Wave energy: why we need a fresh approach to harnessing the power of our seas

Western Isles (Picture: Neil Kenhead) Stand on a beach in the Western Isles looking out at the Atlantic and it’s easy to see why for over a century people have dreamed of harnessing the power of our seas. The wave energy here is some of the most intense in the world, with the potential to provide the UK with 40 terrawatt hours (TWh) of electricity each year – over 10 per cent of current demand. Given such a spectacular natural resource, alongside... Read More

10 things your installer won’t tell you before you purchase a biomass boiler

I saw a headline this morning in the green trade press, which read: ‘Why every business should be interested in the Renewable Heat Incentive’.  A good headline no doubt to get people to click through and read on. But that kind of editorial should also carry a warning sign: if you are a business (or from next spring, a household) interested in the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), you should be very wary about what technology you invest... Read More

Cleantech: is it time to wave goodbye to the Severn Barrage scheme?

  The first Severn Barrage was proposed almost a century ago It is nearly a century since the first proposal to build a barrage across the Severn to generate power from the tides. Since then we have developed our National Grid, embarked on a dash-for-gas and built a fleet of nuclear power stations. Yet, still there is no Severn Barrage. And now the fate of the latest proposal – led by private consortia Hafren Power – hangs in the balance.... Read More

RHI and FiTs: the unintended consequences of penalising green energy ‘early adopters’

Eco householders can't sell their green energy back to the grid Anyone who was brave enough (or stupid enough) to invest in on-site renewable technologies before July 15 2009 will not have forgotten the disappointment and sense of injustice when they discovered they were going to be ‘penalised’ for their efforts under the Feed-in Tariff (FiT), the Government’s mechanism for incentivising small-scale renewable electricity. Due to the cost... Read More

Do we need an Energy Policy Committee?

The Government has talked itself into an ideological corner over energy supply policy. It’s time to let go of the false idol of a ‘perfect market’ and make some hard decisions based on empirical facts. This month’s repeated non-announcement on Renewable Obligation Certificates will have a knock-on effect on energy price inflation in the future. Dithering breeds uncertainty and the pricing of any investment will quantify uncertainty in terms... Read More

Government loses Feed-in Tariff appeal, but what next?

While the Government failed to overturn last month’s ruling that its rushed cuts to the Feed-in Tariff  (FiT) for solar PV are unlawful last week, the uncertainty over FiT rates still exists. As soon as the unanimous verdict was announced in the Court of Appeal, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne announced that his department would seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. What does this mean? As a result,... Read More

Solar FiT: why kneejerk policy needs to be replaced by a green growth strategy

This week’s unemployment figures and the Bank of England’s downgrade of its growth forecast for 2012 don’t make good reading for a Government that is trying to convince the country’s it’s got a growth strategy. One bright spot in the economy is the low carbon good and services sector. It grew a healthy 4.7 per cent last year. But instead of supporting it, the Coalition appears to be undermining it with a schizophrenic green policy,... Read More

Should we be blaming high energy bills on going green?

A lot of us have been quick to blame the big energy firms for rising fuel bills (not to mention profits). But earlier this month, George Osborne blamed something else: green laws and regulations. “Now we know that a decade of environmental laws and regulations are piling costs on the energy bills of households and companies,” the Chancellor told party loyalists at the Conservative Party Conference. Osborne’s comment fits in nicely with the... Read More

Green R&D: bridging the gap for SMEs

Small wind turbines When you think of the low carbon economy what kind of images spring to mind? Rows of shiny new wind turbines?  Fleets of electric cars on our roads? Whilst innovative green technologies such as these might be what most people think of when they envisage a low carbon economy, the reality for most small businesses will be doing what they do now but in a more sustainable way. Sure, there are thousands of innovative start-ups... Read More

The Feed-in Tariff and solar: when is big too small?

As both a homeowner and small business owner, I know I don’t want to see my energy bills go up without benefiting from the solar ‘gold rush’ we’ve all been hearing so much about. But as a journalist writing about our transition to a low carbon economy every day I can also see we need to get a move on if we’re going to meet our renewable energy targets, create jobs and get our green economic recovery underway. So who is right in the ‘big... Read More