E is for Europe

In the beginning E was for Energy. Now that Brexit has begun, E is for Europe. Our Environment may be at further risk due to Brexit– but how will Brexit affect us?

Environmental issues don’t stop at borders. Many issues require sustained action over a long period of time. Cooperation is needed between countries if the UK is to achieve its energy and climate goals. The UK needs to work with others to reduce the pressures on the environment. By working together, we can increase biodiversity and use our resources wisely.

We need agreements between nations to cooperate on protecting our planet from climate change. The question is; will leaving the EU effect the UK’s ability to cooperate with other European countries in reaching our shared goals?

The IEEP hopes E is for Europe

A report from the Institute for European Environmental Policy outlines the importance for the environment of being part of the EU.

Countries which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA) but not the EU are still subject to a large body of EU environmental legislation. But it is uncertain how the UK will negotiate its legislation with the EU in the coming months. This means it is still uncertain how the UK will determine its environmental policies.

Now that the UK is leaving Europe, its parliament may be able to make laws which are more specific to the country and therefore improve the overall environmental policy. But do we trust the UK government to make environment-over-economy based decisions when it comes down to it?  Many have said that there could be detrimental effects of leaving the UK to change its environmental policies without the EU as a moderator.

The possible effects of Brexit were summarised by an expert in EU Environmental policy,

Dr Charlotte Burns, Environment Department, University of York;

“ If the UK exits from the EU but remains part of the European Economic Area the huge progress made in improving the UK environment could be lost… A total withdrawal suggests a much wider erosion of environmental policy, … which risks significant economic damage to the UK.”

Overall, there is a gloomy outlook from the environmental perspective of Brexit.

What can we do?

– Contact your local MP to see what they are doing.

– Read about the issue in the news and in reports

– Sign an e-petition, such as this one from the Wildlife Trust, who wish to adopt European environmental legislation.

Protect UK Environment & Wildlife post-Brexit (wildlifetrusts.org)

New Tax For Coal Announced

A new tax for cal fired plants is in parliament right now. David Cameron wants to give up to £2 billion to energy companies to fund future coal burning. Is Cameron serious? He campaigned on a promise to create the greenest government ever. Has he done this?  Not hardly!

Today I received an email from Greenpeace about this plan. I am shocked and amazed that this government can be so ignorant about the nature of our energy crisis.

The UN has made the problem of climate change abundantly clear. I covered this report in a previous blog post. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly states that we must act now before it is too late to stop global warming.

Since 1979, the size of the summer polar ice cap has shrunk more than 20 percent. (Illustration from NASA)

David Cameron has cut the FIT payment for solar energy by more than half.

David Cameron has supported fracking even though the UK people do not want this.

Cameron wants a new nuclear power station at Hinkley that will cost billions to build and cost you too much in electricity bills.

 New tax for coal is a disaster

Now Cameron wants to give the big energy companies billions more to keep aging coal power stations open longer. This is just insane! Cameron could be putting this money towards building the renewable energy systems we desperately need. Instead he is helping his friends in the energy industry by giving them more money.

You can help stop this now.

Greenpeace has a petition to stop this new tax. Sign this petition now please.

Bad Deal for us all

A Bad Deal? The EU recently approved the UK plan to subsidise a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley. Brussels gave the go ahead to the state subsidy scheme. The plan will offers EDF Energy a set price for 35 years. This clears another hurdle on the way to the  first nuclear reactors to be built in Britain for almost 20 years. This is a big backward step for renewable energy. This is a giant step back for the EU commission that only in January this year was highly critical of the plan.

Bad Deal – Critical beginnings

In January Greenpeace published an article on the EU Commission. Here is a bit of that article: “The European Commission (EC) has delivered a fiercely skeptical initial take on the UK Government’s deal with French state owned EDF to build the first new nuclear reactor in the UK for a generation, concluding the measures definitely categorise as state aid.

The government of David Cameron has always thought this is a great idea. He helps out his friends and you and I get saddled with the debt for 35 years.

The government report looks like this:

From The .gov website: “The State aid case included both the proposed Contract for Difference, which provides the developer with an increased price certainty for the electricity generated by the plant, and the proposed UK Guarantee for the project, which will help unlock debt finance.”

Now the EU commission has approved a plant they first thought was barmy. Fortunately the NAO – National Audit Office will also look into planed subsidies for Hinkley.

From stophinkley.org:  “The National Audit Office (NAO) has begun an investigation into UK Government plans to subsidise the proposed new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. The NAO is the financial watchdog which scrutinises public spending on behalf of parliament.”

Hinkley C will bankrupt us

Hinkley A is shut down and full of contaminated material with no place to go. The costs to remove all the radioactive material and dispose of it is in the billions. There is no place to put the radioactive material. That is why it is still there.

