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Some of the best known names in the renewable energy and oil sector have chosen to become sponsors of the UK’s premier showcase for the latest and future energy solutions – the Oil & Renewable Energy Show 2012, at Manchester Central in October. Dozens more are using the event to exhibit and demonstrate their cutting-edge technologies and services.
The Solar Trade Association has responded to the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Supreme Court Appeal.
Energy Minister Greg Barker has defended the Government’s legal move to appeal to the Supreme Court over the Feed-in Tariff fiasco.
The Government is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court later today (Tuesday 21 February 2012) against a High Court ruling that its plans to cut solar subsidy payments are illegal.
Energy Ministers have submitted their final appeal in an attempt to overturn a High Court ruling that cuts to the Feed-in Tariff were unlawful.
The Renewable Energy Association has welcomed an Energy and Climate Change Committee report acknowledging the potential of marine renewables, but questions the logic of it’s targets.
The new rate for solar PV under the government’s Feed-in Tariff scheme for existing and new installations has been increased by 2.1p to 45.4p.
Dimplex has dismissed rumours that DECC is planning to ‘rein in’ subsidies for heat pumps as part of the £860m Renewable Heat Incentive scheme, in order to avoid running into the type of financial troubles that have hit the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) in recent months.
UK policy and business leaders discuss low-carbon sector collaboration with North America
British government and business leaders discussed the economic and environmental benefits of the UK’s Green Deal – the no-cost-down program to retrofit 26 million British homes and businesses – during a Renewable Energy World 2012 conference panel. The panel focused on how government policies act as core drivers to develop a clean energy economy and spur global business opportunities.
The European renewable energy industry now maintains more than one million jobs as the latest official figures show employment figures in the sector have increased by a quarter in a year.
Rental income from wind farm developments increased by between 10 and 15 per cent throughout 2011, according to research by CKD Galbraith.
New Energy Secretary Ed Davey must announce steps to safeguard the 29,000 solar jobs currently threatened by disastrous Government proposals to reform the solar subsidy scheme when he publishes the results of a public consultation into the plans on Thursday (9 February), says Friends of the Earth.
Reacting to new energy secretary Ed Davey’s support for clean energy today, announced at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) testing facility for green homes near Watford, on his first ministerial visit since replacing Chris Huhne, Friends of the Earth’s, executive director, Andy Atkins said: “Ed Davey’s enthusiasm for renewable energy is encouraging – he now has a crucial opportunity to build a safe and affordable future for us all.
The UK’s new energy secretary, Ed Davey, has declared his brother’s close links to the energy industry with a client list that reads like a Who’s Who of the biggest players in the fossil fuel sector.
Commenting on Chris Huhne’s record as Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director Andy Atkins said:
“Chris Huhne has championed the environment in an administration that’s shown little enthusiasm for keeping David Cameron’s pledge to be the greenest Government ever.
“He should be commended for insisting on tougher climate targets and fighting for a Green Investment Bank – but his department’s incompetent handling of solar cuts has put 29,000 jobs at risk.
“Leaving consumers to compare energy tariffs as a way to tackle soaring bills is woefully inadequate. What we really need is decisive Government action to get us off the hook of expensive fossil fuels and invest in clean British energy instead.
“The new Energy Secretary must stand firm against George Osborne’s anti-green agenda and make the case that protecting our environment is a way to boost not hinder our economic recovery.”
Nick Storer, ceo for business support organisation Envirolink, has hit out at the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) over its plan to go to the Supreme Court following its recent legal defeat over the proposed timing of the reduction in the Feed-in Tariff (FiT). Speaking as a delegate at the Green Power Forum held at Salford University in January, Storer said that the solar PV industry would remain in a state of flux for as long as the prospect remained of an eventual government victory in the case.
“We are now in a very strange situation which is causing an enormous amount of uncertainty in the industry and I’ve had a lot of phone calls from people asking ‘what’s going on?’,” said Storer.
“If DECC do get leave to appeal in the Supreme Court, it could be in six months time which is not good. If they win, anyone who has taken the gamble of installing now will lose out. What we’ve got is a six month period of uncertainty.”
He added: “People felt that the principle of proving that the government broke the law (by reducing FiT before the end of the official consultation period) was important but, what would have been better was to give them a wrap on the knuckles but then leave the 21p rate. I think it will be the uncertainty which is really damaging and the government should be held to account for that.
“It’s doing no-one any good at the moment and we will have to see if DECC appeal. We are also getting closer to the 2015/16 period when the coal-fired power stations will be switched off and we will face power cuts and all they are doing is spreading uncertainty.”
Last week’s Appeal Court decision against DECC in the long-running dispute over solar subsidies has led to a surge in enquiries from companies asking whether they can pursue claims against DECC, according to law firm Osborne Clarke.
Miles Thomas, head of operations, Savills Energy says other technologies have been left out in the cold during the DECC FiT debacle
Speaking to Renewable Energy Installer, Thomas said: “A lot of hot air has been blown over in recent days over the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) ‘unlawful’ handling of its consultation on the Feed in Tariff (FiT) changes, but much of the debate has centred exclusively on the solar industry with other technologies, such as small-scale wind and AD being left out in the cold.
With the Renewable Heat Incentive set to come into play in October this year, the RHI Premium Payment scheme is now available to those wishing to take advantage of the scheme in the interim period, Neil Schofield, head of external and governmental affairs at Worcester, Bosch Group, gives an insight into how the scheme can be accessed, as well as the advantages it offers to those with an eye on renewable technologies.
The halving of the Feed-in Tariff does not mean the sun going down on solar PV, argues Mark Elliott of Energeno.
It was Harold McMillan who coined the phrase: ‘You’ve never had it so good’ in relation to full employment during the 1960s. Putting aside the scare stories of the potential solar PV job losses as a result of the recent government announcement on Feed-in Tariff (FiTs) levels, you could have used the same adage for the very generous subsidies that have been on offer up until now.
Solar thermal systems are now regarded as a key part of the microgeneration market. No longer is it a niche offering – it is now established and very much accepted throughout the heating and hot water industry. Contractors must now look towards complete, integrated systems and adopting a one-stop shop approach to gain the greatest rewards from solar heating, as revealed by the recent EST field trial findings, says Pippa Wibberley, Glow-worm.
Noel Shapton, Hydratech, provides a review of high performance fluids for solar thermal installations whilst conveying some facts and dispelling a few myths associated with solar fluids.
The Cotswold Energy Efficient Centre (CEEC), has been installing renewable energy systems throughout Gloucestershire for over five years. The company boasts an impressive showroom and having picked up five national renewables awards in five years, really does know its stuff. The company’s Andy Buchan outlines the merits of solar thermal.