UK's renewable energy award winners announced

via clickgreen.org.uk

RenewableUK, the trade and professional body representing the wind, wave and tidal energy industries, has announced the winners of the association's inaugural Energy Awards.

More than three-hundred guests, including business leaders and politicians, attended the awards ceremony in London last night.

Maria McCaffery, Chief Executive said: “We created these awards to recognise and celebrate excellence in the wind and marine energy industries. The extraordinarily high calibre of the winners, and indeed of all those nominated, shows there is a great deal to celebrate.

IKEA To Use 100% #Renewable Energy In Sweden With Addition Of Wind Farm

via revmodo.com

International home furnishing retail giant IKEA wants to use only energy generated by renewable sources for its operations and has recently made a move towards meeting this goal with the installation of 30 wind turbines in Härjedalen, Sweden.

Named the Glötesvålen Wind Farm because it is sited over 3,300 feet up on Glötesvålen mountain, construction will begin this summer and is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2014. Sweden-based O2 Vind AB is the developer and manager of the wind farm and has ordered the 30 turbines needed for the project from Danish manufacturer Vestas. At full capacity it will generate 90-MW of electricity each year, supplying enough power for the needs of 48,000 average-sized homes, and will reduce the company’s CO2 emissions by 176,000 tonnes.

“At IKEA, we want to take a leading role in the transition to a low-carbon society by only using 100 percent renewable energy in our global operations. By only using wind power in Sweden, it is an exciting and important step toward reaching that goal. We will not only be self-sufficient in electricity in Sweden, generating enough to supply all IKEA buildings and operations in the country, but it will give us opportunities to supply IKEA stores in other countries with wind power,” said Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Group.

Video - Poultry power: Turning chicken manure to #energy

via bbc.co.uk

China may be the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, but it is also a pioneer in the development of green technology.

Martin Patience has visited a chicken farm on the outskirts of Beijing where the birds' manure is being used to create energy.

The Npower The Market Report June 27th

Watch npower’s Magali Hodgson as she brings you the latest power market news.

And check out our latest energy report:

http://www.catalyst-commercial.co.uk/blog/latest-news/energy-market-report-ju...

 

Generate Electricity From Walking

via catalyst-commercial.co.uk

When it comes to movement, we’re more used to expending energy than generating it. Petrol for cars, fuel for planes – even food for our bodies before and after exercise. However, researchers in the UK have designed a new device that could allow the humble act of walking to change the way we think about energy on the move and generate electricity from walking.

By placing a device – similar to a low-profile knee brace – around a person’s knee, researchers are able to harness the movement of the leg whilst performing everyday activities to create energy.

Comprised of two ring-like structures, placed one inside the other, as the knee bends the innermost ring rotates. This rotation plucks at small plectra in the channel of the outer ring, causing them to vibrate. This vibration then uses the piezoelectric effect to generate electricity.

At present, the British research team are currently only capable of producing around 2mw of energy from this new device, they are confident that with further experimentation this could be pushed up to around 30mw.

http://www.catalyst-commercial.co.uk/blog/latest-news/generate-electricity-by...

CBI calls for carbon tax to be scrapped

via accountancylive.com

he Confederation of British Industry is calling on the government to scrap its Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) and remove the number of environmental taxes, that is restricting business growth.

The business group carried out a survey of its members and found that the majority believe environmental taxes can help stimulate business, with the Landfill Tax and Vehicle Excise Duty both well regarded, but that there were now too many.

With just four such taxes in 1989, to 12 existing today, raising a combined £43.4bn in tax revenue in 2010/11.

The CRC was a tax particularly disliked, with businesses considering it over-complicated and considered as “a cost of doing business in the UK”. Rhian Kelly, CBI director for business environment policy, said: ‘The current uncoordinated approach to environmental taxes is not working for business. An independent review of environmental taxes has become an urgent priority. With a more joined-up approach, environmental taxes could provide certainty for businesses, unlock investment, and reduce the impact on the environment without damaging UK competitiveness.’

Economic benefits from UK nuclear plans

via world-nuclear-news.org

A report for EDF Energy has put some figures on the benefits to the UK economy that could flow from the company's plans for new nuclear power plants.

The report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) takes the UK's longstanding lack of infrastructure investment as its starting point. It notes that public and private investment in British roads, rails and power plants has lagged behind that of many similar countries in recent decades. This longstanding issue has combined with the planned retirements of 12 GWe of fossil and 7.1 GWe of old nuclear power plants by 2020 to mean the country faces a potential power generation shortfall.

At the same time, climate change concerns have led British politicians to put in place a target of 80% cuts in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. The target is virtually unachievable without the decarbonisation of the electricity sector by 2030, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).