Sellafield is worse – Mirror – “The fluid is being kept in rotting containers which are open to the elements, according to a worker who leaked images of the 70-year-old plant. Crumbling containers of toxic waste abandoned 40 years ago at “rundown” Sellafield are putting Britain at risk of a nuclear disaster, it is claimed.”

Hinkley B is still operating even though many cracks to the core insulating material have been found. Many cracks in the carbon insulating material weaken the integrity of the reactor safety. If just one of these insulators gives way it could start a chain reaction.

Hinkley C will bankrupt us all due to excessive costs. The build price was £14bil, then £16Bil, and now the EU approved a state sponsored £20bil. The government is promising the operator twice the current price for electricity produced for 35 years. Here is the governments own spin.

Lets stop it now Sign the petitions. Ban building new Nuclear Power Stations

More about the crazy new Hinkley design here ->

Solar Roadways – The Solution

Solar roadways are roads made of solar panels to create all the energy we need. I need to thank my nephew Ed for posting this awesome info on Facebook. Here is the information and links for this amazing company that is helping to change our world.

Solar Freakin Roadways – The Video Here

From the website:

Years ago, when the phrase “Global Warming” began gaining popularity, we started batting around the idea of replacing asphalt and concrete surfaces with solar panels that could be driven upon. We thought of the “black box” on airplanes: We didn’t know what material that black box was made of, but it seemed to be able to protect sensitive electronics from the worst of airline crashes.

Suppose we made a section of road out of this material and housed solar cells to collect energy, which could pay for the cost of the panel, thereby creating a road that would pay for itself over time. What if we added LEDs to “paint” the road lines from beneath, lighting up the road for safer night time driving? What if we added a heating element in the surface (like the defrosting wire in the rear window of our cars) to prevent snow/ice accumulation in northern climates? The ideas and possibilities just continued to roll in and the Solar Roadway project was born.

Your future Highway, available now!

Solar Roadways crowd funding project hits 134% of target!

This amazing project received $1.34mil so far in crowd funding and they still have 5 days left.

350.org is a Movement, You in?

What is 350? From their website:

350.org is building a global climate movement. Our online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions are coordinated by a global network active in over 188 countries.

logo

The number 350 means climate safety: to preserve a livable planet, scientists tell us we must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 400 parts per million to below 350 ppm.

Why 350?

Why use the number 350? From their site:

Ready For Renewables NOW!

“Since the beginning of human civilization, our atmosphere contained about 275 ppm of carbon dioxide. That is the planet “on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.”

Our Global Target Miss It And We All Die

That’s Dr. James Hansen talking, former head of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Dr. Hansen is one of the most respected climatologists in the world, and when he says that climate change is incompatible with human civilization, we think human civilization ought to sit up and take notice.

That “350 ppm” is where 350.org gets its name. “PPM” stands for “parts per million,” which is simply a way of measuring the ratio of carbon dioxide molecules to all of the other molecules in the atmosphere. Many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments agree with Dr. Hansen that 350 ppm is the “safe” level of carbon dioxide.

Use the 350.org Map

click on this map to find your local actions

Beginning in the 18th century, humans began to burn coal, gas, and oil to produce energy and goods. The amount of carbon in the atmosphere began to rise, at first slowly and now more quickly. Many of the activities we do every day like turning the lights on, cooking food, or heating our homes rely on energy sources that emit carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. We’re taking millions of years worth of carbon, once stored beneath the earth as fossil fuels, and releasing it into the atmosphere.

YOU CAN HELP NOW

Find local activities near to you. Start a 350 movement yourself. Use the Map to see whats going on near you.

Do It Today Tomorrow May Be To Late

Renewable energy executives infuriated.

From the article @ Energy Fair:

THE business minister Michael Fallon has infuriated renewable energy executives after “inviting” them to lobby Brussels on behalf of the government’s deal to underwrite nuclear power with billions of pounds in subsidies.

Hinkley’s £16bn price tag would make it the most expensive power plant in the world. Analysts reckon that EDF, 84% owned by the French state, will collect at least £90bn from the project.

Editors Comments: The effects of government subsidies for new nuclear power plants is devastating for our renewable energy future. All these illegal subsidies could be used to support the renewable energy systems we must have.

Renewable Energy Loses To Dirty Old Designs

From FlicWiltshire:

Today’s comments by Michael Fallon that the Tories will scrap subsidies for future onshore wind developments if they win the next election are ‘interesting’.

It begs the question: if the Tories are willing to remove subsidies for a proven low carbon, low cost solution to the UK’s future energy needs, are they also prepared to withdraw subsidies for fossil fuels, too? Subsidies which, incidentally, are much greater than those which apply to the various forms of renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass.

