As the Moorside project collapses, NFLA advocate the future is renewable and decentralised energy as Councils pledge zero-carbon by the 2030s. This past week have seen a number of important announcements in UK energy and low carbon policy which, in the view of Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), show that the direction of travel is firmly in favour of developing renewables over new nuclear power. In this project, ambitious targets by Councils to seek to develop ‘zero-carbon’ towns and cities show part of that way forward. Following its board meeting last Thursday, Toshiba announced that the many millions of pounds it had spent in developing a new nuclear plant at Moorside, close to the existing Sellafield plant, had ended in failure. This is partially due to the huge financial losses incurred through its Westinghouse subsidiary. It has also been unable (to date) to find an alternative buyer for the site, after extensive talks with the South Korean utility Kepco have floundered. While these difficult issues beset the nuclear sector, NFLA is delighted to see ambitious targets have been set this week by City Councils like Manchester and Bristol as part of the wider effort to create ‘zero-carbon cities’. After taking advice from the Tyndall Centre, Manchester City Council has moved its target from 2050 to 2038 to seek to become a zero carbon city. Bristol, which has established one of the first Council-owned energy companies in the country, is being even more ambitious by calling for a 2030 target in order to be zero carbon.
NFLA 15th Nov 2018 read more »