Energydesk
Energy bill loophole could allow extended coal use
Analysis by Joss Garman suggests that a loophole in the government's energy reforms will allow old coal power plants to keep generating for years to come. Here is our data map on the story.
UK
UK Lancashire shale worth £160m
The Guardian's Fiona Harvey investigates Centrica's move into the UK's Lancashire shale. By valuing 25% of Cuadrilla's holding at £40m, she writes, the British Gas owner is effectively valuing the UK's most developed (but still largely unknown) shale resource at around £160m in nominal terms.
Economic benefit of wind industry questioned
The Telegraph reports that subsidies to the wind industry have created 12,000 jobs - leading it to conclude bill-payers have paid £100,000 for each job last year. The story is based on a report by the fiercely anti-wind Renewable Energy Foundation (REF).
Cuadrilla owner in financial dispute
Cuadrilla owner AJ Lucas has raised $115m as part of it's ongoing restructuring plans - but revealed that it is in a dispute with one of its backers, Hong Kong-based Elliott Advisors.
WORLD
Siemens closes solar unit
US engineering giant Siemens is set to close its solar division after it failed to find a buyer for the struggling unit which lost $1bn over two years.
China orders emissions cuts
“Reducing air pollution is about people’s welfare and the country’s economic future,” the State Council said in a statement. “On the one hand, smog is visible and affects the life of everyone, rich and poor. It has proven that environmental crises can stir controversy and greatly undermine social stability.”
EU carbon price rises (slightly)
EU carbon prices rose to their highest level for two months on hopes that the EU would pass legislation designed to tighten the carbon market. A second vote on the proposals is planned for next week - after the first vote failed to deliver reforms.
Economist: To survive Germany's Energiewende must think European
The Economist argues Germany's Energiewende is faltering because it is not sufficiently European. "Europeans live so close to each other that a national energy policy makes little sense And in a supposedly single European market, is a renewables revolution at national level even possible?"
CLIMATE
Climate change could effect UK food supplies
The first impact of climate change on the UK will be through the cost of food - according to a report by accountants PWC for Defra. The report warns that the UK's food supplies are concentrated in a few countries likely to suffer increasing episodes of extreme weather.
