Scientists from the University of Manchester have made an important discovery that could help meet the need for renewable energy resources in the future. They have identified two genes that make plants grow outwards as well as upwards, which they claim could be manipulated to boost the amount of plant biomass in trees. Click here for full story

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) is urging the Communities and Local Government office to expand its proposed size limits for free-standing domestic wind turbines as the consultation on permitted development rights for micro-renewables closes today (9 February). Click here for full story

Stately homes and historic buildings will be powered by "grow your own" green energy under plans announced by the National Trust today to halve its use of fossil fuels by 2020. The Trust is planning to install more than 50 new boilers in mansions and larger buildings over the next five years, which will be powered by wood from its estates and their local areas.
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Small-scale renewables projects in Scotland are subject to a "postcode lottery" under the country's updated planning system, planning consultants have warned. Philip Lewis, principal planner with Edinburgh-based Atmos Consulting, has claimed that the Scottish Government's target of supplying 40% of Scotland's energy from renewable sources by 2020 could be endangered by new decision-making procedures. Click here for full story

Copenhagen's failure to deliver a legally binding deal has created an opportunity for individuals to fill the void left by politicians, says Sir David King. In this week's Green Room, he explains how small-scale projects can move the world towards a low carbon future. Click here for full story

Outline proposals for a £360 million biomass plant at Leith Docks that could meet most of Edinburgh's energy needs go on public show tomorrow (11 February). The plant, a joint venture between Forth Ports and Scottish & Southern Energy, will, if approved, be one of the largest infrastructure developments in Scotland over the next decade. Click here for full story

Following recent claims predicting every farm will have a wind turbine within five years, and following the announcement of the Feed In Tariff, West Coast Energy calls for farmers interested in wind energy as a diversification option to seek an experienced development partner. The leading independent wind energy developer urges caution against common oversights that can compromise the success of a proposed wind development. West Coast Energy is keen to hear from farmers interested in exploring the possibility of a wind development on their land: indeed it even offers a free site assessment service. Click here for full story

A huge swing in the number of people using wood to heat their homes has proved a boon for forest and woodland owners and added value to products that were struggling to be viable. Figures just out from the Forestry Commission reveal a trebling in demand in woodfuel use in the last four years and further market growth of at least 100% anticipated in the 12 months to March 31. Click here for full story

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has said a pledge by Energy minister Lord Hunt to review the financing of biomass and bioenergy projects could improve investor confidence. Click here for full story

It costs £12,500 to install solar cells on your roof, but new tariffs should give you a return of at least £25,000. So what's the catch? There isn't one, says Miles Brignall in The Guardian. Click here for full story

Hoping to encourage a movement towards renewable energy, the Government has finalised details of its feed-in tariffs, which reward people who produce their own energy by investing in technology such as solar panels and small wind turbines….. From 1 April, any household generating its own energy will be rewarded with tax-free payments. The cashback levels will depend on the technology used, with solar panels attracting the most generous payments. Further payments will be awarded to householders directing any energy they don't need back to the National Grid. However, these bonus payments for exporting energy have been reduced to 3p/kWh from an initially proposed rate of 5p/kWh. Click here for full story

Heineken UK has temporarily shut down its revolutionary biomass power stations at its breweries in Manchester and Tadcaster after suffering from teething problems. Click here for full story

The On-site renewables industry was caught off guard yesterday (3 February) by the sudden closure of Phase 1 of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP). Some installers were given less than an hour’s notice of the closure, leaving them little time to react. DECC circulated an announcement on the 3 February, the same day as the closure itself, saying “The Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP), Phase-1 and Phase-2 has closed to all new applications for grants for electrical microgeneration as of 5pm, Wednesday 3rd February”. Click here for full story

Ayrshire-based building contractors William Skinner & Son are proud to announce that they have become one of very few Scottish companies to have gained accreditation under the national Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). Click here for full story

Aker Solutions previously announced (Monday 1 February 2010 at 08:00 CET) that it has been awarded a power plant project in Europe. Aker Solutions confirms the contract, awarded by RWE, is to provide design, supply, installation, construction and commissioning for a new 50MW Biomass renewable energy plant at the Tullis Russell Papermakers plant near Fife in Scotland. The contract value to Aker Solutions is GBP 115 million. The scope includes for all major plant items excluding the fluidized bed boiler and flue gas system which will be provided by Metso Power. Click here for full story

Metso has received an order to deliver a biomass boiler to RWE npower renewables for a co-generation plant to be located at Tullis Russell Papermakers at Markinch, Fife in the UK. The commercial operation is scheduled for begin 2013. The value of the order is approximately EUR 75 million, which will be included in the Energy and Environmental TechnologyZs Q1 orders received. Click here for full story

