Its official, energy consultation season 2009 is now open. I'm aware of three that are currently circulating the policy world, the DECC Heat and Energy Saving Strategy (HES), the Ofgem one on introduction of charging arrangements associated with Offshore Transmission Networks and the Energy and Climate Change Committee inquiry into the future of Britain's electricity networks. I'm almost certain that I've missed one or two as well. Is suspect UKERC will be responding the DECC heat and energy saving consultation.
From a personal perspective, as someone interested in fitting low carbon heat technologies at home, I was pleased to see in the DECC consultation mention of loans to cover the system costs (probably). I was slightly disappointed to when I realised that it's unlikely that any such system will be in place before 2011 though. On the home front, the Scottish Government's budget was passed after some last minute adjustments. Now included is a £30M commitment to energy efficiency in Scottish homes.
In European policy, MEPs have backed a proposal for an 80% cut in EU emissions by 2050. The proposal is outlined in the Laperouze report on the Second Strategic Energy Review. Other measures suggested include, making the 20% 2020 energy saving target a legally binding one and increasing this to 35% in 2050, and generating 60% of EU energy from renewables in 2050. There are also a number of interesting proposals relating to the EU grid.
In the news this week there are some clever ideas for adding energy generation to existing structures. The first is to converting the kinetic energy of cars passing over sleeping policemen (that's speed bumps for the non-UK readers) into electrical energy. It sounds like a good idea, although when I tried it out on a friend (the idea, not driving a car over him) he did express concerns over digging up the UK's roads and the price of copper wire (always interesting to take a natural reaction to new ideas).
The other idea is to fit wave energy generation technologies to offshore wind turbines to increase the output from a single installation. The proposal, by Green Ocean Energy, could generate an additional 500kW per wind turbine. I wonder if it is a step too far to consider the possibility of fixing a tidal stream turbine to the platform somehow?
Finally, the Guardian newspaper has suggested some eco-friendly Valentine's Day options for those who will be celebrating tomorrow – yes even love has a carbon footprint (albeit a soft and furry one I'd imagine). In a situation reminiscent of a myriad of low budget horror movies, I'll actually be braving a Valentine's celebration tonight on Friday 13th! If you don't hear from me next week, assume the worst…
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