The Public Supports Renewables

YouGov survey reveals that more than half of the UK population strongly support renewables and would like to see more investment in wind power. Commissioned by the Sunday Times the survey asks a series of questions about the country’s future energy provision, climate change commitments and other environmental issues.

As described by James Murray from BusinessGreen.com, the survey results were “explosive”, specially for the right-wing press which has been campaigning against climate change, wind farms, renewable energy, and the green levies that pay for it.

The survey starts with a series of less important question from an Energy Broker standpoint. For example, do you support or oppose a high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds or do you support or oppose a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

But from page nine onwards is where we find the real point of interest. “Thinking about the country’s future energy provision, do you think the government should be looking to use more or less of the following?”

Solar power

• More than at present – 74%
• Less than at present – 6%
• Maintain current levels – 12%
• Not sure – 9%

Wind farms

• More than at present – 56%
• Less than at present – 19%
• Maintain current levels – 15%
• Not sure – 9%

Nuclear power stations

• More than at present – 35%
• Less than at present – 27%
• Maintain current levels – 23%
• Not sure – 15%

Oil power stations

• More than at present – 10%
• Less than at present – 47%
• Maintain current levels – 27%
• Not sure – 17%

Coal power stations

• More than at present – 16%
• Less than at present – 43%
• Maintain current levels – 25%
• Not sure – 17%

Q. Do you think the government is right or wrong to subsidise wind farms to encourage more use of wind power?

• Right 60%
• Wrong 26%
• Don’t know 15%

Q. Do you think increased use of wind power is or is not a realistic way of combating climate change?

• Realistic 47%
• Not realistic 36%
• Don’t know 16%

Q. Do you think increased use of solar power is or is not a realistic way of combating climate change?

• Realistic 67%
• Not realistic 18%
• Don’t know 15%

It is important to note that the above results are an average of all the various demographic, political and regional breakdowns that compile the survey. For instance if we drill down the results we will notice that there is a clear age bias when it comes down to subsidising wind farms, 18-24 voters are far more supportive (70%) than 60+ voters (48%).

Despite a difference in opinion from different age groups the survey shows that the vocal minority (and their powerful media allies) who are against investments in renewable energy solutions don’t reflect the British public opinion (silent majority) who clearly favour such approach.

We would like to hear you opinion now

Do you think the Government should invest more on renewable energy resources?

Share your thoughts on our comments or join the discussion on our Facebook Page. There is also a discussion happening on Twitter tweet your opinion with to @CatalystEnergy. Remember you will need to follow us first.

About YouGov

YouGov is a global market research consultancy and the authoritative measure of consumer behaviour and public opinion in the UK.

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Natural Gas to Pass Coal

Natural Gas is set to become the world’s second-biggest source of energy by 2025. This sure has been the year of natural gas, or we are yet to see the golden age of natural gas? According to ExxonMobil’s latest annual survey the fossil fuel will overtake coal and become the world’s nº2 overall fuel source in precise 13 years.

Since the beginning of the year natural gas has been making the headlines of major newspapers around the globe. First were the shortage threats due to the turmoil in the middle-east then the devastating Tsunami in Japan which forced the world’s biggest importer to increase its demand even further pushing the commodity price up.

There is no doubt that natural gas is about to enter a golden age and ExxonMobil’s annual survey has only strengthened that theory. According to the survey global demand for natural gas will soar by 60pc between now and 2040.

Abundance and the needs for cleaner energy resources will also be major factors to help natural gas become the world’s second-biggest energy source.

Despite the controversy behind shale gas and its extraction methods, the US energy company also predicts that a higher proportion of natural gas will be extracted from shale rock. Although exploration has been stopped in parts of the US and France, energy companies are investing heavily in it, including ExxonMobil who last year bought shale-gas producer XTO Energy for 16 billion pounds.

The survey also forecasts that global energy demand will grow about 30% by 2040 as the world population climbs to nine billion from seven billion. It is important to note that most of this increase will come from developing nations as energy demand growth in developed nations is expected to be modest in coming years due to efficiency improvements.

Meanwhile developing energy demand on developing nations will grow by 57%, with demand for electricity to rise by 80% as the quality of live in those countries improves.

Another point in favour of gas is the development of floating LNG terminals which will make viable the extraction of natural gas reserves that are either to small or are too far out to warrant a pipeline to shore.

Conservative estimations calculate stranded gas reserves around the world at 240,000-290,000bn cubic feet, but numbers could much higher since these numbers don’t take into account gas which is stranded in either, shallow water, very small fields, ice-prone areas, or those yet to be found.

Be it from shale rock or from stranded offshore reserves natural gas is surely becoming a viable energy resource for many nations thanks to technological advancements and mainly because it is cleaner than oil and coal.

