Amonix concentrates on solar manufacturing after securing $130m funding

Concentrated photovoltaic solar power company Amonix has this week announced that it hasraised $129.4m (£84m) in series B funding, and will now use the injection of capital to rapidly expand its manufacturing capacity.

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Lib Dems vow to create DECC super-department

The Liberal Democrats have revealed that if elected, they are planning a major Whitehall reshuffle that would turn the Department of Energy and ClimateChange (DECC) into one of the government's largest and most influential departments.

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Amtrak trials first cow-powered train

US rail operator Amtrak may have given the term "cattle car" a whole new meaning with the first test of abiodiesel train that runs on beef byproducts.


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Nissan downplays chances or Leaf battery rental scheme

Car maker Nissan will announce UK pricing for its Leaf electric car nextmonth, and is expected to offer either an outright purchase or a lease-only arrangement for the innovative battery-powered vehicle when it goes on sale inthe UK early next year.

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EU kicks off latest carbon trading crackdown

The EU launched the latest phase of its clampdown on fraud in the carbon market yesterday, banning any trade in "recycled" carbon credits. The move is designed to avoid a repeat of last month's scandal that saw a number of firms purchase illegally traded emission allowances that had already been surrendered by other companies.

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Labour launches green growth strategy

Gordon Brown today unveiled a new Plan for Growth detailing how a Labour government would continue to step upsupport for emerging low-carbon industries and deliver economic growth whilediversifying the UK's economy.

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Electrical current discovered stemming from plants

ScienceDaily (Apr. 13, 2010) — In an electrifying first, Stanford scientists have plugged in to algae cells and harnessed a tiny electric current.

They found it at the very source of energy production -- photosynthesis, a plant's method of converting sunlight to chemical energy. It may be a first step toward generating "high efficiency" bioelectricity that doesn't give off carbon dioxide as a byproduct, the researchers say.

"We believe we are the first to extract electrons out of living plant cells," said WonHyoung Ryu, the lead author of the paper published in the March issue of Nano Letters. Ryu conducted the experiments while he was a research associate for mechanical engineering professor Fritz Prinz.

The Stanford research team developed a unique, ultra-sharp nanoelectrode made of gold, specially designed for probing inside cells. They gently pushed it through the algal cell membranes, which sealed around it, and the cell stayed alive. From the photosynthesizing cells, the electrode collected electrons that had been energized by light and the researchers generated a tiny electric current.

"We're still in the scientific stages of the research," said Ryu. "We were dealing with single cells to prove we can harvest the electrons."

Plants use photosynthesis to convert light energy to chemical energy, which is stored in the bonds of sugars they use for food. The process takes place in chloroplasts, the cellular powerhouses that make sugars and give leaves and algae their green color. In the chloroplasts, water is split into oxygen, protons and electrons. Sunlight penetrates the chloroplast and zaps the electrons to a high energy level, and a protein promptly grabs them. The electrons are passed down a series of proteins, which successively capture more and more of the electrons' energy to synthesize sugars until all the electron's energy is spent.

In this experiment, the researchers intercepted the electrons just after they had been excited by light and were at their highest energy levels. They placed the gold electrodes in the chloroplasts of algae cells, and siphoned off the electrons to generate the tiny electrical current.

The result, the researchers say, is electricity production that doesn't release carbon into the atmosphere. The only byproducts of photosynthesis are protons and oxygen. "This is potentially one of the cleanest energy sources for energy generation," Ryu said. "But the question is, is it economically feasible?"

Ryu said they were able to draw from each cell just one picoampere, an amount of electricity so tiny that they would need a trillion cells photosynthesizing for one hour just to equal the amount of energy stored in a AA battery. In addition, the cells die after an hour. Ryu said tiny leaks in the membrane around the electrode could be killing the cells, or they may be dying because they're losing out on energy they would normally use for their own life processes. One of the next steps would be to tweak the design of the electrode to extend the life of the cell, Ryu said.

