Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker last week presented to Parliament the same subsidy cut proposal to take effect from March 3 instead, which would solve the timing issue raised in court.

“Win, lose or draw today, important we move forward together, drive down costs and step up deployment,” Barker tweeted on Wednesday.

Unless the government decides to appeal again and succeeds in overturning the ruling, solar panel installers will see subsidies halved to 21 pence per kilowatt-hour from March 3 instead of December 12 for installations smaller than 4 kilowatts (kW)

The uptake has been much greater than anticipated, and in an effort to prevent state funds earmarked for renewable energy to run out early, the government proposed last October to drastically reduce the FIT rates.

To support customers who want to make the change from bottles to bags, 500 Sainsbury’s stores across the UK will be giving away JUGIT (TM) containers on Saturday 15 May. The reusable JUGIT (TM) containers are used to hold a milk bag and contain a spike that pierces the bag, forms a no-leak seal, and delivers milk through the spout. Currently available in semi-skimmed 2pt packs, the milk bags costs six pence less than a standard 2pt bottle of milk. The success of the bag and JUGIT (TM) is such that the company is now looking at the possibility of rolling it out further across its milk ranges.

The 2010 Bridgestone Eco-Rally will take place on Wednesday 7th July. The rally is a convoy of low and zero emission vehicles which travel the famous Veteran Car Run in reverse, driving from Brighton’s sea front to central London. The rally will join a green transport exhibition at the finish line which is free to attend.

Both elements of the event are once again organised by Revolve, whose founders are committed to accelerating the market for zero emission transport.

Steven Glaser from Revolve said; “For the past three years, the Eco-Rally has received lots of attention from the media and well-known supporters and partners. To have a major sponsor such as Bridgestone on-board with their F1 contacts adds a new twist to what is already a unique and innovative event.

“It really shows the British public that industry is developing green alternatives to conventional transport and we are confident that the new breed of eco vehicles can live up to the expectations of the F1 drivers.”

Previous Eco-Rallies pioneered the demonstration of hydrogen-powered vehicles and featured an extensive range of other alternative-fuel vehicles capable of driving much further than the average journey with little or no emissions from the tailpipe. Previous participants include award-winning vehicles from the likes of BMW, Honda, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Lotus, Tesla and Volvo.

This year’s Bridgestone Eco-Rally will showcase the very latest concepts and low emission technology for the masses, highlighting vehicles eligible for the Government’s forthcoming plug-in car grant.

Andy Dingley from Bridgestone said; “Bridgestone is delighted to be involved with this year’s Eco-Rally. It is a fantastic event which showcases the vehicles of the future and really shows off the versatility of the different, environmentally-friendly fuels out there.
“Climate change is not something any of us should take lightly. Bridgestone is committed to reducing the impact of motoring on the environment through the Make Cars Green initiative and to helping ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations. The Bridgestone Eco-Rally fits perfectly with our policies and ideals.”
Motorsport is the catalyst for many of today’s CleanTech products including kinetic energy recovery systems, carbon-fibre wind-turbine blades and low rolling-resistance tyres.

Confirmed partners and supporters so far for the Bridgestone Eco-Rally 2010 include Imperial College London, the Royal College of Art, Brighton and Hove Council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Camden Council and Westminster Council.
For more information about the annual Eco-Rally, visit www.eco-rally.org.

The party plans to invest in wind energy, energy efficiency in public buildings and homes, and in bringing empty homes back into use through renovation.

Speaking at a press conference in Cardiff, Mr Clegg said for decades a succession of Labour and Conservative governments had run Britain to “serve the interests of one square mile - the City of London”.

He said: “We want to build a new economy which serves the interests of the 100,000 square miles of the UK, where we have growth that lasts.”

The Liberal Democrats plan to create a one-year green job stimulus plan, for which £3.1 billion of cuts in government expenditure would be used to bring 200,000 empty properties back into use, and invest in new green energy infrastructure and public transport.

There would also be a “90-day guarantee” for young people, who would be offered a place of training, work or apprenticeship after 90 days of unemployment, so they were not “left in a state of despair”.

