Clik here to view.
The co-operative energy sector could be worth £6bn, if the system wasn’t...
This post is a version of a longer essay which first appeared in Making it mutual: the ownership revolution that Britain needs, recently published by ResPublica. I’m standing on the beach at Hvide...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gas from Norway, coal from Russia: eight graphs on the UK energy system
This post by Robin Webster was first published on The Carbon Brief The UK’s dependence on energy imports has increased to its highest level since 1976, according to statistics released by the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Most climate action has little to do with the UN process
This post is by Ben Caldecott, Green Alliance trustee, associate fellow of Bright Blue and author of Green and responsible conservatism: embedding sustainability and long-termism within the UK economy....
View ArticleClik here to view.
How the great British weather can help to bridge the renewables gap
The climate for renewable technologies in the UK has been notably inclement lately, ever since the summer’s soggy policy announcements resoundingly dampened investors’ and businesses’ enthusiasm. Now,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Coherence is returning to UK energy policy
UK energy policy took two big steps forward today, after months of self-inflicted damage by a government unclear about what it wanted to achieve. There remain some big gaps, most notably on energy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What does the budget mean for UK renewables?
The chancellor described his budget as taking bold decisions to “act now so we don’t pay later.” Osborne announced £730 million of funding for “less established” renewables and endorsed storage, demand...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is community energy our alternative energy future?
The green fields of Wiltshire have recently become the site of an impressive energy innovation. On the last day of 2015, the Braydon Manor Solar Array was connected to the grid, plugging in 9MW of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
California dreaming? Environmental lessons for Brexit Britain from the ‘left...
John Steinbeck described the California I grew up in as ‘a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.’ The golden state has always loomed large in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why the Treasury should go for low carbon infrastructure, regardless of...
This post first appeared as a Huffington Post Blog. It was George Osborne who, festooned with hard hat and high vis, proclaimed that ‘we are the builders.’ He looked a bit silly, but his message was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Wales is powering ahead on renewables
This blog is by Amy Leppänen, communications assistant at Green Alliance. Yesterday’s news on the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon has refocused attention on renewable energy opportunities in Wales. But where...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Investors are getting out of high carbon, but will government help them get...
Reading the news, it’s hard to know what to make of the UK’s low carbon progress. On Christmas Day we were running on 40 per cent renewable power, and earlier last year we switched all our coal fired...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Can energy efficiency deliver on its promises?
This post is by Paul Brockway, research fellow at the University of Leeds. He examines roles and relationships between energy, economy and society as part of UKERC’s research programme. Energy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to keep up UK leadership on clean energy and climate after Brexit
This post is by Jonathan Gaventa, director of E3G. The UK has made significant progress in clean energy and emissions reductions in recent years, with greenhouse gas emissions now 38 per cent below...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why this week’s budget shouldn’t ignore the UK’s yawning low carbon power gap
This year the spring budget comes at an odd time for all things low carbon in the UK. In February, the government published its industrial strategy, setting out its clean growth aims as part of Theresa...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Will the government give consumers the energy system they want?
Small scale technologies are shaking up the existing energy paradigm, where the only consumer choice is to decide which big and distant power company to buy from. This ignores rapid developments in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How smart is the government’s smart power strategy?
The government’s smart power strategy, Upgrading our energy system, unveiled yesterday, is the ultimate under the radar approach. It contains 29 deeply technocratic changes (such as “developing a...
View ArticleWhy community renewables still have no government support
The closing of the feed-in tariff scheme (FiT) in March this year caused dismay, inviting accusations that it was a retrogressive step for an aspiring low carbon economy and unfair to community energy...
View ArticleRepeating the renewables success story with other sectors will be good for...
This post is by Andrew Sissons, deputy director of the sustainable future mission at Nesta. A version was first published on Nesta’s blog. The UK economy is currently mired in crises: a climate crisis;...
View Article
