Multi million pound investment in 'green' energy

A £20 million investment is to be provided to back the Executive's Clean Energy Startegy which aims to make Scotland the renewable energy powerhouse of Europe, a special conference in Aberdeen was told today.

Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen announced details of:

• an allocated £20 million of renewable energy funding to be spent over the next two years
• an environmental study to help the development of off-shore wind projects
• specific financial support for biomass, hydrogen, marine and microrenewables

The Minister said that investing in a diverse range of renewables would not only help tackle climate change, but would have a positive effect on Scotland's economic potential.

For more details see the Scottish Executive web site.

Fusion reactor work gets go-ahead

Seven international parties involved in an experimental nuclear fusion reactor project have initialled a 10bn-euro (£6.8bn) agreement. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) will be the most expensive joint scientific project after the International Space Station. Wednesday's agreement in Brussels gives the go-ahead for practical work on the project to start.

Generatingnonap energy from reactions like those that power the Sun, fusion will lead to a cheaper, safer, cleaner and endless energy resource in the years ahead, says the the seven-party consortium, including the European Union, the US, Japan, China, Russia and others. They agreed last year to build ITER in Cadarache, in the southern French region of Provence.

The experimental reactor will produce the first sustained fusion reactions, the last stage to be proved before a full prototype commercial reactor is built. Construction will start in 2007 and building will take about eight years to build. If all goes well, officials hope to set up a demonstration power plant at Cadarache by 2040.

In a fusion reaction, energy is produced when light atoms - the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium - are fused together to form heavier atoms. To use controlled fusion reactions on Earth as an energy source, it is necessary to heat a gas to temperatures exceeding 100 million Celsius - many times hotter than the centre of the Sun. The technical obstacles to this, which scientists have spent decades overcoming, are immense; but the rewards, if ITER can be made to work successfully, are extremely attractive. One kilogram of fusion fuel would produce the same amount of energy as 10,000,000kg of fossil fuel.

Fusion does produce radioactive waste but not the volumes of long-term high-level radiotoxic materials that have so burdened nuclear fission. Officials project that 10-20% of the world's energy could come from fusion by the end of the century, but environmental groups have criticised the project, saying there was no guarantee that the billions of euros would result in a commercially viable energy source.

The Cadarache site lies about 60km (37 miles) inland from Marseille, and has been a nuclear research centre ever since President Charles de Gaulle launched France's atomic energy programme in 1959.

See full report in story from BBC NEWS

Biomass Energy in England

I must apologise for the general lack of posts during the last month. I have been contributing to the UK Government's response to the Report of Sir Ben Gill's Biomass Task Force. As we approached the launch date things got more and more intense as we finished the last few details and sent the document to various government ministers for approval (a task made more difficult by the Easter holiday). Finally we launched the response at the end of April and it can be down-loaded here.

The key points in the Response are:

• A new five year capital grant scheme for biomass boilers, with funding of £10 - £15 million over the first two years
• Agreement in principle to support for energy crops under the new Rural Development Programme for England to be introduced in 2007, closely integrated with bioenergy market development;
• The Forestry Commission’s new Biomass Energy Centre to be a major new hub for bioenergy advice and best practice for industry and the public;
• Further measures to integrate environmental assessment in the planning of energy crop development;
• Government leadership through public procurement, including the potential use of biomass across the Government estate;
• Working with Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and other organisations to ensure effective, coordinated mechanisms for delivery of policy and advice on biomass energy;
• Action, (already taken), to improve the Renewables Obligation and implementation of the associated procedures;
• Use of the planning system to stimulate renewables development, including government support for planning authorities applying a minimum percentage of renewable energy in new developments;
• Action to address regulatory barriers identified by the Task Force and to develop standards to improve efficacy and confidence in biomass;
• New Building Regulations with tougher standards to encourage the use of Low or Zero Carbon (LZC) systems, such as biomass;
• Government thinking on the use of energy from waste, subject to conclusions from the current review of Waste Strategy and the Energy Review; and
• Support for the EU Biomass Action Plan and agreement on UK membership of the Global Bioenergy Partnership from its launch in May 2006.

The action plan set out in this response will be implemented and a long-term UK-wide Biomass Strategy will be developed within a year.

Tony Blair Says Nuclear Is Back On The Agenda

Blair says 'Nuclear is back on the agenda' in spite of him having been an enthusiastic member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Wikipedia) What's changed?