The government of Abu Dhabi has announced a $15bn (£7.5bn) initiative to develop clean energy technologies.
The Gulf state describes the five-year initiative as "the most ambitious sustainability project ever launched by a government".
Components will include the world's largest hydrogen power plant.
The government has also announced plans for a "sustainable city", housing about 50,000 people, that will produce no greenhouse gases and contain no cars.
The $15bn fund, which the state hopes will lead to international joint ventures involving much more money, is being channelled through the Masdar Initiative, a company established to develop and commercialise clean energy technologies.
"As global demand for energy continues to expand, and as climate change becomes a real and growing concern, the time has come to look to the future," said Masdar CEO Dr Sultan Al Jaber.
"Our ability to adapt and respond to these realities will ensure that Abu Dhabi's global energy leadership as well as our own growth and development continues."
Technology bridge
The portfolio of technologies eligible for funding under the Masdar Initiative is extensive, but solar energy is likely to be a major beneficiary.
The hydrogen plant, meanwhile, will link the world's currently dominant technology, fossil fuel burning, with two technologies likely to be important in a low-carbon future - carbon sequestration and hydrogen manufacture.
Hydrogen will be manufactured from natural gas by reactions involving steam, producing a mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
The CO2 can be pumped underground, either simply to store it away permanently or as a way of extracting more oil from existing wells, using the high-pressure gas to force more of the black gold to the surface.
When hydrogen is burned, it produces no CO2. Eventually hydrogen made this way could be used in vehicles, though in Abu Dhabi it will generate electricity.
"It's important because it shows that you can generate hydrogen without carbon release from fossil fuels," commented Keith Guy, an engineering consultant and professor at the UK's Bath University.
"When you look at how hydrogen could be made economically, the route that many people have been looking at, through electrolysis of water, is incredibly expensive."
The Masdar Sustainable City, another component of the Abu Dhabi government's plans which is being designed with input from the environmental group WWF, is envisaged as a self-contained car-free zone where all energy will come from renewable resources, principally solar panels to generate electricity.
Buildings will be constructed to allow air in but keep the Sun's heat out. Wind towers will ventilate homes and offices using natural convection.
full article
Monday 21 January 2008
Saturday 19 January 2008
Sun setting on solar power?
There are fewer solar panels in the UK than anywhere else in Europe - and no one's blaming the weather. Sarah Lonsdale spotlights a national disgrace
David Street's house in Nightingale Road, Stoke Newington, is the kind of new home all builders should be constructing.
That is if we are to stand any chance of meeting the Government's target to reduce carbon emissions from housing by 60 per cent by 2050. And Friends of the Earth say that is too low - it should be 80 per cent.
Unlike its wasteful Victorian neighbours, Mr Street's home consumes approximately two thirds less energy than a conventional house, has super-insulation, carbon- neutral windows, is built from recycled materials and most of its roof is covered in electricity-generating (PV) solar panels.
The house is not completely carbon-neutral, however, owing to the Government's mismanagement of the renewable energy grants system. The whole of the recycled rubber roof should have been solar-panelled but the owner-builder, college lecturer David Street, could not afford that.
This is because the Government's grants procedure for installing wind and solar energy systems in houses, under its Low Carbon Buildings Programme, is so complicated and inadequate that few homeowners feel the expense is worthwhile.
Despite Gordon Brown's positive talk about reducing carbon emissions, the UK's production of solar electricity remains extremely low - about 3 per cent of our electricity comes from the sun, compared to up to 20 per cent in other European countries.
Figures for per capita production of solar electricity show that the UK is 15th in Europe, behind Spain, Greece and Italy. These countries have more sun but, to our shame, we lag behind Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Holland.
"I missed out on £5,000 of grants because as I was building the house, the Government was in the process of changing the grants system," says Street.
By the time he managed to obtain his grant, it had become a flat rate of £2,500 per household, and as a result he had to cut back on the number of panels he installed.
"The Government is boasting about being green but is doing very little to help homeowners reduce their reliance on fossil fuel." Research by Labour MP Lynne Jones reveals that until March 21, 2007, 3,988 households had been awarded grants under the Low Carbon Buildings Scheme.