Mr Clegg said: “We need all this infrastructure in any event but, of course, investing in that infrastructure is the best way to create jobs, particularly for young people today.”

He also declared that the General Election campaign was “starting to come to life” as a clutch of opinion polls showed an upsurge in support for the Liberal Democrats.

“I think this General Election campaign is starting to come to life for the simple reason that a growing number of people are starting to believe, starting to hope, that we can do something different this time,” he said.

Further evidence of the surge in support for the Lib Dems came in a YouGov poll for The Sun which put Mr Clegg’s party in the lead with 33% (up three points since a similar poll on Saturday). The Conservatives were on 32% (down one point), with Labour trailing on 26% (down two).

From the Press Association

The Government said the £50 million scheme will save as much carbon as taking 45,000 cars off the roads and will also cut a household’s energy bill by up to £235 a year.

The average cost of a boiler and its installation is around £2,500, according to the heating industry.

Some energy companies are planning to complement and even match the Government offer with money-off initiatives for upgrading to more efficient boilers - so that more householders can take advantage of the scheme.

The Government said the programme would also help sustain work for the 130,000 installers and 25 boiler manufacturers in the UK during the recession.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is launching the scheme with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband on Tuesday, said: “Today’s announcement will slash household energy bills and carbon emissions while providing an important boost for the British heating industry.

“The Government’s new scrappage scheme will help to secure 250,000 jobs across the tens of thousands of small and medium businesses involved in boiler manufacture, sales and installation that form a vital component of Britain’s low carbon economy.”

Mr Miliband said: “The boiler scrappage scheme will save around £200 off heating bills per year for families that are replacing their old boilers, and in total will save the same amount of carbon equivalent to taking around 45,000 cars off the road.

“The scheme will add to the existing package of Government measures to help householders be smarter about the energy they use, leading to permanently reduced fuel bills and cutting emissions.”

At closing, NRG will invest approximately $10 million for equity and associated development rights for three projects on sites in south central California and the Southwest US and a portfolio of PPAs to develop, build, own and operate up to 11 eSolar modular solar generating units at these sites. These development assets will use eSolar’s concentrating solar power (CSP) technology to sell renewable electricity under contracted power purchase agreements (PPAs) with local utilities seeking competitively priced, zero-carbon solar power.

“This is NRG’s first venture into solar power and it brings an exceptionally important component to the low- and no-carbon focus of our RepoweringNRG program,” said Michael Liebelson, Chief Development Officer Low Carbon Technology for NRG Energy. “By coupling NRG’s construction capabilities and regional operating expertise with eSolar’s innovative CSP technology, we can advance NRG’s renewable energy portfolio while helping to accelerate development of these important projects on a commercial scale.” eSolar is currently completing its first commercial demonstration CSP plant in Southern California.

The facility will be the first fully functioning solar thermal power tower plant built in the United States. In building this first plant, eSolar is obtaining valuable design, construction and operational insights to provide NRG the foundation for the implementation of commercial scale facilities. “eSolar’s breakthrough modular power plants use more software and less steel to allow solar energy to be competitive with fossil fuels for the first time ever,” said Bill Gross, CEO of eSolar. “NRG Energy’s extensive project skills and focus on advancing a diverse portfolio of energy generation technology will help accelerate the deployment of eSolar’s CSP technology in locations across the US.”

eSolar’s global leadership shares an extensive and proven track record of experience in solar technologies and renewable energy projects. By leveraging a proprietary combination of optics and software in a pre-fabricated form factor, eSolar achieves economies of scale while focusing on the key business obstacles that have characterized large solar installations—price, scalability, speed of deployment and grid impact. eSolar has partnered with Idealab, Google.org, Oak Investment Partners, and other investors to develop large and utility-scale power projects around the world.

Over the past fifteen years, IHS has developed a strong portfolio of energy efficient and micro-renewable products including underfloor and wall heating and cooling, ground, air and water source heat pumps, solar thermal and PV systems, energy efficient domestic water systems and Road Energy Systems. The company specialises in the provision of technically efficient heating design solutions across all market sectors.

