Fracking bids to be fast-tracked

Shale gas planning applications are to be fast-tracked under new government measures to crack down on councils that delay on making a decision.

George Osborne: make UK a world leader in energy storage

Chancellor George Osborne has said the UK must take a global lead in developing a series of low carbon technologies, including energy efficient computing and energy storage, in his first major speech on scientific issues.

Energy watchdog tells big firms: cut prices or else

A cap on fuel bills could be introduced for the first time in more than a decade amid rising concern that customers are being ripped off by the Big Six energy firms, the regulator Ofgem has told The Independent.

£110bn energy investment plan revealed

Plans for £110bn investment into electricity generation in the UK have been unveiled in a white paper by the Energy Secretary Chris Huhne.

The radical plans aim to tackle the current challenges facing the electricity market to deliver the biggest reforms since privatisation, which Mr Huhne said will end "25 years of policy dithering."

The reforms include long-term price contracts with domestic nuclear power plants and offshore wind farms and measures to increase low-carbon electricity generation, including renewable energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) to make electricity prices more stable.

BritNed power cable boosts hopes for European supergrid

It stretches 260km under the North Sea, contains 23,000 tonnes of copper and lead, and may represent the first step towards a renewable energy revolution based on a European electricity "supergrid". The £500m BritNed cable, which has just entered operation, is the first direct current electricity link from the UK to another country in 25 years.

Opinion - why Leith needs biomass

As consultation on Forth Energy's proposed biomass plant closes today, the firm's managing director Calum Wilson uses this guest blog post to 'set the record straight'

Forth Energy is proposing to develop a modern, efficient, renewable energy plant at the Port of Leith to generate both renewable electricity and renewable heat. The development will bring jobs to the area, a boost to the local economy and deliver significant carbon saving. It will be designed to meet the highest European and Scottish safety and environmental standards and will use the best available technology.

UK To Boost Invest,Energy Security With Green Heat Scheme

LONDON (Dow Jones)--The U.K. government Thursday introduced the world's first renewable heat incentive, or RHI, as part of its broader plan to stimulate investments in low-carbon technologies and move the country to green growth and increased energy independence.

Carbon sequestration: capture technology faces a more hostile environment

Of all the “clean energy” technologies, carbon capture and storage is the one most closely linked to views of the threat presented by global warming.

Nuclear, wind and solar power, biofuels and new reserves of natural gas, can all be presented as contributions to energy security, hedges against global shortages of fossil fuel created by soaring demand in emerging economies.

Capturing the carbon dioxide emissions created by burning coal, liquefying them, pumping them under the ground and then ensuring they stay there for thousands of years, will be done only if politicians are sufficiently alarmed by the risk of climate change to put in place the policy framework to make it happen.

That makes carbon capture particularly vulnerable to a shift in political opinion, which in many countries over the past year has moved away from curbing greenhouse gas emissions towards a focus on economic growth and jobs.

As Dominic Cook, carbon capture and storage (CCS) group manager at Parsons Brinckerhoff, the strategic and engineering consultancy, points out: “It is rare for any company to commit to CCS purely on a commercial basis.”

He adds: “The main driver will be when you get a carbon price high enough to incentivise companies to capture and store, rather than pay to emit.”

Yet in spite of the more hostile conditions facing CCS, there are still about two dozen development projects around the world that are making real progress.

Ken Humphreys, the chief executive of FutureGen, a $1.3bn US carbon capture project under development in Illinois, says it is still important to develop CCS capability, to safeguard the long-term future of coal-fired power generation.

“While the political environment certainly is changing, we see a need to develop and prove out the technology, so that whatever happens in the US and internationally, we have the option of rolling out CCS if that is the way we want to go.”

Officially, ambitions for the technology are unchanged. At the end of 2008 Steven Chu, the US energy secretary, said CCS technology could be ready for commercial deployment by the end of this decade. A paper published by his department in January 2011 reiterated that target, saying “first generation CO2 capture technologies” should be ready for commercial deployment by 2020.

And while some of the planned demonstration projects in the US have faced obstacles, the Department of Energy lists seven, backed by the government’s Clean Coal Power Initiative, that are expected to begin operation starting in 2014.

FutureGen, backed by a consortium of 10 energy and coal companies including Peabody, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Eon, has redrawn its project to cut its budget from a previously estimated $2bn-plus, and its power output from 244 megawatts to about 140MW.

Nevertheless, the group is still pushing ahead with its plan. “We made significant adjustments to the project structure, to make sure we can be on line in late 2015 or early 2016, and on a reasonable budget,” Mr Humphreys says. The US government is supporting the project with a $1bn grant, roughly three-quarters of its cost.

Keith White, general manager of global gasification products at GE Energy, says that before the global recession governments were prepared to spend much more on supporting technology.

In the US, he says, companies have had “to reset their expectations, but we are hopeful”.

In the UK, the government’s ambitions to become a leading developer of carbon capture and storage technology suffered a setback just before Christmas when Powerfuel, which is developing the country’s first commercial scale clean coal power plant, went into administration.

KPMG, the administrator, said at the time the company needed a new owner with deeper pockets in order to fund the large amount of capital needed up front for the project.

The company also fell foul of regulatory change when the Department of Energy and Climate Change decided that it would fund only post-combustion plants that strip carbon dioxide out of a power station’s exhaust after the coal is burnt. Powerfuel’s proposed plant relies on pre-combustion technology.

