The Green Village News for the ‘Energy and Resources’ Category
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
The EU ban agreed to in December last year which will put an end to the sale of 100 watt and frosted incandescent light bulbs comes into place on 1st September 2009. The ban will help reduce carbon emissions, as energy efficient CFL (Compact Florescent Lamp) bulbs use less energy than the familiar incandescent bulbs, and also last up to 7 years, therefore significantly reducing the number of bulbs people need to buy.
Energy efficient light bulbs have become much cheaper to buy over the past couple of years, and advances in technology have meant they are now available in many different sizes and shapes, with both bayonet and screw fittings, and are even available to work with dimmer switches. There is some criticism however regarding the newer types of CFLs that they do cost more, however the Energy Saving Trust estimates that each energy efficient light bulb used can save between £3 and £6 on your electricity bill each year.
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Tags: CFL, electricity bills, energy bills, energy consumption, energy efficiency, energy efficient lightbulb, energy saving, incandescent light bulb, light bulb ban, lightbulb
Posted in Eco Home, Energy and Resources, Environmental Politics, Ethical shopping, Green Living, Green Planet, Science and Technology | 8 Comments
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
After 18 days of sit in protests from 11 workers trying to get their voices heard and save the Vestas Blades factory on the Isle of Wight the fight is over. A court order granted last week gave the authorisation for bailiffs to forcibly remove the sit-in protesters from the building.
The wind turbine factory was the only wind turbine manufacturing plant in the UK, which was originally looked at to be converted to make wind turbine blades that were tailored to the UK. Vestas backtracked on the decision however, blaming the UK planning system. The company also attributed the closing of the factory to insufficient demand in the UK for wind turbines, claims which come despite commitments to investing in more renewable energy from the UK government, and around the world.
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Tags: renewable energy, vestas, vestas blades, wind energy, wind power, wind turbine, wind turbine factory, wind turbines
Posted in Energy and Resources, Environmental Politics, Green Planet | No Comments
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
The UK’s first Green Skills Training Centre will be built in Tredegar in the South Wales Valleys later this year according to an announcement from British Gas and the Welsh Assembly Government. The centre will provide training for up to 1300 people a year, including up-skilling existing British Gas employees in renewable energy technologies.
The new green jobs created by the training provided through the Green Skills Training Centre will help the Welsh Assembly Government meet its commitment to reducing carbon emissions through increasing the energy efficiency of 40,000 homes. In addition, the programme aims to reduce fuel poverty experienced by many in one of the worst affected areas of the UK, therefore providing social as well as environmental benefits.
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Tags: blaenau gwent, british gas, energy efficiency, heads of the valleys programme, micro generation, renewable energy, wales
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Eco Home, Energy and Resources, Environmental Politics, Green Living, Green Planet, Sustainable Development | 2 Comments
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
The day after the release of the DECC White Paper announcing the government’s intention to invest more in wind power, committing to a target of 30% of the country’s energy to be generated through renewable energy sources by 2020 and promising the creation of jobs in the environment sector, environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth have called for the government to safeguard the jobs we already have.
Vestas Blades wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight, home to 600 jobs, is due to close in July, and FOE have joined forces with trade union ‘Unite’ and are calling on people to show their support for the UK’s only wind turbine manufacturers by sending letters to Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, asking him to act to save the UK’s wind industry.
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Tags: friends of the earth, green jobs, lord mandelson, vestas blades, wind energy, wind turbine factory, wind turbines
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Energy and Resources, Environmental Politics, Green Planet | No Comments
Saturday, July 11th, 2009
Yesterday, French owned energy company EDF launched Green Britain Day, supported by a number of prominent British athletes and HRH Prince of Wales. Green Britain Day is a day that they say in their TV adverts is a day for people to join together to do something do reduce our carbon footprints and join the fight against climate change. But not everybody has been convinced that EDF’s motives are pure.
Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, renewable energy pioneers and serious investors in wind power generation, has accused EDF of greenwashing. In an article published in the Guardian online yesterday he said,
“The campaign itself has laudable aims, fighting climate change and making Britain a greener place. Who could argue with that? But look for any substance and you won’t find it. It’s all recycled and gimmicky. And it’s a distraction. Green Britain is a serious goal, it requires a vision underpinned by real policies, a suite of joined up actions that we can all get behind – with meaningful outcomes. It’s a mission not a PR opportunity.”
