EIC warns on Green Bank pitfalls

The Environmental Industries Commission has warned that a Green Investment Bank “will institutionalise a narrow understanding of the economic opportunities of green investment”. The EIC, the lead trade association for the UK’s environmental technology and services industry, was responding to the publication this week of the Green Investment Bank Commission report – known as the […]

Midlands’ cities put electric car project in gear

Electric car drivers in Coventry and Birmingham are using a network of charging points inthe latest stage of the UK’s largest ultra low carbon vehicles trial. The charging points have been installed by E.ON for a project called Cabled (Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Demonstrators), a trial of 110 vehicles being tested in the next […]

Electric quartet hits the road in London

Transport for London has put four electric vehicles on the road as part of Mayor Boris Johnson’s ambitious plans to make the city the electric vehicle capital of Europe. The four new Mitsubishi cars, part funded by the government’s Low Carbon Procurement Partnership, are the first of 1,000 electric vehicles that Johnson wants to deploy […]

BP under fire over arts sponsorship

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management has called for money from oil and gas firms to be rejected as sponsorship for cultural institutions. As BP revealed this week that it is spending £66m a day on efforts to contain and clean up the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the CIWEM particularly singles […]

Warning over today's CRC deadline

Many organisations risk missing today’s deadline to disaggregate their subsidiaries from their parent company under the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme. Disaggregating means that dissimilar organisations within the same group can be separated, to prevent one being unduly influenced by the other. Latest Environment Agency figures reveal that fewer than 10% of those organisations […]

Scottish government looks into loan fund for energy projects

The Scottish government has commissioned a feasibility study to look into the early stage financing for renewables projects. It will be carried out by the Scottish Agricultural College in conjunction with Community Energy Scotland and will report back in three months. The study will consider whether a loan fund could be established that will encompass […]

Approval for new North Sea oil and gas field

The development of a new oil and gas field in the North Sea has been approved by Energy Minister Charles Hendry. Bacchus oil field is in the central North Sea and has estimated reserves of 18m barrels of oil. The field is operated by Apache with 70%, partnered by Shell UK with 20% and Endeavour […]

Asda spends £85m on low carbon stores

Supermarket Asda has invested £85m in renewable energy plans… and expects to get a payback on the investment in two years. Energy is the second biggest area of business risk to the company, coming just behind labour costs. Robert Simpson, Asda’s head of technical development, told the UK Energy Summit that by 2015, 25% of […]

Arup chief pulls plug on electric car optimism

Doubts have been cast on the potential success of electric cars by the energy director of global consultancy Arup. John Miles said that electric cars faced several hurdles, the biggest of which was their price. “How do you convince people to spend £20k on a car that they currently pay 10k for? The cost is […]

Waste policy in England is rubbish says Ainsworth

Former Conservative MP Peter Ainsworth says the new Environment Secretary faces numerous obstacles in tackling England’s waste policy. A London conference heard that while there were enormous opportunities for the waste industry in terms of creating jobs and delivering a more sustainable economy, the involvement of too many public bodies had turned it into ‘a […]