Policy News

North East England Chamber of Commerce has called on the UK Government to support the region’s potential to be a world leader in energy production as part of its ‘levelling-up’ policy. Chamber members Northumbrian Water, EDF Energy, and Lynemouth Power, a biomass facility, all contributed to the Chamber report. Expertise from these three companies included generating power from waste and…
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The UK Government’s long-awaited Heat and Buildings Strategy has been welcomed by the renewable energy sector, but does not address the need for a multi-technology approach to heat decarbonisation. While the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) described the newly published strategy is ‘good news’ for domestic heat decarbonisation, it also warned about the growing…
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The UK’s biomass heat industry has urged the government to stop ignoring and excluding rural off-grid communities in heat decarbonisation plans. The urgent call was made by the UK Pellet Council (UKPC) and Biomass Heat Works! following the announcement of the government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy was announced, including a £450 million (€533 million) boiler upgrade scheme and £5,000…
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Green sources of CO2 captured at bioenergy with carbon and capture and storage (BECCS) and green gas plants could bolster the UK's CO2 supply, according to the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA). Volatile global gas prices have demonstrated the urgent need to diversify and decarbonise the UK’s domestic energy system, said the Association. Industry group Oil &…
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The Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) has expressed frustration over the recent Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) consultation. IrBEA believes that the additional value of renewable electricity generation from bioenergy ahead of intermittent generation, in terms of continuous supply and grid stability, is not recognised in the RESS system. The RESS system aims to promote…
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From 1 October 2024, the UK will no longer use coal to generate electricity, a year earlier than planned. The move forms part of ‘ambitious’ government commitments to transition away from fossil fuels and decarbonise the power sector to eliminate contributions to climate change by 2050. This brings forward the deadline to phase out coal from the UK’s energy system by a year, which the…
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Time is running out for realistic climate commitments, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said in its latest progress report. In what the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) described as a ‘sobering’ report, the CCC said while the UK Government has made ‘historic climate promises’, it has been too slow to follow these with delivery. This defining year for the…
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US Senators have written to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the Biden Administration to support the biomass industry. In a bipartisan letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Susan Collins, among others, call for the US Government to address ‘languishing applications’ under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) programme, including moving forward…
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The UK Government must ‘reassert its commitment’ to delivering a strong biomass sector, said the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA). The REA’s response welcomed the government’s recognition that biomass has a critical role to play in reaching net-zero, but said it was essential that policy gaps facing the sector are addressed. Policy gaps highlighted by the…
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Every home in England will receive easier and more consistent recycling collections, the government has announced. Under new plans to boost recycling and protect the environment, every household will receive separate, weekly food waste collections from 2023. Plans being considered include the introduction of statutory guidance on new minimum service standards for waste and recycling…
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Privilege Finance is urging widescale investment in green technology to cut UK emissions by 78% by 2035. Privilege, a specialist funder of projects which reduce carbon and mitigate against climate change, responded to the government’s sixth carbon budget to say that while it supports the agenda, more needs to be done to secure investment in the sector. “We are wholeheartedly supportive…
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WWF, alongside other non-governmental organisations, has suspended its role in the European Commission’s (EC) Platform on Sustainable Finance over the bioenergy and forestry criteria included in the EU Taxonomy. With this step, WWF said it is protesting against the “greenwashing” of the forestry and bioenergy criteria in the climate taxonomy, and the process that led to these…
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The bioenergy industry has welcomed the EU Taxonomy, which classifies sustainable bioenergy as an environmentally sustainable activity. Released by the European Commission, the EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act aims to support sustainable investment by making it clearer which economic activities most contribute to meeting the EU’s environmental objectives. On 21 April, the College of…
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The European Biogas Association (EBA) has welcomed the adoption of the EU Taxonomy by the European Commission (EC), which recognises biogas’ contribution to climate targets, but warned that the criteria adopted will put the use of biomethane in transport “at stake”. According to the EBA, the decision to label biogas production from anaerobic digestion as a low-carbon activity recognises…
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