Page 121 - Climate Intelligence Unit News Today

The UKs carbon price has hit £50 as the nations post-Brexit emissions trading scheme (ETS) opened for the first time on Wednesday morning (19 May).

The reopening of Sizewell B has been delayed by three months, with repairs needed to steel components in the nuclear power station. EDF took the Suffolk power station offline on 16 April for planned maintenance and had been due to return it to service at the end of May. This date has now been extended until the end of August. According to The Times, repairs are needed to some of Sizewell’s stainless steel “thermal sleeves”, which form part of the mechanisms that insert control rods into ...

Veteran politician to become under secretary of state for Defra for the second time

After Green Homes Grant failure, Government dodges recommendations on energy-efficient homes The Government has admitted that it did not consult stakeholders before launching the now-defunct Green Homes Grant scheme, in a document that MPs have said is evidence that it is shirking responsibility on domestic energy efficiency. More than 80% of homes standing today will still be standing in 2050, the point by which the UK has committed to reaching net-zero The document in question is the Governme...

American coal-fired power plants that have recently closed could be used as sites for small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), according to the head of a Tennessee energy, environment and economic development company. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) president and chief executive Jeff Lyash told a virtual Atlantic Council event last week that shut coal power plants have potential for SMR development because of their available water resources and existing power grid connections. "I see those sites...

It’s six months until the UN’s flagship climate conference, COP26, kicks off in Glasgow. But what can the UK hope to get out of the summit?

MPs accuse Treasury and HMRC of shirking climate responsibilities The Treasury and HMRC are failing to respond to a "climate storm breaking all around us", failing to make the necessary changes to tax systems and short-term funding packages needed for the just transition to net-zero. After this years Budget and the first Tax Day, further announcements are due in the second half of the year That is according to a damning new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today (28 April). Bui...

Only 55 per cent of homes that applied to the Green Homes Grant in the eight months it operated were approved, new data has revealed. Applications for the scheme were also revealed to have soared in the month before it was due to close, official Government figures show. Nearly 31,000 people applied in March 2021 before the programme was shut down a year earlier than planned - the largest number since October 2020.  However, the figures reveal just £191million of the initial £1.5billion budge...

Nuclear energy has a role to play in helping the UK meet the government’s latest climate targets, according to Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit head of analysis Jonathan Marshall. This week the government announced its new aim to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. Previously, the UK had a target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050. Marshall emphasised that a range of different energy schemes are likely to be needed to enable the UK to reach the ambitious new targets. ...

Last modified on Thu 22 Apr 2021 14.09 EDT Applications for a grant to cut carbon emissions from houses surged in the month before the £1.5bn scheme was shut down by the government. The green homes grant, which was announced by Boris Johnson as a key measure to cut UK carbon emissions, was scrapped six months after its launch. The abandonment of the £1.5bn programme, which offered households grants of up to £5,000 or £10,000 to put in insulation or low-carbon heating, leaves the UK without ...