How nimbys halted one of the world’s most ambitious renewable energy drives. Standing beside a windswept junction near Germany’s Baltic coast, Thea Funk points at a stretch of land to the north. “They want to build 12 turbines up there, each one 240 metres high. And down there there are plans to put up more, somewhere between six and eight,” she explains, gesturing to a field across the road. “We’re going to be encircled.” Behind her, 30-odd people line the road holding signs bearing anti-wind energy slogans. Residents of the Friedland Moor in northeast Germany, they are convinced their landscape is about to be destroyed for the gain of landowners and energy magnets. Rural protests against wind farms are increasing in Germany and the effect has been dramatic.

Telegraph 21st April 2019 read more »

Over 900 solar panels have been installed for Hildon Natural Mineral Water in a bid to cut its carbon emissions. The panels will generate almost 225,000kWh of electricity a year, reducing the company’s annual demand by 27%. The solar was installed at the company’s site in Hampshire and will slash its electricity bill by a quarter.

Solar Power Portal 18th April 2019 read more »

Report: Going 100% renewable power means a lot of dirty mining. According to a report out Wednesday from researchers at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia, commissioned by the environmental organization Earthworks, demand for metals such as copper, lithium and cobalt would skyrocket if countries around the world try to get their electric grids and transportation systems fully powered by renewable energy by 2050. Consequently, a rush to meet that demand could lead to more mining in countries with lax environmental and safety regulations and weak protections for workers.

Grist 17th April 2019 read more »

Europe invested £23.3bn in new windfarms last year, according to a new report.

Energy Voice 20th April 2019 read more »

Often touted as the missing link in the energy transition, power-to-gas (P2G) has not yet had its time to shine. While the technology has been around for decades, large-scale projects have been exceptionally rare. Over the last year, however, encouraging signals are emerging as research, pilot projects, and small-scale applications appear to have picked up pace. As debate continues about the tipping point for P2G in terms of conversion efficiency and costs, some market players are optimistic about near-term prospects.

PV Magazine 19th April 2019 read more »

Council bosses are considering plans to create a “Hydrogen Valley” in Aberdeen. Aberdeen City Council officers are currently exploring the new concept – to combine hydrogen energy with transport and heat – according to recently released council papers. And the report also reveals that, following an upgrade of the hydrogen refuelling station based in Kittybrewster, Toyota is eyeing the city as the first UK location to sell hydrogen cars to the city’s residents. A Hydrogen Valley, or Hub, is being considered as energy provider SGN is working on a proposed Hydrogen 100 project to determine the feasibility to use hydrogen for domestic heating systems. This has led to the consideration of a hydrogen production and refuelling facility to support these initiatives. The report said: “This ‘Hydrogen Valley’ concept, coupling energy and transport, would be fairly unique and has potential to take hydrogen beyond the current scale able to be delivered by the council.” The report also states: “The intention of developing a hydrogen strategy with associated infrastructure projects was in order to create a hydrogen economy in Aberdeen; diversifying the oil and gas sector and ensuring that Aberdeen remains a world-class energy city.” Last year saw a 24% increase in the number of hydrogen vehicles in the city, contributed in part by the successful trials of a refuse lorry and road sweeper, along with 10 hydrogen buses.

Energy Voice 19th April 2019 read more »

Aberdeen Evening Express 19th April 2019 read more »

Fuel cell and hydrogen commercialisation is moving forward rapidly across the world. The UK Government has estimated the potential market for low carbon hydrogen in the UK could be as high as 700TWh/year in 2050, the size of the current gas market. Globally, the Hydrogen Council roadmap presents a 2050 vision where the global annual sales of hydrogen technology and services reach £1.94 trillion and create jobs for 30 million people. The roadmap estimates that global demand for hydrogen could increase tenfold between 2015 and 2050, from 8 EJ to almost 80. In the last several years, global market of stationary fuel cells has been developing rapidly, with an average growth rate of 37%. Currently, more than 100 UK companies, as well as over 35 academic and contract research groups highly active in fuel cells and hydrogen, are contributing to the creation of this promising, global industry.

