquake struck, the highest level since 2008.

That is bad news for the UK, which relied on gas for about a third of its power supply over the past winter.

But this could be a long-term shift in demand ...

In the short term it means more reliance on carbon-producing fossil fuels: renewables cannot fill the gap ...

Guardian  14 Mar 2011

Disaster will drive gas prices higher

Fukushima Nuclear Accident

Nuclear power: After the flood

Nuclear crisis forces up UK gas prices

Germany suspends power station extension plans

Solar power industry set to lock horns with state

Britain's fledgling solar power industry is gearing up for a fight over the Government's review of the solar subsidies scheme.

The consultation setting out how the Government proposes to change the "feed-in tariff" (FIT) system for solar arrays producing 50 kilowatts (kW) or more of power could be published as early as this week. And green energy companies and pressure groups are expecting bad news.

The review was announced by the Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, last month. The Government says the plan to cut subsidies for large-scale solar installations will avoid commercial "farms" hogging funding and squeezing out the domestic market for which the support was intended.

But solar experts say the analysis is faulty – that there are barely any plans for commercial-scale "farms", that the 50kW ceiling also catches out community projects such as hospitals and housing associations, and that the lack of support from government will put the brakes on much-needed investment.

More serious still is the charge that the Department of Energy and Climate Change does not understand the economics of solar power and does not have the expertise for a valid analysis of the market ...

Independent  14 Mar 2011

REA Solar Power

USD$500 Billion Being Spent on Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Hydrogen fuel for cars comes a step nearer

So what are the world's best hopes for getting over its addiction to petrol?

There is huge disagreement among the experts attempting to predict what the replacement fuel might be.

The current UK Government favours making Britain's bus and train systems electric, while encouraging consumers to buy re-chargeable cars.

However, there is another option – hydrogen. The company behind some ambitious recent claims is called Cella Energy, backed by Oxford University's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the UK taxpayer.

Its experts are claiming that petrol could start to be replaced at the pump with a cheaper new hydrogen fuel within three years ...

Telegraph  13 Mar 2011

Safe, low-cost hydrogen storage

Hydrogen economy

Greenpeace attacks government's plan to cut carbon emissions

Greenpeace says the new plan contains no mention of the target recommended by the government's independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, for electric vehicles.

The committee wanted a framework that would see 60% of vehicles powered by electricity by 2030 – about 11 million electric cars and 1.5 million vans.

Green organisations are also disappointed that it contains nothing about enforcing speed limits as a means of reducing fuel use.

Ruth Davis, chief policy adviser at Greenpeace, said:

"It's clear Chris Huhne is losing patience with other parts of Whitehall which aren't taking the green agenda seriously at all.

"The Carbon Plan is painfully threadbare in places – signs that he faces entrenched resistance from officials in the treasury, transport and business departments.

"Transport officials seem to have abandoned UK plans to champion greener cars in Europe."

Observer  13 Mar 2011

Deloitte survey points to long wait for mass adoption of electric cars

Green investment bank 'must operate commercially'

The government is putting the UK's fledgling green economy at risk by downgrading the "green investment bank" to a mere fund, MPs have warned ...

If the bank is to succeed in directing billions of needed investment into green projects such as renewable energy, it must be allowed to operate commercially and attract private sector investors ...

They also called for the bank to issue "green ISAs" through which individual investors could put their savings into low-carbon projects.

"If the government is serious about being the 'greenest ever', the chancellor must ensure the green investment bank can do what it says on the tin and raise extra capital like a real bank," said Joan Walley, chair of the environmental audit committee, which published its report on Friday.

"The UK desperately needs a game-changing injection of private sector investment if we are going to meet our climate change targets and move to a green economy." ...

But objections to the plans from within the Treasury, which believes the bank could swell the deficit because it would appear as a liability on the government's balance sheet, mean the plans are likely to be watered down and the bank will be restricted instead to dispensing a small pot of government funding, with £1bn coming from general funds and £1bn to £2bn more from the sales of public assets ...

Guardian  11 Mat 2011    Dave's 'Enterprise' Culture

Green Investment Bank must not be compromised

Spelman's forest U-turn

Under the plans, up to £250m would have been raised by selling the leaseholds for commercially valuable forests to timber companies, while charities and local authorities would have been allowed to take over woodland.

Well-known "heritage" woods, such as the New Forest and the Forest of Dean, would have been transferred into the hands of charities.

There were warnings last night, though, that the fight to save England's woodlands was not over.

Campaigners in the Forest of Dean said they would still be seeking guarantees that their woods would remain publicly owned and managed.

