Archive for May, 2011

World’s first floating solar powered island opens in Soeul.

May 31, 2011 Clean Energy

A 700 seat convention centre, restaurants and arcades are all solar powered. There will be two more soon.

Europe’s dry spring could lead to blackouts, governments warn.

May 31, 2011 Climate, Nuclear

Soils are now “critically dry” in 6 countries. Nuclear reactors could be forced offline.

China raises electricity prices for industrial users

May 31, 2011 Coal

Beijing flinches in the face of soaring demand and the problem of fixed prices for utilities facing high coal costs.

Will the triple crunch shake us out of economic torpor?

May 31, 2011 Finance

So asks Larry Elliot in the Guardian. Finding the ATM machines closed, standing in a flood, with the lights out may finally do the trick. Governments’ quick response to the prospect of a banking collapse in 2008 gives a whiff of what might be possible.

Perspective on the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security concerns.

May 31, 2011 Oil, Useful peak oil summaries on film

In this 9 minute ABC interview, posted on You-tube but only used in part in ABC’s Catalyst programme on peak oil, I talk about the reasons for concern, and best case / worst case in the threat assessment.

German nuclear phaseout: “easier than many think”.

May 30, 2011 Commentaries

So I argue in debate with Malcolm Grimston on BBC World Service News Hour. Also printed as an opinion on the BBC News website.

Regeneration is best done through localisation.

May 30, 2011 Change for Good, Commentaries

A Sublime magazine column by Jeremy Leggett argues that there is huge scope for individual and community action to change the world.

UK undermining tar sands ban, says Co-op.

May 30, 2011 Oil

EU Ministers are not supporting other countries that want tar sands named in a fuel quality directive.

Germany to scrap nuclear power by 2022: its official.

May 30, 2011 Nuclear

The ethics commission reports to the government and the decision is ratified. Share prices for renewables surge.

Saudi Prince: “we don’t want the west to find alternatives” to oil.

May 29, 2011 Oil

Hence $70-80 a barrel is good price for the Kingdom, says Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.

New Greek bailout….this time with direct EU intervention in how the economy is run.

May 29, 2011 Finance

Tax collection, privatisation of state assets etc will be overseen. In return for these severe conditions, Greece gets €30-35bn until end 2013. There is still much opposition from EU governments, and the deal could yet unravel.

“Worst ever carbon emissions leave climate on the brink”: Guardian front page.

May 29, 2011 Climate

The IEA’s latest figures suggest to them that 2C is now almost out of reach. 2010 saw 30.6 GtCO2 emissions, up 1.6 Gt on 2009. Three quarters of the rise comes from developing countries, and much of it is locked in from new recently constructed power plants. Yet climate was not even discussed at last week’s G8 Summit.

$100bn investment opportunity in Indian solar market: KPMG.

May 26, 2011 Clean Energy

The market is tiny, but has huge growth prospects in the face of drivers including a projected 12% electricity shortfall at hours of peak demand. Grid parity could be just 6-8 years away. ”The solar sector has the potential to transform the Indian economy in a way the IT sector transformed the Indian economy in the 90s. Industry should grab this golden opportunity.” The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, launched in late 2009, set a target of a 22,000 megawatt production capacity in on- and off-grid production, to be realized by 2022.

Switzerland to join Germans in nuclear phase out.

May 26, 2011 Nuclear

The five ageing Swiss plants will not be replaced at the end of their lives between 2019-2035. They provide 40% of Swiss energy.

“Oil industry losing shale PR battle”: FT headline.

May 26, 2011 Gas, Oil

Investors are asking more about how the industry will face up to production risks. Some US states and cities are going it alone in opposing unconventional gas production. Pittsburgh has banned fracking.

Nuclear insiders warn of Fukushima-type risks in UK.

May 25, 2011 Nuclear

In submissions to the Weightman Enquiry, experts argued that power could be outed in Sellafield by terrorists attacking outside the fence, flood damage needs to be considered more, multiple failures are possible even without earthquakes, and so on.

Better UK wind prediction means less conventional power needed.

May 25, 2011 Clean Energy

National Grid upgrades wind prediction from 85 to 87%, meaning more 1.5 GW fossil-fuel capacity can be saved.

Shell and Rosneft hold talks on the Arctic.

May 25, 2011 Gas, Oil

BP’s future supplies look to be in trouble. Offers are also being considered from Exxon and Chevron.

Vince Cable: I can see another crash happening.

May 25, 2011 Finance

Government’s have not done enough, Cable says. He favours Buffett’s view that the MBS crash was an atomic bomb and there are hydrogen bombs out there.

Oil rises on Goldman Sachs forecast.

May 24, 2011 Finance, Oil

Having successfully called a small commodities correction, the bank is now bullish again.

Climate change poses threat to nuclear power.

May 24, 2011 Climate, Nuclear

So argues Natalie Kopytko in New Scientist. Hurricanes and flooding are expected to increase. In 1999, the Blayais plant in France was flooded by a high tide, causing severe damage to two reactors.

  • My most recent commentaries

    • Comment on HMG’s decision to take their illegal FiT plan to the Supreme Court.