But in the six months from March to September, only 113 households had applied, because of the £2,500 cap. "Applicants are abandoning the scheme," says Dr Jones.
In a recent report, Dr Brenda Boardman, of the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute, blamed the "abysmally slow" rate of installations not only on the grants system, but on the amount paid to home generators who sell "green" electricity back to the National Grid.
In Germany and Spain, whose governments are actively encouraging micro- production of solar electricity, homeowners are paid about 30p per kWh (kilowatt hour) for electricity they sell back to the grid. In the UK, there is no national policy and the amount homeowners are offered for their clean, green electricity varies from a low of nothing to a high of 18p per kWh, paid by Scottish and Southern Energy.
Unsurprisingly, because the system costs more to install, and the payback time is more than three times as long than in other countries, UK homeowners are giving it a wide berth.
Since the government reduction, says Dave Timms of Friends of the Earth, the uptake of grants has "fallen off a cliff".
"It must be some kind of record that a grants system aimed at supporting a fledgling renewable energy industry has actually resulted in the shedding of jobs," he says.
"In Germany, the industry employs more than a quarter of a million people."
The Government's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform counters: "By introducing a maximum grant level, we can use the funds to support an increased number of installations. We believe the £2,500 cap will still make a useful contribution to PV installations going forward."
Launching the Conservatives' Green Paper Power to the People last month, David Cameron said: "Once people start generating their own electricity they will become far more conscious of the way in which they use it. A new system of tariffs, by which people are paid for the energy they produce, will stimulate diversity of power supply."
Juliet Davenport, chief executive of Good Energy, says: "All governments need to do is put their support in the right place and stop being part of the problem and become part of the solution."
full article
David Street's house in Nightingale Road, Stoke Newington, is the kind of new home all builders should be constructing.
That is if we are to stand any chance of meeting the Government's target to reduce carbon emissions from housing by 60 per cent by 2050. And Friends of the Earth say that is too low - it should be 80 per cent.
Unlike its wasteful Victorian neighbours, Mr Street's home consumes approximately two thirds less energy than a conventional house, has super-insulation, carbon- neutral windows, is built from recycled materials and most of its roof is covered in electricity-generating (PV) solar panels.
The house is not completely carbon-neutral, however, owing to the Government's mismanagement of the renewable energy grants system. The whole of the recycled rubber roof should have been solar-panelled but the owner-builder, college lecturer David Street, could not afford that.
This is because the Government's grants procedure for installing wind and solar energy systems in houses, under its Low Carbon Buildings Programme, is so complicated and inadequate that few homeowners feel the expense is worthwhile.
Despite Gordon Brown's positive talk about reducing carbon emissions, the UK's production of solar electricity remains extremely low - about 3 per cent of our electricity comes from the sun, compared to up to 20 per cent in other European countries.
Figures for per capita production of solar electricity show that the UK is 15th in Europe, behind Spain, Greece and Italy. These countries have more sun but, to our shame, we lag behind Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Holland.
"I missed out on £5,000 of grants because as I was building the house, the Government was in the process of changing the grants system," says Street.
By the time he managed to obtain his grant, it had become a flat rate of £2,500 per household, and as a result he had to cut back on the number of panels he installed.
"The Government is boasting about being green but is doing very little to help homeowners reduce their reliance on fossil fuel." Research by Labour MP Lynne Jones reveals that until March 21, 2007, 3,988 households had been awarded grants under the Low Carbon Buildings Scheme.
But in the six months from March to September, only 113 households had applied, because of the £2,500 cap. "Applicants are abandoning the scheme," says Dr Jones.
In a recent report, Dr Brenda Boardman, of the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute, blamed the "abysmally slow" rate of installations not only on the grants system, but on the amount paid to home generators who sell "green" electricity back to the National Grid.