The union Prospect said that even with the U-turn, the Forestry Commission's role was compromised by more than 400 job losses announced earlier this month.

The Woodland Trust warned better protection was needed for ancient woodlands, which are already under threat from development and planning reform ...

Independent  18 Feb 2011

Caroline Spelman

Caroline Spelman

Caroline Spelman backs GM crops

'Greenest government ever' reserves worst cuts for Defra

Guido Fawkes' Blog

David Cameron 'must act to green Whitehall'

... MPs say Defra is not best placed to hold other departments to account on their policies.

The Cabinet Office should take on the role instead, the MPs recommend.

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) launched its inquiry following the government's decision to withdraw funding for the Sustainable Development Commission, which currently performs a watchdog and advisory role on green issues.

The committee said the loss of the SDC's experience and resources presented a risk to the government's green agenda and the sustainability of its policies ...

The committee's comments were supported in a recent acerbic blog from Jonathon Porritt, former head of the SDC.

He said the signs of the government fulfilling its promise to embed sustainable development in Whitehall were not encouraging ...

Halina Ward, Director of the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development (FDSD), said:

"It is nonsense to expect the Cabinet Office or any new sustainable development minister to review the sustainable development implications of departmental policy proposals, plans and practices when the government has no sustainable development strategy in place to provide a benchmark for transparency or accountability." ...

BBC NEWS  10 Jan 2011    

Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development

Oil companies 'cut and paste' North Sea disaster plans

The Energy and Climate Change Select Committee ... reported "serious doubts" about whether the current equipment to deal with oil leaks would work in the harsh environment west of the Shetland Islands, where Chevron and BP plan to drill in deep water.

And it found that companies have been "cutting and pasting" their plans for disasters without tailoring their responses to individual wells.

The committee, chaired by Tory MP Tim Yeo, also criticised the industry for lacking board members with environmental experience and "responding to disasters rather than anticipating them".

In a blow to the oil industry, the committee recommended a transfer of financial risk from the taxpayer to companies by lifting the $250m (£160m) cap on how much polluters would have to pay towards the clean-up ...

... Greenpeace, which has campaigned for a total ban, was not happy with the conclusions.

"The oil companies have no idea how they would deal with a major spill off the coast of the UK but apparently we're supposed to trust them until they come up with an adequate plan," said John Sauven, Greenpeace executive director.

Telegraph  06 Jan 2011

Corporate Sociopathy    Deepwater Horizon    Eating the Future    Peak Oil

Panel urges major reforms

UK deep sea oil spill response plans questioned by MPs

A Shetland oil spill could reach Norfolk and Greenland

BP cost-cutting blamed for 'avoidable' Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Oil Spills

Inequality, Consumerism and Biodiversity

Trashing the environment

Chris Huhne promises Britain will speed up switch to green energy

• Oil price reaches $92 a barrel – highest since October 2008
• UK energy target of getting 15% from renewables by 2020 ...

Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary, has ... promised that over the next decade Britain would increase the amount of energy it gets from renewable sources more quickly than any other state in the European Union ...

A recent report carried out by Bloomberg Energy Finance for Pew Charitable Trusts forecast that, based on current policies, $114bn (£73bn) would be invested in renewable energy in Britain between 2010 and 2020, the fourth highest amount in the world ...

Guardian  03 Jan 2011    

Global investment in renewables to total $1.7 trillion by 2020

'Plutonium' Comments

UK government launches £5,000 electric car grant scheme

Motorists will have a choice of just one subsidised car to buy outright as the project is launched – the Mitsubishi i-MiEV – but should have a choice of nine or 10 fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars by 2012 ...

"This is a breakthrough year," said Chris Paine, director of the cult documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?

"In the first time in 90 years, people will actually have a chance to buy electric cars from major carmakers.

"Tesla, Nissan and GM are first out of the gate and almost every other car company has announced plans to join the race in 2012 and beyond.

"That's what makes the next few years so exciting."

Paine has a new documentary out later this year, Revenge of the Electric Car, telling the story of the competition between the three rivals.

The plug-in car grant was conceived as a £230m incentive by the Labour government to cut the upfront cost of electric vehicles, which typically cost at least a third more than rival, conventional combustion engine cars.

The subsidy survived the coalition's cuts with the proviso that it will be reviewed in 2012 – only the first year of funding, £43m or 8,600 cars, is guaranteed ...

JamesCameron
1 January 2011 9:01AM

The real electric car revolution will not happen until we solve the issues of range, power density, rapid recharging, long life and affordability.

