An ambitious plan to have 15 per cent of Europe’s energy supply come from solar plants in North Africa has run into some trouble. The project had hoped to deliver an electricity generation network to Europe from the African continent via a network of underground cables from completely renewable sources. Unfortunately the Desertec initiative has hit a snag because two large industrial backers have pulled investment out as well as the Spanish government have hesitated in signing an agreement with Morocco in order to have the solar “farms” built. Desertec was initially founded in 2009 and its projected budget was... Continue reading

Firstly, apologies for the lack of activity over the last few months - we've been stretched for time and unable to keep the blog going to a decent level. Things have settled down a little now, and we are now back in the swing of things. Fortunately, it's been a quiet couple of months for the Scottish energy sector, so we haven't really missed all that much - haha ;). In order to save you from us trawling through all the events of the last few months, we thought that some edited highlights of what has caught our attention should... Continue reading

I caught this interesting piece in the Guardian about how Morocco is looking towards renewable energy in order to break their current dependence on fossil fuels. The article claims that the Morocco are aiming to be operating at around 42% renewable energy by as early as 2020 with solar energy powering around 14% of homes by 2014. It's good to see countries being ambitious with their renewable energy goals and hopefully once their are some true success stories some of the late adopters will pick up on the benefits. Source: Guardian Environment Continue reading

How are the UK's energy providers doing in terms of pleasing the consumer? Given that the UK's retail energy market is competitive, making people happy by providing the best service is a big factor in the success of anyone operating in the sector. So it was interesting to see this week what the latest National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) has to say. The NCSI, which is produced by consumer insights specialists CFI, is a quarterly look at how companies in a number of sectors are faring. The customer satisfaction level overall for the quarter is up slightly, with gains being... Continue reading

Now this is by no means an exhaustive list however it is a great starting for and allows for you to access the latest green news from a variety of viewpoints and opinions. This will help give you a better understanding of the big issues and allow you to provide more accurate commentary when discussing it on your blog or even just in general. 1. @Treehugger.com Tree hugger is a pretty big deal in renewable energy circles; they were voted top sustainability blog in 2007 and they also featured in Time Magazine’s top 25 blog index back in 2009. 2.... Continue reading

A recent opinion poll has suggested that the majority of people in the UK have shown that they regard the Government subsidies for wind power development as a good deal. The poll was commissioned by trade body RenewableUK, and it concluded that 43% of people see the UK subsidy as good value for money against 18% of people who do not. Another survey carried out recently has also shown a large majority of people are in favour of renewable energy. These results have been well timed and have arrived just ahead of the Clean Energy Ministerial a summit that will... Continue reading

Many of us read about or listen to people detailing their positive experiences with switching electricity and gas suppliers but never do anything about it. As understandable as this is, we all have busy lives - this reluctance can quite often be attributed to the fact that switching is 'too much hassle' - why take the risk of double billing or a new supplier actually turing out to be more expensive! Well now, thanks to the internet this entire process is alot easier to negotiate. Individual supplier websites are finally gettting easier to compare prices and tariffs, and comparison sites... Continue reading

The new year is starting promisingly for Scotland with talk of over 500 jobs being created in Fife. Korean super company Samsung are intent on bringing a project to develop a new generation wind turbine at a reported cost of around £100 million. Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) the worlds second largest ship builder are planning on basing their maiden European wind project at the Fife Energy Park in Methil. The firm plans to test its new, more powerful 7MW turbine offshore at Methil before starting to take orders to build them at the site. SHI have also signed a promising... Continue reading

Even with all the uncertainty surrounding the feed-in tariff High Court decisions, it’s not all bad news for solar energy in the UK. For the first time ever the UK’s solar industry has forced its way into the worlds top 10. This is believed to be at least partly due to the Government incentives which have managed to give a real push to solar panel sales as more and more people try to take advantage of the generous feed-in tariff rate. Even with the uncertainty facing the scheme at the moment – the UK is still producing massive amount of... Continue reading

Figures show that there is a pipeline of around £46 billion of investment for renewables in Scotland which should generate up to 17GW of energy capacity. Fergus Ewing – Scotland’s Energy minister has said he is “relentlessly positive” regarding 2012. It is believed that such a large scale investment will help create jobs throughout Scotland and put Scotland even further on its path to creating 100% of its electricity from renewables by 2020. In fact figures showed that in the first quarter of 2011 Scotland had generated 94% of 2010’s entire output. Continue reading

The Renewable Energy for Business Growth (REBG) scheme is aiming to help over 220 small companies in Ceredigion understand and utilise renewable energy solutions and generate further revenue for their business. The REBG scheme has contacted 3,500 businesses offering them an independent energy survey to assess where renewable energy could be most appropriately applied. The scheme has been underway for over a month now and has been a great way to show the benefits that can be gained from renewable energy in Wales. You can read the full story @ Green Wise Business Continue reading

A new wind farm in the Scottish Highlands has finally been connected to the national grid, with the first two turbines now online and generating electricity. This is good news for SSE as it means they are beginning to see a return on what is expected to be a £100 million investment. The wind farm will be home to 35 turbines in total that once complete will generate around 180GWh a year. At the moment 15 of the 35 wind towers have been erected and the full site is expected to be operational by the end of this financial year.... Continue reading