Gas World 18th April 2019 read more »

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is leading the Ocean Power Innovation Network (OPIN) project which aims to accelerate the development of the ocean energy sector. The €2.6 million pan-European initiative will run for three years. SEAI will partner with organisations in the UK, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands to explore ways to unlock the potential of this renewable energy resource. Interreg North West Europe from the European Research and Development Fund (ERDF) is contributing €1.5 million of OPIN’s funding. OPIN project partners working with SEAI include Scottish Enterprise and the UK Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Sirris in Belgium, the West Atlantic Marine Energy Community and Ecole Centrale de Nantes in France, the Dutch Marine Energy Centre (Netherlands) and Fraunhofer in Germany. Commenting on the launch, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton, said: “We are stepping up our ambition on renewables as part of the all of government Climate Plan, and will be targeting 70% for renewable electricity by 2030.”

RENews.biz 17th April 2019 read more »

EUROPE invested €27 billion (£23.3bn) in new wind farms in 2018 to help finance a record amount of future new wind energy capacity, according to new figures. WindEurope’s annual Financing and Investment Trends report published yesterday said that while the amount was similar to previous years, cost reductions, especially in offshore wind, meant it would finance a record 16.7GW of new wind capacity. The group said 1MW of new onshore wind capacity now requires only €1.4 million (£1.2m) capital expenditure, down from €2m (£1.7m) in 2015, while 1MW of new offshore wind capacity requires €2.5m (£2.1m), down from €4.5m (£3.8m) in 2015. Most of the investments last year for future new capacity were for onshore wind – 12.5GW – and while offshore wind accounted for 4.2GW, it attracted 38.5% of the amounts invested. A total of 190 wind farms across 22 European countries reached a final investment decision (FID) last year, with northern and western Europe still accounting for most new investments. Among those reaching FID in the UK, were the Moray East (950MW), development in the Moray Firth and Triton Knoll (860 MW) in the North Sea off Lincolnshire. The UK was the biggest investor, mostly in offshore wind and Sweden was second, while investments in southern and central and eastern Europe were only 4% of the total.

The National 19th April 2019 read more »

Europe invested a total of €27bn in new wind farms in 2018, allowing it finance a record amount of new wind energy capacity, according to European trade body WindEurope. The figure invested in 2018 is broadly similar to previous years, but due to the ongoing reduction in development costs – particularly for offshore wind farms – the €27bn sum will finance a record high 16.7GW of new wind capacity in Europe, the trade association explained.

Business Green 18th April 2019 read more »

Leonie Greene: Solar power’s greatest strength is it empowers so many to take meaningful action, including local and regional governments. In the absence of national leadership on solar (not to mention the Brexit vortex), the STA is encouraging diverse stakeholders to draw on all their powers to help push deployment forward. For some applications, such as large rooftop solar, even without public support the economics is attractive. For domestic solar the economics is certainly tight, but the social imperative is rocketing skywards. It is that imperative that we must count on to sustain the momentum needed to get over any bumps as the industry blossoms anew in a market-competitive landscape. This time, increasingly free from the vagaries of subsidy politics, the solar industry may grow more slowly than we or the climate protestors would like – but it will root itself in solid ground.

Solar Power Portal 18th April 2019 read more »

Plans for a £40m smart energy hub that will integrate a range of innovative energy management, electric vehicle (EV), heating, and power storage technologies to help cut bills from homes and businesses in West Sussex have been launched by a consortium of eight green tech firms today. The smart local energy system (SLES) project, which secured £13m of backing from the government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund earlier this month, aims to show how power, heating, and transport technologies can work together to boost efficiency while slashing bills and CO2 emissions.

Business Green 18th April 2019 read more »