Industry headlines

Ireland’s renewable energy sources have a potential three times the country’s energy requirements. According to the book ‘Green & Gold – Ireland a Clean Energy World Leader?’ by Alternative Energy Resources CEO John Travers, 20% of total Irish energy needs can be met by renewable energy within the next 10 years and 80% by 2050 and that 20% of Irish GDP can be derived from clean energy exports. Click here for full story

PD Ports, one of the major companies driving Teesside’s ambition to become a centre of excellence for the European wind energy sector, recently hosted a Chain Reaction conference in Hartlepool to build support for the concept. Representatives of local companies, as well as local MP Iain Wright, listened to presentations outlining the major opportunities and challenges facing the renewable energy sector. “We need to act now to build the facilities and infrastructure for the wind farm manufacturers if the UK is to develop a sustainable renewable energy manufacturing and logistics sector,” says Paul Barker, PD Ports Development Director bulks, ports and logistics. “This is the perfect opportunity for the Government to back UK manufacturing and exporting while at the same time making sure we meet our commitment to its 2020 renewable energy targets.” Click here for full story

A cooperative approach among New England states holds the best hope for meeting the region's renewable energy goals by giving states additional clout and spreading the risk of expensive projects, the top official from the regional power grid operator said. A report by the New England States Committee on Electricity last month encouraged the six states - Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut - to work together to select projects and line up bidders. Click here for full story

Teams from three continents have set off from the Place des Nations in Geneva with their electric cars on the longest and greenest race of all time, called the Zero Race. The cars will cross to Moscow and Shanghai and then travel by ship to Vancouver. From there they will continue along the west coast of North America all the way to Cancun, Mexico. In December, the vehicles will be shipped again to Portugal, and travel over southwest Europe to complete the final leg of the global journey. After 80 days, 30,000 kilometres through 16 countries and 150 city stopovers the race will be completed at the end of January 2011, in Geneva, Switzerland. Click here for full story

More than half of Britain’s wind farms operate at less than 25 percent capacity because they’re built in areas that are not breezy enough, the Daily Mail newspaper reported, citing an academic study of official data. Out of 235 onshore wind farms in Britain, 129 operate at less than 25 percent capacity, the Daily Mail said, citing a study by Michael Jefferson, a professor of international business and sustainability at the London Metropolitan Business School. The analysis was based on 2009 data from energy regulator Ofgem, the newspaper said. Click here for full story

First Minister Alex Salmond met Statoil, a Norwegian based oil company, to discuss the possibility of developing the world's first floating wind farm in Scotland. The company has identified two potential sites, one off the coast of Lewis and one off Aberdeenshire that could be suitable for a pilot park, testing the concept of their Hywind floating turbines further. Click here for full story

Scotland and Norway are hoping to forge new economic links after talks this week about the renewables sector. First Minister Alex Salmond will travel to Norway today to meet both officials and company chiefs. He will discuss Scotland’s renewable energy potential, the development of a North Sea supergrid connecting European countries, and climate change. Also on the agenda will be growing links between the two countries in oil, gas, aquaculture and fisheries. It is hoped the visit will encourage investment in Scotland and win contracts for Scottish companies. Click here for full story

Ernst & Young's (E&Y) announcement that it is launching a dedicated practice to support the UK's clean technology sector is the latest development to highlight the attractions of the sustainability business for the big consultancies. While E&Y claims to be the first to set up a practice specifically for cleantech, in recent years PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, KPMG and E&Y have all launched dedicated practices for sustainability and climate change. Click here for full story

Argus reported that UK based Helius Energy's plans to increase its biomass operations have moved forward after it secured land at Southampton port for a 100 MW plant. Helius said that it has signed an option to lease a 20 acre site in the port for the proposed construction of the biomass fuelled power plant. Click here for full story

Work has started on an offshore wind demonstration site in Blyth. Secretary of state for business, innovation and skills Vince Cable visited the National and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) in Blyth last Thursday to mark the start of construction of the new £15m marine test rig being developed at the centre. Click here for full story

The number of businesses signed up to the Prince of Wales' Mayday Network has almost doubled over the past year, defying fears that the economic downturn would dilute corporate interest in environmental sustainability. BusinessGreen.com has learnt that the number of businesses in the network has increased by 87 per cent over the past 12 months to over 2,850 firms, cementing the initiative's position as the UK's largest group of businesses committed to taking action on climate change. Click here for full story

Sustainable energy group ENER-G is among an elite group of top performing UK businesses that have been named as finalists in the prestigious National Business Awards. Greater Manchester-based ENER-G is one of ten finalists challenging for the 3i Private Business of the Year category – one of five special awards that can be entered by third-party nomination only. Click here for full story

Work has started on Green Highland Renewables’ 807 kW hydropower station at Roroyere, Glen Lyion, Scotland. It is the first of three small run-of-river hydropower schemes in Glen Lyon to be developed by Green Highland Renewables. Click here for full story