Energy Minister, Michael Fallon’s assertion feels much more like political pre-election manoeuvring rather than a desire to address the longer-term realities of climate change. Have the Tories actually read the latest report from the International Panel of climate change? It’s pretty unequivocal, as is the view of the government’s own chief scientific adviser, Sir Mark Walport.

Earlier this month, the Royal Academy of Engineering commented that limiting onshore wind development would mean we’d have to rely on more expensive technologies to keep the lights on, which in turn, would mean increasing our dependency on costly fossil fuel imports and exposure to price hikes. It would also add to customers’ energy bills.

Juliet Davenport CEO Good Energy

Renewable Energy has 2/3 majority support

There are also wider economic implications here. Research by the Renewable Energy Association and Innovas has shown that the UK’s £12.5 billion renewables industry currently supports more than  110,000 jobs across the supply chain, a figure which could rise to 400,000 by 2020. Onshore wind again currently accounts for almost 19,000 jobs in the UK, with the potential for thousands more over the next decade.

Editor note: Our ‘greenest government ever’ continues to cut funding for renewable technologies. At the same time our government is trying to illegally fund the construction of a new nuclear power plant that will be the most expensive in history. Don’t forget that the Hinkley C project still has over 700 design faults that have not been resolved.

This same EPR reactor is currently under construction in France and Finland.

Doubt about the dodgy deal for Hinkley

From the article @ Energy Fair:

This month Fallon took the extraordinary step of drafting in the renewables industry, which is reeling from a series of subsidy cuts to technologies such as biomass and offshore wind. He gathered a group of top executives at a meeting in Westminster to urge them to make supportive submissions to the Brussels consultation.

He also sent a letter, seen by The Sunday Times, highlighting the national importance of Hinkley. Fallon adds that it is “dependent on a positive state aid decision from the European Commission”, imploring executives to “support our case” by writing to Brussels.

It’s worth remembering that recent independent research revealed that two thirds of voters back onshore wind and voters of all parties prefer it as a neighbour to fossil fuel technologies like shale gas.

Torries live in cloud cockoo-land

One industry source said: “The renewables industry is somewhere between bemused and appalled that Michael Fallon has asked them to lobby for Hinkley Point’s [subsidy]. He is living in cloud-cuckoo-land.”

The Way Forward

The way forward in any journey is not always obvious. There are many steps to take on the road to a renewable energy future. The next step can be in one direction or many different directions.

The way forward – Ocean Energy turbine

From Their own web site:

CrowdEnergy is a small collection of Engineers, Inventors, and Scientists.
We have specialists in SubSea Engineering, Oceanography, Marine Ecology and Conservation, Electrical Engineering, Fabrication and Design. “Imagine nerds in wetsuits and flippers…”

Ocean Energy needs our help.

Ocean Energy is a new start up company. This small but dedicated team of energy engineers has designed an environmentally friendly energy generator that works with nature. It is a system designed to generate energy without harm to any life forms.

Wiki pic on ocean currents

Crowd funding projects are a new way forward

From the Ocean Energy web site:

ZEPHYRHILLS, FL (February 4, 2014) – Crowd Energy, having completed construction and successful testing of its first generation prototype of the Ocean Energy Turbine, will launch a major Kickstarter campaign in March 2014 to construct a second generation turbine and move the project to (SNMREC) Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Florida Atlantic University for verification and open water testing.

Well what is crowd funding? It is simply you! You and the money you have moving things forward where YOU say! How is that for power to the people!

YOUR $£$€$ YOUR VOTE

A little more on crowd funding from a marketing web site. DIY Marketers has a small posting about crowd funding. Here is the forward for the article. It is worth reading:

This article is an introduction to something you may not have heard of before — crowdfunding.  You’ve probably heard of “crowdsourcing” which uses the wisdom or power of communities and crowds to do design, solve problems, fund projects and even make small loans to third-world businesses.  And now, with a recent change in regulations, you can actually crowdfund you business.

PEOPLE are the power! – Lets start making our money count!

So now you can write to your MP or your representative in Congress or the Senate or your member of the Peoples party congress.

OR you can VOTE WITH YOUR MONEY!!

What ever you do, DO it soon. We are running out of time.

Enter your postcode – stop Fracking

From wrongmove site:

Stop fracking now. It is unlawful for fracking companies to drill under your home without your permission. Search your postcode and join the legal block today to protect your home and community from fracking.

Just click here and enter your post code. The rest is easy!

You can stop fracking under your home now!

Every person who signs up to this postcode list will help reduce the space where fracking can occur. There have been many protests around the world about fracking. Here in the UK people have actually glued themselves to fracking sites to block frackers. This is the quickest way I have Found to express your displeasure about fracking. Of course you can always write to your MP!

During my explorations of the vast data on the net regarding fracking, I found this excellent resource. fracktracker may help you to further your cause in the USA. UK readers can help this website to start mapping in the UK too. They need the raw data about where fracking is happening in the UK. Can you help?