Harvesting electrons this way would be more efficient than burning biofuels, as most plants that are burned for fuel ultimately store only about 3 to 6 percent of available solar energy, Ryu said. His process bypasses the need for combustion, which only harnesses a portion of a plant's stored energy. Electron harvesting in this study was about 20 percent efficient. Ryu said it could theoretically reach 100 percent efficiency one day. (Photovoltaic solar cells are currently about 20-40-percent efficient.)

Possible next steps would be to use a plant with larger chloroplasts for a larger collecting area, and a bigger electrode that could capture more electrons. With a longer-lived plant and better collecting ability, they could scale up the process, Ryu said. Ryu is now a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.
Other authors of the paper are Prinz, the senior author,; Seoung-Jai Bai, Tibor Fabian, Rainer J. Fasching, Joong Sun Park, and Zubin Huang, all researchers in the Rapid Protoyping Laboratory at Stanford University; and Jeffrey Moseley and Arthur Grossman, both researchers in the Department of Plant Biology at the Carnegie Institution and Department of Biological Sciences.

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Cutting costs in silicon production

ScienceDaily (Apr. 15, 2010) — Elkem Solar, a Norwegian producer of solar-grade silicon, has combined basic and applied research to develop production methods that cut costs and consume less energy than conventional silicon production.

The Kristiansand-based company has now accomplished its three primary objectives. Silicon production costs have been significantly reduced compared to conventional production. Energy consumption has been cut dramatically. All the while, its efficient methods preserve the power output of silicon-based solar cells manufactured at its facilities, compared to silicon solar cells produced by traditional means.

Traditional production of silicon involves first gasifying the raw material, a costly and energy-intensive method. Elkem's method is based on traditional metallurgy; the raw material is melted and then undergoes several processing stages to prepare 10-kg silicon blocks for sale to solar cell producers. This method makes production more cost-effective and energy-efficient and is suitable for large-quantity production.
"The market potential is vast, but the financial crisis has led to major reductions in the market price for our product," says Dr Tronstad. "To be competitive it's essential to drive production costs down."

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JinkoSolar kick-starts stalled IPO

JinkoSolar,one of China's leading solar panel manufacturers, revived plans for a US stockmarket listing late last week, after shelving the idea back in February amid fears about the health of the IPO market.

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E.ON launches SolarSaver feed-in tariff push

E.ON has this week emerged as one of the first large energy suppliers tolaunch a service specifically designed to help customers take advantage of thegovernment's new feed-in tariff scheme by installing onsite renewable energy technologies.

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Tories plan controversial reform to UK renewable energy incentives

The Conservative Party has responded to rumours that it is preparing a majoroverhaul of the UK's renewable energy policy by confirming that if elected itplans to effectively phase out the government's Renewable Obligation scheme.

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Electric car firms target wind farm second life for old batteries

Electric car manufacturers are planning to give a second life to oldbatteries by selling them on to wind farm developers for use as a potentiallycost-effective form of energy storage.

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Viruses harnessed to split water

A team of MIT researchers has found a novel way to mimic the process by which plants use the power of sunlight to split water and make chemical fuel to power their growth. In this case, the team used a modified virus as a kind of biological scaffold that can assemble the nanoscale components needed to split a water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Splitting water is one way to solve the basic problem of solar energy: It's only available when the sun shines. By using sunlight to make hydrogen from water, the hydrogen can then be stored and used at any time to generate electricity using a fuel cell, or to make liquid fuels (or be used directly) for cars and trucks.
Other researchers have made systems that use electricity, which can be provided by solar panels, to split water molecules, but the new biologically based system skips the intermediate steps and uses sunlight to power the reaction directly. The advance is described in a paper published on April 11 in Nature Nanotechnology.

The team, led by Angela Belcher, the Germeshausen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering, engineered a common, harmless bacterial virus called M13 so that it would attract and bind with molecules of a catalyst (the team used iridium oxide) and a biological pigment (zinc porphyrins). The viruses became wire-like devices that could very efficiently split the oxygen from water molecules.

Over time, however, the virus-wires would clump together and lose their effectiveness, so the researchers added an extra step: encapsulating them in a microgel matrix, so they maintained their uniform arrangement and kept their stability and efficiency.

