Marks & Spencer is set to be one of the first retailers to sell solar energy packages as it prepares to launch its range of Solar PV and Solar Thermal water heating solutions, reports talkingretail.com.

Marks & Spencer (M&S) want to help customers to reduce their carbon emissions and their energy bills. The solar packages will enable customers to take advantage of the Feed-in Tariff scheme.

Marks & Spencer has joined with Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) and the tariffs will be available to new and existing Marks & Spencer Energy customers.

Under the Feed-in Tariff customers generating electricity through sources of renewable energy will earn 41.3p per unit of electricity generated and for each unit that is sent to the National Grid customers will receive 3p a unit. So customers will benefit from cheaper energy bills and earn money from the electricity they generate.

Two solar packages will be available from Marks & Spencer: Solar Thermal and Solar PV. Both packages will include the installation of roof mounted solar panels. Solar Thermal collects daylight energy which is used to heat the water supply. Three different sized systems are available and start from £3,999. Solar PV works by collecting daylight energy to generate electricity for use within the home. Again customers can choose different sized panels which will help to reduce their energy bills. These packages will start from £7,999.

The director of Plan A & sustainable business at M&S, Richard Gillies said “This is the latest example of M&S offering our customers efficient solutions to their home energy needs”.

He added “Installing a solar solution will help customers save money over the long term by reducing their energy bills and will lead to significant cuts in customers’ carbon emissions”.

Meanwhile the head of M&S Energy, Stephen Langford said “Utilising solar energy at home saves you money on your heating and electricity bills and helps tackle climate change. We’ve brought the M&S quality standard to this service to make it easy for customers to get the most out of solar energy”.

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Source: talkingretail.com

As reported by Derby Telegraph; Leading councillor Philip Hickson tells public inquiry the reason he voted against plans for a waste treatment plant in Derby is because he fears it will cause people health problems. The conservative councillor joined members of Derby City Councils planning board who rejected an application by Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) Ltd (RRS) to build the plant in Sinfin Lane.

RRS, a partnership between United Utilities and Interserve, submitted plans to build a waste treatment facility and visitor and education centre, which would recycle some materials before using a proven gasification technology to generate renewable energy from the leftover, non-recycled waste. But after appealing against the rejection, RRS is now waiting for the conclusion of the inquiry which started this week.

Mr. Hickson explained to the inquiry how he was “not convinced” that emissions caused by the plant would be safe despite the fact that the Environment Agency signed it off.

Speaking at the inquiry, he said:

“I have my fears shared by the community, that health effects will be a problem…

… There is no unequivocal view from the Derby Primary Care Trust (PCT), Health Protection Agency (HPA), or the Environment Agency that this proposal would be safe…

… Therefore the committee and I expressed our reservations in refusing the application”

The councillor then proceeded to accuse the PCT and HPA of ‘fobbing off’ the planning board with their comments regarding the health implications of the plant.

Sinfin, a southern suburb of Derby, is already considered an unhealthy area – it has the highest rate of adult and infant mortality and cancer in the city – therefore, the waste plants effects on air quality are deemed could make matters worse.

Explaining the three reasons for the boards’ refusal, Hugh Richards, on behalf of the city’s planning service, said the plant would cause significant harm to the environment, cause traffic problems and also have an unacceptable visual impact.

This rejection was made despite officers recommending the plant be given the go-ahead and the city and county councils having already signed a deal with RRS to deal with the county’s waste.

The inquiry continues…

Source: Derby Telegraph (News)

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The Paris Metro looks set to be used as a source of renewable energy to heat nearby homes, reports The Guardian. The zero carbon heating scheme plans to use the warmth generated by passengers to heat a block of low-income flats near the Pompidou Centre in the city.

Using the heat generated by passengers could reduce the building’s energy bills and slash its carbon footprint by a third according to the owners of the building, Paris Habitat-OPH.

Amazingly the temperature in the Rambuteau Metro station is a steady 14-20C all year round. The heat is generated by passengers, trains and other machinery.

The owners of the building plan to use the heat generated by the underground to warm up water as it flows through pipes. It will then be pumped to the surface and used in an underfloor heating system in the flats.

A researcher at the University of Southampton’s School of Civil Engineering and the Environment said “It’s a huge source of free, zero-carbon heat so it couldn’t make more sense”. However, he added, “I guess the only problem will be if there’s a train strike in the winter, in which case they’ll need a back-up source of heat”.

There are similar projects being discussed in the UK at the moment and because new buildings will need to be carbon zero by 2016 there are all sorts of innovative ways being discussed to heat buildings.

It will be interesting to see how successful the French Metro project turns out to be. Already heat generated from the Central Station in Stockholm is used to heat an office building so it is possible to use publicly generated heat to heat buildings.

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Source: The Guardian

The Isle of Man government is progressing with plans to develop a 20 MW wind farm, reports iomtoday.co.im. The government is looking for expressions of interest from developers interested in putting in tenders for the design, finance, build and operation of the project.

The government voted in May to set a target of generating 15% of the Island’s electricity from sources of renewable energy by 2015.

John Shimmin, the Environment Minister said that an onshore wind farm could generate 12% of that target but they would need a private developer to fund the project.

The Isle of Man is a net importer of energy so the Isle of Man government is keen to improve its energy security by developing sources of renewable energy.

Dr Milne, senior manager for energy policy at the Department of Economic Development, said, “I would encourage all interested parties to discuss with me their proposals to ensure suitable selection of sites which have considered likely planning and technical issues”.

A report last year, commissioned by the Energy Policy Working Group said the Isle of Man was perfectly suited to onshore wind farms. The Island has on average the highest wind speeds throughout the year when compared with the UK, Denmark and Germany.

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Source: iomtoday.co.im