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Renewables in Buildings; Building ‘Power’ful Homes of the Future
Emissions reductions from the UK’s 29 million homes have stalled, while energy use in homes – which accounts for 14% of total UK emissions – increased between 2016 and 2017. Our homes are just not good enough to deal with climate change, the CCC warns in its recent report. Energy nerds realise the low hanging fruit is being picked (decarbonising power), and that we now need to focus on encouraging new sectors (especially construction and transport) to join the renewables transition. The Government’s spring statement highlighted their dedication to decarbonising the buildings sector, so this blog looks to review targets and policy framework, understand what the future homes package looks like, and explore its real value.
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Total energy production from renewables is now nearly 13 times higher than coal
Government data shows that the overall energy output from bioenergy and waste, wind, solar and hydro is now nearly 13 times higher than coal. This comes just seven years after generation from coal was greater. Renewables share of electricity generation was at a record high in 2018 producing 111 TWh with a 33.3% share.
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REA: BIOENERGY IS THE “LITTLE-KNOWN LEADER” IN BRITISH RENEWABLES
The UK’s leading renewables trade body has called on Ministers to renew long-term plans for a world-leading bioenergy industry.
Bioenergy, which uses sustainable biomass and biofuels produced from wood, crops and food wastes, is already the UK’s leading source of renewable energy, meeting 7.4% of our total energy needs. Only wind exceeds its output in the renewable power sector.
The Committee on Climate Change projected last year that bioenergy could double as a proportion of the UK’s primary energy supply by 2050. However, promises made in 2012 by the Coalition government to renew its strategy by 2017 failed to materialise, leaving the sector to drift. The gaps in the policy and regulatory framework are now growing, with existing support mechanisms ending, and the pipeline for future bioenergy projects being constrained.
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16MW Solar PV Projects could be “Ghosted” by Government due to FiT deployment cap breach
With the closure of the government support mechanism for microgeneration just 10 days away, the Feed-in-Tariff band for over 50kWp rooftop solar projects has been breached. Ofgem’s weekly capacity updates show that an additional 16MW of projects (which could power over 3300 homes) have been registered, although these risk being “ghosted” by the government scheme due to stringent capacity band caps.
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Positive Commitments for the industry announced in Spring Statement
In the Spring Statement the Chancellor announced: a Consultation later this year on increasing the proportion of green gas in the grid with the aim of reducing natural gas dependency in homes and businesses; a Call for Evidence on an Energy Efficiency Scheme for Small and Medium Sized Businesses exploring how the Government can support investment in energy efficiency measures; as part of the Industrial Strategy Grand Challenge the introduction of a Future Homes Standard by 2025 to see fossil fuel heating systems replaced with low carbon heating and energy efficiency measures; a Call for Evidence on Offsetting Transport Emissions which will give consumers the option to offset emissions from their journeys.
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Consultation on Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)
REA Response to Consultation on Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)
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REA Bioenergy Strategy: Phase 1
REA Bioenergy Strategy: Phase 1
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REA comments on The Global Warming Policy Foundation’s Energy Storage report
The Global Warming Policy Foundation published their Grid-Scale Storage: Can it solve the intermittency problem? report. The report claims that the lack of suitable storage technologies means that intermittent renewables cannot replace dispatchable coal, gas and nuclear power. The report also adds that due to this, a sensible energy policy cannot be based on them.
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GHG emissions have fallen 42% since 1990 amid Government’s £6m pledge supporting green taxis
New data published today by BEIS has found that total Green House Gas (GHG) emissions have fallen by 42% between 1990 and 2017 with a 38% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.The data also found that between 2016 and 2017, energy supply and the residential sector saw the largest reductions in emissions at 8% and 4% respectively. Further analysis from Carbon Brief has found that without shifts towards renewable power generation and energy-efficiency, carbon emissions could have been double that of the 1990 statistics.
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DfT consultation on RFNBO Hydrogen
REA Response to DfT consultation on RFNBO Hydrogen
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REA launches bioenergy review with new Call for Evidence
The REA has launched a far-reaching review into the future of bioenergy in the UK. Bioenergy is energy generated from bio-based fuels, such as wood pellets and biodiesel. The review comes shortly after the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) estimated bioenergy’s contribution to UK total energy could more than double by 2050. The International Energy Agency (IEA) described bioenergy as ‘the overlooked giant of renewables’. The review is expected to form a new policy strategy for government and industry, outlining how bioenergy can fulfil its long-term potential in a low-carbon energy mix..
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BEIS release positive proposals on planning for energy storage devices
Earlier today the Government released their Treatment of Electricity Storage Within the Planning System consultation. The proposals will mean that co-located storage and renewables projects in England will not need to go through the time-consuming national planning process if either the capacity of the storage element is less than 50MW or the capacity excluding any electricity storage is less than 50MW. This is an issue that the REA has campaigned for action on over the past few years.
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REA response to Clean Air Strategy
Government have today released the Clean Air Strategy. This follows on from a draft proposal and consultation in May 2018. Whilst the REA welcome the ambitions of the Clean Air Strategy, we urge the Government to commit to strong sector specific policies and take into account contemporary evidence on the role of bioenergy in meeting carbon targets. The REA urge the Government to focus on alternative courses of action to improve urban air quality through the uptake of electric vehicles and renewable transport fuels.
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New Era for solar and decentralised energy as Export Tariff proposals are announced
This morning the Government released their Future for small-scale low-carbon generation: A consultation on a Smart Export Guarantee. Proposals in the consultation include compensation for small-scale generators for the value of their exported electricity, a new framework which allows the market to develop and increasing the role of small-scale generators in a smarter energy system through the use of smart meters and time of use tariffs. The REA campaigned for the introduction of a market based solution such as this in their response to the Call for Evidence on Support for Small Scale Power last year.
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BEIS RHI Consultation – Biomass Combustion in Urban Areas
REA Response to BEIS RHI Consultation – Biomass Combustion in Urban Areas
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Concern over lack of support for renewable energy industry in Autumn Budget
The Autumn Budget is a missed opportunity for the Government to show their support to the renewable energy deployment and clean growth.
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Consultation on Energy Performance Certificates
REA Response to Consultation on Energy Performance Certificates
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UK goes without coal for a record breaking two months
The UK has run for more than 1600 hours without coal power so far in 2018.
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DEFRA Cleaner Domestic Burning of Solid Fuels and Wood
REA and WHA Response to DEFRA Cleaner Domestic Burning of Solid Fuels and Wood
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Welsh Government Consultation – Achieving our low-carbon pathway to 2030
REA response to Welsh Government Consultation – Achieving our low-carbon pathway to 2030