The south-west's steady swell could host the latest in wave power systems if a Melbourne company secures investor support to pursue the project. AquaGen Technologies has been given approval to start trials of its SurgeDrive concept at the Lorne pier and hopes the demonstration will ultimately become a permanent way to run the structure's lights and ancillaries. Managing director Nick Boyd said harnessing wave power off Portland was an exciting prospect due to consistent swell and the city's proximity to transmission lines. Click here for full story

National Grid’s surprise £3.2bn rights issue, which successfully closed in June, still touches a raw nerve with chief executive Steve Holliday…….. Holliday says this investment over the next five years will expand the UK generation capacity by an “unprecedented” 22,000 megawatts, a third of what the country currently uses (although much of this new capacity will be wind power and so will not be in constant use). This investment programme is expected to create 500 new jobs at National Grid, which currently employs 27,000, and another 5,000 jobs among its suppliers. Click here for full story

Geothermal Engineering Ltd has been granted planning permission to develop the UK’s first commercial geothermal power plant at their Redruth site in Cornwall. Cornwall Council has approved the planning application for three wells to be drilled at United Downs industrial estate, near Redruth. Outline permission has also been given for a geothermal power plant at the site that will produce 10 MW of electricity, to be fed into the National Grid and 55 MW of renewable heat energy which could be used for the local community. Click here for full story

The coalition is watering down a commitment to tough new environmental emissions standards, raising the possibility of dirty coal-fired power stations such as Kingsnorth going ahead. Green groups are aghast that a flagship policy called for in opposition by both Lib Dems and Tories, and which they last year tried to force on the Labour government, will now not be implemented in the coalition's first energy bill to be published this year. Click here for full story

The UK Government is being urged to base a new £2billion green investment bank in Scotland. Nationalist Rob Gibson said the institution, which would channel public and private-sector investment into energy infrastructure, should be located close to windfarms, both on and offshore, and places where wave and tidal energy devices will be sited. The Highlands and Islands MSP has raised the issue with UK Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Huhne and Scottish Secretary Michael Moore. Click here for full story

Seaforth Energy Inc. has announced the acquisition of the assets and intellectual property of Entegrity Wind Systems Inc. The acquisition brings together the AOC 15/50 and EW 50 turbines, which collectively represent the world’s largest and longest-standing active fleet in their size class. “Together with our recent $2 million financing round, this acquisition positions Seaforth Energy and the AOC 15/50 to build on its dominant position in fleet size and proven longevity,” says Jonathan Barry, president of Seaforth Energy. Click here for full story

ScottishPower and the Scottish government will unveil a multi-million pound investment in tidal energy this week that will secure a number of lucrative contracts for the country's manufacturers. Alex Salmond, the First Minister, will be in Oslo on Tuesday to launch what is thought to be the world's most technologically advanced turbine, developed by renewables firm Hammerfest Strom. Click here for full story

When David Cameron became Prime Minister he pledged that the new Coalition would be the greenest government ever. As Climate Change Minister my job is to help deliver this promise. However, I am glad to say that the old debate of green energy versus energy security has become increasingly irrelevant. That is because in the 21st century energy security and climate change are two sides of the same coin. Click here for full story

There's a new beast on the loose in the countryside. Visitors are stalking Britain's rural communities in unsuitable footwear, offering farmers the deal of a lifetime. They're not pushing a wonder fertilizer or trying to side-step their local farmers' market in the hunt for a new superfood, but offering help to cash in on the new gold rush - solar power. Click here for full story

First official report says burying charcoal in the soil has potential to cut greenhouse gases but scientific uncertainties remain. The idea of burying charcoal produced from microwaved wood to tackle global warming is still beset with scientific uncertainties, says the UK government's first report on "biochar". The warning comes as a separate US study published this week said that as much as 12 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions could be offset by biochar. Click here for full story

…….He is also worried that farmers’ efforts to hedge against volatile food prices by investing in solar and other renewable energy could be stymied by the Government’s “localism” agenda. Mr Kendall, whose 56,000 members account for 75pc of British agricultural production, says he is a firm supporter of moves to install solar panels on farms.…… However, he believes that Prime Minister David Cameron’s plans to give people a much greater say over issues that affect them could jeopardise some renewable energy schemes by encouraging “nimbyism” and giving power to vociferous minorities. Click here for full story

A dramatic increase in offshore wind manufacturing is needed to meet the scale-up required for Round 3 projects, a report published by AMA Research has claimed. Click here for full story

About 40km south of Beijing, some of the world's most exciting science is splitting atoms in pursuit of the nuclear physicist's Holy Grail – the tiny, cheap reactor. China started generating electricity from the first fourth generation nuclear station without fanfare last month, using largely home-grown technology that reduces waste, increases efficiency and vastly brings down costs compared with existing plants. Click here for full story

Plans for the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere took a leap forward today when Australian firm AGL Energy inked a deal with New Zealand-based renewable energy developer Meridian Energy to build a 420MW facility. The $1bn wind farm near Hamilton, 260km west of Melbourne, is due to be completed in early 2013. Click here for full story

