News
Category:
Impact on Economy and UK
Browse in :
All
> Topics
> Impact on Economy
(428)
All > Location > Europe > UK (3329)
Any of these categories
All > Location > Europe > UK (3329)
Any of these categories
The Government's renewable energy strategy is in tatters after a report exposing the true costs of generating electricity by wind power.
An internal document from the National Grid, seen by the Sunday Express, says wind turbine energy will at times cost over 3,000 per cent more than conventional power.
Industry experts say over-reliance on wind power could mean fuel poverty for consumers, as older power plants reach the end of their working lives while Britain's new generation of nuclear stations is still a long way off completion.
Also filed under [
General]
Arbroath fishermen voiced their concerns with regard to proposals for the creation of a wind farm in the Bell Rock area off Arbroath when they met with Angus MP Mike Weir.
They had expressed worries that the wind farm could interfere with their traditional fishing grounds.
After the meeting Mr Weir said it was vital that the interests of fishermen be taken into account in planning offshore wind farms.
Also filed under [
Impact on Landscape]
Councillor claims more wind farms will adversely affect Borders tourism
November 5, 2009 by Andrew Keddie in Southern Reporter
November 5, 2009 by Andrew Keddie in Southern Reporter
Leaderdale and Melrose councillor John Paton-Day has called for a halt to wind farm developments in the Borders.
The Lib Dem from Earlston was reacting to a letter in TheSouthern last week (October 29 issue) from Mr S. Wilson from Blairgowrie, who described how he had advised a party of 20 hillwalkers from Austria not to visit the region because "the hills have been destroyed by numerous wind farms with a lot more to come".
Also filed under [
Tourism]
Developers of windfarm deny tourism threat; Distillery boss rebuffs Champagne argument
September 17, 2009 by Emma Christie in Press and Journal
September 17, 2009 by Emma Christie in Press and Journal
The firm must apply to the Scottish Government rather than the local authority because of the scale of the plan.
But Moray Council must be consulted and, if it objects, a public inquiry will be held.
The government is due to make a decision on September 29.
Also filed under [
Tourism]
Government's green energy plan may cost 17 times more than its benefits
August 10, 2009 by Edmund Conway in Telegraph.co.uk
August 10, 2009 by Edmund Conway in Telegraph.co.uk
Danish company Vestas Windsystems, the owners of a wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight have fenced off the entrance to the site, where about 25 staff are on the third day of a sit-in. ...The company said the factory was being closed next week due to reduced demand for wind turbines in northern Europe. ...
A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the plant made blades for the US market which were not the right specification for onshore or offshore wind farms in the UK.
Also filed under [
Denmark]
On Wednesday Mr Miliband acknowledged that low-carbon energy would be more expensive for consumers, but pointed out that high-carbon fuels like coal and gas could also be expected to get more expensive because of increased demand from China and India.
"We are going to minimise the costs as much as possible, but it is true there is not a low-cost energy future out there.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
The Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown will host a major public meeting in Moray against plans to site a wind farm in the heart of the whisky trail. ...Tourists have flocked to Moray's famous whisky trail for decades, but owners of the distillery fear visitor numbers could dry up if the plans for nearly 60 turbines get the go ahead on the nearby Glenfiddich estate which is owned by London financier Christopher Morran.
Also filed under [
Impact on Landscape|
Tourism]
A multi-million-pound scheme to promote tourism in the South Wales Valleys will be undermined if plans for two new wind farms get the go-ahead, campaigners claim.
Plans for the wind farms straddling the Ogmore and Rhondda Valleys are due to go before councillors in July, when protesters will make their feelings known by marching on the council offices in Bridgend.
Also filed under [
Tourism]
Bosses of a historic Northumberland estate told a wind farm inquiry the turbines would damage tourism.
Trustees of the Ford and Etal Estates also revealed they had been close to allowing turbines to be erected on their land, before pulling out of negotiations following a "backlash of public opinion". ...The estate asked the developer to consider reducing the height of the turbines but this approach was rejected. As a result, the trustees pulled out of negotiations in early 2006, incurring "considerable abortive professional fees."
Also filed under [
Tourism]
This year has not been a good one for renewable energy, despite promises by politicians all round the globe to make it the centrepoint of economic recovery.
Vestas chief executive Ditlev Engel began 2009 by warning that the economic downturn had left it with a 15% excess in global manufacturing capacity.
