Government | News & Views

Government must ‘take solar seriously’

Members of the solar industry have called on the UK government to raise its ambitions for the renewable energy source.

In an advert placed in this week’s New Statesman, the sector has linked with WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth to draw attention to the potential solar power offers.

Howard Johns, chairman of the Solar Trade Association, said: “This government isn’t taking solar seriously and that is completely unjustified. Costs of solar are dropping as fast as oil costs are rising, and this technology could easily meet a third of UK electricity needs.”

Entitled Don’t Crush This Solar Revolution, the piece comes in response to the government’s review into Feed-in-Tariffs, which it claims are needed to address the “threat” presented by large solar farms.

The signatories argue schemes larger than 5MW, which the government classes as “super-size”, are common in other countries and the review is also jeopardising the future of medium-sized installations.

Britain was said to have the lowest target for solar power, generating just one percent of its power from the source by 2020.

The government’s target is for 15 percent of all power to come from renewable sources by the end of the decade to contribute to overall CO2 savings of 80 percent by 2050.

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TUC: Govt cuts could hamper green economy

The opportunity to create thousands of green jobs could be missed if the government cuts investment in the low carbon economy, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has claimed.

In a letter to Chancellor George Osborne, the TUC, Friends of the Earth and the Aldersgate Group warned that the market cannot be relied on to “drive the move to a low carbon economy”.

A reduction in government investment would also be a “huge blow” to the development of carbon capture and storage technologies, the document added.

Speaking at the TUC Alliances for Green Growth Conference, deputy general secretary Frances O’Grady said that green investment is “essential” to ensure the economic recovery of the UK.

“Cutting green funding in the spending review would not just risk economic recovery, it would also mean many lost opportunities to create green jobs, develop technologies that could reduce our carbon emissions, and save businesses and taxpayers billions of pounds,” she said.

Ms Grady also reiterated the needed for the Green Investment Bank to provide capital for green initiatives.

Mr Osborne will be announcing the comprehensive spending review, which lays out the government’s spending plans for the next four years, on Wednesday October 20th.

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World Green Building Week outlines the social benefits

Ahead of World Green Building Week the World Green Building Council stresses the social and environmental benefits of green architecture.

On the first day of Green Building Week, which runs September 20-26, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) will be releasing a special report entitled “Tackling Global Climate Change- Meeting Local Priorities.”

The report focuses on how green buildings provide not just environmental benefits but also how they help meet social and economic priorities in different countries. The report will be free to download from the WorldGBC website from September 20.

According to researchers at Michigan State University, one of the social benefits of green buildings is that they improve worker productivity – employees working in an environmentally friendly environment take less sick days.

Throughout World Green Building Week, a series of galas, festivals, lectures and business meetings will be taking place around the world in order to raise the profile of environmentally friendly architecture.

On October 10, Global Work Party Day aims to stress the importance of cutting carbon emissions and encourages people to undertake activities such as fixing bicycles, or installing solar panels.

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UK is ‘laughing stock of Europe’ for climate initiatives

The UK is the “laughing stock of Europe” in terms of eco-incentives and climate initiatives, according one microgeneration expert.

Commenting on the government’s recent announcement about the Green Deal, Andrew Moore, founder of British Eco, said that the initiative must form “part of the bigger picture”. Some 26 million households are expected to benefit from the Green Deal, which allows people to make energy-efficient improvements to their properties without the upfront cost, over the next 20 years.

The programme is intended to reduce both carbon emissions and energy bills, and, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, it will also help to support 250,000 UK jobs. Mr Moore said: “On climate issues, we are the laughing stock of Europe really, and we need to get going with it.”

However, he added that the Renewable Heat Incentive, which would reward homeowners for generating green thermal energy from technology such as solar thermal panels, biomass boilers and heat pumps, could “revolutionise the market”.

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Electric vehicle support scheme announced

A new customer support scheme is being launched for drivers of electric vehicles in the north-east.   The regional development agency One North East has created the Charge Your Car scheme, which will educate motorists about where they can charge their electric vehicles in their local area.  Due to launch on October 1st, the initiative will provide drivers with tags to access charging points, as well as free parking while charging takes place.

Elektromotive, which has supplied 200 of the 1,300 points due to be installed in the region, is supporting the scheme.  Dr Colin Herron, manufacturing and productivity manager at One North East, said: “To ensure this dynamic new industry can grow to its full potential it is vital that we make sure there are no barriers preventing drivers from making the switch to low carbon transport.

“  Earlier this year, it was announced that the government is supporting the electric car industry in the UK with a £20 million grant for Nissan.  The Japanese car manufacturer will be producing parts for its electric vehicles in its plant in Sunderland.

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FSB: Green improvements must be economically viable

The government must do more to help small businesses in the UK improve their energy efficiency, a new report by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) concludes.