In WWII propeller driven fighters such as the Focke-Wulf and Mustang approached 500mph but to get up towards Mach 1 required the jet power of the Me 262.

Similarly in electric cars, I suspect we actually need an entirely new technology to provide the necessary quantum leap in storage capacity and infinitely faster charging.

Supercapacitors storing energy in an electric field rather electrochemically may point the way for I am sure we need to go beyond the notion of simply perfecting battery design.

angryolegit
1 January 2011 10:34AM

Electric cars are not that green. You charge them from your domestic supply which is fed from the power station 'up the road', therefore moving the carbon emissions to the site of the power station.

Presumably the argument is that they will be charged overnight, as if on an 'Economy 7' rate when the power station is 'ticking over' ...

Guardian  01 Jan 2011    A free market train wreck

The Nissan Leaf – a perfect use for that unwanted Christmas jumper

Electric Cars Aren’t Really All That Green

Waste crisis means 80 giant furnaces set for go-ahead in 2011

The Coalition must decide this summer whether to give its blessing to the £10bn roll-out of the new incinerator chimneys ...

The UK Without Incineration Network has 80 active groups opposing local developments.

One of its co-ordinators, Shlomo Dowen, a former teacher, opposes a new incinerator on a former mine near his home in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire.

The campaign is becoming a test of wills between local people and big business, he said.

"This about people power. Typically people start off from a situation of not giving much thought to what happens to their waste when it goes in the bin ...

"But when an incinerator is proposed they become alarmed at the health impact and this gets them to take to the internet.

"Then they realise they are very expensive and that there are other viable alternatives such as anerobic digestion which is renewable.

"No one is arguing that incinerators improve people's health. The debate is about how much local people's health will be depreciated.

"The waste companies underestimate the level of resistance. They don't care as passionately as people do for their own neighbourhood. To them it's just a job.

"The more people scrutinise the process the more likely it is to come off the rails." ...

Independent  28 Dec 2010    A free market train wreck

UKWIN

What's the official line on incinerators? There isn't one

Chancellor opposes waste disposal on his doorstep

Huhne backtracks on bank for green projects

Energy secretary says UK budget deficit must take precedence over the plan to help such projects as offshore wind farms ...

The green investment bank (GIB) was devised by the chancellor, George Osborne, when in opposition as crucial to the development of green energy projects such as clean coal plants and offshore wind farms in the UK.

Now the cabinet minister in charge of seeing the plan come to fruition ... has floated the possibility of a staggered introduction.

This would see it initially set up as a more limited fund unable to raise finance by issuing "green bonds" to back green projects.

Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary, appears to concede the Treasury's concern that the liabilities taken on by the GIB would be added to the government's budget book.

He suggests instead the new institution could become a bank able to raise finance over time, as the UK's deficit is reduced ...

Guardian  14 Dec 2010    

Nine electric cars will be eligible for subsidies

They will be as eco-friendly as the electricity that charges the batteries.

Under the £43m initiative that starts on 1 January, buyers will get a 25% discount up to the maximum £5,000.

However, only three of the nine cars will be immediately ready for delivery, with others following as late as 2012.

The government also said that a further five areas were to install charging points after bidding for funds.

The additional locations getting a share of £20m to build plug-in points are the Midlands, Greater Manchester, the east of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

They follow after London, Milton Keynes and the north-east of England ...

BBC NEWS  14 Dec 2010    Rebalancing Britain's Economy

A Shetland oil spill could reach Norfolk and Greenland, Chevron admits

Forecast impact of Lagavulin oil spill set out in emergency plan and confidential correspondence obtained by the Guardian ...

When the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) allowed Chevron to drill the Lagavulin prospect on 30 September, it said that the secretary of state, Chris Huhne, was "satisfied that the project is not likely to have a significant effect on the environment".

Decc told the US company that the application did not need to be accompanied by an environmental statement and did not order a separate assessment.

In earlier correspondence with Decc, Chevron also said it was "likely" that the impact of a spill on whales and dolphins in the area would be limited because "given their good swimming abilities, relative intelligence and nomadic behaviour, some avoidance behaviour could be expected" ...

Guardian  07 Dec 2010    Peak Oil

Chevron's oil pollution emergency plan

Confidential emails between Chevron and UK government

Conservative pre-election coal plant emissions promise goes up in smoke

Energy companies will only have to fit CCS technology to a third of coal plants, rather than two-thirds under the original plans ...

As a recently as October last year … David Cameron promised to introduce rules requiring new power stations to be as clean as a modern gas plant.

