The world is facing a new industrial revolution, one which is resourced based. What's for certain is that the "Take-Make-Waste" model is no longer feasible when we have a world population of seven billion and growing. Businesses need to adopt this new model and ensure that it is inclu...
The government has once again downplayed concerns its flagship energy efficiency Green Deal loan scheme is facing delays, despite reports hinting the Big Six energy companies are unprepared to deliver the crucial payment mechanism underpinning the scheme until 2013. The government has...
An increase in the EU's carbon reduction ambitions will be Ed Davey's main goal at today's Environment Council meeting of ministers in Brussels. The recently appointed Energy and Climate Change Secretary will back a push to strengthen the 2020 targeted cut in domestic emissions from 2...
By Caroline Flint's own admission, being in opposition is not exactly a bed of roses. The recently appointed shadow energy and climate change secretary faces the task of scrutinising the government's actions and holding ministers to account. She must also deal with the longer-term nee...
Forget the smell of blue Stilton or the red rind of Edam. Now one British cheese maker has started selling "green" cheese from a farm powered by solar panels and a wind turbine. F.W Read & Sons yesterday confirmed it had successfully installed a 50KW solar PV system on the farm where ...
I agree with Darryl. This was a good scheme but we have ended up with a blunt tax and a poor reputation for the CRC and energy initiatives in general. We undertook the CRC returns for a company with 800 retail outlets. Their voluntary smart metering at the majority of their sites brou...
The organisers of London's 2012 Olympic Games have been accused of failing to reinforce their own sustainable food sourcing pledge, after it was confirmed McDonald's will be exempt from a requirement to source all its chicken from Britain for this summer's Games. Sebastian Coe, chairm...
The government has revealed its £3bn Green Investment Bank (GIB) will be headquartered in Edinburgh, but conduct transactions from London, following a fierce campaign from Scottish businesses to secure the bank for the city. Business Secretary Vince Cable today revealed that Edinburgh...
The government will today announce £13.5m of new energy efficiency funding, including £3.5m that has been earmarked to support the training of qualified staff to support the Green Deal energy efficiency financing scheme. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is to provide...
The mayor of London has been accused of failing to deliver on a range of climate change policies during his four-year term in office, as new figures reveal he has spent just half of an £84m green budget. London's Green Party assembly member Darren Johnson today revealed that Boris Joh...
For sustainability advocates, the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations to produce a strong global agreement was a major setback to climate action. But a group of businesses and leaders saw an opportunity to change the conversation by focusing on a positive future and by...
Here's a question for you: who is going to win the Premier League in 2020? And while we're at it: who is going to win the FA Cup and the Champions' League as well? You don't know, do you? There is no way for you to have the faintest idea. You could make an informed guess based on rece...
Only a third of installers have the basic skills needed to deliver the government's flagship energy efficiency scheme, an industry report warns today. Research published today by the Green Deal Skills Alliance (GDSA) warns of insufficient knowledge among the existing workforce about t...
The Scottish government has issued a rallying call for businesses and local communities to exploit the country's vast renewable energy resource, in a new consultation designed to deliver 100 per cent green electricity by 2020. Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing yesterday launched t...
Nothing generates column inches these days like discussion about the costs of our future energy mix. And rightly so. Our ageing fleet of power stations, our increasing reliance on imported fossil fuels and the need for us to reduce carbon emissions all add up to one thing: we need inv...
The government and renewable energy businesses have slammed the findings of a controversial report that claimed 2020 carbon reduction targets could be achieved more cost effectively by building nuclear and gas-fired power stations instead of wind farms. The report, Powerful Targets , ...
The US government has been urged to support new types of financing models that encourage households and businesses to invest in energy efficiency measures, after a new report suggested building retrofits could yield $1tr in energy savings and create millions of jobs. Deutsche Bank Cli...
The US government has been urged to support new types of financing models that encourage households and businesses to invest in energy efficiency measures, after a new report suggested building retrofits could yield $1tr in energy savings and create millions of jobs. Deutsche Bank Cli...
A "pay as you save" deal is helping David Lloyd Leisure beef up its carbon and energy performance across the health and fitness company's 35 UK sites. The group has secured a third party financing deal through energy efficiency funding specialist Decarbon that will allow it to install...
Green businesses are being invited to put themselves forward for a chunk of a new £10m investment fund launched by Guinness Asset Management, which plans to invest in established renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Guinness confirmed on Friday that it had opened its third...
The US Department of Energy (DoE) is to make $180m available over the next six years to support up to four innovative wind farms off the coast of the country or in the Great Lakes. The projects are designed to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind technologies by addressing key c...
Businesses and households are rushing to complete solar electricity projects ahead of the latest cuts to feed-in tariff incentives, which will come into effect from tomorrow as part of the government's efforts to ensure the popular scheme does not exceed its budget. Under Department o...
Ed Davey has stressed there will be no major shifts in the government's green policy plans, reiterating that the coalition is fully committed to meeting its renewable energy targets and driving rapid growth across the low-carbon economy. In his first major speech since being appointed...
Waitrose has beefed up its green credentials with the announcement that its latest store will be its first to run entirely using renewable energy. The John Lewis Partnership-owned firm will today confirm its new Stratford branch, overlooking the London Olympic Park, has become the fir...
Dr Matthew Brown is not your typical business lobbyist. For a start, he has a PhD in theoretical physics from Cambridge, making him that rarest of people: a scientist working in the world of business. FURTHER READING Exclusive: CBI steps up calls for carbon tax shake-up Ed Davey: We c...
A GE subsidiary has bought a $100m stake in a 127MW US solar project, taking the company's investment in the sector to $1.4bn in the past year. GE Energy Financial Services ' latest investment is in LS Power's $550m Arlington Valley Solar Energy II project in Arizona. Construction on ...
They say the world is driven by sex, money and power. So if – as we are constantly told – energy efficiency isn't sexy, it must be motivated by the other two. The last week has generated a great deal of noise around energy saving, including various calls from green groups and business...
It surprises me that the UK Government appears to make little reference to established mechanisms for delivering third party investment to achieve energy efficiency targets. The ESCO model is established in the USA, Germany, Netherlands and Southern Europe and starting also to evolve ...
Unilever will today ask other companies, trade bodies and public sector organisations to join its campaign to tackle the 400,000 tonnes of avoidable food waste that is discarded every year. In a meeting in London the company will issue a call for more signatories to join organisations...
Thank you for the invitation. I'm delighted to be here at the British Property Federation's Annual Residential Conference. I'm pleased to see sustainability on your packed agenda for the day, alongside discussions on investment and the future of the residential property sector. As you...
