Tag Archives: alternative
Jonathan Elliott – Can The UK Be A Green Energy Giant?
Posted on 09 July 2013 by ELN reporter That’s one of the big questions the nation faces right now – and from the looks it, with renewable energy projects cropping up all over the UK, the potential for rapid growth is strong. The emphasis on cutting carbon emissions and ramping up the UK’s green credentials is hardly a secret: the government has targets to meet and there are EU goals and industry calls for investment to boot. But I wonder if the country will capitalise on its potential to become a world leader. We may be a dominant force when it comes to offshore wind – but surely that’s to be expected from an island with our infrastructural and financial assets. Keep it fresh – look beyond offshore wind turbines I believe we should have one eye on continuing to build up our vast arrays of turbines and another on fresh initiatives. It strikes me there are some genuinely exciting examples to point to right now. Take the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon initiative. This is a plan to invest £650 million on harnessing power from the ebb and flow of the tide. Developers say the lagoon would be the first of its type anywhere in the world, able to supply Swansea’s entire domestic electricity needs and run for more than 120 years. While the project is still very much in its infancy it’s generating a huge amount of interest. It’s easy to understand why. The company says it will save an estimated 216,000 tonnes of CO2 a year – as much as taking 81,000 cars off the UK’s roads every year and could provide 3,600 construction jobs. The lagoon’s appeal notches up even further if you think about similar projects it could inspire in other areas of the UK coastline. Obviously this is all speculation – much depends on the developers getting financial backing, not to mention approval from the relevant authorities. But early signs are undeniably encouraging. With plans for the facility to be operational by 2017, the ambition is clearly there. Watch this space. Digest this – a new UK-wide anaerobic digestion network Elsewhere, keep an eye on an adventurous programme by Tamar Energy. They want to create a network of 40 anaerobic digestion (AD) power plants in the UK – and all by 2018. With four stations set to become operational in 2014 and another 14 sites in various stages of development, the firm seems dedicated to meeting its ambitious target. If successful, their AD sites will produce enough electricity and gas to power more than 200,000 homes. What’s more, with the plants using organic waste to generate renewable energy, Tamar’s project is an effective waste management solution for local authorities. A renewables revolution – but is the backing there? Notwithstanding the role private firms have to play in driving a potential renewables revolution in the UK, government support for the sector remains crucial. With cutbacks on the agenda and austerity the theme of many a spending review, we’d be forgiven for concerns that clean energy firms may not get the backing they desire. Still, there are some promising signs. Greg Barker, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, recently told the Intersolar Conference in Germany that the UK “has a reformed, robust and fully-financed support framework for renewables, set all the way to 2020 and beyond”. In the latest Spending Review the Chancellor announced an extra £800 million worth of funding will be pumped into the Green Investment Bank. Finally, the Scottish government recently opted to introduce new subsidies designed to make it less expensive to develop offshore wind farms: the backing is there to provide carbon-neutral businesses with a platform to build. If the majority are dedicated to clean power and the UK continues to dedicate itself to renewables then the nation could well establish itself as a global giant in the green energy arena in the coming years. Imagine the economic benefits in store as the driver of that bandwagon. Jonathan Elliott is the MD of Make It Cheaper , which helps small businesses save money on energy and other bills. If you would like to get a quote on your energy needs, please call 0800 158 5265. Continue reading
RM Williams Agricultural Holdings Is Put Into Receivership
By Patrick Stafford Tuesday, 02 July 2013 RM Williams Agricultural Holdings, which spent several million dollars buying a cattle station in the Northern Territory back in 2007 as part of a plan to build the world’s largest carbon farm, has been placed in receivership. The company was founded and is run by former News director Ken Cowley and counts Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims as a shareholder – although Sims was trying to sell his stake as long ago as 2011 . The ACCC was contacted, but no reply was available prior to publication. PPB was appointed as receivers last week, at the behest of Westpac. Partner Steve Parbery said the investigation is still in its “early days”. The appointment comes as the company was attempting to build the world’s largest carbon farm – it actually won a $9 million grant from the federal government to do so. But the apparent failure of this project has sparked a warning from the Australian Farm Institute, which says the