It’s all kicking off. The government’s energy review is due to be published later today and then the country’s worst kept secret will be official. Nuclear power will continue to play a significant part in the UK’s electricity supply.
Read more on Energy reviewed at last…
Tony Blair is giving a big speech tonight to representatives of British industry and is taking the opportunity to less-than-subtly hint that nuclear power is back on the agenda. The reaction from green groups has been predictably critical and it’s certainly easy to be cynical about whether or not the Energy Review was a done-deal from day one.
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Looks like I’m not the only one who thinks the microgen strategy is a bit wishy-washy.
And nuclear clean-up will cost more than expected. Quel grande surprise.
There’s an interesting article in the Guardian this morning about the budget sounding better than it actually is for microgeneration and sustainable energy. The general impression is that the amounts being put forward are not enough: Jeremy Leggett from Solar Century suggests it needs to be “billions, not millions”. While this may be hyperbole, the government certainly could be doing more on climate change and this discrepancy makes the PM’s recent claims that he wants a “technological revolution” to help solve the problem sound a bit disingenuous.
Read more on Budget critique and technology innovation…
The DTI has just released its microgeneration strategy. I haven’t read it cover to cover yet but there doesn’t appear to be any revolutionary initiatives. The biggest change – increasing the budget of the Low Carbon Buildings programme to £80m over three years – was announced in last week’s Budget. Positive steps include the creation of an accreditation scheme and codes of practice for all microgeneration technologies and the possibility of a field trial for smart metering and microgeneration.
Read more on Microgeneration strategy released…
Gordon Brown just gave his budget speech and there will be an additional £50 million for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (bringing the total to £80 million over three years). But there’s still some uncertainty over the exact scope of the programme and many in the industry are unhappy. Looks like despite all the warnings, the funding gap between the old and new programmes is happening. Though to be fair, there’s still 9 days (including the weekend) before the government’s April deadline…
Read more on The Budget…
