The UK's community energy sector was badly hit by the financial regulator's sudden decision this summer to disallow renewable energy co-operatives, writes Tammy Calvert. A consultation on the topic ends tomorrow, Friday - so get your views in quickly while you can!
… financial regulator's sudden decision this summer to disallow renewable energy … companies limited by shares. But last summer the Financial Conduct Authority …
As nuclear projects using the EPR design run into long delays and huge costs overruns, industry hopes are pinned on the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor, writes Chris Goodall. But with eight AP1000 projects around the world going the way of the EPR, is it really a wise choice for the UK's Moorside nuclear site?
… Vogtle', two AP1000s) and South Carolina ('Summer', two AP1000s). I focus here on the … three-year delays have also happened at Summer in South Carolina, where serious cost … these: How many of the problems at Vogtle, Summer and elsewhere are inherent to the …
The Apollo Programme proposed this week to make renewable energy cheaper than coal through technological advances is welcome, writes James Dyke. But the real problems are political, not technological. Unless we back the Apollo vision by challenging the power of fossil fuel companies, it can never succeed.
… in Seattle, before heading north in the summer to start developing new fields in the … temperatures in the Arctic and so reduced summer ice, which makes it easier to drill for …
Tolkien's Universe is one that reflects our own, writes Richard Gunderman - and has come to resemble it all the more as industrialism, militarism and an unjust economic order have come to dominate the world and enslave its peoples. It's time to follow the Way of the Hobbit.
… I remember him laboring away at our home one summer, transforming our screened-in porch …
A new report by accountancy giant EY says the UK's Conservative government has sentenced renewable energy sector to 'death by a thousand cuts', writes Emma Howard, and left investors puzzled at inexplicable policy changes.
… collapsed because of policy changes over the summer. An EY energy analyst said that …
Prospects for a global climate deal under the UN are receding fast, writes Assaad Razzouk, as the Green Climate Fund is short-changed by donor nations. But there's still plenty to hope for with a private sector that's stepping up to the mark, and fast-growing decentralised climate action.
… has been in a beehive of activity all summer as government officials, corporate …
A small fishing community in Mexico's Baja California is playing involuntary host to a gigantic tourism and real estate development, writes Viviane Mahieux. And while the branding of the Tres Santos resort is all about mindfulness, ecology and sustainability, the reality is one of big money, high level politics, and the unaccountable deployment of state violence against those who dare oppose it.
… change and an unusual ground swell during the summer months were to blame for the erosion of … Yet the picture must have been taken over the summer of 2015, before the sea wall built by …
Two innovative renewable energy projects are moving forward in Scotland: Britain's first tidal power array, and the world's first deployment of two-bladed wind offshore turbines. The experimental technologies are hoped to achieve significant cost savings and unlock a huge offshore energy resource.
… range projects. New seabed rights agreed this summer include: Six new wave and tidal current …
Detroit is shutting off water to 40% of residents to prepare the water system for a corporate buyout, writes Justin Wedes. Residents are organizing to resist the water shuttoffs, anti-democratic rule and the demands of Wall Street - but they need our help!
… pure rage, a rage that is simmering with the summer heat and the threat of over 100,000 …
UNESCO's Lake Ohrid-Prespa Biosphere Reserve at Mount Galicica, Macedonia, is at risk from a raft of aggressive developments, write Elena Nikolovska & Daniel Scarry: tourism complexes, a new expressway and ski resort all threaten its tranquility and stunning diversity of wildlife, backed by loans from the EU's taxpayer-funded Bank, the EBRD.
… Park too. Its softened climate cools harsh summers, and cozies bitter winters. Weather … of mountain species to lake water in dry summer months; cut off their vertical …
There's one big thing that Britain's biggest banks could do to reclaim their grievously impaired reputations, writes Greig Aitken: commit to stop investing in coal projects. As well as reducing climate change and local environmental impacts, it would also 'de-risk' their balance sheets as the global tide, from the US to China, turns against the dirty, carbon-heavy fuel.
… struggle against global climate change. This summer, with the collaboration so far of …
A partnership between an Oxford-based social enterprise and the local Council provides a blueprint for financing community energy projects, writes Wendy Twist. And with £2.3 million in the bank, things are really starting to move ...
… projects being installed over the upcoming summer holidays. The way it works is that Low …
The UK government kicked away one of the main financial supports for renewable energy in yesterday's budget. The surprise move will cost the sector £3.9 billion over the next five years and undermines any prospect of the country meeting its EU renewable energy targets.
… on 1st August and will continue over the summer. According to an HMRC briefing note: …
Earthship Brighton, an award-winning off-grid community centre set in an organic farm within the South Downs National Park, has hosted hundreds of events and inspired tens of thousands of visitors over the last decade, writes Phil Moore, demonstrating green technologies and energy-efficient living. But now it's in need of a refit.
… rest of the tyre walls were built over the summer, and the shell of the Earthship was …
Greece is Europe's sandbox for the neoliberal free-for-all to follow if the EU and the US sign off on the TTIP trade and investment treaty, writes Pavlos Georgiadis. The termination of public services, the cut-price sell-off of public assets, the dismantling of environmental protection, the democratic closedown, the rule of corporations and finance capital ... all coming your way soon.
… Illegal beach constructions for seasonal summer business are just one example of how …
Soon EDF will have to start the biggest, most complex and costliest nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management programme on earth, writes Paul Dorfman. But whereas Germany has set aside €38 billion to decommission 17 nuclear reactors, France has set aside only €23 billion to decommission its 58 reactors. When the real costs come in, they could easily bankrupt the company.
… the spent fuel at nuclear sites during dry summer periods, with all that means for …
French energy giant EDF will today give the formal go-ahead for the Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset, writes Chris Goodall. But that's no reason for the UK to sign up to a disastrous deal that will cost us over £1 billion per year for 35 years - money that should be used to support the green technologies of the future.
… for electricity falls as low as 19 GW in summer compared to the 55 GW of renewables. So …
The French and the Chinese may be celebrating the UK's decision to press ahead with the Hinkley C 'nuclear white elephant', writes Oliver Tickell. But the deal is a disaster for the UK, committing us to overpriced power for decades to come, and to a dirty, dangerous, insecure dead end technology. Just one silver lining: major economic, legal and technical hurdles mean it still may never be built.
… is unlikely to be the grand finale to this summer's political soap opera" , said …
The high oil prices that turned North Dakota into a boom state have turned, writes Joshua Frank. Now high-cost oil and gas are in the doldrums everywhere, production is falling - and even if prices do pick up one day, risk aversion and the relentless advance of renewables will leave lakes of oil and caverns of gas underground where they belong. Folks, the oil party really is over!
… to frack, they won't do it. Over this past summer, fracking across the country took a …