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Energy Market Report December 2011

Our monthly analysis of the UK gas and power markets is now available on line for the month of December 2011. The service is intended to keep you up to date with all the major news in Europe’s gas and power markets. It is also designed to keep power executives focused on market activity in an easy to digest format.

Your find our December 2011 report here and all historical energy reports can be located here.

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Floating LNG Terminals

As the world continues to look for a fuel to meet the ever growing global demand many alternatives are emerging to solve the problem. Due to its lower CO2 emissions than oil and coal, natural gas is presenting itself as viable and cost effective alternative with many developments in progress in the field like shale gas and the renaissance of Floating LNG Terminals (FLNG).

While many are striving to get a head start on the controversial shale gas rush others are seeking cost effective alternatives to extract natural gas in offshore areas too far or too small to warrant a pipeline to shore.

One of the biggest challenges of offshore LNG extraction is the transportation to shore often done by expensive pipelines, which also limits how far offshore the fossil fuel can be extracted. Floating LNG terminals have proven to be a cost effective alternative to that problem.

Floating LNG production, storage and offloading concepts (LNG FPSOs), have been discussed and evaluated in various forms for many years and only now thanks to technological innovations the concept has become a viable alternative.

Many countries like Australia, Nigeria, Namibia and Brazil who recently discovered the world’s largest offshore oil and gas reserves hundreds of kilometres away from its coast line in ultra-deep-water fields known as the pre-salt, are already developing floating LNG plants.

But it is Royal Dutch Shell who will be the first company to deploy the technology and it will do in style. Shell’s Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project will be the largest and most impressive floating object ever to be constructed.

Shell’s Floating LNG Terminals

Shell’s floating LNG terminal will be 488 metres long and weigh 600,000 tonnes – six times that of the largest aircraft carrier. The cost of this juggernaut of the seas was not revealed but one can easily predict that will pass the 7 or 8 digits mark.

Conservative estimations calculate stranded gas reserves around the world at 240,000-290,000bn cubic feet, but numbers could much higher since these numbers don’t take into account gas which is stranded in either, shallow water, very small fields, ice-prone areas, or those yet to be found.

Floating LNG Terminals could prove to an alternative for the UK if distant North Sea gas reserves are discovered in the near future. It would sure bring more security to the industry and help reduce business electricity and business gas prices.

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Tax Relief for High Energy Users

Business Interest will overrule Environmental Goals says George Osborne.  The Chancellor who introduced the green investment bank and the carbon floor price has just sent a clear message during the Autumn Statement 2011 yesterday: “where green goals are in conflict with economic concerns, business interests will win”. Which means energy intensive industries will get their carbon taxes reliefs.

Amongst many schemes and measures announced by the Chancellor George Osborne to protect the UK’s economy from the eminent European recession, even though he was forced to concede that the UK risks falling into recession in the coming months, was the one that the energy industry and environmentalists were waiting for – carbon taxes reliefs for heavy industries.

In a bid to make British companies more competitive internationally the Government will put forward £250m in the form of relief from carbon-related taxes and compensations for heavy business electricity users affected by the upcoming carbon price floor. The Chancellor also announced that these high energy users companies will be protected from upcoming electricity market reforms.

“I am worried about the combined impact of the green policies adopted not just in Britain, but also by the European Union, on some of our heavy, energy-intensive industries. We are not going to save the planet by shutting down our steel mills, aluminium smelters and paper manufacturers. All we will be doing is exporting valuable jobs out of Britain.” – stated The Chancellor.

The message couldn’t be clearer, environmental aims should always come second to economic concerns and if they are in conflict, business interests will always overrule green’s.

Green activists were quick to respond to Osborne’s announcements, Greenpeace policy director Doug Parr said:

“Energy intensive users already received a huge windfall when they were handed free pollution permits under the emissions trading scheme. Now is not the time for George Osborne to be caving in to the special pleading of vested interests.”

Head of environment at The Guardian, Damian Carrington wrote on his blog on Monday:

“The chancellor is showering yet more taxpayers’ money on energy-intensive mega-businesses, who create just 1% of GDP. Worse, those businesses already crippled and then profited from the very carbon taxes they attack”

Should the Government be favouring economic interests over environmental goals?

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Chris Huhne shares his views on shale gas and the future of Britain’s Energy Industry.

On an exclusive article for The Telegraph Britain’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change shared his views on shale gas and what are the plans to keep the lights on in the UK. He made it clear that shale gas in not high on his agenda but it didn’t dismiss it completely and stated that wind turbines are here to stay.

