Italy back on nuclear energy track
According to Reuters news yesterday – Italy signed a nuclear cooperation deal with The United States that would enable U.S. companies to help build a number of nuclear power stations across Italy, thus putting an end to a 22-year ban initiated by the Italian government. As the only group of eight industrialised nations without nuclear power, Italy had rejected it in a 1987 referendum following the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.
U.S. Energy Secretary, Steven Chu explained that Italy has restarted its nuclear energy infrastructure, incorporating aggressive goals and very admirable goals, by decreasing its carbon emissions through nuclear and renewable energy, and through improvements and efficiency.
Mr. Chu continued by saying companies like General Electric and Toshiba Corp’s Westinghouse unit will be able to bid on projects in Italy, which it hopes will be issued mid-February, determining the location of the facilities.
Italy is planning to rebuild the energy sector and produce 25% of power from nuclear plants, helping to reduce Italy’s heavy dependency on fossil fuel imports as well as reduce its carbon emissions.
Source;
News @ newenergyfinance.com
http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN2916990820090929?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sendNuclearHeadlines
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Smartening up for energy meter roll-out
Smart meters have been designed to help businesses and homeowners reduce their energy consumption by offering minute-by-minute data revealing specific usage information, thus reducing both business energy costs as well as domestic energy bills. Nationwide roll-out is expected to commence within four years across the UK – and that is where manufacturer Landis and Gyr is hoping to play a major role.
As one of the world’s leader in smart metering and energy management solutions, Landis and Gyr is preparing for a mass roll-out, and although the decision on which is expected in November, the firm has already invested around £80 million in new technology improving meters that will be available for the public.
The company has also been forming relationships with the UK’s major energy suppliers to make the roll-out a smooth operation, where it is anticipated could cost as much as £9 billion to carry out.
In an interview for the Manchester Evening News, Landis and Gyr’s CEO Steve Cunningham, said that if his company is really fortunate, then they might get 40% of the business, which would mean that they would more than double their output in Stockport and would have to expand into the next door unit.
Energy suppliers are in support of the scheme because it would mean they would no longer need to send out staff to read meters.
Source;
Energyhelpline.com/ News/ Gas & Electricity (Smart meter company seeks major role in government’s cheap energy plan-29/09/2009)
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Free Energy Advice
The Energy Saving Trust (EST) is providing free advice to Merseyside consumers on how to reduce bills from energy suppliers whilst lowering carbon emissions, in a campaign to encourage homeowners to review their energy practices.
The organisation is working in conjunction with the Wirral Metropolitan borough council and Liverpool city council sending out surveys to local homeowners to be filled out and returned for free, where upon receipt the details will be analysed and personalised reports will be issued.
It is advised that by making only minor changes to ones domestic consumption habits, could help homeowners save around £300 per year on their energy bills a significant help as the winter months approach and with major gas and electricity suppliers showing no sign of significant price reductions.
Advice will include how to improve domestic energy efficiency ratings –something that could actually help homeowners increase the value of their property, as reported by energyhelpline.com.
Other measures to reduce your energy bills include installing cavity wall and loft insulation to improve energy efficiency, and replacing older white goods with more energy efficient models can also help deliver savings.
Switching energy companies is also an alternative way to receive energy savings, visit www.utility-exchange.com for a quote for your utility services; gas, electric, telecoms and mobile.
Source;
Energyhelpline.com/ News/ Gas & Electricity (Free EST advice could encourage homeowners to compare energy practices-29/09/2009)
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Shell Sponsors The Prince’s Rainforest Project
Multinational petroleum company Shell is one of the six “supermajors” – vertically integrated private sector oil exploration, natural gas, and petroleum product marketing companies, where, as an official partner of the Prince’s Rainforest Project is campaigning to raise awareness of the consequences of deforestation – the clearance of naturally occurring forests by the processes of logging and/or burning of trees in a forested area.
Shell World UK (Autumn 2009) features an interview with Tony Juniper, the former head of Friends of the Earth, who is currently advising the Prince’s Rainforests Projects. Taking time out to answer Shell’s questions regarding deforestation and its connection to climate change, Mr Juniper confirmed that deforestation is a major factor causing climate warming whereby one fifth of the emissions entering the atmosphere are actually creating by the clearance of forests.
However, the seriousness of deforestation is put into perspective when it is considered that we actually rely on forests to absorb about 15% of emissions released into the air by industrial pollutants. Therefore, by cutting down the trees, or indeed burning the areas of natural forest, not only are emissions being increased, but the key resource for soaking them up – is no longer there.