Mr White of GE, which is supplying the gas power turbines for Powerfuel’s project, says “it would be a shame to see it dissolve at this point”. He argues government incentives for CCS technology are important and that “without strong government action” more such projects will falter.

The UK government’s competition to award £1bn ($1.6bn) to one company to build Britain’s first CCS plant has so far not identified a winner despite having been launched in 2007.

Today, only one of the four original contestants, a consortium led by Scottish Power, remains but has yet to be named the winner. Eon, the German utility, pulled out in the autumn saying the market was “not conducive”.

Jeff Chapman, chief executive of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association, an industry body, says while he remains “optimistic” for the prospects of CCS in the UK compared with the rest of the world, there is “still a long way to go to put in place the right support mechanisms”.

Nevertheless, Mr Cook highlights one positive development recently. “There is a push to get the rules for CCS in the [UN] Clean Development Mechanism finalised by December 2011. One of the concerns is that while it can be argued that the developed world has a moral duty to lead on CCS development, the bulk of the technology is likely going to be implemented in the developing economies and the CDM will provide a route to funds,” he says.

Source: http://www.ft.com

London, Beijing target low-carbon growth

LONDON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Joint green economic ventures between the Chinese and British governments will support energy security for both countries, a climate secretary said.

British Energy Secretary Chris Huhne welcomed a Chinese delegation to London to sign a memorandum of understanding to promote a low-carbon economy at the provincial level in China.

"Making green growth a reality for both countries will be crucial for prosperity, the environment and for our energy security," Huhne said in a statement.

London is looking for alternative and renewable energy resources as conventional energy sources in the North Sea start to run dry. China is one of the world's leading energy consumers and emitters of harmful greenhouse gases.

Both sides, under the memorandum, will exchange expertise on low-carbon planning and emissions accounting and trading.

Initially, the joint effort will work on low-carbon policies in the Chinese provinces of Chongqing, Guangdong and Hubei.

"Today's agreement demonstrates that the U.K. and China want to accelerate this shift to low carbon and are committed to greater collaboration on energy markets and low carbon technology," said Huhne.

Source: www.upi.com

Scots-Chinese deal as Vice Premier Li Keqiang visits UK

Scotland and China have sealed a major green energy deal, as Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang began a four-day visit to the UK.

The agreement, worth $10m (£6.4m), will see technology pioneered in Scotland used at a new renewable energy conversion plant in China.

Confirmation of the deal came as Mr Li and his delegation arrived in Edinburgh for the first day of his visit.

The vice premier is also meeting Prime Minister David Cameron in London.

The visit has a focus on promoting trade and political links with the UK and other European nations.

Mr Li - widely tipped to become the next Chinese premier - will also meet key UK government figures in London, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Chancellor George Osborne and Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said the licensing deal was reached between Sino-Scots firm Shanghai Huanuan Boiler and Vessel Co/Cochran and Scotland-based engineers W2E Engineering, which specialises in generating electricity from domestic refuse.

Mr Salmond, who has led several trade missions to China over the past two years, said the visit was vital for building economic growth, especially in renewable energy.

"China already has the largest deployment of on-shore renewable technology, and Scotland is a world-leader in pioneering the technology and application of clean, green energy," he said.

"This announcement is another positive step forward in strengthening Sino-Scottish links and confirming Scotland's reputation as a global leader in the development of renewable energy."

Shanghai Huanuan chairman Dong Ping added: "This agreement will see the creation of new green power stations built in Scotland and in China and this will generate sustainable renewable energy at a reduced cost for our global customers."

On the first day of the trip, Mr Li held talks with Scottish Secretary Michael Moore and is also visiting the renewable energy firm Pelamis Wave Power.

Mr Moore described the meeting as "very constructive", adding: "China and the UK are key partners in growth for the future.

"There are a huge number of economic opportunities which exist between China and Scotland and I am keen to see us take advantage of our excellent trading links and create new routes to market in the near future."

Mr Li is also due to deliver a speech at a China-Britain British Council banquet, ahead of his return to Beijing on Wednesday.

The vice premier's stay in the UK comes after a three-day visit to Spain, where he signed $7.5bn (£4.8bn, 5.7bn euros) in trade deals.

Mr Li also reaffirmed his country would buy Spanish government bonds, despite the recent crisis of market confidence over eurozone debt.

China has already made several Scottish trade agreements, including a deal requiring all "Scotch Whisky" sold in China to have been made in Scotland.

Anne MacColl, of the economic agency Scottish Development International, said Scotland was in a strong position to contribute to many of China's key aims, which also included life sciences, financial services and academic connections.

Source: BBC
www.bbc.co.uk

LNG mixed blessing for U.K.

LONDON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Liquefied natural gas may help Great Britain deal with energy security but it exposes the market to global pressures, energy analysts said.

The International Energy Agency predicted a growth in the natural gas market with energy companies like Royal Dutch Shell expected to eventually produce more gas than oil.

London estimates that, as reserves in the North Sea start to run dry, the United Kingdom will rely on imports to meet 70 percent of its gas demand by 2020. As much as 60 percent of that is expected to come from LNG.

Simon Fairman, who manages a LNG terminal on the Isle of Grain, said that LNG is a mixed blessing for the region, noting shippers tend to go where the prices are most attractive, London's Guardian newspaper reports.

The United Kingdom can get most of its energy needs through pipelines, which are susceptible to geopolitical issues. LNG, however, exposes British markets to global concerns, warns Nick Campbell, an analyst at energy consultancy Inenco.

"With pipelines we are competing against Europe for gas," he said. "With LNG, we are competing in a global market."

Source: www.upi.com