While hydrogen obtained from water is the gas that would be used as a fuel, the splitting of oxygen from water is the more technically challenging "half-reaction" in the process, Belcher explains, so her team focused on this part. Plants and cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae), she says, "have evolved highly organized photosynthetic systems for the efficient oxidation of water." Other researchers have tried to use the photosynthetic parts of plants directly for harnessing sunlight, but these materials can have structural stability issues.

Belcher decided that instead of borrowing plants' components, she would borrow their methods. In plant cells, natural pigments are used to absorb sunlight, while catalysts then promote the water-splitting reaction. That's the process Belcher and her team, including doctoral student Yoon Sung Nam, the lead author of the new paper, decided to imitate.
In the team's system, the viruses simply act as a kind of scaffolding, causing the pigments and catalysts to line up with the right kind of spacing to trigger the water-splitting reaction. The role of the pigments is "to act as an antenna to capture the light," Belcher explains, "and then transfer the energy down the length of the virus, like a wire. The virus is a very efficient harvester of light, with these porphyrins attached.

"We use components people have used before," she adds, "but we use biology to organize them for us, so you get better efficiency."

Using the virus to make the system assemble itself improves the efficiency of the oxygen production fourfold, Nam says. The researchers hope to find a similar biologically based system to perform the other half of the process, the production of hydrogen. Currently, the hydrogen atoms from the water get split into their component protons and electrons; a second part of the system, now being developed, would combine these back into hydrogen atoms and molecules. The team is also working to find a more commonplace, less-expensive material for the catalyst, to replace the relatively rare and costly iridium used in this proof-of-concept study.
Thomas Mallouk, the DuPont Professor of Materials Chemistry and Physics at Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in this work, says, "This is an extremely clever piece of work that addresses one of the most difficult problems in artificial photosynthesis, namely, the nanoscale organization of the components in order to control electron transfer rates."

He adds: "There is a daunting combination of problems to be solved before this or any other artificial photosynthetic system could actually be useful for energy conversion." To be cost-competitive with other approaches to solar power, he says, the system would need to be at least 10 times more efficient than natural photosynthesis, be able to repeat the reaction a billion times, and use less expensive materials. "This is unlikely to happen in the near future," he says. "Nevertheless, the design idea illustrated in this paper could ultimately help with an important piece of the puzzle."

Belcher will not even speculate about how long it might take to develop this into a commercial product, but she says that within two years she expects to have a prototype device that can carry out the whole process of splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen, using a self-sustaining and durable system.
Funding was provided by the Italian energy company Eni, through the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI)

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Closing in on a carbon-based solar cell

ScienceDaily (Apr. 10, 2010) — To make large sheets of carbon available for light collection, Indiana University Bloomington chemists have devised an unusual solution -- attach what amounts to a 3-D bramble patch to each side of the carbon sheet. Using that method, the scientists say they were able to dissolve sheets containing as many as 168 carbon atoms.

The scientists' report, online April 9, will appear in a future issue of Nano Letters.
"Our interest stems from wanting to find an alternative, readily available material that can efficiently absorb sunlight," said chemist Liang-shi Li, who led the research. "At the moment the most common materials for absorbing light in solar cells are silicon and compounds containing ruthenium. Each has disadvantages."
Their main disadvantage is cost and long-term availability. Ruthenium-based solar cells can potentially be cheaper than silicon-based ones, but ruthenium is a rare metal on Earth, as rare as platinum, and will run out quickly when the demand increases.

Carbon is cheap and abundant, and in the form of graphene, capable of absorbing a wide range of light frequencies. Graphene is essentially the same stuff as graphite (pencil lead), except graphene is a single sheet of carbon, one atom thick. Graphene shows promise as an effective, cheap-to-produce, and less toxic alternative to other materials currently used in solar cells. But it has also vexed scientists.

For a sheet of graphene to be of any use in collecting photons of light, the sheet must be big. To use the absorbed solar energy for electricity, however, the sheet can't be too big. Unfortunately, scientists find large sheets of graphene difficult to work with, and their sizes even harder to control. The bigger the graphene sheet, the stickier it is, making it more likely to attract and glom onto other graphene sheets. Multiple layers of graphene may be good for taking notes, but they also prevent electricity.

