Campaigning leads to free school meals U-turn Following all the hard work put in by local councillors, community groups, businesses and residents to ...
Liberal Democrats in East Cambridgeshire have ensured the District Council will back a Local Electricity Bill currently making its way through Parliam...
We've hidden [Full] 'The #CEEBill in a year til COP26' panel event | CEE Bill Alliance to prevent cookies being set that you...
With the upcoming decision about the Westbury incinerator by Wiltshire council in the near future, this article highlighting the increase in Carbon emissions from waste disposal because of the expansion of energy-from-waste incineration plants is highly relevant. A coalition of campaigners has warned that by by 2030 the government's push to increase incineration of waste will increase CO2 emissions by 10m tonnes a year, mostly from the burning of plastics, the groups said. They argue that the growth in energy-from-waste incineration means the UK will not be able to meet its commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The coalition, which includes Extinction Rebellion's zero waste group, Friends of the Earth, the UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN), Greenpeace and the MP John Cruddas, says the expansion of waste incineration is forcing up carbon emissions. In an open letter to the prime minister they are calling for a law requiring the waste sector to decarbonise by 2035, similar to leg
We are running another photo challenge with many being published in the 2020/21 of our magazine Challenge as well as on our website.
AC/DC? - A much needed shock to the system It is the future. It is inevitable. So why not now? There will never be a more propitious time to start switching the UK's power distribution from AC over to DC. According the Committee on Climate Change, we will need a quadrupling of our electrical supply capacity to support electrification of heat and transport. The huge investment in new power distribution infrastructure is a once in a hundred-year opportunity to replace our anachronistic AC power distribution with something much better and truly modern: a DC power distribution system. Moreover, the timing is perfect to lobby for the Government's Ox-Cam Arc national infrastructure project [1] to be built as the UK's (and possibly the World's) first major DC power zone.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
