Russia's warning about gas shortages in the EU comes right Opec-style cartel with other major producers
Yuri Fedotov
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 28 December 2008 15.00 GMT
Britain was given a sharp reminder of the dangers to its energy supplies yesterday when Gazprom warned that western Europe could be hit by gas shortages. The Russian gas provider said a long-running row with Ukraine could disrupt supplies this winter.
The fears were raised 24 hours before Russia hosts a meeting of the world's major gas suppliers to set up an Opec-style production cartel that could push up the price of energy in Britain and elsewhere. Energy experts warned that the two events demonstrated that Russia was using energy as a political weapon, and argued Britain should accelerate its switch to renewable power in order to reduce its dependence on unpredictable carbon fuel suppliers.
Russia triggered fears of an energy "cold war" two years ago and again last year when it threatened to cut off gas first to the Ukraine and then to Belarus. This time Russia is threatening Ukraine over an alleged $2bn of arrears. Although Russia exports a relatively small amount of gas to Britain, such difficulties could push up prices for alternative supplies from Norway or elsewhere. Viktor Zubkov, who is Russia's first deputy minister as well as chairman of Gazprom, said: "We cannot rule out that the position of the Ukrainian side and certain steps, which are linked to gas transit through Ukrainian territory, could lead to a disruption of supply stability to Europe."
The Moscow company said it offered to let Kiev redeem its debt by allowing Gazprom to offset it against transit fees for next year. "So far no solution has been found because of the non-constructive position of the Ukrainian side," Zubkov said. About 80% of Russian gas exports to Europe flow through Ukraine, which insisted it would ensure the transit of supplies to European Union countries next year. "Ukraine is ready to give guarantees of uninterrupted gas supplies in 2009 to European gas consumers," said Oleksander Shlapak, chief economic aide to the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko.
The promise did little to reduce tensions. Andris Piebalgs, the EU energy commissioner, indicated he was ready to travel to Moscow early in the new year for emergency talks with the Russians and said he was "very worried". Meanwhile, a loose grouping of gas producers, known as the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, is to meet in Moscow tomorrow to sign a charter to formalise the organisation, officials at the Russian energy ministry said.
More than a dozen gas-exporting nations from around the world have been meeting since 2001, but the body has no formal membership or management. Experts from member states met last month to discuss the draft charter, and ministerial representatives are expected to sign it at the meeting, which has been driven by Russia in cooperation with Iran and Qatar. The three countries, which together account for nearly a third of the world's natural gas exports, agreed this year to form a "gas troika" for joint exploration and production, in a move that sent shock waves through importing nations.
Russian deputy prime minister Igor Sechin said last week the forum would work along similar lines to Opec, but that it would be wrong to see it as an attempt to corner the market and to force up prices. "The work that it does will be similar to that of Opec, but I want to stress that there is no talk now about any specific deals. It is simply a question of protecting the interests of producers and coordinating their work," Sechin said at the Opec ministerial meeting in Oran, Algeria, last week. David Clark, a former UK government adviser and chairman of the Russia Foundation thinktank, said he was concerned Russia and its energy allies were trying to carve up the market and further develop the use of energy as a political weapon.
"Despite the downward trend of oil and gas currently, the long-term supply-demand picture suggests that prices are going to rise and this is going to be a continuing problem," he said. "Britain and the European Union need to collectively pressure Russia to stand by its existing commitments to act as a responsible energy partner. But it also points up the need for countries such as Britain and North America to work together to find the kind of scientific fixes that will enable them to build a post-carbon future."
• Yuri Fedotov is the Russian ambassador to the UK
Monday, 29 December 2008
Windfarm revolution tangled in red tape
• 262 UK projects await planning permission • Renewable energy target looks increasingly remote
Terry Macalister
The Guardian, Monday 29 December 2008
Britain's wind power industry is facing a double blow of lengthy planning delays and rapidly rising construction costs in a crisis that threatens to sink the government's climate-change goals.
Dozens of projects are being held up by planning inquiries, with the average length of time taken to win permission being 15 to 20 months in England and far longer in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the bulk of the schemes are being developed.
There are 262 different projects representing seven gigawatts stuck in the planning stages. And the rate of approvals is slowing despite government promises, according to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA).
It said that the start of a third inquiry into one project in Norfolk that has already been delayed for seven years showed that the government has not cured the problem despite introducing the Planning Act to speed up the process.
Meanwhile Centrica, owner of British Gas and one of the most powerful energy utilities, said a 250-megawatt scheme off the Lincolnshire coast was hanging in the balance because turbine manufacturers and other suppliers had raised their prices so high they were jeopardising the economics of the scheme.
With Britain committed to producing 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 to meet European Union targets, the government would be blown off course unless it intervened more robustly, said the BWEA.
