Category Archives: Energy
New Anaerobic Digestors for Urban Areas Under Government Plans
It’s a mind-blowing statistic: the average person throws away three to four times their weight in food waste annually, with much of it going into landfill and contributing to the 16 – 18 million tonnes of leftovers buried each year. … Continue reading
Chief Scientific Advisor Says Country Should Plan for 4C Rise
Professor Bob Watson, Chief Scientific Advisor to Defra has commented, in an interview with the Guardian newspaper, that the UK should plan for the effects of a 4C rise in temperature on pre-industrial levels. Professor Watson is reported, on the … Continue reading
EU Targets Renewables over Biofuels
EU ministers have admitted being ‘grossly confused’ over renewable energy targets. There has been widespread belief amongst European ministers that the EU renewable energy target stipulates all fuels must contain 10% biofuels by 2020. However, it has recently come to … Continue reading
World Leaders Meet in Japan for G8 Summit
The leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) most industrialised nations meet in Japan today to discuss the challenges posed to global development by climate change, rising food prices and escalating energy costs. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has called … Continue reading
Carbon Capture and Storage Consultation Launched
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has launched a consultation on the future of Carbon Capture and Storage. A burgeoning population and consequent increase in demand for energy means that meeting global, national and regional carbon emission reduction … Continue reading
Significant Shifts Needed in UK Policies Towards Climate Change
The front page of today’s Guardian reports that the Gallagher Report into the UK’s biofuels policy, to be published next week, will call for greater research into the indirect impacts of biofuels on land use and food production before the … Continue reading
Energy Minister Criticises NGOs Over Severn Barrage
The UK Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks, has criticised the RSPB and other NGOs for adopting a ‘no’ position to the development of a Severn Barrage. Mr Wicks, speaking to the House of Commons Welsh Grand Committee, said that the RSPB … Continue reading
True Cost of Severn Barrage
A new report by Frontier Economics commissioned by NGOs including the RSPB and National Trust, suggests that a tidal barrage is the least cost-effective way of generating renewable energy for the UK. The barrage could potentially supply 5% of the … Continue reading
Science Academies Call for Tougher Action by G8 Nations
The Royal Society has joined other academic institutions from around the world in calling for rapid agreement on a timetable to fit carbon capturing technologies to coal-fired power stations, in order to avoid “rapid and irreversible” climate change. Academies from … Continue reading
BES Meeting: The Ecological Consequences of the Severn Barrage
The British Ecological Society’s Conservation Ecology Specical Interest Group (SIG) is holding a one-day event on 2 July to discuss the ecological consequences of the proposed development of a Severn Barrage. The workshop provides an opportunities for ecologists and policy … Continue reading