Granite could be the latest renewable feather in Scotlands growing energy cap. It's always been plentiful in Scotland and Aberdeen is internationally known as the 'Granite City'. However a new level of excitement is surrounding this grey rock as there are many who believe it could bring about a second energy boom and go a long way to further strengthening Scotland's place on the energy map. I know what your thinking.... How can a rock generate energy? Well....About four miles straight down from the earths surface, the temperature rises by around 150°C. However, the interesting bit is that where there... Continue reading

Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Here's a BBC report we didn't want to read - local councils are refusing planning for new wind turbine farms at an 'alarming rate' according to RenewableUK, an industry body. The organisation has reported that approvals are at their lowest in five years, and were taking than usual to clear. With wind energy rising above 10% of the UK's total energy consumption this year, these reports are not encouraging - and at this rate are unlikely to keep the UK going in the right direction. What do you think about this... Continue reading

SSE (Scottish & Southern Energy) is the parent company for Southern Electric, Scottish Hydro, SWALEC and Atlantic. And it would appear that they are attempting to give the energy market a shock by trying to make it easier for smaller companies to gain a foothold in their particularly competitive market. SSE one of the biggest energy supplier’s in the UK is looking forward to auctioning off its entire electricity supply on the wholesale market. Industry experts are saying that this is going to change the way that the entire energy market operates. This is the first time that one of... Continue reading

The Orkney Islands have long been defined by their weather and harsh conditions, and these days things are no different there’s still few trees or crops and the weather is still pretty dismal. However as shown time and again the harshest conditions can bring the greatest innovations. The Orkneys have found themselves home to a generation of eco-pioneers intent on using the uniquely harsh weather found around the Orkneys to produce renewable energy. So even though the islands are on the outskirts of Britain they are at the heart of what is making the UK a global leader in the... Continue reading

Scottish and Southern Energy’s Clyde wind farm has been generating green electricity without a hitch for over a month now, and progress is said to be steady. The site will eventually be home to 152 turbines and should hopefully be completed by 2012, with the first of the 3 sections finished by the end of 2011. SSE were only able to get things started after coming to an agreement with NATs, the air traffic control body operating in the area. It is believed they had some concerns about the safety of aircraft flying over the area whilst a new radar... Continue reading

Southern Electric is a major supplier all over England with affordable prices and theres also the option of applying online. Continue reading

Southern Electric is a major supplier all over England with affordable prices and theres also the option of applying online. Continue reading

The recent decision in Germany to begin completely phasing out nuclear dependancy has sparked a rather heated debate within Scottish politics. With Germany having declared plans to shut all their nuclear power stations by 2022, they will be by far the largest industrial power to have taken this step. Moreover it would seem that if the SNP have their way then Scotland will be following suit. A prominent SNP politician has been quoted as saying it demonstrates the same "route that Scotland wishes to go down". The Nationalist MSP's were all over the announcement as soon as it was made... Continue reading

Businesses in Scotland are being urged to replace the burning of fossil fuels with wood burning for heating purposes in a campaign led Usewoodfuel Scotland. Some advantages with wood burning include the reduction of energy bills, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and offer the chance for businesses to support local suppliers in the area. The campaign hopes to increase the demand for renewable timber resources and heating systems that are run by using wood fuel by offering incentives. Businesses that change over could be eligible for payments from the UK government’s “Renewable Heat Incentive”. Forestry Commission Scotland has stated... Continue reading

The data has been collated following the coldest winter in the UK since 1979, and experts have claimed over 30% of the boilers which broke down throughout this winter coud have been avoided if they had been properly and regularly maintained. The main problems encountered by homeowners were frozen fuel lines, sludge in the systems and a general lack of servicing which led to large numbers of people being left without heat or hot water for extended periods. It seems that a high proportion of the boilers had not had a full service for a number of years and the... Continue reading

I call it the green finger - the attention placed on the ecological / environmental efforts of certain organisations and industries: supermarkets, car manufacturers, fashion labels. Now, most of these will happily have the green finger pointed at them because it gives them a chance to show their environmental commitment, and it's a way for one organisation to steal a lead on the others - the benefits of competition. But some industries, it seems, don't get prodded by the green finger too much - you don't hear an awful lot about green hospitals for instance, although this article on green... Continue reading

Do you carbon offset? Personally, I don't. I can't even remember the last time I was on an aeroplane* and I don't own a car. Anyway that's enough use of the first person proniun for one blog post - what about you? There are various ways to get a picture of your carbon footprint, and it's always worth having a look as it gets you thinking about this stuff in a more involved and personal way. If your carbon output is heavier than you'd like it to be you can then think about ways to reduce. But it's not a... Continue reading

The recent events in Japan have naturally opened up a debate in the broadsheets about nuclear power and whether the benefits (cheap, no carbon) are outweighed by the potential for accidents like Chernobyl, which happened almost exactly 25 years ago. There are no easy answers, of course. Climate change from burning stuff or the worry about acts of God like what's been in the news this weekend. My guess has always been that nuclear is a transitional technology, and that when humankind has learnt to fully harness solar, wind and sea power, then we'll look back at nuclear as well... Continue reading