Entitled Making Sense of Going Green – Small Businesses and Low Carbon Economy, the report claims that the coalition must provide incentives for small firms to make their buildings more eco friendly and expand the current system of loans to make going green economically viable.

As 44 percent of small businesses in the UK rent their premises, the FSB said steps must be taken to make energy efficient improvements beneficial to both the company and the landlord.

This could be done by encouraging private sector providers to pay for the upfront cost of works, linking pay-as-you-save repayments to the building – which would “overcome the landlord/tenant divide” – and waving increased fees for those who improve the rateable value of their property through green improvements.

John Walker, national chairman of the FSB, said: “If the correct policies are put in place now, then small businesses will have the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions while also delivering the substantial economic growth that the UK economy desperately needs.”

There are currently around 4.8 million small businesses operating in the UK which provide around half of the annual UK turnover.

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Eco Picture of The Day – July 2010 Top 10 Eco Pic’s

Below we have listed the Eco Pic of The Day July Top 10 Eco Pic’s.

Click the link to see the picture;

1 - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

2 - Plastic bottle catamaran crosses Australian finish line

3 - Scrapped taxis in India

4 - Ecover factory recycle bins

5 - Dead whale found pinned to alaska cruise ship

6 - Creating art out of plastic debris

7 - Heathrow Terminal 1 recycling bins

8 - Fight for your right to clean air emissions equality

9 - Ecover orginal advertising

10 - Dead Oystercatcher killed by plastic waste

Green Awards celebrate ecological business practices

The Global Green awards reward companies which have made contributions to environmentally friendly or sustainable business practices, consumers can find out about the green business practices of previous winners or follow this year’s awards on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Global Green awards, previously the Green Awards, are awarded to companies within the media and marketing industries which have undertaken creative work demonstrating the importance of corporate social responsibility, sustainable development and undertaking ethical business practices.

2010, the fifth year of the awards, is the first year in which all the categories in the Green Awards have been open to entries from around the world. Award categories include Best Green educational product, best green international campaign, best green product innovation and best green packaging.

The Green Awards are designed to drive others towards the sustainability agenda by celebrating environmentally friendly practices. Consumers can inform themselves of more environmentally friendly product choices by following past winners and their ecologically friendly products or campaigns on the Green Awards Website.

Examples of past winners include chocolate company Cadbury, which won the best green packaging awards in 2008 for their ‘eco-eggs’ – chocolate eggs wrapped with the minimum amount of packaging and using recycled material; and multinational mobile phone company O2, which received an award in 2006, for reducing packaging.

The competition officially opens on Monday, July 19, when entry forms are made available for any companies wishing to be considered for an award. Though entrants cannot be viewed by members of the public until the shortlist is announced in mid-October, the awards can be followed through social networking sites Facebook, Twitter and MySpace; more information can also be found about past winners at www.greenawards.com. The awards ceremony will take place in London later this year.

Previously this year the winners of the European Business awards for the Environment were announced on June 2. The awards have four categories, products, international co-operation, management and process, rewarding companies that pioneer green practices.

www.twitter.com/greenawards

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Survey shows businesses confused about green policies

A lack of clarity remains in the business community over the UK’s environmental policies, a new survey has revealed.

Research by PriceWaterhouseCoopers revealed that two-thirds of businesses in Britain believe that current green policy is unclear and would not feel comfortable making any investment decisions based on the existing regulations.

There was also confusion over environmental tax incentives and, of those who were aware they could apply for such financial breaks, 75 percent said the process was “too onerous to make them worth applying for”.

Some 94 percent of business believe that climate change policy will impact on their business in the next two or three years.

Mark Schofield, global leader of sustainability and climate change tax, said: “The business appetite for leadership is there. As with many tax and regulation issues, the call for action is for one of simplification, clarity and long-term certainty.”

The results of the survey come as a report by The Work Foundation suggests that a lack of clarity over the low carbon economy as a whole could be having an adverse effect on the development of green skills and may be “eroding Britain’s competitive advantage”.

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Cameron promises greenest government ever

New UK prime minister David Cameron has promised that his government will be the greenest ever.  

During a visit to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), Cameron said that the low carbon economy will be at the heart of his agenda and pledged to make all ministerial departments cut their carbon emissions by ten per cent.

“We’ve got a big, big opportunity here, I want us to be the greenest government ever. It’s a very simple ambition and one I’m absolutely committed to achieving,” he added.

He also highlighted his intention to focus on the green economy, saying: “We’ve got a real opportunity to drive the green economy, green jobs, green growth and make sure we have our share of the industries of the future.”

Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne has been placed in charge of the DECC, replacing Labour MP Ed Miliband, and it certainly seems like he has his work cut out for him if the government is going to place so much focus on environmental issues.

Huhne told reporters that he would be doing his bit to help cut carbon emissions by cycling to work.  But does the Con-Dem government have the potential to be the greenest ever?

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