Chemists and engineers experimenting with graphene have come up with a whole host of strategies for keeping single graphene sheets separate. The most effective solution prior to the Nano Letters paper has been breaking up graphite (top-down) into sheets and wrap polymers around them to make them isolated from one another. But this makes graphene sheets with random sizes that are too large for light absorption for solar cells.

Li and his collaborators tried a different idea. By attaching a semi-rigid, semi-flexible, three-dimensional sidegroup to the sides of the graphene, they were able to keep graphene sheets as big as 168 carbon atoms from adhering to one another. With this method, they could make the graphene sheets from smaller molecules (bottom-up) so that they are uniform in size. To the scientists' knowledge, it is the biggest stable graphene sheet ever made with the bottom-up approach.

The sidegroup consists of a hexagonal carbon ring and three long, barbed tails made of carbon and hydrogen. Because the graphene sheet is rigid, the sidegroup ring is forced to rotate about 90 degrees relative to the plane of the graphene. The three brambly tails are free to whip about, but two of them will tend to enclose the graphene sheet to which they are attached.

The tails don't merely act as a cage, however. They also serve as a handle for the organic solvent so that the entire structure can be dissolved. Li and his colleagues were able to dissolve 30 mg of the species per 30 mL of solvent.

"In this paper, we found a new way to make graphene soluble," Li said. "This is just as important as the relatively large size of the graphene itself."

To test the effectiveness of their graphene light acceptor, the scientists constructed rudimentary solar cells using titanium dioxide as an electron acceptor. The scientists were able to achieve a 200-microampere-per-square-cm current density and an open-circuit voltage of 0.48 volts. The graphene sheets absorbed a significant amount of light in the visible to near-infrared range (200 to 900 nm or so) with peak absorption occurring at 591 nm.

The scientists are in the process of redesigning the graphene sheets with sticky ends that bind to titanium dioxide, which will improve the efficiency of the solar cells.

"Harvesting energy from the sun is a prerequisite step," Li said. "How to turn the energy into electricity is the next. We think we have a good start."

PhD students Xin Yan and Xiao Cui and postdoctoral fellow Binsong Li also contributed to this research. It was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.

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Computer manufacturer pledges to cut emissions

A major computer manufacturer has announced plans to reduce its carbon footprint. 

Sony has launched details of its 40-year environmental programme which it hopes will result in a "zero environmental footprint" by 2050.

The companies plans follow Greenpeace's scathing report of the computing industry, which it claims is not using its own innovations to tackle climate change.


Greenpeace highlighted the fact that Facebook, a major social networking website, chose to run its data centre in the US on coal, rather than opting to promote the use of renewable energy.

But Sony's new plans could change the negative perception of the industry in environmental terms.
Short term goals are aiming for a 30 per cent reduction in the energy consumption of its products and a 50 per cent cut in the amount of waste produced through manufacturing.

Sony chief executive and president Sir Howard Stringer commented: "From the development of new materials and energy-efficient technologies, to the introduction of better processes in manufacturing and production, we will work aggressively to meet the ambitious targets we are setting for ourselves and, at the same time, establish a model for others in our industries to follow."

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Energy Bill receives Royal Assent

The Energy Bill received Royal Assent yesterday, becoming the Energy Act 2010.

The main elements of the new Act are:

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) – delivering a new financial incentive to bring forward four commercial scale demonstration projects on coal-fired power stations and to support the retrofit of additional CCS capacity to those projects should it be required at a later date. Mandatory social price support – creating a framework to mandate energy companies to provide support to the fuel poor, including powers to give greater guidance and direction on the types of households eligible for future support and the type of support they should be given. Clarifying Ofgem’s remit – making it clear that Ofgem must:

Include the reduction of carbon emissions and the delivery of secure energy supplies in their assessment of the interests of consumers

Step in proactively to protect consumers as well as considering longer term actions to promote competition Tackling market power exploitation – giving Ofgem additional powers to tackle market exploitation where companies might take advantage of constraints in the electricity transmission grid.