You know that France Banned Fracking forever!

I wrote about the insanity of David Cameron allowing Total, the French oil giant, to frack in the UK. Total has been barred from ever fracking in France. Why you ask? Simple, French people care enough about their environment and the produce they create on the land to stop fracking forever.

Lets do the same here! Sign up to the postcode list on wrongmove.

Tell them to frack off!

We can add the UK to a growing list of places around the world that have already BANNED Fracking.

Artists against fracking – we need your now! Join a list of artists against fracking.

Send this blog link to your friends and get them to join in the FUN!

Say No to Hinkley C

Abundant energy surrounds us every day. We can use wind energy to make electricity. We can use the Sun’s light to make solar electricity. The tides and wave action of our rivers and bays can give us more energy.

To put it as simply as possible we do not need any new nuclear power plant in this country.  I have had an interview with Theo Simon from  StopHinkley.org

Stop Hinkley C Site

The interview was taped so that I could provide you with a clear understanding of why we will stop hinkley from being built.

See the Video interview – No to Hinkley C

Video 1: No To Hinkley C

Please watch this video and come back to see the other interviews that I am posting in future. I am doing interviews for my book “E is for Energy – The 9 Lies of the Energy Monopoly.”

If you have anyone in mind that would like to take part in an interview, please leave a comment below.

If this video has moved you into action, start by writing your MP

If you have written to your MP then check out the stophinkley.org site and see how you can help.

Watch the 2nd Video by clicking here.

Natalie Bennett  Green Party leader says it better than I could. Here is her blog Post on The Huffington Post blog Site in its entirety:

Monday’s announcement from the government of ‘bribes’ to be offered to local councils and communities that accept the presence of fracking for shale gas can be seen as a sign of two things.

The first is desperation – the resistance to the government’s enthusiasm to fracking has been strong and determined. From the camp at Balcombe in leafy Sussex, to the site at Barton Moss on the edge of Manchester airport, where 500 people gathered yesterday to show their opposition to the drilling there, across the country, surveys show that Britons understand that fracking is something they don’t want in their back yard, in their region, or in their country.

The second aspect of the government’s bribe is that they demonstrate fracking for shale gas is something you really wouldn’t want to have near you. Just like you offer a child a sweet if they’ll swallow their nasty-tasting medicine, the government’s very offer demonstrates the unattractiveness of fracking for shale gas for local communities.

Further telling news that emerged this week was the announcement that French multinational Total is to invest in fracking here. Banned for conducting the procedure in its own country, which has instituted a moratorium on fracking, as Germany plans to do and Bulgaria has long done, it’s planning to come here.

Not surprising really, when Prime Minister David Cameron is boasting that he’s offering the most generous tax regime in Europe – indeed overall more generous than that offered by the United States. So Mr Cameron is seeking to enrich big multinational fossil fuel exploiters, while giving scant attention to the alternatives.

The first and most important of these is energy conservation, above all providing warm, comfortable, affordable-to-heat homes. For at the heart of our fuel poverty crisis is the fact that we have the leakiest, hardest-to-heat homes in Europe. One pound in four that we spend on heating is immediately wasted, the heat wafting straight up through an uninsulated ceiling or out through a draughty door or window.

The arguments are presented by the Energy Bill Revolution campaign – that taking the government’s income from carbon tax and investing it in improving our homes could create up to 200,000 jobs, lift nine out of 10 households out of fuel poverty, and cut our carbon emissions.

And there’s no doubt about the cheapest, greenest energy that we can possibly have – it’s the energy that we don’t use.

The other alternative, of course is renewable energy – solar, on- and off-shore wind, and tidal. The last two of those in particular offers the opportunity to develop homegrown British technologies and industries – creating good jobs in science, in engineering and installation, transferring maritime expertise from the off-shore oil industry to the needs of our low-carbon future.

Furthermore, renewables offer price certainty – the ‘fuel’ for all, sun, wind, tide – is always going to cost nothing, unlike gas, the rising prices of which have accounted for 85% of the doubling of household bills over a decade. And they offer the possibility of generating the energy we need with minimum contribution to our carbon emissions – which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year incontrovertibly demonstrated that we need to reduce, fast, if we’re to avoid catastrophic climate change.

So the government is desperate to promote what’s clearly a wrong policy direction – which does provoke a question… Why?

First, we have to note that this is a government of the friends of multinationals, for the multinationals – whether in banking, in retail, or in energy, it’s operating in the interests of its friends, not the common good. More, there’s a disturbing number of members of the government with close links to the oil and gas industry. And there’s an almost religious fervour opposed to renewable energy, particularly wind farms, in elements of our Parliament – what you might call the Ukip-tendency of the Tory Party, that Mr Cameron is determined to placate.

See my previous post about Cameron, fracking and his links to Big Oil.