The French government has this week launched a major renewable energy investment programme, promising to provide EUR1.35bn (£1.1bn) of financial support to the sector over the next four years. The new programme – dubbed demonstrateurs energies renouvelables et chimie verte, literally renewable energy and green chemistry demonstration – will provide EUR450m in subsidies and a further EUR900m in low-interest loans to cutting-edge technology projects. Click here for full story

The country’s [USA] first utility-scale wave power project is moving forward in construction. The 1.5 megawatt wave energy park will generate enough energy to power 375 or more homes. The park will likely be located 2.5 miles off the Oregon coast near Reedsport, and use ten electricity-generating buoys. PB150 PowerBuoys will be used to generate power, and the first one has been constructed at Oregon IronWorks. Click here for full story

Ammonia energy has been a known fuel source for decades. It’s three parts hydrogen and one part nitrogen, which you get from air separation……Our concept is to go into deep enough water where there is unimpeded wind. By redesigning the wind turbines using the advanced oil fill platform design technology, we can get into about 600-foot depths and maybe more. Then the wind turbine is mounted on the small platform where it can generate around 50 megawatts. The blades are made from advanced composites and can be the length of a 90-story building. It is our intention to have 50 megawatt power plants every five miles down the Gulf of Maine, and we’re not going to use the power for electricity per se. We’re going to combine electricity and ocean water through forward osmosis to create distilled sea water. We’ll use part of that seawater as a new process of the old electrolysis to combine electricity and water to create hydrogen. Then through an air separation unit we’ll create nitrogen and what you’ll have is NH3, and we’ll also have distilled water. [Note from Editor: Mr Simmons spoke about this at All-Energy 2010] Click here for full story

Last week's climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany reportedly marked movement backward on international climate cooperation. This does not seem to bode well for a successful outcome for the major climate negotiations scheduled for this November and December in Cancun, Mexico. However, five new factors since last year's climate negotiations in Copenhagen suggest that a good outcome in Cancun is at least still possible. Click here for full story

Corus today (13 August) unveiled plans to construct a new £31.5-million manufacturing plant in Teesside which would potentially create 220 jobs. Preliminary engineering work is underway at the Corus Redcar site to develop a new facility to produce steel foundation structures – called monopiles – used to secure offshore wind turbines to the seabed. Jon Bolton, Corus Long Products Director, explained that the company is moving now in order to establish its position in this emerging market. He said: “The development of a new plant is dependent on us securing enough orders for monopiles. Our engineers will be carrying out work in Teesside over the coming weeks to give us a head start on creating a new facility.” Click here for full story

……The British energy sector is poised for a quantum leap within the medium to long term. The imminent introduction of smart metering has initiated a wave of reforms across the industry and, following on from similar developments worldwide, the network businesses in Britain are now considering the forthcoming development of smart grids. Click here for full story

Waitrose is making carbon savings equivalent to permanently taking a thousand cars off the road – all by stopping its food waste from going to landfill. The scheme is producing enough electricity to continually power around 200 homes. The food waste is collected from one hundred of its stores and processed by specialist anaerobic digestion operators BiogenGreenfinch. Click here for full story

How can a technology known to ancient potters and spinners help create a 21st-century smart energy grid? A company based in Massachusetts aims to demonstrate when it begins operating the world’s first grid-scale, flywheel-based energy storage plant in New York later this year. Beacon Power Corporation is currently building the $69 million plant with the help of a just-closed $43 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Click here for full story

A multi-million pound project to create a testing platform for wave energy devices in Cornwall has ground to a halt. Engineers have postponed plans to float the copper cable ashore after it sank, raising fears it could become enmeshed on the seabed. The cable, which was 650ft (200m) from land on Thursday evening, will now be rewound onto a ship offshore. Click here for full story

The first wind turbine to be installed on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land was unveiled this week in a move that observers hope will herald a new era of peace and co-operation between the wind energy industry and the military top brass. Energy giant E.ON installed the 15 metre tall turbine at the Duke of York's Royal Military School near Dover as part of the Land Forces Sustainable Development Action Plan goal of generating 10 per cent of electricity from renewable sources. Click here for full story

Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Ltd (SHETL) has applied for permission to open a massive borrow pit to extract rock to build and upgrade service tracks for the towering pylons set to become a feature of the Scottish sky-line. The company won the right to build the 400kv overhead line down Scotland's spine after a lengthy and costly planning battle.

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The European Union started an investigation into shipments of U.S. biodiesel to Europe as it seeks to find out if antidumping measures introduced last year are being circumvented. The probe will look at whether biodiesel originating in the U.S. is being shipped to the EU through Canada and Singapore, thereby getting around tariffs on U.S. producers, the European Commission said in the Official Journal. Click here for full story

Technology group Andritz has acquired a 33.3% stake in Norwegian tidal power specialist Hammerfest Strøm AS, including its Scotland-based subsidiary Hammerfest Strom UK Ltd, by means of a capital increase…… the company is currently collaborating with Scottish Power Renewables (part of Iberdrola Renewables) on the manufacture of a 1-MW tidal current turbine to be deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland, in 2011. Click here for full story