UK Public Support For Renewable Energy Remains At All-Time High

The latest Public Attitudes Tracking Survey conducted by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published this week reveals that public support for renewable energy remains hovering around an all time high.

This is the 21st wave of the UK Government’s Public Attitudes Tracking Survey, first conducted in March of 2012. Over that time, overall support for renewable energy has hovered around the 80% mark, starting out at 79% in March, 2012, and returning to 79% in this latest wave, conducted over 29 March to 2 April 2017, using face-to-face in-home interviews with a representative sample of 2,180 households. More specifically, 32% of respondents ‘Strongly support’ renewable energy, and an impressive 47% of people ‘Support’ it. Only 4% of respondents said they ‘Opposed’ or ‘Strongly Opposed’ it.

Landmark Change for Renewable Gas Markets in the UK

Renewable gas holds a nascent status in the UK, but a recent change in rules for reporting greenhouse gas emissions may provide a promising route for its expansion via enabling large consumers to demonstrate reduction in their carbon footprints by using biomethane.

The development is expected to facilitate and incentivize expansion of the UK market for biomethane — a renewable gas produced through the anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic waste and sometimes referred to as green gas.

Solar Panels Surpass Coal-Fired Electricity in Previously ‘Unthinkable’ Feat in the UK

For six months until September, more electricity came from sunlight than coal-fired power stations

Solar panels generated more electricity than coal in the past six months in a historic year for getting energy from the sun in the UK, according to a new analysis.

Research by the Carbon Brief website found that solar generated nearly 7,000 gigawatt hours of electricity between April and September, about 10 per cent more than the 6,300GwH produced by coal during the same period.

The figures represent a dramatic turnaround in the UK’s electricity supplies.

Attractiveness of UK for Renewable Energy Investors Plummets

According to a new report by Ernst & Young (EY), interest in the UK with regard to investment in renewable energy has fallen to an all time low.

In the mid-2000s, the UK often topped the league for renewable energy investment but it has now fallen to 13thplace in EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI). The reasons for this fall in interest are depressingly clear, including political hostility to clean energy and environmental action, slashing of clean energy subsidies by central government in favour of tax breaks for North Sea oil, nuclear power and shale gas. The report concludes that as a result, investment worth tens of billions per year in clean energy projects will be lost to the UK.

UK: The Observer View on the Tory Renewable Energy Policy

The Conservative party has spent much time mocking Labour for being out of touch on business issues, particularly Jeremy Corbyn’s support for rail and possibly energy nationalisation.

But George Osborne seems much more at home tickling the tummies of huge, state-owned companies in China and France, especially with regard to nuclear power, than tending his domestic, private-sector firms. While the chancellor was out wooing on a recent trip to Beijing, he seemed blissfully unaware that subsidy cuts to the UK’s growing army of small and medium-size “green” companies have been causing havoc.

Energy Bill Receives Royal Assent

The UK government’s flagship Energy Bill became law today, enshrining in statute a raft of new powers intended to reform the energy market.

The Bill received Royal Assent in the House of Lords this morning and will become the Energy Act 2013 when signed off by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II later today.

Decarbonisation Target Narrowly Defeated in British Commons Energy Bill Vote

A bid to include a target to decarbonise the UK's electricity generation by 2030 was narrowly defeated in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, to the dismay of green campaigners and businesses that had backed the goal as a way of stimulating investment in renewables and low-carbon energy.

The amendment to the energy bill, proposed by the former Tory minister Tim Yeo, was voted down by 290 votes to 267, though several Tories and Lib Dems backed the measure against the coalition's line. It was one of the narrowest victories for the government in a whipped vote during this parliament.

U.K. Says Energy Law to Bring ‘Massive’ Cut in Pollution

Energy Secretary Ed Davey urged lawmakers to back away from immediately imposing targets for carbon emission from U.K. power plants, saying legislation being considered now will make a “massive” reduction. 

His department estimated the law being considered in Parliament tomorrow will stimulate 110 billion pounds ($168 billion) of investment in power stations and the electric grid. It includes guaranteed power prices for atomic reactors and wind farms and payments for gas plants that remain available to smooth peaks and troughs of intermittent renewable generation. 

Wind power still gets lower public subsidies than fossil fuel tax breaks

Public subsidies for the development of wind power in the UK are dwarfed by the tax breaks enjoyed by fossil fuels, a new Guardian analysis has revealed. Financial support for fledgling renewable energy industries has increasingly come under attack in recent months, but the new data shows that the older industries benefit to a far greater extent.

Gas, oil and coal prices were subsidised by £3.63bn in 2010, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , whereas offshore and onshore wind received £0.7bn in the year from April 2010. All renewables in the UK benefited from £1.4bn over the same period, according to data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc).

UK: New planning policy afoot at district council

A NEW planning policy to determine how East Lindsey District Council’s planning officers approach wind turbine developments is being developed.

The council is updating the local plan and a renewable energy policy will form part of a final document that will be subject to public consultation and scrutiny by the Government’s planning inspectorate.

UK: Renewables policy overhaul promises “clean, green, secure energy”

The government has today unveiled long-awaited changes to the UK's renewable energy subsidy regime, proposing new support levels for a raft of clean energy technologies, and setting out plans on how it aims to reduce subsidies over time.