Other measures are:

Requiring the Government to prepare regular reports on the progress made on the decarbonisation of electricity generation in Britain and the development and use of CCS. Extending the time limit from 12 months to 5 years within which Ofgem can impose financial penalties on energy suppliers for breaches of licence conditions. Allowing the Government to set the period within which energy companies must inform customers of changes to their gas and electricity tariffs. Enabling action to be taken against unfair cross-subsidy between gas and electricity supply.


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Insulation Made Easy By Britain's Top Businesses

Today the launch of ‘Insulate Today’ brings together a group of leading businesses with Sainsbury’s Energy and ACT ON CO2 as part of a pilot scheme to make it easier, cheaper and more appealing for quarter of a million employees to insulate their homes and save hundreds of pounds in reduced energy bills.
Devised by we will if you will, ‘Insulate Today’ is a collaborative effort from Accenture, Aviva, HSBC, Sainsbury’s, ACT ON CO2, the Energy Saving Trust and EDF Energy.

The companies involved are committed to helping their employees lead more sustainable lives and the ‘Insulate Today’ initiative will demonstrate this by: Working with Sainsbury’s Energy (a partnership between EDF and Sainsbury’s) to provide exclusive insulation offers to employees Investing in additional incentives to encourage employees to take up the offers (e.g. offering installed insulation for free to a number of employees, giving away energy monitors to help keep bills down) Using their extensive internal communication channels to ensure all employees can benefit

Last year British households wasted over £500m in energy bills through poor insulation with less than one in ten homes having the recommended amount. In fact, most homes can save around £160 every year by getting their loft and cavity walls properly insulated, reducing their carbon footprint in the process. Despite these significant savings, it remains a low priority for most householders who mistakenly believe it is difficult and expensive to install.

‘Insulate Today’ will play a role in meeting the government’s ambitious target of insulating all lofts and cavity walls in the UK by 2015 by directly accessing 250,000 employees via the internal communications channels of some of Britain’s biggest employers.

The Government’s recently launched ‘Green Homes, Warmer Homes’ strategy highlighted the need to overhaul the energy efficiency of Britain’s homes with ‘pay as you save’ green finance to make energy efficiency pay from day one, ensuring up to 7 million British households benefit from eco upgrades by 2020 and securing up to 65,000 jobs in the green home industry

Once the ‘Insulate Today’ pilot has been completed, results will be used to potentially develop a best practice template for large-scale nationwide employee engagement campaigns.
Joan Ruddock, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change said: “The Government’s ambition is to see all lofts and cavity walls in the UK insulated by 2015. The ‘Insulate Today’ initiative will make a real contribution towards this target. As an extension of the government’s Act on CO2 campaign, Accenture, Aviva, HSBC and Sainsbury’s are helping their employees live more sustainable lives by offering exclusive insulation services in partnership with Sainsbury’s Energy. Employees will save themselves money and energy as a result.”

David Hall, Campaign Director, we will if you will said: “Mobilising consumers to insulate their homes is a great opportunity to cut the nation’s carbon footprint and cut our energy bills at the same time but it requires an innovative and creative delivery model. The collaborative approach of we will if you will brings together a coalition of some of the UK’s biggest employers, helping us to target a massive audience through established and trusted channels of communication.”
-ENDS-
For more information please contact:
Jessica Forte at Behaviour Change, 07738006016
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Dr Helen Mounsey reappointed as chair of the Coal Authority

Dr Helen Mounsey has been reappointed Chair of the Coal Authority, Energy and Climate Change Minister David Kidney announced today.

