Carbon capture and corrections

It has been a rather quiet week in the energy news. UKERC's personal highlight was a letter published in the Guardian in response to George Monbiot's column about carbon capture and storage (CCS). In related news a post-combustion carbon capture pilot plant has been officially launched in Beijing, China. The plant is designed to capture (in a liquid – presumably an amine of some sort) around 3000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

The proposed emission banding of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) has been debated at length this week. The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) report into VED declared it to be a "step in the right direction" but suggested that it did not go far enough and that there should be "really penal rates for high-emission cars and really attractive 'carrots' so that tax is almost nothing on the greenest models". Furthermore a car scrappage scheme to pay drivers of high emission cars to switch to a more environmentally friendly model was also advocated.

The Renewable Fuels Agency has released its first monthly report on the supply of biofuels under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). The report contains some interesting statistics. Biofuels now account for 2.14% of UK road fuel; the majority (86%) comprises biodiesel with bioethanol making up the rest. The market is dominated by imported biofuels (percentage not given) with America being the most important supplier of biodiesel and unsurprisingly Brazil being most important for bioethanol. Only 19% of biofuels met the UK environmental standards and in total biofuels accounted for a 42% reduction in greenhouse gas savings (presumably compared to the petroleum displaced). These savings did not account for changes in indirect land use as noted in the Gallagher review.

In energy news elsewhere, Nissan has developed an eco-accelerator pedal that pushes back if you are being heavy footed. In a more startling eco-car development students at Stuttgart University have developed a vehicle powered entirely by wind . Defra's Chief Scientist, Professor Bob Watson, has warned that the UK should take steps to prepare for a temperature rise of up to 4C . Closer to home for me (being a Cumbrian lad) Cumbria has announced a £2 billion Energy Coast vision that focuses on both nuclear (with an emphasis on power and skills) and renewable energy. Finally, continuing an extended bovine theme it is proposed that homes in a new Pembrokeshire eco-village could be fuelled by cow dung.