Energy secretary vows to take on the ‘blockers’ opposed to wind turbines, solar farms and pylons Business live – latest updates Ed Miliband has vowed to take on the nimbys opposed to the government’s rollout of wind turbines, solar farms and pylons across the UK as a matter of “national security” and “economic justice”. The energy secretary used his first big public address on Tuesday to argue in favour of speedy consent for new energy infrastructure to break the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels and avoid a repeat of “a crisis of the scale we have been through, with such devastating effects ..read more

Burning with unquenchable resentment, Restore Trust is making another attempt at taking over the institution The leaves are starting to change and there’s autumnal coolth in the air. Which means that the opaquely funded private organisation called Restore Trust is once again making its annual attempt to take over one of the country’s most successful and best-loved institutions, the National Trust. Burning with unquenchable resentment about a 2020 report that truthfully stated that Winston Churchill opposed Indian independence; armed with inflated stories about mushroom bans, cancelled Easters ..read more

Exclusive: Reliance on fossil fuels fell in August to less than one-fifth of all electricity generated across country Great Britain’s electricity system has recorded its greenest ever summer after growing numbers of wind and solar farms cut the need for gas power plants to fresh lows. Analysis of energy generation data, commissioned by the Guardian, revealed that Britain’s reliance on gas generation fell in August to less than one-fifth of all electricity, or 4 terawatt hours (TWh), its lowest ever level for a one-month period ..read more

Heating of 4C could increase potential offshore wind energy by average of 9% by end of century, research suggests A warmer world could bring more potential for offshore wind energy, according to a new study. Although it doesn’t bear thinking about, with heating of 4C potential offshore wind energy could increase by an average of 9% globally by the end of this century. Previous research has indicated that global heating will reduce the potential for wind power generation, but there is much uncertainty in how wind patterns will shift, and in particular how surface wind speeds will change over ti ..read more

Arithmetic over capacity does not add up, with supply chains a constraining factor Renewable energy auction secures enough power for 11m UK homes It was a “record-setting auction” and “a significant step forward in our mission for clean power for 2030”, trumpeted the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, enjoying the contrast with last year’s auction flop under the Tories in which precisely zero bids were received to build offshore windfarms. Miliband was claiming credit when it wasn’t entirely due, of course, because this year’s competition was designed well before the general election. Some versi ..read more

Finance secretary says ‘tough decisions’ are needed to fill £1bn hole in the budget Scottish ministers have raided a £460m green energy fund to help pay for higher than inflation pay deals that the government did not budget for. Shona Robison, the Scottish finance secretary, said she needed to use the fund while also cutting non-essential spending by £500m to fill a £1bn hole in this year’s government finances ..read more

£1.5bn auction awards record funding for new windfarms, solar farms and tidal power projects Nils Pratley: Ed Miliband is still a long way from his 2030 targets for offshore wind Great Britain’s renewable energy auction has secured enough new clean electricity projects to power 11m UK homes after the Labour government made record funding available to suppliers. The £1.5bn auction will support 131 new projects including windfarms, solar farms and tidal power projects after ministers increased the amount of funding available to seven times the sums offered last year ..read more

Britain is a world leader in fixed coastal installations. But in the deep open sea, where wind speeds are higher, a new generation of farms will be required Head 10 miles out from the coast of Aberdeen in Scotland and a cluster of five giant wind turbines spin at a height of 190 metres above the North Sea, quietly generating enough clean electricity to power about 35,000 Scottish homes. This offshore windfarm is dwarfed by the sprawl of turbines rising from the sea along Britain’s east coast. But the Kincardine project represents a different future for clean energy: it is the largest wind ..read more

Faced with community anxiety over building for the energy transition, Energy UK’s Emma Pinchbeck stresses the wins, near-term and far The prospect of pylons, wind turbines and solar farms springing up across the countryside has upset a number of UK communities. But the head of Energy UK, Emma Pinchbeck, believes there is a way to decarbonise our electricity and sooth these tensions. Pinchbeck is tapped to be the next leader of the Climate Change Committee, and currently represents the industry charged with decarbonising the grid at the cheapest and fastest rate possible ..read more

Raising the wind speed at which turbines start spinning could prevent tens of thousands of bat deaths each year, researchers find Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Australian wind farm operators are being urged to embrace a simple measure used overseas that scientists say could dramatically reduce the number of bats killed by turbines. Curtailment – lifting the wind speed at which turbines start spinning – is used in some European countries and parts of the US and Canada, but rarely in Australia. A global study published in the journal BioScience found ..read more