But the Guardian has learned that ministers are planning to raise the limit on emissions to almost double that amount when the government publishes wide-ranging proposals on reforming the electricity market next month.

Cleaner modern gas plants ... emit about 360g of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour (kw/h). Coal plants which have no CCS fitted emit about 900g per kw/h.

But ministers and officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change recently discussed setting an EPS of between 500g and 600g per kw/h ... a figure approaching 600g per kw/h looks likely ...

The Guardian has also learnt that the Committee on Climate Change – the government's independent advisory body – will recommend next month that by 2030, electricity generators must slash their emissions by almost 90% from today's levels.

David Kennedy, CCC chief executive, told a Green Alliance debate on Monday that average emissions should be no higher than 60g per kw/h, from about 550g per kw/h today ...

Guardian  23 Nov 2010    

Rail fares up by average 6.2% in new year

Regulated fares, which include season tickets, will go up by an average of 5.8% from January. Some of these fares could rise by as much as 10.8%.

Some unregulated fares, typically short distance off-peak ones, will rise by more than the 6.2% overall average, but the industry is not giving a figure.

There is no price cap on these so rail firms could raise them by much more ...

Michael Roberts, chief executive of Atoc, said: "We know times are tough for many people but next year's fare increases will ensure that Britain can continue investing in its railways.

"Even with these fare increases, the money passengers spend on fares covers only half the cost of running the railways - taxpayers make up the difference.

"The government is sticking with the previous administration's policy to cut the taxpayers' contribution to the overall cost of running the railways.

"Money invested through fares has helped to bring about the record levels of customer satisfaction and punctuality on the railways today." ...

BBC NEWS  23 Nov 2010    Train Fares

Britain’s richest rail bosses get £250 million rail subsidies

Friends of the Earth

Campaign for Better Transport

Chris Huhne signals frustration with Treasury over green investment bank

The behind-the-scenes battle over the level of government financial support for ambitious new green energy projects broke out into the open today when Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary, delivered a coded criticism of the Treasury's stance on the issue.

Uncertainty over the bank's future has also prompted a furious response from a member of the Green Investment Bank Commission, who wanted to remain anonymous ....

The member said it was essential that it was able to raise money by issuing government-backed bonds:

"Frankly, if it doesn't there's no point in it existing. If we were only ever going to do one thing, the green bond is the thing we need to do."

He added: "It is now an imperative nationally and internationally that governments fund these banks and get on and fund climate change projects because if they don't we won't have a planet. It's a simple as that."

Today, in answer to questions from MPs on the Commons liaison committee, David Cameron said he would back the bank.

Asked whether it was "truly going to be a bank" and not a fund, whether there was the risk of dispute between the Department of Business and the Treasury, and whether he would take a personal interest in the issue, he said: "Yes, yes and yes, to all of those." ...

Guardian  18 Nov 2010    

Oil lobby in legal threat to North Sea wind farms

The British oil industry has threatened to take legal action to defend its interests in the North Sea against offshore wind farm developers.

Dozens of giant offshore wind projects are being planned, mostly in the North Sea, and many will encroach on areas licensed for oil exploration and production.

One wind farm developer told the Observer that conflict between the two industries looks likely.

The warning over legal action came from trade body Oil and Gas UK.

The government is currently consulting on national policy statements, which set out how the UK's ambitious renewable energy targets will be met, with offshore wind turbines a key factor.

In its submission, Oil and Gas UK said the policy statements did not take account of the way offshore wind farms could impede mobile drilling rigs, disrupt helicopter flights and get in the way of pipelines and underwater equipment ...

Observer  31 Oct 2010    Peak Oil    Wind Power

Greenpeace

UK's wind farm plans in disarray

Hundreds of local revolts against wind farms have jeopardised the plan to use them to generate more than a quarter of Britain's electricity, figures seen by The Independent reveal.

New wind farms are needed to have any chance of creating enough renewable energy to reduce reliance on coal and gas power production.

But planning approvals for them in England are at an all-time low, with only one in three applications getting the go-ahead from councils in the face of angry and organised opposition from people living nearby.

More than 230 separate local campaign groups against wind farms are operating across the UK, from Scotland and Kent to Norfolk, Yorkshire and Cornwall.

These groups are scoring striking successes in defeating planned wind farms – even when faced with the weight of official recommendations ...

Independent  28 Oct 2010    Alternatives to Fossil Fuel

Wind energy? No thanks – we want to keep our nuclear option

Queen set to earn millions from windfarm expansion

How will the spending review affect the environment?

The green investment bank, which appears not to have a departmental home.