In Germany and Spain, whose governments are actively encouraging micro- production of solar electricity, homeowners are paid about 30p per kWh (kilowatt hour) for electricity they sell back to the grid. In the UK, there is no national policy and the amount homeowners are offered for their clean, green electricity varies from a low of nothing to a high of 18p per kWh, paid by Scottish and Southern Energy.
Unsurprisingly, because the system costs more to install, and the payback time is more than three times as long than in other countries, UK homeowners are giving it a wide berth.
Since the government reduction, says Dave Timms of Friends of the Earth, the uptake of grants has "fallen off a cliff".
"It must be some kind of record that a grants system aimed at supporting a fledgling renewable energy industry has actually resulted in the shedding of jobs," he says.
"In Germany, the industry employs more than a quarter of a million people."
The Government's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform counters: "By introducing a maximum grant level, we can use the funds to support an increased number of installations. We believe the £2,500 cap will still make a useful contribution to PV installations going forward."
Launching the Conservatives' Green Paper Power to the People last month, David Cameron said: "Once people start generating their own electricity they will become far more conscious of the way in which they use it. A new system of tariffs, by which people are paid for the energy they produce, will stimulate diversity of power supply."
Juliet Davenport, chief executive of Good Energy, says: "All governments need to do is put their support in the right place and stop being part of the problem and become part of the solution."
full article
Inquiry demand after third energy price rise
British Gas said yesterday it was raising gas and electricity prices by 15% with immediate effect, meaning most of its 16 million customers will pay around £130 more over the coming year. The inflation-busting rise is expected to take customers' total spending on heating and lighting to more than £1,050 for the year - and add £1bn to British Gas coffers this year.
The government was coming under renewed pressure last night to launch an investigation into the home energy market after Britain's biggest supplier became the third power firm to raise prices substantially. The move, which was blamed on higher wholesale costs, prompted consumer groups to demand a Competition Commission investigation into whether the big six power firms that dominate the market were acting in "tacit collusion".
They say in other European countries recent price rises have been substantially less than the 15%-plus increases heaped on UK consumers - evidence that the UK market is not working. In Germany some bills have been falling, while in France gas prices have risen by 4%.
British Gas said yesterday it had been forced to put its prices up due to a 51% increase in wholesale gas prices, and to pay for new environmental charges. Much of Britain's gas is sourced from the North sea, Norway and continental Europe.
On Tuesday rival EDF claimed wholesale gas prices had risen by 117% when it raised its gas prices by almost 13%. Two weeks ago npower argued they had risen by 66% as it put 19% on gas prices.
The industry regulator, Ofgem, this week contradicted all three claims, saying one-year forward wholesale gas prices had in fact risen by 31% over the same period. The correct figure for electricity was 40%, it said. In the last three weeks oil and wholesale gas prices have been falling.
"I'm sick and tired of hearing energy companies try to justify the latest bout of pain they are inflicting on their customers," said Allan Asher, chief executive of consumer body Energywatch. "This increase piles on even more agony for consumers - particularly those on lower incomes. It is obvious to anyone who looks at it, this market is not delivering good value to consumers. The reasons are well known and explain why Energywatch has been calling on the government to call in the Competition Commission. The commission is a fantastic resource to be used in precisely these issues of market structure. It is a mystery to me why neither Ofgem nor the government want to use it."
Miles Brignall
full article
The government was coming under renewed pressure last night to launch an investigation into the home energy market after Britain's biggest supplier became the third power firm to raise prices substantially. The move, which was blamed on higher wholesale costs, prompted consumer groups to demand a Competition Commission investigation into whether the big six power firms that dominate the market were acting in "tacit collusion".
They say in other European countries recent price rises have been substantially less than the 15%-plus increases heaped on UK consumers - evidence that the UK market is not working. In Germany some bills have been falling, while in France gas prices have risen by 4%.
British Gas said yesterday it had been forced to put its prices up due to a 51% increase in wholesale gas prices, and to pay for new environmental charges. Much of Britain's gas is sourced from the North sea, Norway and continental Europe.
On Tuesday rival EDF claimed wholesale gas prices had risen by 117% when it raised its gas prices by almost 13%. Two weeks ago npower argued they had risen by 66% as it put 19% on gas prices.
