The House of Lords economy committee published a report last week calling for Britain to get “fracking faster for shale gas”. Despite numerous setbacks at the hands of environmentalists and growing public opinion, the House of Lords’ report calls for a central role for shale gas in future UK energy scenarios. But the Lords’ warned […]
Service Sector Growth, 16 Months in a Row
There was bright news for the service sector in April as it saw another increase in activity for the 16th month in a row. Traditionally the service sector has not been a bell weather for the health of the UK economy, but is recent years, as the sector has grown in influence it is now […]
Scientists Attack Biomass Power Subsidy
Biomass, the scientists fight back We wrote recently about the travails of Drax, the UK’s largest coal generating power station and how its desire to become the UK’s biggest renewable plant had been dealt a blow by the government’s decision not to fully back its redevelopment to a biomass plant. We also discussed the bad […]
Boris Wants to be an Electricity Supplier
That’s the latest news from the London mayor’s office. What may sound like a wacky scheme from a wacko politician actually has some grounding in reality however. The intention is part of an initiative to increase London’s energy independence with the aim of producing 25% of the capital’s electricity from local sources by 2025. Whilst […]
Science Behind Energy: Electricity Storage
In the latest of our series on the science behind energy we look at the potential that electricity storage has for revolutionising our fuel mix and the influence of renewable energy. It can sometimes be rather difficult to identify what is ‘good’ renewable energy and what is ‘bad’ renewable energy. Indeed it very much depends […]
Russian Sanctions Affect Energy Market
Sanctions – Weapons of Mass Disruption For the energy markets As the US hits Russia with sanctions, former sanction laden Iran rides to the rescue of European energy supplies. A curious situation but nevertheless one that shows the truly globalised and connected nature of the energy markets and the absolute reliance nations have on one […]
Utilyx and the TPI Market Debate
Utilyx has the TPI Market Licked Utilyx, the London based energy TPI (Third Party Intermediary) owned by building services company MITIE have weighed into the TPI debate with some forceful opinions. Utilyx who claim to manage the energy supply for 10.5% of the total volume consumed by large (I&C) businesses in the UK has apparently […]
Moody’s Downgrades Energy Companies
Moody Moves in the UK Energy Market Moody’s the credit ratings agency pronounced a sombre mood around the UK energy markets as they downgraded SSE’s credit outlook and sounded a note of caution over Centrica, owners of British Gas Business. Moody’s cited “challenging market conditions” as both of the remaining British owned Big 6 energy […]
Ofgem Supply Market Indicator Report
Prognosis: Energy Costs are Rising Last week, Ofgem released its latest Supply Market Indicator report. In it they reported that in the decade to the end of 2013: The average bill for a standard meter had grown by 135% in nominal terms; However, actual energy consumption had decreased, 20% for gas and 10% for electricity […]
Energy Comes Bottom in Trust Survey
2014 Edelman Trust Barometer Trust energy to be at the bottom of the trust survey 2014 marked the 14th year that Edelman, the world’s largest PR agency, had run their “annual exploration of trust”. In total they surveyed 33,000 people over 27 world markets to establish the ongoing levels of trust in business and government. […]