Solar panels could be fitted to the roof of every public building and wind turbines installed in hospital car parks under plans for local authorities to earn £100 million a year from generating green electricity.
By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Published: 7:00AM BST 09 Aug 2010
Previously councils were not allowed to make money from installing renewable energy schemes like hydro electric plants on rivers for fear of upsetting the electricity market.
But as part of the Coalition's plans to become ‘the greenest government ever’, town halls will be able to profit from 'mini power stations' for the first time.
Mazda RX-8H reviewThe ‘Feed in Tariff; a generous subsidy that already pays individual households for feeding electricity into the national grid, will apply to local authorities from next week.
The ambitious scheme will mean thousands of solar panels being installed on public buildings wherever they are able to generate electricity.
For example solar panels fitted to an average-sized town hall building could raise £10,000 a year.
Although wind turbines generally do not work mounted on the roof of buildings in towns and cities, a well positioned 1MW turbine, more than 150ft high, in a windy leisure centre car park or a hilly public park, could generate electricity worth more than £160,000 per year.
Councils that invest in anaerobic digesters or incinerators, that generate energy from waste, will not only reduce the amount of waste going to landfill but make money. Local authorities in coastal areas could even install wave machines or tidal power in the future.
Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said councils in England and Wales could earn £100 million per year.
"For too long, Whitehall’s dogmatic reliance on ‘big’ energy has stood in the way of the vast potential role of local authorities in the UK’s green energy revolution,” he said.
“This is a vital step to making community renewable projects commercially viable, to bring in long-term income to benefit local areas, and to secure local acceptance for low carbon energy projects.”
Gary Porter, Chairman of the Local Government Association Environment Board, said the earnings can go towards cutting councils tax.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm in town halls to develop green energy to cut the power they use and save money. Fully realising the benefits of green power will take time and investment, but this has the potential to cut energy bills, reduce emissions and raise millions of pounds in much-needed income to maintain services and keep council tax down in these tough financial times," he said.
“Councils have lots of buildings, from offices and leisure centres to houses and flats, depots and community centres that could be transformed into local green power stations.”
However local campaigners have voiced caution about putting solar panels on listed buildings and wind turbines in more remote council areas that are visited for their unspoilt views.
Monday, 9 August 2010
Brazilian state sets up carbon, eco registry with Markit
5 August 2010
Markit is setting up a first-of-its-kind environmental assets registry for the Brazilian state of Amapá, with a likely focus on managing credits from reduced emissions from deforestation and degredation projects.
“Amapá is located in the northern part of Brazil and nearly 90% of our state is comprised of Amazonian rainforest,” said state governor Pedro Paulo Dias Carvalho.
“The rainforest and the wealth of biodiversity is a resource of great value to our citizenry. The government of Brazil and the state of Amapá recognises this value and the need to create a robust and transparent market to protect our environmental assets, and the agreement with Markit is one component to create that market.”
Markit is setting up a first-of-its-kind environmental assets registry for the Brazilian state of Amapá, with a likely focus on managing credits from reduced emissions from deforestation and degredation projects.
“Amapá is located in the northern part of Brazil and nearly 90% of our state is comprised of Amazonian rainforest,” said state governor Pedro Paulo Dias Carvalho.
“The rainforest and the wealth of biodiversity is a resource of great value to our citizenry. The government of Brazil and the state of Amapá recognises this value and the need to create a robust and transparent market to protect our environmental assets, and the agreement with Markit is one component to create that market.”
Banco de Galicia launches sustainable finance facility
5 August 2010
Argentina’s Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires is launching a $60 million facility to support environmental projects at small and medium-sized companies.
The bank will finance projects with high environmental and social benefits in Argentina, particularly in the areas of agriculture, biofuels, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is backing the facility with a $30 million loan. The remaining $30 million is to be financed by private investors and could be extended, depending on market conditions.
The loan is part of the IDB’s Beyond Banking programme, supporting sustainable banking principles in Latin America and the Caribbean. The project with Banco de Galicia “will demonstrate the environmental, social and economic benefits of sustainable banking practices", said IDB financial markets division chief Daniela Carrera-Marquis.