The article explains how HRH The Prince of Wales established The Prince’s Rainforests Project due to the severity of the effect of deforestation on climate change. Mr. Juniper goes on to explain that this project is intended not to be portrayed as another overseas aid project or loan – rather likened to paying a utility bill, paying for your gas or electricity for example.
The argument for this is that the global community needs to pay those rainforest nations a utility bill, securing climate protection, rainfall generation and the nature conservation that comes from preserving the rainforests, which is the purpose of the project – working out how to raise and spend money whilst monitoring performance.
The implications of deforestation are global – having a significant effect on the environment and climate change, which is why rainforests are at the forefront of climate change campaigns. If you are interested in supporting the campaign to curb tropical deforestation or would like to find out more about The Prince’s Rainforests Project visit www.rainforestsos.org
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The Carbon Show
The Carbon Show 2009 – The exhibition for trading, reducing and managing carbon takes place over today and tomorrow (29th and 30th September) at London ExCel centre, becoming the first ever international exhibition dedicated to carbon, covering everything from carbon consulting, to carbon audits to low carbon solutions for your business.
The aim of the exhibition is to provide all the resources, products and strategies needed to excel in the exciting world of carbon related business and learning opportunities and will feature over 100 exhibitors, specialised seminars, interactive workshops, exclusive networking opportunities and plenary sessions.
Deliver the information and resources needed to help your organisation succeed in the new low carbon economy the Carbon Show is taking place in the lead up to the crucial Copenhagen summit in December, providing opportunities to network and meet new potential clients and contacts and discuss the new post-Kyoto climate deal with industry leaders.
For further information or to find out more, visit www.thecarbonshow.com
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Areva Reacts to Nuclear Demand
World energy expert Areva offers customers reliable technological solutions for CO2-free power generation and electricity transmission, and 91% owned by the French state, the company has more than doubled in size over the last three years as France cements its position as a supplier of nuclear equipment whilst capitalising on a renewed focus on nuclear technology as other countries strive to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
It is anticipated that over the next 10 years, the world will build 180 nuclear power plants where Areva, the worlds biggest builder of reactors, intends to build one third of them – They will achieve this by recruiting between 10,000 and 12,000 staff globally over the remainder of this year, and by recruiting a similar number of employees next year.
Luc Oursel, chief executive of Areva Nuclear Plants stated “Financial crisis or not, this action plan is going ahead, we will see more and more countries coming to us” where it is expected that the majority of new recruits will join Areva’s 75,000 workforce across France, China, the Middle East and in the United States.
Only eight years ago, Areva’s Saint-Marcel factory in Chalon, faced closure where only a few orders for replacement parts to France’s domestic fleet of reactors – which generate 80% of the country’s electricity – kept the plant in operation, but with 23 provisional reactor orders, the workforce has risen from 500 to 1140, supplying not only the French Nuclear Industry, but exporting on a global scale.
The plants director, Herve Hottelart also advised that heavy equipment for four reactors that gas and electricity provider EDF, another French state-controlled company, had planned to build in Britain (Hinkley Point, Somerset and Sizewell, Suffolk) shall now be built at Areva’s Saint-Marcel factory.
Areva’s expansion plans will come at a price – the company is expected to invest £2.2 billion on factory premises, uranium mines, fuel-processing plants along with ongoing research and development, however, the company has found funding through the sale of its electricity transmission and distribution division as well as a 15% sale of shares to strategic partners.
Source;
The Times (Monday September 28, 2009) Business
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BT assess carbon impact in Benelux
BT has launched its “Carbon Impact Assessment” in Benelux, a Western Europe union comprising of three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, in a bid to help large corporate and public sector organisations to reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint.
BT’s carbon impact assessment has been designed to allow organisations the ability to accurately calculate the amount of CO2 emissions they produce as a result of the use of networked IT services. It then identifies areas for improvement and provides practical solutions that will help customers reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint.
The assessment also investigates people’s work patterns (such as their travel and IT usage) and how they contribute to CO2 emissions, along with how business operations, shared services and building infrastructure also adds to an organisation’s carbon footprint.
This approach allows a number of business scenarios to be tested where an assessment is made of the associated energy and carbon reductions, for example; from ‘what if I consolidated my data centres and utilised them more efficiently through virtualisation?’ to ‘what if I introduced agile working so that people could work from home or on the move?’ or ‘what if people didn’t need to travel to meetings but used audio and video conferencing instead?’