company’s situation raises questions about the government’s “Carbon Farming Initiative”. The CFI allows farmers and land managers to earn carbon credits by “storing” carbon or emissions in large areas of land. These credits can be sold to businesses wanting to offset their emissions. RM Williams Agricultural Holdings was created, in part, to take advantage of the CFI. The business bought the Henbury Station in the Northern Territory for several million dollars, and received a federal grant in order to build the world’s largest carbon farm. News Corporation put $30 million into RM Williams Agricultural Holdings back in 2009. Mick Keogh, executive director of the Australian Farming Institute, said it was never clear how the RM Williams project was ever intended to produce carbon credits. “We’ve just remained completely confounded about it and why the Commonwealth put millions of dollars into it.” “We’ve never been able to sort out exactly how the project, under the known rules, was able to make credits.” In a blog post on the AFI’s website , Keogh said the receivership should serve as a warning to any company involved with the Carbon Farming Initiative. He writes that “in the absence of considerably more clarity about carbon prices and future carbon trading rules”, the best option for landholders getting involved in a carbon project is to ensure the project structure transfers risk to the buyer of any carbon offsets generated. However, Keogh says it is unknown whether the company collapsed due to any issues regarding the structure of the carbon deal. “The fact that the Henbury project seems to have encountered difficulties should serve as a caution to landholders contemplating getting involved in a carbon project, but does not mean that the opportunities presented by the development of a carbon market should be completely ignored.” Parbery said it would be premature to determine whether RM Williams Agricultural Holdings had entered difficulties because of problems with the carbon farming plan. “The shareholders and directors having been going through a capital raising which was unsuccessful…at that stage they called in the bank to seek the appointment of receivers.” “Our role at the moment is to keep things operational, and to keep the subsidiary companies operational. We are investigating those businesses as we speak.” RM Williams Agricultural Holdings also owns the Labelle Downs and Welltree stations in the Northern Territory, and the Mirage Plains and Inglewood Farms stations in Queensland. The company is not related to its namesake fashion chain RM Williams, which was recently sold to Louis Vuitton . This article originally appeared on SmartCompany . Continue reading
BP, Shell Biofuel Investments Hit Seven-Year Low
July 9, 2013 Big oil companies in Europe including BP and Royal Dutch Shell have cut back on biofuel research , which will slow efforts to find a sustainable alternative to gasoline that does not involve food-based supply, Fuel Fix reports. BP and Shell have stopped funding four different projects because they say the technology to generate fuel from woody plants and waste will not be economically viable until 2020 or later. This funding cut brought biofuel investments from a high of $7.6 billion in the last quarter of 2007 to a low of $57 million for the first quarter of this year — the lowest it has been since 2006. Such reductions will make it unlikely that the US and the EU will meet their targets to wean people off of gasoline any time soon, Fuel Fix says. The International Energy Agency says biofuels must supply 27 percent of the fuel for vehicles by 2050 so the US and EU can meet climate change targets. So far, most of the 1.9 million barrels of biofuel produced daily comes from corn or sugar, which in turn has pushed corn prices up and led to food-versus-fuel worries that this will take away food supplies from the poor. Research into next-generation biofuels may open up opportunities to tap non-food sources like jatropha, switch grass and corn stalks, and waste sources like paper. But BP and Shell, both considered among the most open to alternative fuels, scuttled their programs because they found their technologies could not be scaled up to commercial production levels in an economical manner. However, BP says it will continue to work with DuPont on biobutanol and has jointly opened a $520 million wheat-to-ethanol plant in the UK. In a parallel situation in the US, Exxon and Chevron have also cut back on biofuel spending . Chevron explored 100 feedstocks for viability before it shelved plans, while Exxon invested $100 million on algae but could not find a commercially viable solution, Fuel Fix reports. Global biofuels output last year fell for the first time since 2000 due to weakness in the US, BP reported last month. In May, the EPA proposed changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard program that include new renewable fuel pathways aimed at enhancing the ability of the biofuels industry to supply advanced biofuels, including cellulosic biofuels, to the market. Cellulosic biofuels will likely remain well below targets set by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 , according to a February statement by the US Energy Information Administration. Continue reading
