Court of Appeal verdict: Government acted unlawfully cutting feed-in tariffs

Posted on 25/01/2012 by Glenn

Three Court of Appeal judges this morning upheld the original decision that the government had acted unlawfully in proposing cuts to feed-in tariffs for solar installations completed after December 12 last year, on the grounds the consultation on the proposed changes to the scheme did not close until December 23.

The ruling was celebrated by the solar industry, which has consistently argued that ministers should not be allowed to impose “retrospective” changes to the feed-in tariff incentive scheme.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said:

“The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court ruling on FITs albeit on different grounds. We disagree and are seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

“We have already put before Parliament changes to the regulations that will bring a 21p rate into effect from April for solar pv installations from 3 March to help reduce the pressure on the budget and provide as much certainty as we can for consumers and industry.

“We want to maximise the number of installations that are possible within the available budget rather than use available money to pay a higher tariff to half the number of installations. Solar PV can have strong and vibrant future in UK and we want a lasting FITs scheme to support that future and jobs in the industry.

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U.K. Had Second-Warmest Year on Record in 2011

Posted on 01/01/2012 by Glenn

2011 is poised to be the second warmest on record for the U.K., the Met Office said.

“This year marks a return to a trend of warmer than average annual temperatures. All the U.K.’s top seven warmest years happened in the last decade.”

Before 2011, the second warmest year in the nationwide temperature series was 2007.

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Durban climate change: last minute talks produce ‘historic deal to save the planet’

Posted on 11/12/2011 by Glenn

Climate change talks have been rescued from the brink of collapse by a last minute “huddle” between the EU and India to create an “historic deal to save the planet”.

The United Nations (UN) summit in Durban, South Africa looked certain to fail after India threatened to walk out. The emerging superpower was protesting against EU plans to force all countries to cut carbon emissions as part of a legally binding treaty.

As the talks overran into the second night it looked like exhausted delegates would have to give up and go home empty-handed. But in a highly unusual form of on-the-hoof diplomacy, the warring female ministers were forced to go into a public ‘huddle’ to find a resolution. The so called “10 minutes to save the world” resulted in a form of words both parties could live with and relieved applause from the other 190 countries present.

The new deal means that for the first time every county in the world is committed to cutting carbon – although the legal wording remains vague and the treaty will not come into force until 2020.

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NHS Blood and Transplant awarded the Carbon Saver Gold Standard

Posted on 09/12/2011 by Glenn

NHS Blood and Transplant has been awarded the Carbon Saver Gold Standard after taking action on climate change by measuring, managing and reducing carbon emissions across its organisation.

During the assessment process NHS Blood and Transplant was praised for having good processes in place to collect and substantiate carbon data. This enables efficient energy management. They worked with Carbon Saver Ltd to calculate their carbon footprint, measure the progress of their carbon management strategies, and examine their areas of risk. NHS Blood and Transplant have been investing in projects to reduce their emissions and upgrade buildings. Some of the projects implemented include; condensing boilers, plate heat exchangers, thermal insulation, BMS upgrades and energy efficient lighting.

Glenn Wilkinson, Managing Director of Carbon Saver Ltd, said,
“We are elated that NHS Blood and Transplant achieved the Carbon Saver Gold Standard. They are clearly taking climate change seriously.”

Rob Bradburn, Finance Director at NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), said:
“We were delighted to work with Carbon Saver and gain their Gold Standard accreditation. This demonstrates a real commitment from NHS Blood and Transplant to continually reduce its impact on the environment.”

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Latest Statistics – Gas prices up 32%, Oil up 22% and Electricity 8%

Posted on 24/11/2011 by Glenn

  • Compared to Q2 2010, heavy fuel oil consumers in Q2 2011 have seen prices rise by an average of 22 per cent in cash terms.
  • Electricity consumers generally saw prices, excluding CCL, rise between Q2 1010 and Q2 2011 by an average of 8 percent.
  • Gas consumers saw average prices, excluding CCL, increase between Q2 2010 and Q2 2011 by 32 percent

UK Government Latest Energy Price Statistics

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Salford City Council awarded the Carbon Saver Gold Standard

Posted on 22/11/2011 by Glenn

Salford City Council has been awarded the Carbon Saver Gold Standard after measuring, managing and reducing carbon emissions across the organisation.

