March 2016

In February, U.K.-based NERA Economic Consulting and Imperial College prepared an analysis for Drax that makes the case for allowing biomass conversion to compete for contracts for difference (CfD). The report “U.K. Renewable Subsidies and Whole System Costs: The case for biomass conversion” finds U.K. consumers could save more than £2 billion ($2.8 billion) if […]

Initial responses to the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP21)’s 12 December Paris Agreement ranged from the euphoric, declaring a historic deal that could save the world, to the grimly pragmatic. Most participants declared the 13 days of negotiations and months of work that preceded them a success for France and the 197 governments that […]

The UK’s biggest energy lobbying group has shifted its position on green energy and will start campaigning for low-carbon alternatives for the first time, in what environmental campaigners are describing as a watershed moment. Lawrence Slade, the chief executive of Energy UK, which represents the big six providers and has been regarded as a defender of fossil […]

Two papers published in the last few weeks provide a sobering reality check after the rhetorical success of the Paris climate change conference in December. Getting any agreement was a diplomatic triumph but producing real change on the scale necessary will be much more difficult. The two documents are very different but both excellent pieces […]

Ten years ago, when the British government first considered launching a new nuclear programme,Areva, the French nuclear technology company, said it could build reactors that would produce electricity profitably at £24 per megawatt-hour. It seemed an attractive proposition. Not only was this less than previous reactors, it was competitive with other power sources. New technology […]