THE Scottish Government has said it will oppose a city MSP's Bill which would offer council tax discounts to people who install windmills and solar panels on their homes. ...Ms Boyack said Mr Swinney had politely informed her that the Government would oppose the bill, but he had a lot of sympathy with its objectives and he would seek to include some of them in the SNP's proposed Climate Change Bill.

"Unite supports a renewable component in any future energy mix and obviously we welcome the opening of the Crystal Rig wind farm in East Lothian," he said. "However, we believe the SNP and the First Minister need a reality check. Over the past 50 years nuclear energy has supplied up to 50 per cent of Scotland's energy needs. The safety record of nuclear energy in Scotland is excellent.

Islington Council - the first in London to invest £3 million on wind turbines in a green initiative - is accused of frittering away thousands of pounds in council tax by failing to switch off lights. ..."The ruling Lib Dems are very good at spending our money on wind turbines, which are of doubtful use. But they don't appear so good on the simple measures that we do in our homes.

On paper, wind power is a great proposition. Britain is the windiest nation in Europe. But despite the government having subsidised the wind industry by half-a-billion pounds so far, as yet it has failed to deliver a half of one per cent of our electricity needs; yet it is costing £90 a year per household. Engineering consultant Jim Oswald has analysed the figures on renewable energy... He says that wind farms are not performing as well as expected. "The volatility thing is a bit like driving your car and I say to you, 'OK, here's a green car, it uses absolutely no fossil fuel but you can only use it when it's windy', he says.

They were meant to be the green answer to Britain's energy needs. But one expert has claimed the Government is throwing away millions on subsidising wind farms - where there is no wind. It has also emerged that some wind farms are sitting idle - because they are not connected to the National Grid. The astonishing claims were made by Michael Jefferson, from the World Renewable Energy Network. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Costing the Earth programme, he said that financial incentives were encouraging firms to site wind farms badly. ... "We should be putting our money where the wind is and that is quite often not where the development pressure is," he said.

Survey shows groundswell of support for a new generation of plants to replace ageing facilities reaching the end of their lifeSteve Hawkes An overwhelming majority of people believe that nuclear power will have a role to play in meeting Britain's future energy needs, despite continued opposition from environmental campaigners.

The wind farms will require massive excavation of this ultra-sensitive and increasingly rare area, with consequent disturbance to the fragile ecosystem and hydrology, including the release of damaging gases to the environment. Dava Moor is also an invaluable wildlife corridor, running from the River Spey to the River Findhorn, for a huge array of bird life which will be vulnerable to the wind turbines....The SNP Scottish Executive needs to reassess the renewable energy policies of the previous Labou-led administraton to bring an end to the land-grab that has ensued around Dava Moor and elsewhere in the Highlands.

Asked about the financial and legislative responsibilities he believed the Government had in relation to windfarm projects, he said: "I know now we have responsibilities in relation to licensing and development of facilities. "We have responsibility in relation to the fiscal regime to encourage investment so investors will get their return for the money they lay out, and regulatory responsibility is there over all the environmental challenges." He said this regulation had to be done in such a way as to not deter investors.

An independent think-tank has issued the government with a "reality check" over its green ambitions. The report from Cambridge Econometrics warns the government is on course to miss its long-term targets for promoting renewable energy and cutting carbon emissions. Based on the actions already taken by the government, the report forecasts the government will miss its targets for renewable energy in 2010 and 2015 by a wide margin before narrowly meeting the target in 2020.

Renewable power is set to grow far more slowly than the government has predicted, according to a new analysis of the UK's energy mix and greenhouse gas emissions. It will represent only 5 per cent of the country's electricity in 2010, up just 1 percentage point from the 4 per cent recorded last year, says a study by consultancy Cambridge Econometrics. The government's long-held target envisages 10 per cent of electricity coming from renewables by 2010. However, the study found that with new policies in place, the UK could produce 12 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2015.

The EU Commission remains confident that Britain will deliver on its commitments to increase the use of renewable energy sources, despite doubts expressed in London, a Brussels spokesman said Monday. British officials have told government ministers that the country has no chance of meeting its commitments under European Union plans to raise the proportion of energy made from renewable sources by 2020, a British newspaper reported.