The bank will get £1bn of public cash as a "backstop", Osborne said, while asset sales in the future will add "significant" proceeds, with the aim of then leveraging private capital to invest in low-carbon projects.

This sum is less than the £2bn hoped for and much less than the £6bn many sober observers said was needed ...

Carbon capture and storage demonstration plants.

The bad news is that the UK is now only committed to building one demo plant, not four, despite ministers' talk of the industrial and economic potential of the technology.

The good news is that there is "up to" £1bn of public cash on the table for the first. Building and running four till 2015 would have cost about £10bn ...

Big new carbon tax: This is a bombshell for medium and bigger businesses and a real U-turn for the government.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme requires companies to buy permits to cover the greenhouse gas emissions from their energy use.

The proceeds were going to be handed back, rewarding those companies that cut the most carbon, penalising those that cut the least.

But now the Treasury has nabbed the lot, to "support the public finances", earning them £1bn a year by 2014-15 ...

Feed-in tariffs for small-scale renewables: Fears that existing FITs would be cut were unfounded.

But current rates will be cut after the scheduled review in 2013. Solar PV looks certain to fall ...

Guardian  20 Oct 2010    Cutting the deficit, shrinking the state

Chris Huhne wins £1bn funding for carbon capture technology

The energy secretary, Chris Huhne, has won a battle to secure £1bn from the Treasury to pay for the development of demonstration technology to capture and bury carbon emissions from power plants ...

The original plan was for the UK to have four CCS demos, and there are still doubts about how the rest will be funded.

The coalition had supported the Labour government's plan for four CCS demos but industry insiders had been concerned they would not go for a levy on bills to fund the remaining three because it would end up having to count towards the government expenditure tally. This appears to remain the case ...

Guardian     CCS

Oil recovery using carbon dioxide

I want coalition to be the 'greenest government ever'

Huhne drops Severn barrage to invest in wind power

Ambitious plans to harness the power of the Severn estuary to light up one in 20 of the UK's homes are to be abandoned as a result of the Government's attempt to address the nation's deficit.

Chris Huhne, the Secretary of State for Energy, will tomorrow jettison the world's largest tidal energy project, rather than make the taxpayer foot an estimated bill of £10bn to £30bn for the untested technology ...

Mr Huhne, a Liberal Democrat, will also give the go-ahead in principle to nuclear power stations on eight sites in England and Wales near existing reactors, although the issue remains politically contentious for his party ...

Mr Huhne will stress the economic case for investing public funds instead in emerging technologies, such as CCS, that have the potential to be developed and exported, particularly to rapidly developing economies such as China.

"If we are going to be incentivising things, there is only one Severn tidal stream," a source said.

"You can only do it once. There are not the export opportunities there are with carbon capture, solar or wind."

Mr Huhne also believes CCS in particular could be a "huge growth area".

UK research, which leads the world, includes a study into using the North Sea to store unwanted carbon emissions for some 200 years.

Publishing a series of National Policy Statements on energy, ministers hope to "give industry maximum certainty" and prevent sensible proposals falling "victim to unnecessary hold-ups" ...

Independent  17 Oct 2010    CCS    Energy Policy    Nuclear Power    Tidal Power

David Cameron in U-turn over solar panels

"The warm glow of being pioneers"

David Cameron has reneged on a pre-election promise to reward early adopters of solar panels and other domestic green energy generation ...

Under the "feed-in tariff" scheme introduced in April, owners of solar panels fitted to houses after 15 July 2009 are paid 41.3p per unit of electricity, while householders who put up panels before that date get just 9p ...

Responding in March to a letter from one of his Witney constituents calling for an increase in payments to such "pioneers", Cameron wrote in a letter seen by the Guardian:

"I agree with you that the [Labour] government's current proposals for feed-in-tariffs will unfairly penalise the very people who were the early investors in local energy."

He added: "That is why under a Conservative government, any micro-generation technologies that have already been installe ... will be eligible for the new higher tariffs once they commence."

Within days of taking power as PM, he also said the coalition would be the "greenest government ever".

But last month, responding to a question from Green MP Caroline Lucas the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, ruled out any such move.

"I considered the issue carefully on a value-for-money basis, and I am afraid that the advice from my officials was clearly that we cannot introduce retrospection in such cases because it does not represent value for money," he said.

" ... sadly, the only incentive and payback that people such as the Hon Lady and I will get is the warm glow of being pioneers."

Guardian  10 Oct 2010    

Port cuts 'to cost 60,000 green jobs'

• Government drops £60m port upgrades for giant turbines
• Nuclear lobby secures clean-up costs in spending review ...