During the assessment process Salford City Council was praised for having good processes in place to collect and substantiate carbon data. This enables efficient energy management. They worked with Carbon Saver Ltd to calculate their carbon footprint, measure the progress of their carbon management strategies, and examine their areas of risk. Salford City Council have invested in AMR, voltage optimisation, lighting upgrades and heating controls to help monitor, manage and reduce their carbon emissions.

Glenn Wilkinson, Managing Director of Carbon Saver Ltd, said

“We are really happy that Salford City Council achieved the Carbon Saver Gold Standard. We were impressed with the strong and positive relationship between site personnel and the energy management team.”

Majid Maqbool, Energy Manager at Salford City Council said

“It was always our intention to achieve energy accreditation in order to meet the early action metrics requirement for the CRC and having looked at all the accreditation bodies, we felt that the Carbon Saver was offering the most at a very competitive price. The whole certification process from initial meetings to individual site visits was carried out in a smooth and professional manner. Achievement of the Carbon Saver Gold Standard confirms that the effort and investment made by Salford’s Energy Management Team in reducing the City’s carbon footprint has been worthwhile and will help in achieving a good position in the CRC performance league table.”

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Are you risking your brand reputation?

Posted on 21/11/2011 by Glenn

Is the ‘green’ reputation of your brand at risk from bad press on your CRC League Table Position. This weekends Scotsman shows no sector escapes media scrutiny:

THE Scottish Government is languishing in the bottom half of a league table ranking the energy-efficient practices of major organisations in the UK.

Despite continuous efforts to promote its green credentials, the Scottish Government building estate is at position 1,153 in the list of about 2,000 organisations.

Its poor performance came to light as environment minister Stewart Stevenson announced he would be speaking at a major climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, later this month to urge world leaders to “share Scotland’s ambition to intensify the battle against climate change”.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth Scotland described the government’s ranking as “embarrassing”.

Stan Blackley, chief executive of FoE Scotland, said: “How embarrassing to find Scottish ministers languishing very low down this list. This goes to show, once again, that they’re very good at promoting themselves as green, but the reality is very different and many of our ministers are all talk and no action.”

A number of local authorities and public bodies in Scotland performed even worse than the Scottish Government, coming joint bottom of the pile.

They included Edinburgh and Dundee city councils, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Borders and NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Businesses at equal bottom place included Highlands and Islands airports, Scottish & Newcastle, Scottish Sea Farms, Jurys Inn, Vue Entertainment Investment and Bannatyne Fitness.

Read full article The Scotsman

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Japan’s CO2 emissions rose 4.4% last year

Posted on 21/11/2011 by Glenn

Japan’s emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fuel rose 4.4 percent in the year that ended in March from the previous year to 1.122 billion tonnes, the trade ministry said Friday, as a recovery in the economy and an unusually hot summer boosted the use of energy.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami had only a minor impact on the year’s CO2 emissions. But radiation leaks from the Fukushima nuclear power plant wrecked in the disaster cast a shadow over emission cut plans, which relied heavily on nuclear power.

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Carbon emissions increase higher than UN worst case scenario

Posted on 04/11/2011 by Glenn

Greenhouse gases have leapt to their highest level ever, breaching a worst-case scenario outlined by climate experts four years ago, and heaping pressure on businesses and governments to get to grips with runaway emissions.

Figures from the US Department of Energy show that world output of CO2 rose six per cent – or 512 million metric tonnes – from 2009 to 2010, which represents a total only slightly lower than the individual emissions of China, India or the US.

The figures put global emissions higher than the worst case projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007, which forecast that global temperatures would increase between 2.4ºC and 6.4ºC by the end of the century, with 4ºC being the best estimate.

download data

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BASF Top Emission Reporting League Table

Posted on 02/11/2011 by Glenn

New ranking system for world’s top 1,300 companies finds less than half are reporting full emissions data.

German chemicals giant BASF has come top of a global rankings index measuring the standard of public emissions reporting across the globe.

The study also revealed well over half of companies are filing incomplete data or are guilty of providing no public emissions figures.

Emissions Reporting League Table

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