News Elsewhere contains mainly articles we have permission to republish from Views of Scotland and Country Guardian. You can learn more about these organisations by visiting: http://www.countryguardian.net/ and http://www.viewsofscotland.org/. Occasionally we will also post news from elsewhere on the web.
The UK government should cut rising energy bills by getting rid of levies that subsidise renewable energy, the boss of E.On UK has said. Speaking to the Financial Times, Michael Lewis said green subsidies should be funded through tax instead. Regulators have warned that consumer energy bills will be hit Read more
Grid connection charges are hampering the transmission of Scottish renewables across the UK, a panel of MPs has said. The Scottish Affairs Committee is calling for an urgent review of the energy grid in the UK. Under the current system, charges apply to connect to the grid in Scotland, but Read more
A fire has knocked out a key facility in Kent where electricity from France arrives by undersea cable, worsening the UK’s energy supply crunch. The blaze at the National Grid substation in Sellindge, near Ashford, was reported at 12.32am on Wednesday, according to Kent Fire Brigade. The facility links subsea Read more
Evidence provided by a farmer claiming his property values dropped after a wind farm was built nearby cannot be used in a Victorian court case. Key points: Evidence to show a property’s value dropped because of the wind farm is thrown out Noel Uren is claiming $200,000 and other damages Read more
By Rachel Morison and Anna Shiryaevskaya – Bloomberg Electricity prices soared to a record in Britain as a period of still weather is curbing wind power, exposing the U.K.’s reliance on intermittent renewables. U.K. power for next day exceed 400 pounds ($553) a megawatt-hour at an auction on Monday, an Read more
Fact-checking Boris Johnson’s answer to my PMQBy Craig Mackinlay Craig Mackinlay is the Conservative MP for South Thanet It is critical that Britain’s decarbonisation policies are both affordable and technologically feasible. If the adoption of technologies such as wind and solar “farms”, square miles of batteries, hydrogen and widespread adoption Read more
I BELIEVE that the Cambo oilfield should continue to be developed. I am all for taking measures that will slow climate change, but is there such a thing as a green motorised vehicle? Many will point to battery-driven versions as being green – but although they are cleaner, they are Read more
Price spikes in the global energy market are meant to happen during the cold months of a northern hemisphere winter, which is why their arrival now is alarming. It suggests the current mini-crisis – which, embarrassingly, is seeing the UK shovel millions in the direction of coal plant producers just Read more