David Kidney said: "Dr Mounsey has been extremely successful as Chair of the Coal Authority for the last three years. I am very pleased to re-appoint Dr Mounsey for a further term during which I am sure the Authority will continue to thrive and evolve.”
Notes for editors:
1. These appointments have been made in accordance with the requirements of the Code published by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
2. Dr Mounsey’s reappointment will commence on 1 October 2010 until 31 March 2013. Remuneration is currently £27,000 per annum.
3. Dr Mounsey was originally appointed as a Non-Executive Board member of the Coal Authority for a five year period from 7 November 2002 and subsequently made Chair in October 2007. She joined the consulting practice of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 1989, becoming an Associate Partner with IBM Business Consulting Services following the merger of the two organisations in October 2002. Since leaving IBM in January 2009, she has continued to work as an independent consultant in the utilities sector, in parallel to her role as Chair of the Authority.
4. Dr Mounsey holds no other Ministerial appointments and is not engaged in any political activity.
5. The Coal Authority was established by Parliament in 1994 with specific statutory responsibilities associated with:
licensing coal mining operations in Britain handling coal mining subsidence damage claims property and historic liability issues, such as treatment of minewater discharges providing public access to information on past and present coal mining operations the provision of emergency call-out service for reported surface hazards.
Further details can be obtained at www.coal.gov.uk
6. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any declared) to be made public. No such activity was declared.
7. The Department of Energy and Climate Change is central to the UK Government’s leadership on climate change. We are pushing hard internationally for ambitious effective and fair action to avert the most dangerous impacts. Through our UK Low Carbon Transition Plan we are giving householders and businesses the incentives and advice they need to cut their emissions, we are enabling the energy sector’s shift to the trinity of renewables, new nuclear and clean coal, and we are stepping up the fight against fuel poverty.


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31 March 2010 - Press Release - Government departments publish plans to tackle climate challenges

Today the UK Government became the first in the world to publish plans that will set out how every major department will address the challenge of climate change in the UK.
The Carbon Reduction Delivery and Adaptation Plans detail each department’s commitment to minimise the damage of climate change, by reducing emissions and by preparing for inevitable change in the UK climate.
These plans are being published alongside a single overview of what Government is doing: Climate Change: Taking Action – Delivering the Low Carbon Transition Plan and preparing for a changing climate.
Publishing the plans Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said:
‘These plans demonstrate how each individual department will work to reduce emissions and adapt their own estates, operations and policies.
‘There can be no mistaking that some climate change is inevitable and we will need to adjust the way we live our lives to meet these new challenges and take advantage of new opportunities where possible. These plans are by no means the final word, but are a step towards the low carbon, well-adapted society that we need.’
Energy and Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock said:
“The overwhelming scientific evidence shows that human induced climate change poses a huge threat to the world and we must recognise the challenge this presents to all aspects of our economy and daily activities.
“These plans show Government’s clear and unwavering commitment to reducing emissions, increasing energy efficiency and providing greater opportunities in the low carbon economy.
“The UK is a leader in international efforts to tackle the challenges of climate change. By linking each department’s primary objectives to the challenges posed by climate change, government will lead by example.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlights that countries will experience further warming over at least the next 30-40 years due to past emissions because of the time lag in the climate system. In the UK we are likely to see warmer, wetter winters and hotter drier summers with increased risk of coastal erosion and severe weather.

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01 April 2010 - Press Release - DECC sets out gas strategy and consents to new Carrington Plant

The green light was given by the Government today for a 1,520 Megawatt Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plant in Carrington, Greater Manchester. The consent accompanied publication of a number of papers setting out the Government’s strategy for ensuring secure UK gas supplies to 2020 and beyond.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said:
“As we make the transition to a low carbon future and our domestic gas reserves decline, we remain vigilant about maintaining energy supplies that are diverse and secure.
“While we remain alert, what was shown this winter when the gas market was tested by extreme circumstances is that the existing gas system is working well. Since 2005 we have facilitated a big increase in import capacity, gas storage capacity as well as improving the information available to the market.”
The Carrington power plant, owned by Wainstones Energy Limited, will have a construction period of about 30 months with full operation scheduled for 2013. The power plant is the first to be consented in line with new carbon capture readiness requirements and the company has prepared a plan explaining how they would retro-fit carbon capture and storage equipment to the plant in the future.
Published today:
The Government’s response to the Malcolm Wicks report ‘Energy Security: A national challenge in a changing world’. The response agrees with the importance of encouraging energy efficiency and adopting low carbon technologies in order to move towards a low-carbon economy. It highlights the mechanisms already being used to ensure the UK has access to energy imports that are affordable, secure and sustainable. The Gas Security of Supply policy statement sets out what is being done to ensure secure gas supplies for the UK in the future. Options considered include: improved market transparency, enhanced financial incentives to balance demand and supply and strengthening shipper and supplier obligations. It also explains why the Government is not pursuing the idea of Government-commissioned gas storage. The Call for Evidence on the new issues arising from the EU’s Third Internal Energy Market Package (“Third Package”). The UK has lead the way in getting the Third Package through EU Parliament. One of the key aims of the Package is to strengthen unbundling of transmission from supply, electricity, generation and gas production businesses to make EU markets more transparent.Notes for editors Public copies of the decision letter and consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 are available from John Swift, DECC

