New deal for nature and water at Haweswater
Haweswater is the biggest source of drinking water in North West England – supplying approximately two million people. The conservation organisation has taken a tenancy of Naddle Farm, an upland sheep farm comprising approximately 500 ha (1250 acres) of enclosed farmland and woodland, with substantial common grazing rights on the open fells. The vision […]
On the way up at Tullis Russell
KIRK Environmental is pleased to announce that construction is well underway on their part of a £200M state of the art Biomass plant at Markinch, near Glenrothes. Work on the three woodchip storage silos commenced in mid-march and the first silo has almost reached its finished height of 18m above the ground. The 20m […]
Time to change the strategy in the battle for biodiversity
Speaking at the Planet Under Pressure conference, a major international gathering in London focusing on solutions to global sustainability, he said the world was facing unprecedented change in structure and function of natural ecosystems. Speaking in a session with other senior scientists from around the world, he said humans had increased the species extinction rate […]
Drought Happens
The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental management (CIWEM) welcomes this week’s drought summit, but warns against knee-jerk calls for new large scale water infrastructure, instead emphasising the importance of effective and timely drought management measures coupled with longer-term investment in widespread metering, water efficiency measures and a more sustainable approach to the planning of […]
Bioenergy evidence session dispels some biofuels myths
Parliament today listened to encouraging evidence on the role of biofuels in the UK Parliament’s Energy and Climate Change Committee today heard that UK-grown biofuels are among the most environmentally sound in the world, and have a key role to play in the UK’s energy mix. Industry stakeholders, including REA [1] members, told the Committee […]
ADBA reacts to FIT consultation
The Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association has welcomed the publication yesterday [9 February] of the Comprehensive Review of the Feed in Tariff, but expressed caution about the proposed tariffs for AD. Under the Government’s proposals, plants with installed capacity above 500kW will receive 9.0p/kWh from October 2012, compared to the 9.9p/kWh they would […]
Renewables report a blueprint for ignoring communities, says MEP
Today’s release by the Scottish Government of a blueprint to streamline the scoping, planning and consenting of offshore renewables developments is yet more bad news for Scotland’s coastal communities and businesses, Scottish Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson has said. The report, prepared by a task force comprising government agencies and renewable developers, sets out […]
Between 20% and 50% of the worlds timber is felled illegally
Between 20% and 50% of all timber sold worldwide has been illegally sourced according to Projects Abroad the world’s largest volunteering organisation. “For many years the volume of timber taken from rainforests by far out-strips the rate of planting,” said Dr Peter Slowe – managing director of the UK-based Projects Abroad and a former economic […]
DECC should invest in renewables rather than appeals, says CLA
The CLA today (25 January) said the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) must end the uncertainty in the renewables industry rather than continuing to appeal against the High Court’s ruling that its plans to cut solar FIT payments on projects completed after 12 December 2011 were unlawful. The Court of Appeal […]