Plans to build three new factories to make thousands of giant offshore wind turbines that would create an estimated 60,000 jobs are set to become the latest casualty of the spending review, it has emerged.

The previous government had pledged £60m to upgrade ports, mainly in the north-east, to enable them to handle the next generation of giant turbines for installation off the UK coast.

Siemens and General Electric have announced plans to invest £180m in two new manufacturing facilities in the UK, but say this is conditional on the necessary work on nearby ports. Mitsubishi is also interested in building a third factory.

But the Guardian has learned that the competition inviting ports to bid for the funds is likely to be scrapped. Officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), which is to provide half the £60m required, are still fighting for the funds. However, they have little support from the Department for Business, which would have to find the other half, or from the Treasury.

The energy secretary, Chris Huhne, is understood to be determined to set up a Green Investment Bank, which will have to take public funds for existing renewable and low-carbon schemes, such as the ports, to have sufficient capital.

The Guardian has also learned that the nuclear industry has successfully lobbied the government to safeguard the huge budget to decommission the UK's old reactors, handled by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. This year, about 60% of the NDA's budget – £1.7bn – came from taxpayers via the DECC, making up about 40% of the ministry's entire spending.

In opposition, the Conservatives had wanted to cut about 25% of DECC's funding to the NDA. But after the election, industry executives outlined to ministers the urgency of the clean-up of Britain's nuclear sites, particularly Sellafield in Cumbria.

One source said: "We succeeded in scaring David Cameron off."

The NDA, which is cutting its own operating budget, could even secure a slightly higher funding settlement than this year ...

A spokesman for RenewableUK said:

"Keeping the ports fund is essential for attracting manufacturing ahead of the latest round of offshore wind developments. The sector could lead the recovery, and put the country in pole position in terms of technology, employment and cash benefits from renewable energy."

Overall, DECC is expected to escape relatively lightly from the spending review.

Funds for the £9bn clean-coal programme, which had been under threat, are understood to be have been secured, although the pilot projects may be delayed.

But the solar feed-in tariff and the renewable heat incentive, subsidising biomass plants and CHP boilers, are likely to be scaled back ...

Guardian  07 Oct 2010

CCS    Contesting Austerity    Energy Policy    Nuclear Power    Rebalancing the Economy

Oliver Letwin offers hope for government's green agenda

Conservative party conference speech by former shadow chancellor welcomed as a sign that key government figures are still pushing the low-carbon agenda ...

Letwin ... listed many of the government's policies and promises, including the Green New Deal for a big increase in energy efficiency, building a smart grid, electric vehicles, generating energy from waste, feed in tariffs, carbon price support, and carbon capture and storage for fossil fuels.

The country needed to do "the lot" to cut carbon, improve energy security and protect homes and businesses from volatile fossil fuel prices, he said ...

Letwin will, however, have offered some hope to experts who believe key decisions about supporting nascent renewable technologies and investing more in energy efficiency have been held back by strict Treasury cost-benefit rules.

Criticising the reliance on net present value (NPV) as a way of making decisions, Letwin said that ...

"NPV is an extremely valuable tool for taking short-term investment decisions which are single generational decisions ...

"But the most important decisions society has to make are intergenerational decisions, and those economic and accounting tools we have break down at that point and you're forced back on much deeper considerations."

In particular many current cost-benefit analyses do not take into account the damage done by volatile fossil fuel prices or uncertainty about which would be the best future alternative energy sources, said Letwin ...

Guardian  04 Oct 2010    Autumn Spending Review

Minister backs high-speed rail to Manchester and Leeds

Coalition's infrastructure cuts 'inconsistent' with UK recovery

Coalition drops further green pledges on timber and renewables

Government has reneged on pre-election promises to tackle illegally logged timber imports and reward green energy 'pioneers' ...

In correspondence from a government minister to the Green MP Caroline Lucas, the government makes clear it will not honour a pledge to make it a criminal offence to posess, or bring into the country, illegal timber.

Campaigners say such legal measures are necessary to help curb the 350m-650m square metres of forest that is illegally logged every year – possibly as much as 40% of the total market.

In a second policy turnaround, both the Lib Dems and Tories promised before the election to extend the green subsidy for energy from small-scale solar panel installations to around 6,000 people who had put up panels before the launch of the government subsidy scheme.

Last week Chris Huhne, the climate and energy secretary, made clear that the coalition would not extend the scheme and such early adopters would have to be content with the "warm glow of being pioneers" ...

After the US made the import of illegal timber illegal last November, the then shadow foreign secretary, William Hague, promised a Tory government would pass UK legislation on top of any strengthened EU directive.

