Green energy academics to be gagged by new government grants policy
Academics who receive research grants will no longer be allowed to 'lobby' the government for policy changes in their areas of research expertise under rules being introduced by the government from May...
View ArticleHow Brexit could make UKIP the largest party in the UK
As the the prospects for the 'Leave' campaign winning on June 23rd rise comes the realisation that this result can only but strengthen UKIP perhaps making them, for a time at least, the largest party...
View ArticleSmall Modular Reactors: wishful thinking on a grand scale
Take a large number of scientists who have grown up with the firm belief that nuclear power is the future of energy, face them with the fact that nuclear power is proving to be undeliverable in...
View ArticleRenewables 'too much power' problem is really nuclear's fault
Electricity nerds were getting excited (April 17th) as the national grid issued a 'negative reserve active power margin' notice, meaning that for North West Scotland there was too much power on the...
View ArticleFrench Government obfuscates on Hinkley C as EDF managers predict legal...
The insanity of the Hinkley C project for the French nation in general and EDF in particular was underlined today by two events. First, the French Government found itself unable to solve the...
View ArticleEDF postpones Hinkley C decision until next year
A report in the Independent says that the EDF Board of Directors has agreed to undertake discussions with the company consultative council before taking a decision, a process which is likely to take a...
View ArticleUK renewable energy auctions system discredited by offshore windfarm contract...
The Government's much vaunted 'contracts for difference' (CfD) auction system for funding renewable energy has been thrown into disrepute after a key project awarded a contract has had its contract...
View ArticleWill Japanese or US Governments end up paying for Moorside nuclear plant?
According to spokespersons for the proposed 'NuGen' nuclear development at Moorside in Cumbria either or both the Japanese and American Governments could end up part-paying for the proposed 3.8 GW...
View ArticleSo seriously, how will leaving the EU affect green energy.....
I'm of course for 'in', but I thought I'd try and put the green energy implications of a 'leave' decision in perspective in as balanced a way as I can manage......Technically speaking of course there's...
View ArticleAre we heading for constitutional crisis as Sturgeon threatens to 'veto' Brexit
We can see in the headlines that Nicola Sturgeon is threatening to 'veto' Brexit on the grounds that consent from the Scottish Parliament is required to stop Scotland being subject to EU laws. See...
View ArticleUKIP set for major boost as Johnson forced into humiliating u-turn on freedom...
As predicted in earlier posts on this blog the UK is heading for the worst of all worlds compared to retaining full membership of the EU. Boris Johnson, in a staggering u-turn, has effectively accepted...
View ArticleWith Brexit UK may not need any more power stations as electricity demand...
One largely unintended consequence of 'Brexit' is that the economic uncertainty and reduced economic growth are likely to produce a further fall in electricity demand which may mean we do not need any...
View ArticleDutch tender award for offshore wind plant is 25% cheaper than Hinkley C...
The Dutch Government has awarded a contract to build two 350 MW Borssele offshore windfarms for 87 euros per MWh (£74 per MWh), some 25 per cent cheaper than the current value of the contract for...
View ArticleWays in which Brexit will help the environment
‘Always look on the bright side of life’. That was a theme associated with the ‘Life of Brian’ (as is strife within the popular fronts of the Labour Party these days of course, but I won’t go into that...
View ArticleGovernment abandons the economy to try to ward off UKIP
Early pronouncements from Philip Hammond and David Davis indicate that the Government is set to abandon hopes of remaining within the Single Market as the price the UK will have to pay for imposing...
View ArticleEDF to postpone Hinkley Construction start to at least mid 2019
The media is full of stories that EDF is about to announce a 'final investment decision' on Hinkley C nuclear power station, whereas the logic of its own press statements suggest that the project is in...
View ArticleWhy UK Government will be signing a blank cheque for Hinkley and Bradwell in...
Theresa May may have gained short term kudos for 'stamping' her authority on the Hinkley decision by delaying it until the Autumn. But in reality all she may have done in the long term is emphasised...
View ArticleHow British research academics will be encouraged to emigrate by new research...
The just published 'Stern Review' on how research outputs of UK academics are going to be valued is likely to seriously blight the careers of British academics and lead to a 'brain drain' as they seek...
View ArticleLabour 's 'choose a policy' approach to nuclear power looks like chaos
With Labour trying to face several ways at once it looks more like chaos as the front bench tries to please everybody and fails to satisfy anybody at the same time.Jeremy Corbyn is quoted (quite...
View ArticleEDF leaders get desperate over Hinkley C
EDF leaders are now in such a state of panic over their Hinkley C proposals that desperate messages were being sent out to tell the British Government that they need to take a £6 billion equity share...
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