Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on 23/02/20.
News: Heat Pump Federation calls for “consistency of policy” amidst reports of early Green Homes Grant closure – Current News
22 February 2021, Alice Grundy. The Heat Pump Federation is urging for “consistency of policy” as the impact on installers is highlighted:
Article: Fuel for world’s largest fusion reactor ITER is set for test run – Nature.com
22 February 2021, Elizabeth Gibney. Nuclear fusion experiments with deuterium and tritium at the Joint European Torus are a crucial dress rehearsal for the mega-experiment:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00408-1
List: List of all electricity licensees including suppliers – Ofgem
22 February 2021. This page contains an up-to-date list of all electricity licensees (including all electricity suppliers):
List of all electricity licensees including suppliers
Collection: Green Homes Grant statistics – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
18 February 2021. Data to monitor the installation of energy efficiency measures in domestic properties via the Green Homes Grant scheme, launched in 2020:
Article: Are hydrogen-fuelled vehicles a waste of our time and energy? – Engineering & Technology
17 February 2021, David B Watson. The arguments in favour of using hydrogen as an energy source – the most abundant gas in the universe, releasing only water upon combustion – appear persuasive. They weaken, however, under closer engineering examination:
Are hydrogen-fuelled vehicles a waste of our time and energy?
News: Utilities call for gas’ ‘thumb to be taken off the scale’ with changes to levies – Current News
17 February 2021, Molly Lempriere. Utilities have called for changes to “outdated” gas and electricity levies in a bid to decrease costs of electrified heating and save the poorest households more than £100 a year:
Utilities call for gas’ ‘thumb to be taken off the scale’ with changes to levies
Research briefing: Energy bills and tariff caps – House of Commons
17 February 2021. This Library briefing paper provides a summary of the UK energy market, a breakdown of the components of energy bills, and details of concerns and reforms in the market, including the tariff cap:
News: Climate change: Don’t raid home insulation scheme, MPs urge ministers – BBC News Online
17 February 2021, Roger Harrabin. MPs are complaining that the Treasury is set to claw back money from a mismanaged government scheme to help people insulate their homes:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56089468
News: Government eyes up options for EV charging regulation in new consultation – Current News
15 February 2021, Alice Grundy. The government is launching a new consultation on electric vehicle (EV) charging, focusing on improving the consumer experience through four key areas:
Government eyes up options for EV charging regulation in new consultation
News: Energy White Paper – what does it mean for 2021? – International Law Office
15 February 2021, Munir Hassan, Louise Dalton & Dali Majumder-Russell. The much-anticipated Energy White Paper was published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“BEIS“) on 14 December 2020, setting out its strategy for the UK’s energy transition over the next decade. The Energy White Paper focuses on strategy in six key areas: consumers, power, the energy system, buildings, industrial energy and oil & gas:
News: First UK homes with hydrogen boilers and hobs to be built by April – Guardian Online
16 February 2021, Jillian Ambrose. Government says two properties in Gateshead will offer public a glimpse of the ‘potential home of the future’:
News: Coventry to seek planning permission for electric car battery ‘gigafactory’ – Guardian Online
16 February 2021, Jasper Jolly. Council identifies site near city’s airport and hopes production will start by 2025:
News: Boris Johnson faces pressure from his own Tory MPs to close net-zero ‘policy gaps’ – Edie.net
15 February 2021. More than two dozen Conservative MPs have committed to championing green policies and solutions that will help the UK meet its net-zero target in Parliament, amid concerns that major policy gaps remain:
Boris Johnson faces pressure from his own Tory MPs to close net-zero ‘policy gaps’
News: Energy Company Obligation annual spend to rise to £1bn – Current News
12 February 2021, Edith Hancock. The UK government has announced plans to increase spending on its Energy Company Obligation (ECO) to £1 billion per year until 2026 with the aim of increasing energy efficiency for low income and vulnerable households:
Energy Company Obligation annual spend to rise to £1bn
Policy paper: Sustainable warmth: protecting vulnerable households in England – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
11 February 2021. This strategy is designed to ensure that people in fuel poverty have access to affordable, low-carbon warmth as we transition to net zero and work toward our fuel poverty target:
News: Batteries could save £195m annually by providing Reserve finds National Grid ESO trial – Current News
11 February 2021, Molly Lempriere. Using batteries for reserve could save £195 million a year, according to the results of an Arenko led National Grid ESO trial:
Batteries could save £195m annually by providing Reserve finds National Grid ESO trial
Report: Environmental tax measures – National Audit Office
12 February 2021. NAO Report on Environmental tax measures covering Climate Change Levy; Carbon Price Support; Landfill Tax; and Aggregates Levy:
https://www.nao.org.uk/report/environmental-tax-measures/
News: Hundreds of millions in green grants for English homes pulled despite delays – Guardian Online
10 February 2021, Sandra Laville. 95% of £1.5bn set aside to improve houses unspent due to slowness in making grants and paying installers:
News: Whitehaven coal mine plan to be re-examined by council – BBC News Online
9 February 2021, Roger Harrabin. Plans for a controversial coking coal mine in Cumbria have been suspended by the county council:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-56001458
News: UK’s energy storage pipeline passes 16GW – Edie.net
10 February 2021. The UK has more than 16GW of battery storage capacity planned across more than 700 projects, with the technology emerging as a key enabler of the net-zero target, new research has revealed:
UK’s energy storage pipeline passes 16GW
Open consultation: Carbon capture, usage and storage: market engagement on cluster sequencing – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
10 February 2021. A consultation seeking the views and expertise of stakeholders on a potential approach to CCUS cluster sequencing:
Carbon capture, usage and storage: market engagement on cluster sequencing
Letter: Open letter on the Energy Network Association Green Recovery Scheme – Ofgem
8 February 2021. This open letter welcomes the launch of the Energy Network Association (ENA) Green Recovery Scheme and provides an overview of how it will work:
Open letter on the Energy Network Association Green Recovery Scheme
News: Drax agrees multimillion-pound deal for wood pellet supplier – Insider Media
8 February 2021, Stephen Farrell. Energy company and power station operator Drax Group has agreed a multimillion-pound deal to acquire a Canada-based supplier of wood pellets:
Drax agrees multimillion-pound deal for wood pellet supplier
News: High-density pumped hydro ‘could be installed on thousands of small hills’ – Institute of Mechanical Engineers
8 February 2021. Thousands of hillsides around the UK could host a new type of pumped-hydro energy storage system, its developers have claimed:
High-density pumped hydro ‘could be installed on thousands of small hills’
News: Green Homes Grant: Government admits that meeting 600,000 homes target could take a decade – Edie.net
9 February 2021. When the Government launched its Green Homes Grant last year, it aimed to improve energy efficiency for 600,000 homes. But a BEIS minister has admitted that just 20,000 vouchers have been issued to date:
Green Homes Grant: Government admits that meeting 600,000 homes target could take a decade