He said such efforts would "send a message to the rest of Europe that we are ready to lead on closing the market to illegally timber" and criticised the then environment secretary, Hilary Benn, for failing to pledge the same ...

Guardian  20 Sept 2010        

Housebuilders to win reduced carbon target for homes

A "zero carbon home" requires a 150% reduction in carbon emissions, a target which includes emissions from household appliances, heating and lighting.

The plan was to achieve these savings from improved energy efficiency and on-site renewables.

Housebuilders argued this was too ambitious and agreed a compromise where only 70% of the reduction would be on-site.

The rest would be achieved by housebuilders paying £4,500 a house into a community energy fund, to finance small renewable energy projects or energy-efficiency measures.

Now housebuilders say even this is too ambitious. The Home Builders' Federation says buyers would not be prepared to pay the 20% premium for a home.

The Zero Carbon Hub, set up to co-ordinate policy, has begun final testing of the target and will make recommendations to ministers this year.

But the Guardian has learned that policymakers and senior figures at Communities and Local Government accept the target is too high and more emissions will have to be "offset".

Simon McWhirter, homes spokesman from charity WWF, said:

"David Cameron said this would be the greenest government ever but we are already seeing a potential weakening of one of the most progressive environmental policies which would be a travesty." ...

Guardian  29 Aug 2010    Carbon Trading

Not carbon offsets, but carbon upsets

Are carbon offsetters taking us for a ride?

Carbon offset projects

Coal-fired power stations win reprieve

Exclusive: Government's decision to put pollution standards 'on hold' raises possibility of dirtiest coal plants going ahead ...

The coalition is watering down a commitment to tough new environmental emissions standards, raising the possibility of dirty coal-fired power stations such as Kingsnorth going ahead ...

The introduction of an EPS was personally championed by David Cameron, George Osborne and Nick Clegg when in opposition; their opposition to Kingsnorth became something of a cause célèbre – and even features in the coalition agreement – but was opposed by energy companies and Tory backbenchers.

The chief executive at one coal-plant operating company warned that the UK's renewable energy technology – which would be used to help new plants meet the target – was too undeveloped to make the EPS feasible ...

Guardian  15 Aug 2010    Carbon Capture    Climate Chaos

More opencast mine bids 'likely on greenfield sites'

Corus scopes out plans to build coal mine in south Wales

Glenda Jackson: EPS

Miliband must end coal emissions

Our environment is the natural foundation on which our economy is built

Caroline Spelman knows nothing of the Gulf oil 'spill' or the environmental damage caused by
tar sands, or the damage our need for nuclear power is causing to the Kalahari Desert.

Protecting our natural world has solid economic benefits – it creates thousands of jobs and generates billions of pounds ...

Too often as a society, we decide that economic gain and environmental protection are incompatible, instead of inseparable ...

So today, when rebuilding their economies is the number one priority for governments across the world, we need to start making the economic case for our environment at least as strongly as we have been making the aesthetic one.

Today, Defra is launching a discussion paper that will lead to the first Natural Environment white paper in 20 years ...

The natural environment is incredibly generous – it provides us with goods and services worth trillions of pounds at no cost.

All it needs in return is that we allow it the ability to function and maintain itself.

If we degrade it to the point that its ability to mitigate the effects of climate change, purify our air and water and keep us healthy is lost, there will be a heavy price to pay.

And our children and theirs will be the one to pay it. We need to become the generation that draws a line in the sand of the steady degradation of our natural capital and says "no more".

Guardian  26 July 2010    Trashing the Environment

Energy prospectors go west ... in search of 'shale gas'

Government axes UK sustainability watchdog

Britain's nuclear strategy threatens destruction of Kalahari

Canada’s vast oil-sands fields

Scraping the bottom of Earth's barrel

Government axes UK sustainability watchdog

It's another of those 'you-could-not-make-it-up' moments.

A government dedicated to growth, and the Austrian school of economics,
does sustainablity 'as a matter of course'.

Really?

Heard about the Gulf oil 'spill', Caroline?

News of the withdrawal of funds from the next financial year comes as the SDC published a report today showing that green action such as reducing waste and energy use is saving government as much as £70m a year.

Spelman said: "This government is committed to being the greenest government ever and the structural reform plan published last week sets out how Defra will play its part in achieving this. Reducing the deficit is priority for the government and all departments are playing their part in making efficiency savings. Together with [climate and energy secretary] Chris Huhne I am determined to play the lead role in driving the sustainability agenda across the whole of government and I am not willing to delegate this responsibility to an external body."