The IDB said one of the main challenges for an effective response to climate change in the region is the lack of financing for private sector investments. “Financial institutions can play a key role in reducing carbon emissions by providing green loan portfolios and scaling up sustainable investment,” the bank said.
IDB project team leader Diego Flaiban said: “This sustainable facility will provide not only financial support but also technical expertise to properly identify and serve ‘green’ investments.” This will include fostering Banco de Galicia’s capacity to identify investment opportunities accessing the Clean Development Mechanism.
Last year, the IDB lent $20 million to support Banco General, Panama’s second largest commercial bank, in growing a portfolio of green projects.
Christopher Cundy
Argentina’s Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires is launching a $60 million facility to support environmental projects at small and medium-sized companies.
The bank will finance projects with high environmental and social benefits in Argentina, particularly in the areas of agriculture, biofuels, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is backing the facility with a $30 million loan. The remaining $30 million is to be financed by private investors and could be extended, depending on market conditions.
The loan is part of the IDB’s Beyond Banking programme, supporting sustainable banking principles in Latin America and the Caribbean. The project with Banco de Galicia “will demonstrate the environmental, social and economic benefits of sustainable banking practices", said IDB financial markets division chief Daniela Carrera-Marquis.
The IDB said one of the main challenges for an effective response to climate change in the region is the lack of financing for private sector investments. “Financial institutions can play a key role in reducing carbon emissions by providing green loan portfolios and scaling up sustainable investment,” the bank said.
IDB project team leader Diego Flaiban said: “This sustainable facility will provide not only financial support but also technical expertise to properly identify and serve ‘green’ investments.” This will include fostering Banco de Galicia’s capacity to identify investment opportunities accessing the Clean Development Mechanism.
Last year, the IDB lent $20 million to support Banco General, Panama’s second largest commercial bank, in growing a portfolio of green projects.
Christopher Cundy
Learning From Mexican Spill, Researchers Fight for Funds
John Hoagland/Liaison
Burning oil from the 1979 Ixtoc I spill off the Mexican Gulf Coast. Money to study the environmental damage from this disaster disappeared soon after the oil well was rendered dead.
.Scientists studying one of the biggest oil spills 31 years ago watched with alarm as funds to research the environmental damage evaporated shortly after the well was plugged.
As BP PLC appears to have sealed its own troubled well, some of the same people who researched the effect of oil and chemical dispersants on wildlife after the Ixtoc I well exploded in 1979 off the Mexican Gulf Coast are mobilizing to make sure the situation is different this time.
On Sunday, BP said pressure testing on its well indicated an effective cement plug in the pipe. The company said it will still complete a relief well as a precautionary measure.
Scientists at research institutions along the U.S. Gulf Coast are lobbying Congress and other federal agencies for money as they rush to compile a list of must-do projects to determine the long-term impact of the spill from BP's Macondo well.
In Mexico, a group of researchers have secured government funds to investigate their side of the Gulf for the next five years. "We're getting involved right now, so that we don't see a repeat of what happened in 1979," said Luis Soto, an oceanographer who studied the Mexican spill and is now tracking Macondo's oil in Mexican waters.
In June of that year, Ixtoc I, an exploratory well owned by Mexico's national oil company, blew out, erupting in flames and causing the drilling platform above it to sink. Over the next nine months, it spewed out more than three million barrels of oil.
In the early days of that spill, U.S. and Mexican scientists armed with government funds fanned out to track its effects, but when the oil disappeared so did the much of money, they said.
Wes Tunnell, now the associate director at the Harte Research Institute, said he had been studying the oil's effect on the Texas shore with a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but "once the word got back to Washington that a tropical storm had cleaned the beaches, the funding kind of dried up."
Mr. Tunnell got a graduate student to do some follow-up work a few years later at no cost to the government. Mr. Soto, the Mexican oceanographer who is now at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said he experienced the same, although he doesn't recall how much money he got back then. For this spill, the Mexican government granted his group a little less than $3 million over five years. "The money is never enough," Mr. Soto said.
