Lack of carbon target could lead to ‘investment vacuum’

The UK could face a high risk of “investment vacuum” after 2020 due to the Government’s lack of clarity on setting a decarbonisation target. That’s the view of environmental group Greenpeace, which said billions of pounds of investment that the Energy Bill plans to bring in will depend on the carbon target being made law. […]

Government’s Energy Bill still has ‘room to improve’

The Energy and Climate Change Committee welcomed the Government’s proposals for the Energy Bill but said there is “still room for improvement”. Energy Secretary Ed Davey announced the full details of the Bill yesterday and confirmed the decision to have a single counterparty for its Contracts for Difference (CfD) mechanism. This is expected to provide […]

Shale gas could increase global resources by 50%

Shale gas could increase global gas resources by around 50%. That’s according to a new report funded by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), which looked at the current availability of unconventional gas resources at a regional and global level. Researchers claim that although the US has seen an increase in the production of shale […]

Government must learn lessons from previous competition, says CBI

Businesses in the UK welcomed DECC’s CCS competition re-launch but claim the Government “must learn lessons” from its original project. The CBI said the new CCS competition must be “simpler” and “completed quickly” as the last one “took too long and was eventually abandoned”. It believes the UK could gain from this project and the […]

Report suggests smart grid is not understood

A group of experts is concerned that the term ‘smart grid’ is not understood by the general consumer who is likely to foot the bill for the grid transition. The workshop, organised by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) thinks more needs to be done by stakeholders to create a standard recognised by the customer. […]

UK needs new energy body at "arm’s length" from Government

The UK needs a new independent body to look after energy policies to prevent them being “too easily influenced by the political wind”, according to the UK Energy Research Council (UKERC). The Government is currently drawing up a package of reforms to the electricity market (EMR), which includes incentives to use renewable energy like solar […]