A letter signed by 101 public figures in the UK – including Sir Richard Branson – has been sent to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to promote the benefits of renewable energy in the budget due to be announced this Wednesday, the Guardian reported.
The letter is widely seen as a rebuff to another letter signed by 101 Members of Parliament who called for an end to support for wind energy
The March budget is one of the “biggest opportunities to tackle climate change in the UK…we must ensure it encourages investment rather than create uncertainty and delay further serious investment in the renewable sectors. As a country, we need to be better prepared to deal with rising energy prices,” Branson said, reported in the Guardian.
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Electricity from wind energy and other renewables is close to one-third cheaper than electricity from a new coal-fired plant, according to a US report published by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPRS) to the state legislature.
The report found that average costs over the life cycle of renewable energy systems equalled €69.5 per megawatt-hour (MWh) while the cost for a new coal fired power plant totalled €101 per MWh.
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Installed wind power capacity continued to grow around the world last year despite the ongoing financial uncertainty with Europe remaining the number one regional leader, according to a new report.
Europe’s installed wind capacity increased by 10,281 MW to 96,616 MW by the end of 2011, the Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) annual statistics show. In the EU, the new total was 93,957 MW.
Asia was the second place regional leader with 21,298 additional MW of installed wind capacity, bringing its cumulative total to 82,398 MW. North America was in third place with an additional 8,077 MW last year increasing its total capacity to 52,184 MW. continue reading »
With more than 450 people dying as of Tuesday because of the freezing temperatures currently sweeping Europe, news reports that Russia has reduced its natural gas supplies to some European countries once again highlights the problems of security of supply of imported fossil fuels.
European policy makers can’t do anything about the punishingly cold polar air that is expected to hover over the region for at least another week, but they can make sure that proposals currently before the European Parliament and Council of Ministers to speed up the permitting, and assist the financing, of grid extensions and upgrades are approved without being watered down. They can also put the right policy framework in place up to and beyond 2020 in order to boost the supply of domestically produced renewable energy.
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Susanne Nies
Some of the windiest conditions – and best electricity generating opportunities – are found out at sea or in remote on-land spots. But if we, as people with cars and boats to transport us, struggle to get to Europe’s more isolated locations, electricity has an even greater battle to travel from some sources to demand.
What is more, electricity faces an uphill struggle to travel between EU countries since there is no single market for electricity in Europe, and very limited infrastructure to carry it across borders. For example, Spain has an interconnection rate of just 3.6%, making it a virtual island.
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