New green bus for London

Boris test drives the next generation routemaster

Swiss suspend nuclear plans

Switzerland has suspended plans for three new nuclear plants and could phase out nuclear by 2034. The Swiss government voted to halt new plans after public demonstrations against nuclear in the wake of the Japanese nuclear crisis at Fukushima, reported Reuters. Power from the country’s five nuclear plants counts for 39% of Swiss electricity, going […]

Efficient engine wins funding

Ultramo, the developer of a new high efficiency engine, has been awarded £60,000. Finance South East (FSE) gave the repayable funds so that Ultramo could look at future market prospects for their engine model. Chrissi Wilkins, Managing Director at Ultramo said the money was helping them to look beyond their “proof-of-concept stage” with consultants at […]

Ofgem report misleading, says Energy UK

The representative body for the UK’s gas and electricity industry has said that regulator Ofgem was wrong to claim prices were rising faster than they fell. NERA Economic Consulting, who were commissioned by Energy UK to make the report have said Ofgem has not proven that prices go up faster than they fall. Christine McGourty, […]

Boris tests 21st century Routemaster

Boris Johnson has revealed the prototype of a new green bus that has been “specially designed” for London. At the Millbrook testing centre on Friday, the Mayor took the wheel of the New Bus for London to showcase its ability. The NBFL uses a hybrid engine that can switch from diesel to electric when going […]

Energy storage company gets huge investment

Leading energy storage firm, Primus Power, has received $11m in funding. The firm has received money from several investors as well as the United States Department of Energy in order to support the development and commercialisation of Primus’ low cost, ‘power-dense, distributed storage technology’. DBL Investors and I2BF Global Ventures joined existing investors Chrysalix Energy […]

UK looks isolated after G8 countries say no to carbon cuts

Russia, Japan and Canada are reported to have counted themselves out of a second round of carbon cuts under the Kyoto Protocol, damaging the UK’s recent moves toward a low carbon future. According to their diplomats, the countries who have removed themselves argue that the Kyoto format doesn’t require developing countries to make targeted emission […]

Oxfam warns world leaders against biofuel

Oxfam has warned world leaders against endorsing biofuels in their energy policies because the world is facing a food price crisis in the next 20 years. With the world’s population expected to increase to 9 billion by 2050, Oxfam called on world leaders to rethink their strategy of using crops to create fuel. The international […]

2010 carbon emissions hit record high

Carbon emissions in 2010 were the highest in history, casting doubts onto the world target of a 2% rise in temperature. According to the latest estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions climbed to a record 30.6 Gigatonnes (Gt) in 2010, a 5% jump from the previous record year in 2008, when […]

Germany shuts nuclear plants

Germany has committed to shutting down all of the country’s 17 nuclear reactors by 2022. Chancellor Angela Merkel made the ground-breaking decision to reverse the country’s nuclear policy after declaring less than a year ago that she wished to extend the lives of the plants. The plans, which came after Japan’s Fukushima disaster, mean Germany […]