Archive for 'Government Policy'

UK Needs To Build Two New Nuclear Power Stations Every Year… Forever!

UK Needs To Build Two New Nuclear Power Stations Every Year… Forever!

Posted on 19. Mar, 2010 by Ross.

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In order to meet its carbon reduction targets, the UK must build two new nuclear or CCS-equipped coal power stations every year, starting right now and continuing indefinitely - and do a whole lot more besides.
UK energy policy is failing by not facing up to the realities that its aim of an 80% reduction in [...]

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Let Battle Commence: Green ‘Buy America’ Will Kick-Start Carbon Trade Wars

Let Battle Commence: Green ‘Buy America’ Will Kick-Start Carbon Trade Wars

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Ross.

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After the collapse of the Copenhagen conference, there was one prediction which Energy-Saving News felt was easy to make: that a new era of green carbon tariffs in developed countries on dirty imports from developing nations was at hand. After recent comments from UK politicians suggesting a direction towards such steps, the battle in the [...]

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UK Energy Efficiency Home Loans Take A Lesson From The Carbon Trust

UK Energy Efficiency Home Loans Take A Lesson From The Carbon Trust

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by Ross.

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Smart, forward-thinking businesses have been doing it for years. An interest-free Carbon Trust loan of up to £500,000 for new energy-saving machinery, energy efficient lighting or other low-carbon technologies has been a great way to cut costs, whilst lower loan repayments than the achieved savings led to immediate positive cash flow.
Now UK householders are being [...]

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UK and India Proves That Not All Of Copenhagen Was All Talk And No Action

UK and India Proves That Not All Of Copenhagen Was All Talk And No Action

Posted on 18. Feb, 2010 by Ross.

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Copenhagen was full of hot air, right? Commitments by developed and developing nations fell short of the mark then and have since been further scaled back, correct? There’s no hope for further progress on the international response to climate change, is there?
Some countries have other ideas.
The Copenhagen agreement was a complicated beast, and although most [...]

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The Low Carbon Economic Area Car Crash

The Low Carbon Economic Area Car Crash

Posted on 15. Feb, 2010 by Ross.

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The UK government concept of Low Carbon Economic Areas is now looking like the ultimate in Whitehall greenwashing, and whilst the first blunder looked like the government had fallen asleep at the wheel, the latest news would suggest that they don’t know how to drive the car at all.
The concept of Low Carbon Economic Areas [...]

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Street Lighting Escapes From CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme

Street Lighting Escapes From CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme

Posted on 26. Jan, 2010 by Ross.

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Stargazers hopeful that the drive for cost-cutting and energy saving at council level would result in the removal of street lighting, or its upgrading to more energy efficient and directional lighting technologies, were dealt a blow today as the final draft of the UK Government’s flagship cap-and-trade scheme landed in Parliament.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, [...]

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CBI Misses Point: Energy Efficiency = Competitive Advantage

CBI Misses Point: Energy Efficiency = Competitive Advantage

Posted on 13. Jan, 2010 by Ross.

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The UK is only on track to meet its self-imposed carbon reduction targets because of the current recession, leading the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to issue a stark and misguided choice in the aftermath of the failed Copenhagen conference: maintain competitive advantages or chase carbon targets.
The UK economy has suffered its longest recession on [...]

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After Copenhagen, The Carbon Tariff Trade Wars Begin

After Copenhagen, The Carbon Tariff Trade Wars Begin

Posted on 05. Jan, 2010 by Ross.

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In the aftermath of the global economic collapse, the industrialised world looked back at the lessons of the 1930s and realised that the fastest way out of recession was to avoid protectionist trade wars and to keep international markets as open as possible, in order to try to keep trade flowing as freely as possible [...]

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Military Leads UK In Energy Saving War

Military Leads UK In Energy Saving War

Posted on 23. Dec, 2009 by Ross.

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The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is currently putting the rest of the government departments to shame, with the military hitting their 12.5% carbon reduction targets two years ahead of schedule.
In the government’s war against carbon emissions, the military are at the heart of the biggest battle: the MoD previously accounted for 60% of the [...]

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Carbon Trust Farms Interest With Free Agricultural Loans For Energy Efficiency

Carbon Trust Farms Interest With Free Agricultural Loans For Energy Efficiency

Posted on 22. Dec, 2009 by Ross.

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Five months after the initial announcement by the government, the Carbon Trust is now officially extending its interest-free business loan scheme to UK farms in an effort to promote energy efficiency within the agricultural sector.
The move was initially part of the UK government’s Low Carbon Transition Plan back in July, which set for the first [...]

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After Copenhagen, What Is Business As Usual?

After Copenhagen, What Is Business As Usual?

Posted on 21. Dec, 2009 by Ross.

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Copenhagen was supposed to start the world on a path to fighting climate change, but with the talks largely derided as meaningless what now constitutes business as usual?
The Copenhagen conference descended into diplomatic farce at the 11th hour, with agreements negotiated over weeks, months and years between 192 countries discarded in a meeting between just [...]

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