Didcot will become Britain's ‘poo-power’ capital when it starts generating gas supplies from its population's human waste later this year. Work is about to start on a pioneering British Gas project at Didcot sewage works to convert the town’s sewage into a power source for the nation’s boilers and cookers. By this summer, the first gas sourced from human waste could be flowing through Britain's pipelines. Click here for full story

The new Tesco in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire in the UK, is their first zero carbon supermarket, and the company hope to be carbon neutral by 2050. The store has a timber frame instead of steel, and has skylights and sun pipes to help reduce lighting bills, and heat/power plant that uses renewable bio fuels. The harmful refrigerant gases in the refrigerators have been replaced and the refrigerators have doors. Click here for full story

The Scottish budget for the year ahead is expected to be approved, despite continued opposition concern. The minority SNP government has offered last-minute investment for a boiler scrappage scheme and has made moves to boost housing, education and business. …. Scottish ministers will put pressure on Labour to back the budget by announcing a £2m plan to extend the replacement of old domestic boilers, a scheme already running in England. It would entitle anyone replacing the oldest category of domestic boiler to £400 assistance. …….. The two Green MSPs, who won a budget concession for £10m renewable energy funding, said more needed to be done on home energy efficiency.
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The Microgeneration Industry gave a warm welcome to the Government’s “Clean Energy Cashback” scheme, a package of measures to reward householders and others who produce their own heat and electricity from clean, green, sources. Dave Sowden, Chief Executive of the Micropower Council said: “The Clean Energy Cashback package is a major step forward in allowing people to save money on their fuel bills, cut carbon emissions, and is set to help the recovery by creating thousands of new ‘green collar’ jobs during the next few years. Click here for full story

The Suffolk brewer Adnams has started working with British Gas on a project to turn brewing waste into green gas for the national grid. The brewer said it planned to build a "biodigester" at its distribution centre near Southwold to harness methane from spent grains and yeast. Click here for full story

British Gas is to go ahead with five biomethane demonstration projects that are likely to be the first in the UK to inject green gas into the grid, the company has announced. The decision, it said, follows Government backing for this emerging technology that confirms support for biomethane to grid from April 2011. Click here for full story

The feed-in tariff, a government backed financial incentive that pays owners of small scale renewable energy devices a fixed premium for every unit of electricity generated, will come into force in April. BWEA hailed today's publication of feed-in tariff payment rates as a further step in the 'green energy revolution' changing the way electricity is generated and used in Britain. The new green incentives will stimulate the growth of the UK small wind manufacturing industry, the only microgeneration technology in which the UK leads the world. Click here for full story

Final proposals to revolutionise UK energy generation by putting people in charge of their own energy were unveiled by DECC today. The ‘Feed-In Tariff’ (FIT) scheme will pay people for all the renewable power they produce from this April. DECC also launched consultation proposals for the Renewable Heat Incentive, due to follow next April 2011, which will pay people for the renewable heat they generate. REA Policy Director Gaynor Hartnell, commenting on both schemes, said; “The potential impact on households, businesses, farmers, schools and virtually every other energy user you can think of should not be underestimated. The balance of power has shifted. Instead of being tied to fossil fuels and energy price fluctuations, people and communities can now take control of their energy supply and their energy bills.” Click here for full story

New subsidies to encourage millions of British families to install roof-top wind turbines and solar panels were unveiled by the Government yesterday, but were criticised as too low to help to meet its ambitious targets for low-carbon energy production……However, critics said that the scheme’s average returns on investment, of 5 to 8 per cent, were too low to encourage its mass adoption. They said that returns were significantly below the 10 per cent average in Germany, where similar arrangements have led to a big expansion of renewable energy. Click here for full story

The UK's renewable energy industry is gearing up for a demand boom following the government's announcement yesterday of a more generous than expected subsidy scheme. Households and businesses that install generating equipment such as solar panels and mini wind turbines will start to receive payments from April under the "clean energy cashback scheme" Click here for full story

Government today (1 February) published detailed consultation proposals for the world’s first Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which will pay people for the heat they generate themselves. The scheme, which is due to start in April 2011, will lead to a rapid increase in the number of homes and offices heated by woodfuel, biogas, solar thermal, heat pumps and waste-to-energy technologies. This will be driven by the RHI guaranteeing that the average household will be paid well over £1,000 for the renewable heat they generate themselves….. REA Policy Director Gaynor Hartnell said; “The UK may be languishing behind the rest of Europe on renewable heat, but the proposals launched today are an important world first. The industry is confident these proposals give the UK pretty much the best chance of generating over 10% of its heat from renewables by 2020.” Click here for full story

