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The ban on onshore wind has NOT been lifted

There’s unlikely to be any extra windfarms approved in England as a result of the recent changes announced by the Government.

Despite headlines to the contrary, the ban on onshore wind turbines has not been removed. All that has happened is that a few words have been changed in the planning guidance that mean much the same as before.

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One month’s worth of storage needed for 100 per cent RE system in UK says study

Modeling work led by an academic at the University of Central Lancashire (Fragaki et al)  suggests that a 100 percent renewable energy system could be delivered indefinitely in the UK with just 30 days’ worth of storage. However, the trick is that there would need to be a significant overbuild – about 115 percent – of renewable energy capacity in order to achieve this. Lower levels of overbuilding would necessitate much larger amounts of storage.

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Revolutionary community energy project launched in UK

A revolutionary project aiming to fund a portfolio of community solar initiatives has been launched. Community Energy Together (CET) has launched a series of share offers involving five community solar projects around England and Wales. The share offers will allow the community to own solar farms.

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Why oil companies taking over offshore wind may be very bad news

On the surface the announcement that there are ”BP Plans for subsidy free offshore windfarms‘ sounds like great news. But in practice it could herald a future where instead of making ginormous profits out of selling us oil and gas the oil companies will be controlling wind power licenses for their benefit rather than that of the consumers or the planet.

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Nine really cheap net zero measures that the Government is ignoring amongst all the ULEZ fuss

Anti-green Conservatives are wringing their hands about cutting back on ‘net zero’ commitments after the so-called ULEZ election in Uxbridge. This by-election produced a swing of nearly 7 per cent to Labour – which at a General Election all over the country would put Labour in Government. And the brown Tories think they are on to a winner attacking green policies! In reality, there are a lot of measures that are really cheap and won’t make anybody out of pocket but which the Government aren’t doing.

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Government announces fantasy small modular reactor programme as a cover for Sizewelll C failure

What is really most significant about the Government’s new announcement for £137 million funding for research into so-called small modular reactors (SMRs), is the failure to move forward with plans to finance Sizewell C. This latest nonsense about SMRs can best be seen as a cover for this lack of movement.

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Call made for agrivoltaics to be allowed without the need for planning consent

At a recent Conference on nature and solar farms Jonathon Scurlock from the NFU called for agrivoltaic systems to be treated as a standard farming practice that does not need planning consent. In planning language this means that agrivoltaics – that means combining agriculture with solar pv farms – would be a ‘permitted’ development’ ie would not need planning consent. This could be most easily applied to smaller and medium-sized solar farms under 50 MW (where local authorities are the principal planning authority).

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Government says renewables ‘cannot ensure security of supply’ – we tell them they are wrong!

In an answer to a Parliamentary Question posed by Caroline Lucas MP the Government has said that the reason it has not modeled a ‘renewable only scenario  (e.g. wind, solar, and tidal) as this cannot ensure security of supply’.

This arrogant dismissal of the possibilities for 100 percent renewables is contrary to an increasing number of studies, including our own, published earlier this year. In fact, our own study, prepared for us by modelers from LUT University in Finland, said that a renewables-only pathway for the UK will save over £100 billion compared to the Government’s own preferred pathway.

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Why the Government’s targets for solar power and wind power are totally inadequate

The Government’s targets for solar pv and wind power need to be dramatically increased if net zero targets (by 2050) are to be reached. We need at least 100 GW of wind power by 2035 and 180 GW of solar pv, also by 2035, to stay on track with the 2050 target.

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The short Government phrase that condemns UK decarbonisation strategy to failure

The Government has no clear plans to phase out gas in favour of electricity. That is what the Government is effectively saying in its declaration that there will be no bias towards electricity in its energy security bill proposals.  Rather, it seems, the UK will waste years trying to protect the fossil fuel industry with failing initiatives to promote hydrogen for heating and power stations with carbon capture and storage.

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Heat pumps will save more energy than insulation says top Energy Efficiency Expert

Professor Nick Eyre, speaking at the 100%renewableuk seminar on April 22nd (see recording HERE), has said that pro-insulation protestors should think of campaigning for heat pumps rather than insulation. Eyre heads the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS). He talked about how electrification through electric vehicles and heat pumps ushers in a new area with a very large potential for reductions in energy use.

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Government to pump billions of subisidies to fossil fuel industry to support failed technology

In what is called an ‘energy security day’ on March 30th the Government will be highlighting how it is pouring billions into a failed technology that would not help defend the UK’s energy security even it worked.

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Why UK Government’s nuclear power plans will not and cannot balance fluctuating renewables

Government plans for nuclear power will do surprisingly little to balance fluctuating renewable energy. Government plans (to achieve net zero by 2050) issued in 2020 say that 20% of electricity generation should come from nuclear power, something which is very unlikely to be achieved in 2050 anyway.

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Why storing renewables as synthetic green methane is much cheaper and efficient than using green hydrogen

If there’s ever an example of mistaken groupthink then the case of working out the task of finding the cheapest and most efficient way of long-term storage of renewable energy could well be one of the most shining examples. Hydrogen is the default choice it seems, but defaults can be wrong!

 

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New report shows £100bn savings with 100% renewable energy Net Zero plan

A new report concludes that a 100% renewable energy mix for the UK would save well over £100bn in achieving net zero by 2050, compared to the UK Government’s current strategy. It would also mean more than 20% lower cumulative carbon emissions in the process. The study, carried out by renowned energy modelling academics at LUT University in Finland, involves hour-by-hour simulation of different scenarios for reaching net zero for UK energy systems.

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