To be sure, scientists have a vested interest in seeking as much money as possible because of the job security and compensation that can accompany research grants. But many of them said more research on Ixtoc I years ago would be helpful now. A key question that scientists are still trying to answer: What happened to the oil that didn't burn off, evaporate or get collected?
By the time the researchers gathered at a conference devoted to Ixtoc I in 1982, most were no longer working on the spill due to lack of money, participants said.
Ixtoc I owner Petróleos Mexicanos says it is difficult to assess whether it properly followed up back then because many of the people who were involved in the spill are no longer with the company. However, a spokesman said, some of the results from investigations done at that time were published and available for others to learn from them.
This time around, BP has pledged $500 million over the next 10 years for scientists to study the effects of the spill. The company has already granted $30 million of that and is working with government authorities on how to distribute the rest.
"Make no mistake, our focus on restoration along the Gulf Coast is a long-term focus," said Scott Dean, a spokesman for the company.
Still, scientists worry whether that will be enough. Ideally, they say, conditions on the Gulf should be continually monitored for at least 10 years, and a single one-week expedition can cost more than $1 million. They are also afraid that BP's funds will dissuade others from making additional grants.
—Jennifer S. Forsyth contributed to this article.
Write to Ana Campoy at ana.campoy@dowjones.com
Burning oil from the 1979 Ixtoc I spill off the Mexican Gulf Coast. Money to study the environmental damage from this disaster disappeared soon after the oil well was rendered dead.
.Scientists studying one of the biggest oil spills 31 years ago watched with alarm as funds to research the environmental damage evaporated shortly after the well was plugged.
As BP PLC appears to have sealed its own troubled well, some of the same people who researched the effect of oil and chemical dispersants on wildlife after the Ixtoc I well exploded in 1979 off the Mexican Gulf Coast are mobilizing to make sure the situation is different this time.
On Sunday, BP said pressure testing on its well indicated an effective cement plug in the pipe. The company said it will still complete a relief well as a precautionary measure.
Scientists at research institutions along the U.S. Gulf Coast are lobbying Congress and other federal agencies for money as they rush to compile a list of must-do projects to determine the long-term impact of the spill from BP's Macondo well.
In Mexico, a group of researchers have secured government funds to investigate their side of the Gulf for the next five years. "We're getting involved right now, so that we don't see a repeat of what happened in 1979," said Luis Soto, an oceanographer who studied the Mexican spill and is now tracking Macondo's oil in Mexican waters.
In June of that year, Ixtoc I, an exploratory well owned by Mexico's national oil company, blew out, erupting in flames and causing the drilling platform above it to sink. Over the next nine months, it spewed out more than three million barrels of oil.
In the early days of that spill, U.S. and Mexican scientists armed with government funds fanned out to track its effects, but when the oil disappeared so did the much of money, they said.
Wes Tunnell, now the associate director at the Harte Research Institute, said he had been studying the oil's effect on the Texas shore with a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but "once the word got back to Washington that a tropical storm had cleaned the beaches, the funding kind of dried up."
Mr. Tunnell got a graduate student to do some follow-up work a few years later at no cost to the government. Mr. Soto, the Mexican oceanographer who is now at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said he experienced the same, although he doesn't recall how much money he got back then. For this spill, the Mexican government granted his group a little less than $3 million over five years. "The money is never enough," Mr. Soto said.
To be sure, scientists have a vested interest in seeking as much money as possible because of the job security and compensation that can accompany research grants. But many of them said more research on Ixtoc I years ago would be helpful now. A key question that scientists are still trying to answer: What happened to the oil that didn't burn off, evaporate or get collected?
By the time the researchers gathered at a conference devoted to Ixtoc I in 1982, most were no longer working on the spill due to lack of money, participants said.
Ixtoc I owner Petróleos Mexicanos says it is difficult to assess whether it properly followed up back then because many of the people who were involved in the spill are no longer with the company. However, a spokesman said, some of the results from investigations done at that time were published and available for others to learn from them.