Solarcentury, a renewable energy company founded by green campaigner Jeremy Leggett, is mulling a flotation on the London Stock Exchange. A listing could value the company at up to £100m, according to an estimate by an industry expert. Solarcentury, which employs more than 110 people and provides solar technology across Europe, has a £35m turnover and is one of the country's fastest growing clean technology firms. A source close to the company said that while a decision has not been made, it was "an option [because] the company is doing well". Click here for full story

Households and communities who install generating technologies such as small wind turbines and solar panels will from April be entitled to claim payments for the low carbon electricity they produce. Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband today (1 February) announced the feed-in tariff (FITs) levels and also published a blueprint for a similar scheme to be introduced in April 2011 to incentivise low carbon heating technologies. The renewable heat incentive (RHI) will be a world first. The schemes are designed to bring about a significant increase in the amount of locally produced green energy, as a contribution to the wider shift of the energy mix to low carbon….. The tariff levels for the electricity financial incentives, calculated to offer between 5-8% return on initial investment in the technology are shown in a grid on the website.
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….. The Department of Energy and Climate Change also published today plans for a scheme to incentivise renewable heat generation at all scales. This will come into effect in April 2011 and guarantee payments for those who install technologies such as ground source heat pumps, biomass boilers and air source heat pumps. Under the proposed tariffs the installation of a ground source heat pump in an average semi-detached house with adequate insulation levels could be rewarded with £1,000 a year and lead to savings of £200 per year if used instead of heating oil. Click here for full story

Documentation for the consultation. Click here for full story

Homeowners in Scotland may soon be allowed to put wind turbines on their roofs without planning permission. Turbines with a maximum 3m height and 3.5m diameter would be permitted under the plans. Free-standing wind turbines as tall as 11m and at least 100m from neighbouring properties would also be allowed. Click here for full story

The SBHS (Scottish Biomass Heat Scheme), unveiled by Jim Mather, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, will give grants of up to 40 per cent of project costs, capped at £100,000. The funding is open to small and medium-sized businesses to install renewable energy heating systems…… The closing date for the grant-giving scheme - set up to support businesses wishing to install biomass systems - is February 12. Click here for full story

The public overwhelmingly support a much more ambitious scheme to push renewable energy for homes and communities, a new poll shows today ahead of a key government announcement next week. Government officials are putting the finishing touches to plans to boost the take-up of renewable energy in Britain - which is the lowest in Europe - through a system known as the "clean energy cashback", or feed-in tariff.
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A new £2m facility in Bridgend which turns wood into energy- generating pellets had started production. Land Energy recycles wood into pellets that can be used as a biofuel in power stations and industrial sectors for heating. Click here for full story

Most homeowners would consider installing green energy systems such as solar panels or small wind turbines if they were paid enough cash, according to a new study. A survey of over 2,100 adults showed that seven out of 10 would consider fitting micro-generation schemes if so-called feed in tariffs were generous enough. Friends of the Earth, the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and the Co-operative Group, which commissioned the study, said the findings showed the Government's plans to pay homes and businesses to generate green electricity were not ambitious enough. Click here for full story

The UK will not be able to achieve its target of reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 unless it urgently addresses carbon emissions from the built environment, according to a report published today by the Academy. Buildings currently account for 45 per cent of our carbon emissions but it is estimated that 80 per cent of the buildings we will be occupying in 2050 have already been built. Click here for full story

Proposed regulation on biogas plants will deter farmers from turning farm waste into valuable energy, the Country Land and Business Association claimed. And one of the country's pioneers in producing home-grown energy on the farm, north Norfolk milk producer Stephen Temple, has criticised the proposals as counter-productive. "These proposals simply make no sense. It is an example of one arm of government encouraging production of 'greener' energy and another trying to stifle it," said Mr Temple, who represents milk producers on the National Farmers' Union's regional dairy board. 202010%2007%3A43%3A24%3A620 Click here for full story

Households will be able to sell electricity, washing machines will become "intelligent" and electric vehicles will fill the streets as part of a plan to turn Glasgow into one of the world's first "smart cities". ScottishPower hopes to revamp the electricity network in Scotland's biggest city over the next decade. It will mean households with home energy devices such as solar panels or turbines could generate their own electricity and sell it to the grid, making a profit. Click here for full story

"Every farm in the UK will have a wind turbine in five years' time" - that's the surprising claim made by wind expert Mark Newton as Farming Futures launches a free guide to wind energy for farmers and land managers. With 75% of the UK’s land in the agricultural sector, on-farm wind power can represent a significant business opportunity for farmers and land managers, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change….. financial incentives such as the new Feed-in Tariffs currently under consultation for April 2010 are making the business case for investment stack up for those with the right resources. Click here for full story