Mr. Huhne believes that the best way to increase Britain’s energy security is to do what canny investors do: spread the risk by investing in an energy portfolio flexible enough to withstand the high winds of global commodity markets.

We have to agree with the Energy Secretary and his plan of action. We can’t bet the farm on only one energy resource even though that source has proven to be cost effective in other countries.

“Our aim is a policy that is technology-neutral. We want to encourage competitive tension between all forms of generation, to get the best deal for the consumer. So we are reforming the electricity market, to allow us to use whatever blend of low-carbon energy turns out to be cheapest.” (Chris Huhne, 08 Nov 2011, The Telgraph – Britain can’t afford to bet its future on shale gas – wind turbines are here to stay)

In America shale gas revolutionised the gas and energy market cutting gas prices to half of European levels. According to a report from an unlisted energy company it is estimated that there could be 200 trillion cubic feet of gas in the shale under Lancashire. If these figures are confirmed it would change the whole scenario of Britain’s energy market cutting wholesale gas and energy prices by at least one quarter of what they are today.

“We don’t yet know the full extent of the shale gas in the UK. We don’t know how economically or environmentally viable it will be to extract. At best, it is years away. As last week’s report on the Lancashire earthquakes showed, there remain issues to be addressed about hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”. And Britain is not the US. Our planning and regulatory frameworks, and our land ownership laws, are quite different: in particular, underground oil or gas does not belong to the landowner, but to the Crown.” (Chris Huhne, 08 Nov 2011 – Britain can’t afford to bet its future on shale gas – wind turbines are here to stay)

“Yes, shale gas may be significant. If it comes good, we must be ready to take advantage of it. That is why we need a diverse and balanced energy portfolio; to provide us with secure and affordable heat and electricity for decades to come.” (Chris Huhne, 08 Nov 2011 – Britain can’t afford to bet its future on shale gas – wind turbines are here to stay)

The Government must be very careful with shale gas extraction, it must analyse thoroughly the costs and not rely to much on market predictions. A classic example is the White Paper published in 2004 that estimated that oil would reach $23 a barrel by 2010 when it actually went over the $100 mark.

“If we were to tie ourselves to one big bet, we would run unacceptable risks with our future.” – Chris Huhne

One thing is for sure, the reserves of shale gas discovered in Lancashire will only help Britain diversify its energy resources making the energy industry more secure and less reliant on outside factors. There is no doubt that shale gas could help bring more stability to business electricity and business gas prices in the near future.

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2010-2011 CRC League Table

Manchester United Tops CRC Performance League Table while Virgin Atlantic is amongst worst performers.

The Environment Agency has published its first Carbon Reduction Commitment Performance League Table (CRC League Table) ranking 2,000 registered organisations on how they manage their business electricity usage and carbon emissions.  According to EA’s data more than 60% of the registered companies have installed smart meters or gained good energy management and Carbon Trust accreditation.

Out of the 2,000 organisations 22 ranked joint first with a weighted score of 202.95 while 800 organisations ranked in the lowest possible position of the CRC League Table with a weighted score of 402.

At the top highlights to Red Football Limited, popularly known as Manchester United, energy regulator OFGEM, UBS, British American Tabacco and the Department of Energy & Climate Change.

On the opposite side of the table there are well known organisations that failed to improve their business energy efficiency or cut down on their carbon emissions. They include Centrica, Virgin Atlantic, Peugeot, the Zoological Society and London and Zurich Financial Services.

The Environment Agency did not disclose information on those organisations that failed to comply with the legislation and will now face fines starting from £45,000.

How the PLT is compiled

The Performance League Table (PLT) ranks the relative performance of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme participant against the three weighted metrics: Early Action Metric, Absolute Metric and Growth Metric. Participants with the same weighted score are sorted alphabetically.

Weighted Score – The sum of the score for each metric multiplied by the weighting for that metric. The weighting applied to each metric is dependent on the compliance year to which the Performance League Table relates. The higher the score the better the ranking in the PLT.

Emissions (Tonnes of CO2) – Your “CRC Emissions”. These are the CO2 emissions associated with the CRC supplies of a participant for an annual reporting year.

Early Action Metric (%) – The average percentage of i) the proportion of non-mandatory CRC electricity or gas supplies which are measured through voluntarily installed “automatic meter reading” meters or dynamic supply in year 1 and ii) CRC emission coverage by the Carbon Trust Standard or equivalent.

Absolute Emissions Metric (%) – The percentage change in the CRC Emissions of a participant (not applicable for the first reporting year).

Growth Metric (%) – The percentage change in CRC Emissions per unit turnover or revenue expenditure for an annual reporting year (not applicable for the first reporting year).

Those interested in the CRC League Table can download the PLT here.

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