The Gallagher Review is a major study commissioned by the UK Government on the 'indirect' or 'displacement' impacts of biofuels on carbon emissions from land use change and on food security. It is being conducted by the Renewable Fuels Agency - a new body set up to administer UK biofuel policy. This briefing describes what biofuels are, explains the difference between direct and indirect impacts of biofuels and the implications for biofuels policies in the UK and EU.
Posted by jossc — 26 June 2008 at 5:23pm
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Offshore wind - 3,500 new turbines by 2020?
Although the PM has taken a few verbal pastings from us over the past few months on key climate issues like airport expansion and new coal-fired power stations, in a new speech today he did much to redeem himself by announcing an ambitious plan to ensure Britain generates 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
To be sure, the government has promised as much in the past and failed to deliver, but there seemed to be something different about today's Renewable Energy Strategy Consultation - some meat on the bones which indicated that the plan might just be more than empty rhetoric. The government is consulting on ambitious plans designed to allow the UK to meet its share of an overall EU target to generate 20 per cent of energy (electricity, heat and transport) from renewables within 12 years.
Posted by jossc — 18 June 2008 at 5:48pm
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Hot on the heels of Friday's 'Great coal train action' which halted coal shipments to Drax power station for the best part of two days, comes news of more anti-coal activity. Early this morning climate campaigners from 'Leave it in the Ground' occupied UK Coal's Lodge House site in Derbyshire where a new open cast coal mine is planned, and the rural lanscape is about to be devastated by huge earth-movers.
Posted by jossc — 13 June 2008 at 4:21pm
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Thirty climate campaigners today stopped a coal train on its way to Drax power station in Yorkshire, Britain's single largest source of CO2 emissions. Dressed in white overalls and canary outfits, they used safety signals to stop the train at a bridge on a branch line used exclusively by the power station, before jumping aboard and shovelling coal off onto the tracks. Some used climbing ropes to suspend themselves under the bridge from the train, making it impossible to move the train while the protest continues.
Posted by jossc — 9 June 2008 at 3:14pm
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Sweden has the best overall record on a range of environ- mental and social issues
As Euro 2008 kicks off in Austria and Switzerland this week with no British teams involved, a new quick web guide has appeared to help us decide which of the remaining 16 competing nations most deserves our support. Who should I Cheer For sensibly ignores footballing talent and instead ranks each country by ten criteria including spending on health, aid and the military, carbon emissions and renewable energy production.
Figures for the UK are also included in the list for comparative purposes and, guess what, we don't come out too well, particularly on the key climate change factors. The UK has the third highest carbon emissions (10.2 tonnes per person) behind the Netherlands and Germany, and comes joint last in terms of electricity generated from renewables (just 4 per cent).