She added that the sustainability agenda had become part of what government does "as a matter of course" since the SDC was set up in 2000 by the then deputy prime minister John Prescott. "Times have changed since many of these bodies were set up and much of what they do is now everyday government business."

Guardian  22 July 2010

Caroline Spelman waxes lyrical

Energy prospectors go west ... in search of 'shale gas'

How scrapping the SDC to save money will cost the taxpayer a fortune

Now Cameron jilts the environment

Cameron's 'ethical' friends revealed

He is opening the oceans off the Shetland Islands to deep-sea drilling, and promising Big Oil tax breaks to drill, baby, drill ...

Cameron has put the man (Lord Browne) most to blame for the worst environmental disaster in living memory in charge of his cuts agenda, and appointed a man (David Rowland) who has faced accusations of wriggling out of cleaning up an environmental atrocity to run his party's finances ...

He commissioned another oil man, Tim Eggar, to go and ask the world's oil companies what they want from his government ...

But we know oil companies received big tax cuts in the Budget, and the Government's subsequent energy policy paper says life needs to be made "simpler [and] clearer" for oil companies to drill in British waters.

Even though it is our addiction to oil that is causing and worsening global warming, the paper says:

"We need policies designed for hunting [oil]... We need policies that offer the right incentives to explore for and extract the remaining reserves of oil and gas, and to keep existing fields open for as long as possible." ...

Independent  16 July 2010    Corporate Sociopathy Log    Eating the Future

Why the former BP boss's new government job is beyond parody

How the Sun King sank BP

Ex-Bunker Hill exec enters British politics

The dirty past of the former tax exile who’s the new Tory Treasurer

Tim Eggar, former Energy Minister

Caring for one's country

Tories plan 'energy revolution'

Street plug-points for electric cars, smart meters, and energy efficiency loans for homes are among Tory plans for an "energy revolution".

David Cameron launched plans he said would lower carbon emissions, create jobs and reduce oil and gas imports ...

The Conservatives say it would also pave the way for large-scale use of renewable energy sources, by introducing "feed in tariffs" - paid by power companies to people who generate power via wind turbines and solar panels.

They would also make more use of technologies like tidal power and biogas - creating power out of the waste vegetable matter from farms or households.

And they say they would introduce a new "national recharging network" to encourage the use of electric cars and hybrid cars. ...

BBC NEWS 16 January 2009

Cameron for "green coal"

Powering ahead

Tories seize the green power initiative

Is Cameron still keen to be green?

The Conservative green report

The Conservative leader David Cameron said he aimed "to create a fairer, safer, green country where opportunity is more equal" in a major speech on Saturday, marking the start of the General Election campaign ...

(Cameron) said he would "fight back against the root causes of deprivation – drug addiction, alcoholism, indebtedness, failing prisons".

He said: "It's because we are progressives that we will support responsibility and strong families so we help mend our broken society and tackle the crime and misery it brings.

"A decade of big government and blunt, bureaucratic control has undermined responsibility and made our social problems worse, not better.

"We are determined to forge a new direction. We will use the state to help remake society by encouraging people to take responsibility for themselves and for one another." ...

Tel  02 Jan 2010

Progressive Conservatism will mean a fairer, greener society

David Cameron: Labour's carbon targets amount to a cop-out

After nine years of neglect, the Government is still not taking the issue seriously ...

In each of their last three manifestos, Labour made a clear commitment to reduce emissions by 20 per cent by 2010. Yet, this year, they dropped this altogether, proving beyond doubt the pointlessness of far-off targets.

This new proposal to have targets for every decade is simply an old, failed policy, rehashed in a monument to spin over substance.

The Conservative Party is instead proposing a Climate Change Bill with binding, year-on-year targets on carbon emissions.

As The Independent pointed out forcefully on its front page yesterday in its own radical green manifesto, only this will provide the accountability that is desperately required and help us to reduce our emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, in line with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Annual binding targets for carbon reduction will create a price for carbon in our economy, so things that produce more carbon will become more expensive.

It will place a responsibility on us all to find environmentally friendly alternatives.

We also believe an Independent Climate Change Commission, comprising scientists, economists, non-governmental organisations and representatives of industry, commerce and finance, should be established to set and enforce these targets, not merely monitor them as the Government is proposing.

The Commission will operate in a similar way to the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee.

It will have a duty to observe the evolving international science on climate change, and to review the UK's progress towards meeting its carbon reduction obligations, reporting to Parliament every quarter ...

Independent  27 Oct 2006    'Last Nation Standing'

UK government axes its sustainability watchdog