Gordon Brown has been accused of presiding over an environmental policy based on "propaganda and deceit" after a leaked document suggested vital ‘green' energy targets will not be met. Government officials also faced charges of seeking to "undermine" specific environmental commitments made by Tony Blair shortly before Mr Brown took over as Prime Minister last June. The former Prime Minister signed up to a new European Union target of achieving 20 per cent of energy from renewable sources such as wind and tidal power. But a leaked document from officials in the former Department of Trade and Industry revealed that Britain has little hope of achieving its target. According to the briefing paper obtained by The Guardian, officials said the best the UK could actually achieve was just nine per cent by 2020.

Government officials have secretly briefed ministers that Britain has no hope of getting remotely near the new European Union renewable energy target that Tony Blair signed up to in the spring - and have suggested that they find ways of wriggling out of it. In contrast to the government's claims to be leading the world on climate change, officials within the former Department of Trade and Industry have admitted that under current policies Britain would miss the EU's 2020 target of 20% energy from renewables by a long way. And their suggestion that "statistical interpretations of the target" be used rather than new ways to reach it has infuriated environmentalists.

The North-east countryside could be "hijacked" to help meet renewable energy targets, an expert has warned. Ecologist Dr John Etherington said the Government would require armies of turbines - and that the open spaces of the North-east could be a prime site. He said: "Rural land is being hijacked as the renewable power generating areas for the cities and big towns.

Judges should have the power to compel the prime minister to set out the remedial measures his government will take if it fails to hit targets to reduce carbon emissions, a cross-party committee of MPs and peers has recommended. A bill due to be introduced in the next parliament places a legal duty on the environment secretary to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050. The bill sets out a series of milestones, including five yearly "carbon budgets" setting out the projected carbon emissions.

Hatfield Colliery, a centre of union militancy during the great strike of the 1980s, is coming back to life. Surging demand for coal around the world and hopes that improved technology can usher in a new generation of clean coal power stations has made deep- coal mining an economic prospect in the UK once again...........While the power station will burn coal, unlike other older coal-fired stations, it will not be pouring huge quantities of carbon dioxide and sulphur into the atmosphere. Those gases will be extracted before the fuel is burnt, and will be pumped in liquid form for up to 400 miles to the oil and gas fields under the North Sea. In that way it makes an important contribution to solving one of the government's big dilemmas - how to keep the UK supplied with cheap energy and at the same time cut emissions of greenhouse gases. Richard Budge has an almost messianic belief in clean coal as the fuel of the future. "Clean coal costs only two-thirds of the cost of wind power. Wind farms are ugly, but that's not a reason for not building them. The reason is they are ineffective. Wind farms only work one day in three, and you don't even know which day. Every time the wind doesn't blow, gas stations take up the merit order.

Plans to increase charges to remote generators could undermine renewable energy schemes in Scotland, according to campaigners. Electricity regulator Ofgem said it was "minded to" back changes to the cost of transmission losses. Generators nearer cities and areas of high demand, which have least losses en route to users, would pay less. Opponents fear the changes would discriminate against projects such as wind farms in the north of Scotland.

"Delay in linking new wind farms and other forms of clean electricity to the national grid is one of the main obstacles to achieving the UK's renewable energy aims", Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said today as he launched a joint BERR/Ofgem review of the issue. The Transmission Access Review will recommend changes to the overall framework that will better deliver the connection of renewable generation, taking into account the potential for reduced carbon emissions, cost to the consumer and the impact on security of supply. The time needed to make the essential investments in infrastructure means that many schemes have projected connection dates years from now.

The government is today stepping up its consultation on its energy white paper, including whether nuclear power stations should be built or not. As part of the 20-week consultation period, 12 regional stakeholder events will be held to gauge views on Britain's future energy needs. Energy minister Malcolm Wicks is today attending the first such meeting in Newcastle where the opinions of green groups, energy companies, businesses, consumer groups, unions, faith groups and academies will be heard.

With the odd weather bringing speculation that global warming is showing its ugly effects, environmental awareness is on the up.So should we be welcoming proposals for wind turbines? Not according to artist Christine Lovelock. She said: "Wind power on an industrial scale is not as clean and ‘green' as it is made out to be. There are other, far better ways to do it." Last May Christine undertook a month long walk around Devon and painted various locations of the unspoilt landscapes.