The industry regulator, Ofgem, this week contradicted all three claims, saying one-year forward wholesale gas prices had in fact risen by 31% over the same period. The correct figure for electricity was 40%, it said. In the last three weeks oil and wholesale gas prices have been falling.
"I'm sick and tired of hearing energy companies try to justify the latest bout of pain they are inflicting on their customers," said Allan Asher, chief executive of consumer body Energywatch. "This increase piles on even more agony for consumers - particularly those on lower incomes. It is obvious to anyone who looks at it, this market is not delivering good value to consumers. The reasons are well known and explain why Energywatch has been calling on the government to call in the Competition Commission. The commission is a fantastic resource to be used in precisely these issues of market structure. It is a mystery to me why neither Ofgem nor the government want to use it."
Miles Brignall
full article
Sunday 13 January 2008
The energy offer that really is a dead Cert
It's not often Guardian Money reports a genuine giveaway with no strings attached, but this is one. Starting this week, British Gas is offering anyone over 70 free home insulation worth around £600.
Amazingly, the offer is made regardless of income and you don't even need to be a British Gas customer. The initiative, which is part of the government's carbon emissions reduction target (Cert) scheme, will offer both cavity wall and loft insulation entirely free of charge to every homeowner in the UK who is either older than 70, or receiving certain benefits.
Parliament was told about the scheme in December and it came into effect at the beginning of this year. Cert obliges energy suppliers to promote reductions in carbon emissions for households. The companies are required to spend £1.5bn over the next three years to install energy efficiency measures in the homes of people on low incomes and the elderly.
Until now, grants to improve household energy efficiency were means tested. But now anyone who qualifies can apply to have their home insulated for nothing.
British Gas is the first to launch its scheme, and its measure is expected to be copied by the remaining big six power firms over the coming months.
Crucially, you don't have to buy your energy from British Gas to take up the offer, which is worth around £600 if you get both loft and cavity wall insulation fitted - more if you have a big house.
British Gas estimates that £1 in every £3 currently spent on heating UK homes is wasted due to poor insulation. Almost 9m UK homes have cavity walls that are waiting to be insulated. In England alone, around 40% of homes either have no loft insulation, or have less than 100mm (3.9in) of heat-retaining material in place, it says.
The Energy Savings Trust warns that around a third of a home's heat disappears through the walls. Good cavity wall insulation will save around £90 a year on heating bills, while proper loft insulation - 270mm deep - should save an average of £110 a year.
To take up British Gas's offer, simply ring 0845 6052535 (quoting code JOU). The firm will send a surveyor to establish whether your home has cavity walls and measure the thickness and quality of any insulation already in place. If your insulation is not up to modern standards British Gas will pay for further insulation material to be installed. If it is very old, it may replace the loft insulation entirely. There are no fees to pay, and Money has been assured there is no limit to the funds on offer and no risk that the offer will close a few months down the line.
The company says anyone installing both cavity wall and loft insulation will save up to £200 a year in energy bills, reducing CO2 emissions and helping the company hit its target.
At the end of the year Ofgem, the energy regulator, will calculate how much energy has been saved by each firm. It said this week that around £38 is being added to each household's gas and electricity's to pay for the Cert scheme.
A spokesman for British Gas says this is a no-strings offer available across the UK as long as the recipients fit the criteria. "Everyone over 70 is immediately eligible where they are a British Gas customer or whether they get their energy from one of our rivals. The same goes for those on particular benefits - regardless of their age. The aim is to improve the insulation of the homes in most need. If you think you may qualify, give the call centre a call and our staff will be able to talk you through the process."
Benefits include disability and attendance allowance, and income support. People who get working tax credit and earn less than £14,600 also qualify.
The scheme is not restricted to homeowners. Anyone living in social or privately rented housing, and getting the benefits can also apply - with the landlord's approval.
Meanwhile, if you live in London and want to start using low-energy light bulbs, British Gas is offering to do a swap. Anyone turning up at a B&Q store in the London area is being offered the chance to trade two conventional bulbs for a low energy model. The scheme, which is being run in conjunction with the mayor's office, ends tomorrow.
