Tag: Energy

Great British Energy: Nuclear Development

Published on by jonesjb

I intervened yesterday in this debate to say: he Minister said that everybody around the House supports nuclear. No, the Green Party does not support nuclear. It is a dinosaur technology and it is really very expensive, when you look at the planetary impact and the cost to the Exchequer. It is going to be a disaster and it will be overtaken by sea-level rises as well. Why do the Government not take some good advice on this instead of believing in nuclear all the time? Continue reading “Great British Energy: Nuclear Development” →

My amendment on Day 6 of Renters’ Rights Bill Committee Stage

Published on by jonesjb

In Kirklees, a Green councillor, Andrew Cooper, was one of the driving forces behind a street-by-street insulation programme. Reports on how that worked out afterwards highlighted how much people are concerned about cowboy builders but that they trust their local authorities. That street-by-street process works well, but to make that happen you need the data. That is what this amendment is designed to achieve. Continue reading “My amendment on Day 6 of Renters’ Rights Bill Committee Stage” →

Greenpeace joins calls to ban incineration

Published on by greenlordsmedia

Jenny’s long standing campaign to stop incineration and raise the alarm over CO2 emissions and local air pollution has been joined by Greenpeace. They have teamed up with Exinction rebellion and UK Without Incinerators to deleiver a 10 point action plan to the PM for a swift shift to a circular economy.

Noting social justice concerns, the action plan stresses that better measures to curb pollution from incinerators are urgently required. It points out that incinerators are “imposed on communities against their will, harming their air quality without their consent” and that these plants “are more likely to be built in poorer areas and in areas with higher racial and ethnic diversity”. Greenpeace data has shown that UK waste incinerators are three times as likely to be located in deprived areas.

Jenny met them at the Big One weekend of protests in London, saying that “Everyone deserves clean air”

A key green party demand is to stop more incinerators being built and for councils to withdraw from the long term contracts that have such a negative impact on recycling rates.

Government defeats on the Energy Bill

Published on by greenlordsmedia

The government suffered four defeats on amendments to the Energy Bill in the Lords last night, including one championed by my Green Party collegue Natalie Bennett on community energy. These will now go back to MPs for them to consider and hopefully we will get a few shifts in the government’s position.

The first amendment adds a new clause imposing a duty on the Secretary of State to bring forward a plan within six months of the passage of the act for low carbon heat, energy efficient buildings and higher standards on new homes.

The second adds a new clause requiring the Secretary of State to bring forward regulations to prohibit the opening of new coal mines in England.

The third adds a requirement to have regard for the UK’s net zero emissions target into Ofgem’s general duties.

The fourth amendment requires the Secretary of state to bring forward regulations to require large energy suppliers to purchase electricity from low carbon community sites and provide annual reporting on the use of such schemes

A green approach to the Energy Bill

Published on by greenlordsmedia

Something Greens are always very concerned about is marketisation and financial engineering around environmental issues. The UK has a long and dangerous track record of mismanaging this. In the same way that financial engineering around mortgages caused the 2008 financial crisis, there are risks that bankers will abuse the climate crisis as an opportunity to get filthy rich while destroying the very systems we are working to protect. It has been done before.

Continue reading “A green approach to the Energy Bill” →

Energy Bill payback due from renewables

Published on by greenlordsmedia

Renewables are due to start paying back money to consumers this month, as the cost of producing energy from wind and solar drops well below the cost of energy bills. The figures on how much is cut from bills will be announced every quarter, with a small change growing into a more significant sum as the price cap rises in October and the new year.

Continue reading “Energy Bill payback due from renewables” →

Clean Air comes top

Published on by greenlordsmedia

My Clean Air Act is top of the Lords’ ballot for private members bills which means that it stands a good chance of getting through all three stages in the Lords, before moving into the Commons. The bill aims to protect the public against air pollution which is one of the biggest public health hazards of our time and responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths in the UK. I’ve been working on this issue for over twenty years, but this is my best chance to get the government to take decisive action.

Continue reading “Clean Air comes top” →

Incinerators have no place in a zero-carbon world

Published on by iwin1961

I find it infuriating that Labour and Lib Dem councils are still approving waste from energy incinerators while their national parties declare a Climate Emergency. Labour have passed a motion at their conference aiming for zero carbon by 2030, but contracts between local authorities and incineration companies will last well beyond this timescale.

In 2016 waste incinerators officially accounted for 10.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases and that total is going up rapidly as we burn more waste.  The real total is double that according to analysis done by the ‘No Incinerator UK’ campaign, who point out that the amount of plastic being burnt has gone up rapidly since 2011 when the government last calculated the mix of waste that was being put into incinerators.

A quick glance at oil company profits from recent years shows that plastic production has become crucial to their profitability with plastics accounting for half of global oil consumption growth to 2040. Oil, in the form of plastic, is the ideal fuel for incinerators and enables them to reach the temperatures where everything else burns nicely. We want to stop cars using petrol in the next ten years, so why are we happy for incinerators to use it?