The quango cull was announced today. Quick headlines: HCA – “Retain and substantially reform – smaller enabling and investment body working for local communities. Intend to devolve London functions to Mayor of London. Taking on regulation of social housing.” Renewables Advisory Board – abolished Sustainable Development Commission- under consideration Committee on Climate Change – retained [...]
Archive for the ‘climate change’ Category
quango cull – blow to HCA and others
Posted in climate change, renewable energy, tagged quango on October 14, 2010 | 1 Comment »
grid carbon will stay high for some time yet
Posted in climate change, heat pumps, renewable energy, sustainability, zero carbon on August 17, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Infuriatingly, it looks like the government may mothball the Environmental Performance Standard, which would have limited emissions from new large power stations. This is despite the fact that both the Conservatives and Libdems championed the policy while in opposition. As a result it’s likely that emissions from grid electricity will stay high for quite some [...]
what rate of return can I get from the PV feed in tariff?
Posted in climate change, consumerism, feed in tariff, PV, renewable energy, uncategorized, tagged DECC on April 25, 2010 | 10 Comments »
It’s taken longer than I’d hoped, but here we go:
tax ‘em all and let the market sort it out
Posted in climate change, feed in tariff, PAYS, renewable energy, renewable heat incentive, utilities, zero carbon, tagged carbon tax on March 9, 2010 | 7 Comments »
The proper way to slash carbon emissions is to tax carbon at the point of fuel extraction and let the market sort the problem out. But because there’s no political appetite for carbon tax, we end up tinkering at the margins trying to address the emissions problem in tortuous and esoteric ways. Here’s a list [...]
biodiesel backlash began yesterday in Bristol
Posted in biofuel, chp, climate change, energy, engineering, renewable energy, sustainability, zero carbon, tagged biodiesel on February 25, 2010 | 6 Comments »
Sure, biodiesel is considered “renewable” in the upcoming building regs. But that won’t stop the backlash against developers who use it. Yesterday a biodiesel generation plant proposed for Avonmouth near Bristol was rejected 6-2 in planning committee on the grounds of its impact on rainforests on the other side of the globe. Of the 1,121 [...]
two roads to solving the refurb crisis – part 2
Posted in climate change, energy, engineering, ESCO, PAYS, renewable energy, sustainability, utilities, zero carbon, tagged CLG, DECC, Supplier Obligation, UKGBC on February 22, 2010 | 6 Comments »
In Whitehall, advocates of PAYS and an expanded suppliers obligation are clashing over which mechanism should be used to refurb existing housing. This is the second post of two. If you missed it, read the first part here. Here’s a quick summary of the two mechanisms:
two roads to solving the refurb crisis – part 1
Posted in climate change, Code for Sustainable Homes, energy, engineering, ESCO, passivhaus, PAYS, renewable energy, sustainability, utilities, zero carbon, tagged CLG, DECC, HEMS, HESS, Supplier Obligation on February 14, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Hitting the 80% carbon reduction by 2050 has huge implications (and costs) for the residential sector. Two strategies are emerging for dealing with these costs, each with its own potentially severe side effects.
FiT as pants as expected – but holy smokes look at that RHI!
Posted in biofuel, biomass, chp, climate change, energy, engineering, feed in tariff, renewable energy, renewable heat incentive on February 1, 2010 | 6 Comments »
DECC have announced the final FiT levels in advance of the incentive coming in in April. Having had a number of disheartening conversations with policy makers over the last few months, the FiT levels are no surprise. No one in government seemed to mind that the FiT would be a subsidy for middle class greenies [...]
gov’t to ministers: don’t mention peak oil
Posted in agriculture, climate change, consumerism, tagged Ed Miliband, Hilary Benn, peak oil, The Future of Food on August 18, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I’ve just finished watching the first of three episodes of The Future of Food on iplayer. In it there’s a fascinating interview with Hilary Benn, secretary of state for DEFRA. Fascinating not because of what he says, but what he doesn’t say. On this programme about the upcoming global food shortages (mainly due to fuel [...]
planning reports may be ticking time bombs
Posted in biomass, chp, climate change, Code for Sustainable Homes, energy, engineering, london, private wire, renewable energy, SAP, sustainability, zero carbon, tagged Merton Rule on August 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »
For consultants, energy reports for planning are fantastic: a bit of SAP, a few benchmarks, some spreadsheet magic, and hey presto you’re sending an invoice. But the contents of the energy report can have huge implications, in some cases committing the scheme to commercially or legally impossible strategies, causing delays and increasing costs later in [...]
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