· Following npower's price increases last week - almost 20% for gas and 13% for electricity - its 4m customers are being advised to switch to another firm as "wherever they go they'll save money". If you want to insulate yourself from future rises, go for Scottish Power's PriceFall tariff, which guarantees prices will not rise before November. You'll have to be quick as it's now only available from the company's subsidiary website (theenergypeople.com) and is likely to be pulled soon.
m.brignall@guardian.co.uk
full article
Amazingly, the offer is made regardless of income and you don't even need to be a British Gas customer. The initiative, which is part of the government's carbon emissions reduction target (Cert) scheme, will offer both cavity wall and loft insulation entirely free of charge to every homeowner in the UK who is either older than 70, or receiving certain benefits.
Parliament was told about the scheme in December and it came into effect at the beginning of this year. Cert obliges energy suppliers to promote reductions in carbon emissions for households. The companies are required to spend £1.5bn over the next three years to install energy efficiency measures in the homes of people on low incomes and the elderly.
Until now, grants to improve household energy efficiency were means tested. But now anyone who qualifies can apply to have their home insulated for nothing.
British Gas is the first to launch its scheme, and its measure is expected to be copied by the remaining big six power firms over the coming months.
Crucially, you don't have to buy your energy from British Gas to take up the offer, which is worth around £600 if you get both loft and cavity wall insulation fitted - more if you have a big house.
British Gas estimates that £1 in every £3 currently spent on heating UK homes is wasted due to poor insulation. Almost 9m UK homes have cavity walls that are waiting to be insulated. In England alone, around 40% of homes either have no loft insulation, or have less than 100mm (3.9in) of heat-retaining material in place, it says.
The Energy Savings Trust warns that around a third of a home's heat disappears through the walls. Good cavity wall insulation will save around £90 a year on heating bills, while proper loft insulation - 270mm deep - should save an average of £110 a year.
To take up British Gas's offer, simply ring 0845 6052535 (quoting code JOU). The firm will send a surveyor to establish whether your home has cavity walls and measure the thickness and quality of any insulation already in place. If your insulation is not up to modern standards British Gas will pay for further insulation material to be installed. If it is very old, it may replace the loft insulation entirely. There are no fees to pay, and Money has been assured there is no limit to the funds on offer and no risk that the offer will close a few months down the line.
The company says anyone installing both cavity wall and loft insulation will save up to £200 a year in energy bills, reducing CO2 emissions and helping the company hit its target.
At the end of the year Ofgem, the energy regulator, will calculate how much energy has been saved by each firm. It said this week that around £38 is being added to each household's gas and electricity's to pay for the Cert scheme.
A spokesman for British Gas says this is a no-strings offer available across the UK as long as the recipients fit the criteria. "Everyone over 70 is immediately eligible where they are a British Gas customer or whether they get their energy from one of our rivals. The same goes for those on particular benefits - regardless of their age. The aim is to improve the insulation of the homes in most need. If you think you may qualify, give the call centre a call and our staff will be able to talk you through the process."
Benefits include disability and attendance allowance, and income support. People who get working tax credit and earn less than £14,600 also qualify.
The scheme is not restricted to homeowners. Anyone living in social or privately rented housing, and getting the benefits can also apply - with the landlord's approval.
Meanwhile, if you live in London and want to start using low-energy light bulbs, British Gas is offering to do a swap. Anyone turning up at a B&Q store in the London area is being offered the chance to trade two conventional bulbs for a low energy model. The scheme, which is being run in conjunction with the mayor's office, ends tomorrow.
· Following npower's price increases last week - almost 20% for gas and 13% for electricity - its 4m customers are being advised to switch to another firm as "wherever they go they'll save money". If you want to insulate yourself from future rises, go for Scottish Power's PriceFall tariff, which guarantees prices will not rise before November. You'll have to be quick as it's now only available from the company's subsidiary website (theenergypeople.com) and is likely to be pulled soon.
m.brignall@guardian.co.uk
full article
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