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Tags: dale vince, ecotricity, edf, green britain day, greenwash, team green britain
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Energy and Resources, Environmental Impact, Green Planet | 1 Comment
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
Barack Obama has been accused of watering down the climate change bill following pressure from coal and oil companies. The policy that originally would have required companies wanting to build greenhouse gas emitting power stations and producing carbon emissions to pay for a permit and penalised them per tonne for carbon emitted has been diluted following discussions in Congress.
Criticism is borne from a number of changes, including a dramatic change in the percentage reduction in carbon emissions compared to 1990. This stands to be down to 4%, which Greenpeace’s Joss Garman pointed out on Newsnight tonight ought to be 40%. In addition, the carbon permits that were originally planned to be paid for will now be given out free to 85% of emitters; another aspect of the bill that is receiving criticism.
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Tags: barack obama, carbon emissions, climate change, climate change bill, co2, us
Posted in Energy and Resources, Environmental Impact, Environmental Politics, Green Planet | No Comments
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
Former President and Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco, Mr Abdallah S. Jum’ah was the speaker at a Royal Academy of Engineering lecture and dinner on 17th June, which set out to discuss the issue of technology being the key to the sustainability of future energy generation.
In his address, Mr Jum’ah expressed his belief that fossil fuels will never be replaced by renewable energy, as there is still a plentiful supply of oil available for future generations to use; some of this however would be from unconventional sources such as tar sands, such as those in Canada. He argued that renewable energy sources used today, such as wind, solar and geothermal energy, contribute less than 1% to the energy we use, going on to say that he believed without considerable investment such as government subsidies to enable companies to improve efficiency, their market share would not increase.
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Tags: climate change, fossil fuels, oil, peak oil, renewable energy, tar sands
Posted in Energy and Resources, Environmental Impact, Green Planet | No Comments
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
On 23rd April Ed Miliband outlined plans for clean coal technology to help reduce the UK’s carbon emissions and begin to take action against climate change. Today the details of the new coal consultation have been announced, asking for feedback on three documents published today on the Department for Environment and Climate Change website.
The proposals focus on three main areas and provide more detailed information about the plans in the pipeline to help reduce carbon emissions. The first part of the proposal will mean that all newly built coal fired power stations will only be approved if they include CCS (carbon capture and storage) technology that captures at least 25% of the power stations’ carbon emissions and pumps it back into the ground where oil and gas were originally stored beneath the North Sea.
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Tags: carbon capture and, carbon emissions, ccs, clean coal, climate change, coal, coal fired power stations, coal power station, decc, ed miliband
Posted in Energy and Resources, Environmental Politics, Green Planet | 1 Comment
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
At a time when governments and organisations are striving to make commitments to cut carbon emissions, the source of the UK’s energy is a bone of contention for many. Discussions about nuclear, new generations of coal fired power stations and carbon capture and storage (CCS) are discussed almost daily, and the arguments about wind power are certainly high up on the agenda.
Despite being a technology that is used successfully by a number of other countries around the world to meet power needs, and the installation of new wind turbines and wind farms across the UK being a flagship policy for green energy companies such as Ecotricity and Good Energy, wind energy certainly has its enemies as well as its advocates. Across the UK, more than 200 anti-wind action groups exist, 30 of which have joined together to create the National Alliance of Wind Farm Action Groups (NAWAG), headed up by chairman of corporate communications and public affairs at PR group Weber Shandwick, Jon McLeod.
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Tags: british wind energy association, bwea, NAWAG, renewable energy, wind farm, wind power, wind turbines
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Energy and Resources, Environmental Politics, Green Planet | 23 Comments
Monday, June 15th, 2009
You would be forgiven for thinking that all supermarkets are born equal; the same blueprint for design and layout. However, the new supermarket being built in Gloucester by Sainsbury’s is challenging convention by fitting kinetic road plates in its car park. These plates will generate electricty that can be used in the store’s checkouts, which will help reduce the store’s carbon footprint.
Although not widely known about, the technology isn’t new; the kinetic plates are on trial in a number of distribution warehouses, but this is the first time they have been put to use in a supermarket carpark. Developed by a scientist in Dorset, Peter Hughes of Highway Energy Systems, the kinetic road plates are designed to transfer energy from the the tyres of cars as they pass over them as they travel across the car park. The cars create a rocking motion in the plates which drives a generator to produce the electricity; electricity generated from energy that would otherwise be lost.
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Tags: carbon emissions, eco store, kinetic plates, sainsburys, supermarkets
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Energy and Resources, Environmental Impact, Green Planet, Sustainable Development | No Comments
