South West renewable energy update

RENEWABLES SW – June 04
--------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. DEVON’S SECOND WIND FARM APPROVED
Appeal Inspector concludes no threat to landscape

2. BWEA LAUNCH BID FOR WET RENEWABLES FINANCE
£75 million revenue support would help the SW

3. REGEN SW CALLS FOR CHANGES IN REGIONAL WASTE STRATEGY
RE demonstrators need regional support and funding

4. RENEWABLE FUEL OBLIGATION GAINS GROUND
Government strategy likely to boost UK biofuels

5. WILTS PYROLYSIS PLANT SHELVED
But Compact Power announce new SW proposal

6. RCEP CALL FOR FOCUS ON BIOMASS HEAT
Report pushes renewable heat obligation

7. RESEARCH AIMS TO HALVE COST OF SOLAR POWER
University of Bath to look at low cost ways of making solar cells
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_________________________________________________

1. Devon’s second wind farm approved
------------------------------------
A Government Planning Inspector has overturned the decision of Torridge District Council and granted planning permission for Devon’s second commercial wind energy development at Higher Darracott near Great Torrington. The development was put forward by farmers Mr & Mrs George, with backing from West Coast Energy, and consists of three turbines of 1.3MW each. The Inspector concluded that whilst the 80 metre turbines would be prominent, they ‘would not seriously impair the qualities and special features that make the landscape distinctive’ or have a significant effect on the peace and quiet of local residents. He gave considerable weight to national and county RE targets and rejected the council’s argument that the Government’s offshore policy reduced the need for onshore projects. He also rejected the council’s argument that it would impact on tourism as ‘wholly unconvincing’. For a full copy of the inspector’s report contact:  ccowlin@regensw.co.uk

2. BWEA launch bid for wet renewables finance
------------------------------------
The BWEA have published an in depth analysis of the financing needs of wet renewables. Its proposals would stop the SW losing out to Scotland by creating a level playing field across the UK. The work stems directly from the discussions at the Regen SW/BWEA February conference on wave and tidal energy where the issue of ‘feed-in’ tariffs was hotly debated. Climate Change Capital, which wrote the report, identified strong equity interest in wave and tidal and recommended the creation of a £75 million Marine Performance Fund. It would offer an additional revenue payment of £100/MWh for a five year period and would effectively match the current Portuguese feed-in tariff for wave power. It would be awarded for the first 50MW of capacity. The report also recommends that £45 million be allocated for the continuation of capital grants for R&D, and for common infrastructure such as grid links. Regen SW will be writing to the Energy Minister to support the report's proposals. For a copy of the report go to:  http://www.bwea.com/marine/index.html

3. Regen SW calls for changes in Regional Waste Strategy
------------------------------------
Regen SW has written a submission to the Regional Waste Strategy consultation suggesting changes to the strategy that would allow pyrolysis, gasification and anaerobic digestion to play a part in waste minimisation. At present, the strategy does not explicitly mention the ability of waste policy to contribute to the regional renewable electricity targets. The submission calls for regional and county funding of advanced renewable energy conversion technology in each waste planning authority. It also highlights the opportunity for using Centralised Anaerobic Digestion (CAD) to contribute to recycling targets following recent government reclassification of CAD as a composting technology. If you’d like to receive a copy of the submission, contact:  admin@regensw.co.uk

4. Renewable fuel obligation gains ground
------------------------------------
The Government has launched a public consultation on how the UK can implement the EU Biofuels Directive, which requires member states to set targets for 2005 and 2010. The Directive suggests biofuels constitute 5.75% of UK transport fuel sales by 2010. It is widely believed that the current 20p/litre reduction in fuel duty for biodiesel and bioethanol is not sufficient to support production from UK crops. The consultation identifies a Renewable Fuel Obligation as an ‘appealing’ policy option for improving the situation and asks for views on how it would work. SW based bioethanol developer Wessex Grain believes that it could provide longer term security for investors in biofuels, but the trade association British Biogen fear that there will be resistance to the idea from the oil majors. Regen SW supports a renewable fuel obligation and encourages its members and SW partners to support the proposal by writing individually to the Department for Transport. The consultation runs until Friday 16th July. The report can be found at:
 http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads
_028393.hcsp
(Please ensure you use the entire address up to and including ".hcsp".) Letters of support should go to:  Biofuels.consultation@dft.gsi.gov.uk

5. Wilts pyrolysis plant shelved
-----------------------------------
A Wiltshire furniture maker has shelved its ambitious plans to develop a £9 million pyrolysis plant in the small village of Bromham after strong local opposition. Mark Wilkinson, who had been working with Compact Power on the scheme, also planned to build 80-120 eco-homes near his factory. Mr. Wilkinson, a Bromham resident, is reported to have received hate mail and had roses and wisteria on his property hacked down. Meanwhile, Compact Power has announced its plan to build a new 30,000 tonne pyrolysis plant in the SW, probably in Avonmouth, following an application to DEFRA’s new technology demonstration fund. It has sold its existing Avonmouth plant in a refinancing deal worth £5 million, but will continue to operate the plant for its new owners. For more info go
to:  http://www.compactpower.co.uk/

6. RCEP calls for focus on biomass heat
-----------------------------------
The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s (RCEP) special report on biomass calls for a change in direction of Government policy. It calls for a renewable heat credit and a planning requirement to consider biomass in all new-build and retrofit projects. It also suggests that the government may need to underwrite supply contracts for energy crops. The RCEP assessment is that the UK is 10 years behind Northern European neighbours on biomass policy but concludes that there are still major opportunities both for UK agriculture and to increase energy security. It highlights the potential for Biomass CHP schemes to act as ‘spinning’ reserve for intermittent renewables like wind. The RCEP have a track record of influencing government policy. Its previous report on climate change led to the Government setting the goal of creating a low carbon economy and achieving carbon cuts of 60% by 2050. The report can be downloaded at: www.rcep.org.uk or hard copies ordered from:  rosemary.ferguson@rcep.org.uk

7. Research aims to halve the cost of solar power
----------------------------------
Researchers at the University of Bath are looking at ways of halving the cost of converting the sun's rays to electricity using solar cells, in the hope of making solar more widely used in the UK. The £4.5 million project is the largest single research project into solar power ever funded by the UK research councils and is part of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's Supergen initiative - a £25 million project to look at alternative energy sources and more efficient ways of storing power. See www.edie.net/news/Archive/8347.cfm


If you have an item for June’s bulletin please email  admin@regensw.co.uk. If you would like to unsubscribe please send an email saying UNSUBSCRIBE TO BULLETIN to the same address.

Core funding for Regen SW comes from the South West of England Regional Development Agency.