Scotland set for key green energy vote
Posted by greeneneryteam
This Wednesday (24/06) sees the Scottish Parliament vote on the vital climate change bill, which has extensive ramifications for the future of the scottish power supply. The vote hangs on a knife-edge with parties arguing over the targets included in the bill.
The main areas of the bill are outlined as followed:
- Statutory target to reduce Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050
- Establish an interim target of at least 34 per cent emissions reductions by 2020, rising to at least 42 per cent if the EU Commit to 30 per cent reductions by 2020
- Establish a framework of annual targets
- Include emissions from international aviation and international shipping
Reading the editorial opinion of two of Scotland’s major newspapers The Herald and The Scotsman, it seems that the country is ready for this bill to go through. We await the result with interest.
Which way will the climate change vote swing?
UK Climate Projections 2009 Report Released
Posted by greeneneryteam
The UK government today launched it’s 2009 climate projections report, prompting Environment secretary Hilary Benn to warn that the UK must plan in advance for a warmer future with greater extremes of flood and drought.
The website UKCP09 makes for some pretty stark reading, particularly the maps section which has broken the data into probability scenarios.
The conclusions based upon ‘central estimates’ seems to be that by 2080:
- Summer mean temperature will rise by around 6 degrees throughout the UK
- Summer mean precipitation will fall by around 20% on average
- Winter mean precipitation will rise by 30%
No wonder Mr Benn is so worried!
What are your thoughts on the climate projections report?
Are we too late to stop this inevitable change in our climate? or
Can we halt the changes by becoming more green friendly?
Useful Green Energy Resources
Posted by greeneneryteam
There is a huge amount of green energy information available on the internet. So much so, that it can be difficult to seperate the wheat from the chaff sometimes. We thought therefore that it would be a useful exercise to post some of our favourite web resources for information on green energy. As you an see there are a wide spectrum of sites from governnment information portals, energy companies, news websites to green-opinion blogs.
Hopefully there is something of interest to you.
Green Blogs
- Treehugger - long established green blog, covering a vast swathe of environmental issues from energy to transportation.
- Green Thinkers - this site has an informal tone and covers a wide variety of topics.
- Greener Power - Blog with a UK slant on the green energy issues.
- Inhabitat - If you want to discover the latest green technolgies then this is the place to look.
- BraveNewClimate.com - Climate blog with some srong and well thought out opinion.
- Alternative Energy Blog - the title speaks for itself, this blog offers rigourously thought out opinion on the latest energy news.
Government Information
- UK Department of Energy and Climate Change - The government department responsible for all the policies and inititiatives that we would like to see implemented - well worth keeping any eye on for the latest government thinking.
- Scottish Government Environment - The latest environmental developments from the Scottish Government.
Energy Companies
- Atlantic Electric and Gas - Part of Scottish and Southern Energy - A good indicator of the big six companies thinking on cheap electricity.
- Ecotricity
News Websites
- BBC Science and Environment - as with almost everything, the beeb is an excellent resource for energy news.
- Guardian Environment - Newspaper page with the latest news and information on the green energy sector.
If there are any other green-related sites that should be included, please don’t hesitate to inform us!
Big Six Energy Firms Investigated
Posted by greeneneryteam
Many direct debit energy customers are unsure if their monthly bills will cover their yearly predicted allowance, there are over 40% of customers who pay by monthly direct debit.
The amount of gas and electricity being used and the amount they were paying monthly did not match up, usually with the customer’s monthly bills being set far too high, this resulted in a series of complaints when switched on clients caught onto the suppliers reluctance to set the monthly bills at a low rate or even one that would match their yearly consumption.
In light of this the energy regulator gave the big six energy companies a clean bill of health.
Ofgem said they found no evidence that the suppliers are intentionally over charging their customers.
The public still does not why demands where being brought up but the investigation team said there is a lack of communication and should be more transparent with details in the future.
Green Electricity by 2020?
Posted by greeneneryteam
2020 Emission targets
With recent green energy surveys been carried out by the ecotricity they have predicted that the government and the big 6 energy companies will fail to meet their 2020 carbon emission targets, their main concern is the lack of investment in renewable energy that in return will create more green electricity, it is predicted that if we keep going at the current rate in supplying renewable energy the big 6 will miss it’s targets by over 50% and will leave the governments targets in tatters come the year 2020.
Energy saving blog
Posted by greeneneryteam
US based blog but all the lessons are valid!
I came across this US based blog giving info on how to reduce your electricity bills by changing your daily routines.
Have a look at the full blog.
Hydro and wind power to make 68%…
Posted by greeneneryteam
of EdP investment by 2010
Power provider EdP-Energias de Portugal are aiming to increase their investment in hydro and wind power to 68% by 2010. This investment will be across the Americas and continental Europe.
Although investment is not in the UK it is a positive step for renewable power in general.
Full Article
Find a renewable power provider
UK, most competitive energy market in EU and G7
Posted by greeneneryteam
PRnew wire announced that the UK has the most competitive energy market in the EU including the G7. This is good news for UK consumers however it is counter balanced by the looming price increase set by energy providers, however some are offering fixed price. You can read the in’s and out’s of the article at http://media.netpr.pl/notatka_92650.html
The energy trade off
Posted by greeneneryteam
Shock decision: Scottish Executive block wind farm
Today the BBC1 reported that the Scottish Executive will be blocking plans to build a wind farm on the Isle of Lewis. The planned wind farm would have been the biggest in the world with 181 wind turbines with each unit generating 3.6mw.
The decision to block the wind farms project was unexpected especially in the light of the UK’s commitment to green energy. If more of these projects are to block by government the UK may not be able to hot it’s targets proposed by the EU commission2 earlier last week.