This time around, BP has pledged $500 million over the next 10 years for scientists to study the effects of the spill. The company has already granted $30 million of that and is working with government authorities on how to distribute the rest.
"Make no mistake, our focus on restoration along the Gulf Coast is a long-term focus," said Scott Dean, a spokesman for the company.
Still, scientists worry whether that will be enough. Ideally, they say, conditions on the Gulf should be continually monitored for at least 10 years, and a single one-week expedition can cost more than $1 million. They are also afraid that BP's funds will dissuade others from making additional grants.
—Jennifer S. Forsyth contributed to this article.
Write to Ana Campoy at ana.campoy@dowjones.com
Chris Huhne urges local councils to lead 'green energy revolution'
Energy secretary lifts ban on the sale of surplus electricity to the national grid as UK aims to meet EU energy targets
Patrick Wintour, political editor The Guardian, Monday 9 August 2010
Local councils will be allowed to sell renewable electricity to the National Grid from today, with the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, urging them to position themselves at the forefront of a power revolution. Huhne has lifted a ban on the sale of surplus electricity to the grid by councils, which say the scheme could raise £100m a year for cash-strapped local authorities in England and Wales.
At present only 0.01% of electricity in England is generated by local authority-owned renewables. In Germany the equivalent figure is 100 times higher.
The Local Government Association said council-owned wind turbines and solar panels on town halls, council homes, leisure centres and other municipal buildings could be money spinners.
Gary Porter, chairman of the LGA's environment board, said: "This has the potential to cut energy bills, reduce emissions and raise millions of pounds.
"Councils have lots of buildings, from offices and leisure centres to houses and flats, depots and community centres that could be transformed into local green power stations."
Huhne announced the plan to allow councils to sell electricity at the LGA conference in June, and has won praise for acting so quickly.
As things stand, the UK risks missing its EU commitment to produce 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
Huhne said last night: "For too long, Whitehall's dogmatic reliance on 'big' energy has stood in the way of the vast potential role of local authorities in the UK's green energy revolution.
"This is a vital step to making community renewable projects commercially viable, to bring in long-term income to benefit local areas, and to secure local acceptance for low carbon energy projects."
The idea has been promoted most heavily by Woking council in Surrey. The council's chief executive, Ray Morgan, said he welcomed the plan but urged the government to make Ofgem, the energy regulator, go further in lifting restrictions.
Patrick Wintour, political editor The Guardian, Monday 9 August 2010
Local councils will be allowed to sell renewable electricity to the National Grid from today, with the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, urging them to position themselves at the forefront of a power revolution. Huhne has lifted a ban on the sale of surplus electricity to the grid by councils, which say the scheme could raise £100m a year for cash-strapped local authorities in England and Wales.
At present only 0.01% of electricity in England is generated by local authority-owned renewables. In Germany the equivalent figure is 100 times higher.
The Local Government Association said council-owned wind turbines and solar panels on town halls, council homes, leisure centres and other municipal buildings could be money spinners.
Gary Porter, chairman of the LGA's environment board, said: "This has the potential to cut energy bills, reduce emissions and raise millions of pounds.
"Councils have lots of buildings, from offices and leisure centres to houses and flats, depots and community centres that could be transformed into local green power stations."
Huhne announced the plan to allow councils to sell electricity at the LGA conference in June, and has won praise for acting so quickly.
As things stand, the UK risks missing its EU commitment to produce 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
Huhne said last night: "For too long, Whitehall's dogmatic reliance on 'big' energy has stood in the way of the vast potential role of local authorities in the UK's green energy revolution.
"This is a vital step to making community renewable projects commercially viable, to bring in long-term income to benefit local areas, and to secure local acceptance for low carbon energy projects."
The idea has been promoted most heavily by Woking council in Surrey. The council's chief executive, Ray Morgan, said he welcomed the plan but urged the government to make Ofgem, the energy regulator, go further in lifting restrictions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