      Jeremy Leggett: “We have been expecting this but we hoped that Ed Davey would see sense and not take the appeal. If we are lucky this is just a cynical exercise to limit the market to 3rd March and they will withdraw in a few weeks. If not, and they really are serious about a Supreme Court appeal, then the implications for the renewables industry are deeply worrying. Two weeks ago, Ministers reassured the industry that they wanted to see 4 million solar homes in the UK by 2020. This appeal completely undermines that claim. They need to stop rewriting the scheme, end the constant stop-start and provide long-term stability and meaningful returns for investors and customers and give certainty to the 30,000+ employees of this successful industry – one of the few that is actively creating jobs in this country. If the appeal is successful it will allow Government to change feed-in tariffs whenever it chooses, even for projects that are already installed and supposedly guaranteed the feed-in tariff. At a stroke, this would undermine investment in all UK renewables, not just PV, and show investors that the UK government simply cannot be trusted. Fortunately their arguments are weak. They are the same ones unanimously rejected by the Court of Appeal so I wouldn’t give them much chance of success. Sadly, this appeal has the whiff of farce about it. First they try to woo private capital into infrastructure; then they mismanage it; now they go to the Supreme Court to argue for sovereign default to cover their tracks. I just hope the new Secretary of State actually understands what his lawyers are doing.”

    • Climate change should mean a 100% renewables by 2030 target.

      Interview at the Oxford Climate Forum, in Oxford university student magazine, Cherwell: “There are people who are worried about peak oil who aren’t worried about climate change. And vice versa. I’m worried about both. With both of them, at a minimum it’s about wrecking the global economy. A lot more in the case of climate change. These are high stakes issues. And both are high risk. In fact, climate change isn’t just high risk. It’s odds on certainty.” More.

    • UK government loses appeal on illegality of DECC’s solar feed-in tariff cuts.

      Three more judges rule, in the Appeal Court that the government’s proposal to cut tariffs from 12 December was illegal. Business Green: “Jeremy Leggett, chairman of Solarcentury, said the news was a positive outcome for the entire renewable energy industry: “Today we have reminded government that it will be held to account when it acts illegally and tries to push through unlawful policy changes. We would much prefer not to have taken this path but ministers gave us no choice. Our hope now is that we can work together again to restore the thriving jobs-rich solar sector that has been so badly undermined by government actions since October”.”

    • “The carbon bubble will burst – we must be prepared this time”.

      Business Green: “This is really important. No matter where you stand in the green debate, the threat posed by the systemic over valuation of carbon intensive firms and assets is a critical issue that should concern you – really, really concern you.” …. That is the warning currently being sounded by the recently launched Carbon Tracker Initiative, which last week released its second report on the scale of the so-called “carbon bubble” and wrote to Bank of England Governor Mervyn King urging him to take action. The two reports from the group – which is backed by some high profile green thinkers and investors, including the WWF, Solarcentury chairman Jeremy Leggett, former chief scientist Sir David King, and Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith – should be required reading for political leaders, business leaders, and economists everywhere. If there was any sense of proportion, it would be at the top of the agenda at this week’s annual billionaire schmooze-fest at the World Economic Forum in Davos.”

    • Investors ask BoE to probe risk that fossil-fuel reserves pose “sub-prime” risk.

      Fossil fuel reserves listed in the City of London are “sub-prime” assets posing a systemic risk to economic stability. So warns a high-profile coalition of investors, politicians and scientists , writing an open letter to Sir Mervyn King asking him to launch an investigation. Signatories include Aviva Investors, Climate Change Capital, Conservative politician Zac Goldsmith and Solarcentury chairman Jeremy Leggett. Abatement policies could mean billions of pounds of fossil fuel reserves will rapidly lose value and cause a “major problem” for institutional investors and pension funds. Guardian: “CarbonTracker’s latest report reveals that coal reserves held by 16 London-listed companies will release 45bn tonnes of CO2 when burned, equivalent to 86 years of annual UK emissions, which are the tenth highest in the world. Most of the coal is in other countries such as Australia and South Africa.”

    • Richard Branson: “the absolute necessity” of investing in renewables.

      Richard Branson, in posting my latest blog on his website: “Struck by this email from my friend Dr Jeremy Leggett over Christmas highlighting the growing divide between those that believe in the absolute necessity of investing in renewable fuels and those who ignore the obvious need – preferring to focus on short term goals and profits. I believe we must keep investing in alternative fuels to help reduce our Global carbon problem. Those fearing that economic growth will be stifled by investment in renewables are wrong.” etc.

    • High Court rules UK government has acted illegally of solar feed-in tariff target date.

      My message to BBC Radio’s The World Tonight: let us turn this humiliation for HMG into something positive and get back to where we were: creating jobs the nation needs in these hard times. And to Business Green: “We encourage the Secretary of State to accept the judge’s very clear ruling, to not plunge the industry into a further period of uncertainty by considering going to appeal, and to conduct the remainder of the current consultation process properly with constructive conversations with the industry.”

    • Big 6 pressure on UK government led to UK solar feed-in tariff ambush.

      My view in the Huffington Post: “There are only two possibilities, given the absence of a credible savings narrative and the seemingly lethal intent of the six week warning and the market-shrivelling energy-efficiency pre-qualification. One is breathtaking collective incompetence. The other is conspiracy.
      The answer is conspiracy. So I have been told in recent weeks by insiders in Whitehall, Westminster, and in the relevant parts of the energy, PR, and financial industries.”

    • Countercurrents: the triple crunch we face and the barriers to renaissance.

      In an extended interview in India, I talk about the similarities between the credit crunch and the peak oil issue, and the power of renewables and why clean-energy industries are being held back.

    • “A focus on renewables would allow the Government to deliver on some of its cornerstone mantras”.

      My latest column in Sublime magazine: “The current government in Britain appears to be playing fast and loose with some fantastic renewable energy opportunities – and ones that could provide much-needed jobs. what is that about? If the British Prime Minister were being authentic, he could be leading on an impressive story right now. Those of his core mantras that involve energy, taken together in strategic harness, make for an inspiring vision. Picture the scene. His Big Society concept sees communities taking power for themselves, providing for themselves. In short, Britain could be less centralised, more community-centric, more resilient to economic shocks.”

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