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01 April 2010 - Press Release - Low Carbon Rewards Launch Today to Save Money for Homes and Businesses

Reducing energy use and small-scale electricity generation across Britain

The introduction today of two carbon cutting Government incentive schemes will see homes and businesses playing a key role in contributing to UK emissions reductions of at least 34% on 1990 levels by 2020 through improved energy efficiency and small-scale low-carbon electricity.
The Government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC EES) for organisations and Feed in tariffs (FITs) will help to save money on fuel bills, reduce carbon emissions and generate their own low-carbon electricity.
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, said:
“From today the rewards for businesses and householders who act to cut their carbon emissions really start to pay off.  It’s no longer simply about doing the right thing for the environment, it’s now a sure-fire financial investment.

“The UK is leading the way in tackling climate change. Organisations and householders can play a central role in leading the move to a low carbon economy whilst saving money on their energy bills.”
The offering to business – CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme launched today aimed at saving public and private sector organisations around £1billion per year by 2020 through cost effective energy efficiency measures that are not yet being taken up.
The aim of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is to help change behaviour and will require large public and private sector organisations like supermarkets, hotels, hospitals, local authorities and central government departments, to improve their energy efficiency.
Participants’ performance will be published in the form of a league table.
All revenue raised from the sale of emissions allowances will be recycled back to participants with those who have increased efficiency receiving more of this money. Customers, clients and competitors will also to see that their organisation is a leader in tackling climate change. They will be able to generate further income from selling any unused permits.
Though the scheme officially launches today organisations have until September to register. Businesses can start saving on their bills immediately through implementing cost effective energy efficiency  measures. By 2020 the scheme is expected to have delivered emissions savings of at least 4.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Environment Agency, which will be running the scheme, has hosted more than 115 events to raise awareness about the scheme as well as running regional workshops and speaking events.
The offering to consumers - FITs
Individuals, organisations or businesses in England, Wales and Scotland who install low carbon electricity generation could benefit from FITs:
They will be paid money for every unit of electricity they generate. They will get an extra 3 pence/kWh for every unit they don’t use that is exported to the grid. They can also benefit from a reduced electricity bill where they use the electricity that they generate rather than having to buy all they need from the grid.
A typical 2.5kW, well sited solar PV Installation could offer savings of £140 a year plus earnings of £900 a year.
In addition to providing a contribution to meeting the 2020 Renewable Energy Target, the FITs will enable broad participation of individuals and communities in the shift towards a low carbon economy.
The feed-in tariff is a win-win for consumers. They will be paid for any electricity they generate themselves from low carbon sources and benefit from a cheaper electricity bill.
In Summary
Significant progress has already been made since the Low Carbon Transition Plan was published in July 2009, including in the key sectors of power generation, buildings and industry, and transport. The Government’s legally-binding ‘carbon budgets’ push the pace of change.  UK emissions are already 22% down on 1990 levels.  By 2020 they must be 34% less, on the way to 80% less by 2050.
Government is also setting an example, it is on course for reducing emissions from central Government offices by over 17% by 2011, exceeding the original target of 12.5%. It aims to save up to £300 million through energy saving measures across the public sector.