Green energy feels the chill in harsh economic climate
April 11, 2009 by Robin Pagnamenta in Times Online
April 11, 2009 by Robin Pagnamenta in Times Online
The amount invested in British renewable energy schemes, including wind, solar and wave power, fell from £377 million during the first three months of last year to £79 million during the same period this year, according to figures from New Energy Finance, a research group that monitors industry trends. The figures have raised fresh questions over the Government's ability to fulfil its pledge to slash Britain's carbon emissions and produce more than one third of the country's electricity from green energy by 2020.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
Firms and households are facing significantly higher electricity bills over the next five to 10 years as consumers shoulder the cost of renewable energy targets.
Analysts estimate that households are already paying up to £10 extra a year through their utility bills to subsidise alternative forms of energy.
At an energy conference in Edinburgh last week policymakers admitted that the financial burden on households and businesses will only increase as governments push to achieve ambitious renewables targets.
Also filed under [
Impact on People]
Gargantuan London Array offshore wind farm in doubt as E.ON questions economics
January 26, 2009 in Power Engineering
January 26, 2009 in Power Engineering
According to the Financial Times, E.ON UK, the British arm of the German energy group, said the viability of its London Array project, a planned 1000 MW wind farm in the Thames estuary, had been called into question by the falling prices of oil, gas and carbon dioxide emissions permits. ...Centrica, the owner of British Gas, estimates that each megawatt of wind power capacity costs about £3m to build: more than the equivalent cost for a nuclear power station.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
It has been reported today that the £1.5bn London Array project, which would plant 270 turbines in the Thames Estuary off Thanet, may be jeopardised by funding doubts. ...Consortium members are likely to ask the Government to raise its level of subsidy, arguing that the private sector should not bear so much risk from a scheme that is in the national interest.
London Array has been in the planning stage for years, and a team of engineers have been working on it for some time.
Ex tourist boss backs wind farm protest; Turbines will damage business, says former VisitScotland man
January 8, 2009 by Craig Borland in The Buteman
January 8, 2009 by Craig Borland in The Buteman
The former head of tourism in Argyll and the Islands is to appear as a professional witness at two public inquiries into the refusal of separate wind farm proposals for hills opposite Rothesay Bay.
James Fraser, formerly VisitScotland's area director for Argyll, the Isles, Loch Lomond, Stirling and the Trossachs, will give evidence against the plans when developer West Coast Energy appeals against refusal of its proposal at an inquiry which begins at the Queen's Hall in Dunoon on January 20.
Also filed under [
Tourism]
Offshore wind costs alarm Centrica
November 14, 2008 by Ed Crooks and Fiona Harvey in Financial Times
November 14, 2008 by Ed Crooks and Fiona Harvey in Financial Times
The cost of offshore wind farms has continued to soar, Centrica said, leading the company to review the economics of its £4bn wind power investment programme.
The spiralling costs of offshore wind threaten to derail the government's renewable energy plans, which rely heavily on offshore turbines because of the difficulty and delays in obtaining planning permission for onshore wind farms.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
Centrica, which is raising 2.2 billion pounds to help fund its proposed 25 percent stake in nuclear power generator British Energy, said it was "revisiting the economics of wind farms given rising raw material and credit costs."
The company, which hopes to start full operation of its new Lynn & Inner Dowsing wind farms off the coast of eastern England by the end of the year, has yet to approve investment for three more farms that it plans to build in the North Sea.
Developers of a proposed Speyside wind farm have hit back at claims it will deter visitors and insist their plans will promote tourism in Moray.
Dorenell Wind Farm on the Glenfiddich Estate will give local tourism a valuable boost and inject ongoing investment into the Moray economy, said Infinergy.
And it accused a survey by a local accommodation provider, Tomintoul and Glenlivet Highland Holidays marketing group - which claimed a large number of tourists would be deterred from visiting the area because of the wind farm - of lacking objectivity and claimed it should be discounted because it asked leading questions.
Also filed under [
Tourism]
A wind development in Moray will deter visitors from returning to the area, according to a tourism survey carried out by a local accommodation provider.
A year long survey in the Dufftown-Glenlivet area suggests 17% of people, mainly walkers, would be put off coming back to the area if it had a wind farm.
The survey, begun in March by Tomintoul and Glenlivet Highland Holidays marketing group, has had more than 200 forms returned by visitors staying in the Dufftown-Glenlivet area and expects to have 350 returned by March next year.
Also filed under [
Tourism]