There have been rumblings in the renewable heat industry for some while, particularly following the Government’s cuts to the Feed in Tariff, a similar project that was designed to promote the uptake of renewable energy such as solar and wind. Uncertainty can effect an industry deeply and cause major problems, not only in the short term but for long term…
Monthly Archives: October 2015
Can the Renewables Industry Create Enough Noise?
Public opinion, when galvanised, can achieve great things. Get your story on the news, keep it there and previous policies that seemed set in stone begin to waver. Take the current furore over tax credits. There’s plenty of negative press for the Government, professing to be on the side of ordinary working people, and if the Lord’s decide to block…
From Hero to Zero: The UK’s Fall from Renewable Grace
It hasn’t taken long for the UK to fall from being one of the world leaders on renewables to suddenly lagging behind the rest. With the Paris Climate Change Conference in November, David Cameron might have difficulty convincing other world leaders that he is serious about reducing carbon emissions after dealing several deadly blows to the renewables industry in recent…
The End of Pre-Accreditation and the Impact on Renewables
With all the furore around cuts to the Feed in Tariff recently, the end of pre-accreditation may have past most people by. This happened on the 1st of October and could well leave many projects that are ongoing on tenterhooks about the level of subsidy they are going to receive in the future. What was Pre-Accreditation? For projects that are…
Is the RHI Next in Line for Big Tory Cuts?
The Renewable Heat Incentive is a Government programme that allows you to earn money from a selection of sustainable heating technology such as biomass boilers and air source heat pumps. Similar to the Feed in Tariff for electricity production, the RHI has a number of different payments depending on the type of heating you have installed. The scheme was initially…
Why oh Why Are We Spending Billions on Nuclear?
At the energy and climate change select committee this week, energy minister Andrea Leadsome was up before the board to try and shed some light on current Government policy. Apart from her annoying habit of prefacing important points with the governmental staple ‘absolutely’ (as in ‘we absolutely have no plans to reduce subsidies’), she did say a few revealing things.…
Why Batteries, the Solar Industry and Independence Threaten the Future
When we first embarked on the huge task of saving the planet, few of us realised the impact new technologies such as solar would have. The truth is, most governments thought the renewables industry would be a failure. Now, with the growing potential to store our own solar produced electricity, are the powers that be getting cold feet? There’s been…
The Inventor Hoping to Make the Most of Our Wind
Building turbines out at sea is an expensive business, costing millions and producing a landscape that many are unhappy with. The perennial problem of how to utilise the power of one of our most valuable and readily available resources – the wind – has taken a turn for the more eclectic recently. Whilst some scientists are looking at how underwater…
Who’s Fighting Back Against Renewable Energy Cuts?
If some people had their way Fylde would now be a centre for fracking. Protesters have continuously opposed Cuadrilla who wanted to set up an operation there and now the local council has given it’s blessing to a new solar farm. It could be a sign that the Government’s love affair with fracking is not shared with many outside the…
Solar School Charity Now Unviable
On the face of it, a charity working to put solar panels on the roofs of our schools is a great idea. But the Government’s proposed changes to the Feed in Tariff in January have put the project at risk and may well see the charity close next year if the decision to cut subsidies is not reversed. What is…