James Toland commented: “IHS has demonstrated consistent year on year growth based on its strong reputation for technical excellence and is ideally placed to expand its field of operations throughout the UK and Ireland with current increasing demand for technically guaranteed, sustainable energy based heating solutions. This is a very strong business, and I look forward to working with the existing team to realise our goals and expand significantly in the coming years.”

Henk Verweijmeren added: “We are extremely proud of what we have built up with our team here in Ullapool but we reached the decision that the company was ready to grow even further and we needed assistance to do this. We believe that this step will enable IHS develop into an even more successful business over the next few years.”

“One of our Engineering Doctorate students was researching how sunlight interacts with paint and degrades it, which led to us developing a new photovoltaic method of capturing solar energy.” Unlike conventional solar cells, the materials being developed at Swansea are more efficient at capturing low light radiation, meaning that they are better suited to the British climate.  A research grant from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Welsh Energy Research Centre (WERC) enabled Dr Worsley to work with leading metals group Corus to investigate the feasibility of developing an efficient solar cell system that can be applied to steel building products.

The success of the study led to the award of a three-year project worth over £1.5 million by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Swansea University is now leading a partnership with Bangor University, University of Bath, and the Imperial College London to develop commercially viable photovoltaic materials for use within the steel industry. Paint is applied to steel when it is passed through rollers during the manufacturing process, and it is hoped that the same approach can be used to build up layers of the solar cell system.

The researchers’ aim is to produce cells that can be painted onto a flexible steel surface at a rate of 30-40m2 a minute. Dr Worsley believes that the potential for the product is immense. He said: “Corus Colours produces around 100 million square metres of steel building cladding a year. If this was treated with the photovoltaic material, and assuming a conservative 5% energy conversion rate, then we could be looking at generating 4,500 gigawatts of electricity through the solar cells annually. That’s the equivalent output of roughly 50 wind farms.” Dr Worsley will be working closely with Corus to research practical, cost-efficient methods of mounting the system on steel structures, with a view to the eventual commercialisation of the product. He said: “This project is a superb example of the value of collaboration between universities and industry, and it is definitely important for Wales. We have a genuine opportunity to ensure that Wales remains at the forefront of this technology worldwide, driving the industry and revolutionising our capacity to generate electricity. “I think it shows great vision from the Welsh Assembly Government that they funded the initial feasibility study. Even if we are only mildly successful with this project, there is no doubt that we will be creating an exciting hi-tech steel product that will preserve the long term future of the Welsh steel industry.”

For more information go to Swansea University. 

Consent for the power plant has already been granted and first preparations for construction will be started shortly. Storage of wood biomass Storage of wood biomass Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt, CEO of RWE Innogy: “This transaction enables RWE Innogy to enter the UK biomass market successfully. Overall, we intend to increase the generation of electricity and heat from solid biomass almost five-fold to 600 MWel in Europe by 2011. The UK is an extremely important market for these growth plans. This is why I am particularly happy that we have found a competent and experienced local partner with Helius Energy.”

RWE Innogy and Helius Energy plan to develop additional biomass projects in the UK. John Seed, Helius Energy’s Managing Director said: “I am delighted that Helius Energy has achieved exactly what it set out to do when it listed last year. This deal provides us with the funds to continue our strong and steady progress towards the development of a pipeline of biomass energy projects. We look forward to working with RWE Innogy and exploring ways to exploit the obvious synergies between our respective organsiations in the future.”

The Stallingborough biomass plant is designed for a gross capacity of 73 MWe (65MWe declared net capacity). It will be fuelled with wood residuals or forest biomass. The majority of the required biomass will be contractually secured on a long-term basis. RWE is already conducting talks with companies interested in possibly using the thermal output. RWE npower will provide operations and maintenance services for the plant on behalf of its sister company RWE Innogy, utilising RWE´s expertise as a market leader in power generation in the UK. In July RWE npower announced plans for a 45 MW biomass CHP plant at Tullis Russell Papermakers in Markinch, Scotland.