It is the ability to understand the role which networked IT services can play in both producing and reducing CO2 emissions that is crucial for any business to achieve long term sustainability and BT’s carbon impact assessment service therefore not only benefits the environment via reduced energy consumption and a reduced carbon footprint, but it also helps businesses to achieve significant cost savings.
Organisations who can achieve both will come out the economic crisis much stronger than their competition comments Bas Burger, Chief Executive Officer for BT Benelux.
Mr. Burger continues by saying that when BT assess clients’ CO2 emissions, they explore both the required behaviour change along with any adjustments to their network and IT-infrastructure, which is where the majority of customers have yet to take action but can benefit significantly from BT’s learning and capabilities to help them with the development of more sustainable business solutions.
BT leads in the area of sustainability –having been rated leader in the telecommunications sector of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for eight consecutive years, from 2001 to 2008, the company remains one of the best-performing companies in the sector.
Source;
Btplc.com/ News&Media/ BT Press Releases (BT launches Carbon Impact Assessment service in Benelux)
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Homes to reduce energy prices and emissions
As the summer ends and the colder winter months approach, homeowners are more inclined to compare energy prices – if you are you may be interested to learn that the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) is calling for new environmental measures.
The green organisation whose mission is to dramatically improve the sustainability of the built environment, by radically transforming the way it is planned, designed, constructed, claims that the impact of inefficient building techniques is failing to get the attention it deserves so they are campaigning for new measures to be included in this year’s environmental summit in Copenhagen.
It is regarded that inefficient housing currently produces around half of the UK’s greenhouse gases, but according to the UK-GBC it’s issues like deforestation and energy generation that tend to dominate the global environmental agenda.
Taking simple measures like installing cavity wall and loft insulation, as well as utilising more efficient white goods like washing machines and fridges, could help to dramatically reduce the impact of prices from energy suppliers and as a consequence lower emissions.
Source article;
http://www.energyhelpline.com/news/article.aspx?aaid=19376696&y=2009&m=9&w=4&pid=1
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Warm Front Scheme Works
Over 2 million UK households have been helped by the Government’s Warm Front scheme – designed to tackle fuel poverty and fight climate change through energy efficiency, reducing energy bills for the vulnerable – despite being slammed by charities earlier this year.
More than £2.2 billion has now been spent giving those that are eligible peace of mind that they can afford to heat their homes during the colder winter months, and over the past 12 months, the energy efficiency scheme has helped over 233,000 households across England, the majority including someone over 60 years old.
Energy and climate change minister, David Kidney said that by helping two million homes keep warm by reducing the cost of fuel bills is a huge achievement, and that the rise in fuel costs and the increased need for everyone to save energy, means that the work the Warm Front scheme is doing is extremely important.
It was in February this year though that charities Help the Aged and Age Concern insisted that the Warm Front scheme was “not fit for purpose,” stating that a large number of pensioners who qualified for the energy efficiency grants were not applying after discovering they were actually expected to fork out on renovation works.
Source;
Energysources.co.uk/ Energy News (Pensioners feel benefit of Warm Front grants)
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A Discounted BT
Following Ofcom’s decision to deregulate restrictions placed on BT, the communications giant has announced that customers could now benefit from cheaper phone and broadband bills, as reported by homephonechoices.co.uk.
Yesterday the telecommunications regulator Ofcom announced the removal of restrictions placed on BT which prevented it from offering bundled services such as a landline and broadband in a discounted package, see Utility Exchange for related news features.
So the change now means that BT’s 14 million landline customers could benefit from more competitive telephone, broadband and digital TV packages – where previously the Ofcom regulation prevented BT offering discounts to customers who took more than one service – and were only able to sell bundles at a price equal to the sum of their individual parts.
Gavin Patterson, BT Retail’s chief executive stated:
“It’s good news for consumers and businesses, as this will allow BT to offer more targeted discounts on products and services, and more attractive bundles at better prices”
However, according to homephonechoices.co.uk although BT’s bundled packages may become more competitive, the company – which is still Britain’s largest landline provider – is increasing call charges from 1 October 2009.
Utility Exchange searches the market to find the most competitive Telecom rates for home and business use, simply request a quote at www.utility-exchange.com and let us save you money on your utility requirements, including Mobile, Gas and Electricity.