Notes to editors The below organisations fall within the remit for CRC and would be happy to be contacted for media purposes; HILTON HOTELS Press Office contacts 020 7856 8076

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8 March 2010 - Lord Hunt speech - Nuclear conference, Paris

Good morning and thanks to the French Government and the OECD, the IAEA for their hospitality and the warm welcome to this important conference.
So I’m grateful to have the opportunity to talk to you about the UK’s new civil nuclear programme which we launched in 2008.
We are convinced that nuclear energy offers significant benefits all round. From getting to a low carbon society to developing cutting edge technologies and creating a skilled workforce.
The low carbon vision
The 2008 Climate Change Act made the UK the first country in the world to set legally binding “carbon budgets”.
These five year budgets commit the UK to cut its emissions by 34 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050, through investment in energy efficiency and clean energy technology. Already on emissions we are down by over 20 per cent - double our Kyoto target.
We are promoting energy efficiency in homes transport and business. On the supply side we are promoting diversity of low carbon sources, through renewables, carbon capture and storage technology and nuclear energy.
So nuclear, has a crucial role to play in achieving our low carbon future and securing our future energy security.
The UK Government is working very hard to create the right conditions in the UK for investment in new nuclear power stations.
And already energy companies have announced plans to build up to16 GW of new nuclear power by 2025. We expect the first plant to be operational in 2018.
And to support these changes, we are building an electricity grid with larger capacity and the ability to manage greater fluctuations in electricity demand and supply.
France and the UK are two countries with a rich nuclear heritage, who are today supporting and learning from each other. There have been many exchanges between France and the UK regarding decommissioning of graphite reactors and sodium cooled reactors. Also on geological disposal. And not forgetting that we are working with the CEA with a view to entering an agreement on research in relation to reactor decommissioning.
Skills
Then there is the Skills Agenda. we know the necessity of investing in our nuclear workforce and I applaud the creation in France of a Masters in Nuclear Energy, open to International students. The President spoke of this earlier today.
In the UK, we launched a National Skills Academy for Nuclear and we have invested over £3 million so far. The Academy was set up jointly with employers to address the gap in skills on challenges like; fuel cycle, waste management, decommissioning, and now new build.
Just as the re-emergence of nuclear power in the UK offers great career opportunities for thousands of workers. So, too, for a UK supply chain.
Supply Chain
The global nuclear renaissance provides a multi billion pound opportunity for those industries involved in the supply of goods and services; required for the construction, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning of nuclear power stations.
One of our primary objectives is to help create a globally competitive UK nuclear supply chain, focusing on value for money.
And our plans to build up to 16 GW of new nuclear capacity has a market value of roughly £30 billion.
We are always looking at ways to help business in the UK to make the most of the opportunities available in the global civil nuclear industry.
And the UK government, will see to it, that any “pinch points” in the global supply chain, do not lead to delays in new nuclear build.
But just as we see enormous benefits in civil nuclear power we should acknowledge the worry that some countries could try to use it as a cover to develop a weapons programme.
And we stand united in the fundamental belief that all countries should have the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy under the non-proliferation treaty.
Nuclear Fuels Assurances (NFA)
This is where the stability of the international market for fuel becomes so important.
Indeed we have reached a crossroads regarding the supply of nuclear fuel with the growth of civil nuclear power generation globally.
A number of states have expressed their intention to introduce or expand existing civilian nuclear power programmes. Uninterrupted access to fuel is vital if they are going to invest in new or expanded nuclear programmes.
So several suggestions have been put forward to the including the UK’s own Nuclear Fuel Assurance (NFA) proposal.
The model agreement we are drafting, with advice from the IAEA, can be adapted to fit other supplier states export control legislation. And this proposal will not be exclusive to the UK.
It will give confidence to recipient states, that their contracts to receive enriched nuclear fuel, will not be interrupted for ‘political’ ends by other supplier states.
The NFA, I hope, is enough to reassure emerging and developing nuclear states that fuel will be readily available to them; without the need to develop costly and complex indigenous enrichment programmes.
It is our intention to present the final NFA proposal to the IAEA Board of Governors for approval in the coming year. As soon as we are satisfied that we have the right support from potential recipient countries.
New nuclear is important for the UK and the world in terms of securing a secure and safe energy future.
This nuclear renaissance is a challenge that requires investment, innovation and integration on a scale never before seen.
But the imperative of creating a low carbon future means that we must rise to that challenge.
This conference means an important step towards that.
Thank you.


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