"The government does not want the political problems of undermining local democracy by taking control out of the hands of local councillors," said Charles Anglin, director of communications at the BWEA. "But if it fails to act it is just storing up more difficult problems further down the road when it gives the go-ahead to coal or expensive gas projects instead."
To meet the 15% target, the BWEA estimates that Britain needs more than 30GW of wind capacity. "We think you can get 20GW offshore, which means you need 10-12GW onshore, and yet so far we have only got 2.5GW," Anglin said.
"We are aware that the planning system does need to be quicker and there are other barriers to projects," said a department of energy and climate change spokesman. "That is why we are going to unveil a renewable energy strategy with the next steps to meeting our goals."
The planning problem is highlighted by the battle waged by Ecotricity at Shipdham in Norfolk over a wind farm application submitted in December 2001. The company has won two planning inquiries only to find the final decision challenged in the high court by two local residents claiming potential noise problems.
The Planning Act applies only to schemes in England - and then only those over 50MW. "Eighty to 90% of the schemes in England are under 50MW anyway so the Planning Act does virtually nothing," Anglin said.
Offshore operators are also struggling because of the mounting costs that have already chased Shell and BP off to the US.
The cost of Centrica's 250MW Lincs wind farm off Skegness has increased from £2bn to £3bn a GW. "We are committed to building wind farms," said a company spokesman, "but we have got to get the costs down to an economic level."
Terry Macalister
The Guardian, Monday 29 December 2008
Britain's wind power industry is facing a double blow of lengthy planning delays and rapidly rising construction costs in a crisis that threatens to sink the government's climate-change goals.
Dozens of projects are being held up by planning inquiries, with the average length of time taken to win permission being 15 to 20 months in England and far longer in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the bulk of the schemes are being developed.
There are 262 different projects representing seven gigawatts stuck in the planning stages. And the rate of approvals is slowing despite government promises, according to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA).
It said that the start of a third inquiry into one project in Norfolk that has already been delayed for seven years showed that the government has not cured the problem despite introducing the Planning Act to speed up the process.
Meanwhile Centrica, owner of British Gas and one of the most powerful energy utilities, said a 250-megawatt scheme off the Lincolnshire coast was hanging in the balance because turbine manufacturers and other suppliers had raised their prices so high they were jeopardising the economics of the scheme.
With Britain committed to producing 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 to meet European Union targets, the government would be blown off course unless it intervened more robustly, said the BWEA.
"The government does not want the political problems of undermining local democracy by taking control out of the hands of local councillors," said Charles Anglin, director of communications at the BWEA. "But if it fails to act it is just storing up more difficult problems further down the road when it gives the go-ahead to coal or expensive gas projects instead."
To meet the 15% target, the BWEA estimates that Britain needs more than 30GW of wind capacity. "We think you can get 20GW offshore, which means you need 10-12GW onshore, and yet so far we have only got 2.5GW," Anglin said.
"We are aware that the planning system does need to be quicker and there are other barriers to projects," said a department of energy and climate change spokesman. "That is why we are going to unveil a renewable energy strategy with the next steps to meeting our goals."
The planning problem is highlighted by the battle waged by Ecotricity at Shipdham in Norfolk over a wind farm application submitted in December 2001. The company has won two planning inquiries only to find the final decision challenged in the high court by two local residents claiming potential noise problems.
The Planning Act applies only to schemes in England - and then only those over 50MW. "Eighty to 90% of the schemes in England are under 50MW anyway so the Planning Act does virtually nothing," Anglin said.
Offshore operators are also struggling because of the mounting costs that have already chased Shell and BP off to the US.
The cost of Centrica's 250MW Lincs wind farm off Skegness has increased from £2bn to £3bn a GW. "We are committed to building wind farms," said a company spokesman, "but we have got to get the costs down to an economic level."
South Korea announces major energy investment
Reuters, Bloomberg News
Published: December 28, 2008
SEOUL: South Korea plans to invest 37 trillion won, or $28.5 billion, from 2009 to 2022 on new power plants, including 12 new nuclear plants, to improve fuel efficiency and cut emissions, the Energy Ministry said Sunday.
South Korea, one of the largest importers of crude oil, will also build seven new coal plants, 11 liquefied natural gas plants and 1 heavy fuel plant by 2022, but it will get rid of 3 existing coal plants, 6 liquefied natural gas plants and 13 heavy fuel units to improve efficiency, the ministry said.
"The plan is to generate more low-carbon power while decreasing the use of high-priced reserves such as LNG and coal," the ministry said, referring to liquefied natural gas. "Under the plan, the fuel cost will be about 56 percent lower than this year."
The total number of nuclear power units will rise to 32, or 32.92 million kilowatts, by 2022 and account for 48 percent of the country's total power generation, from 34 percent this year, the ministry said.
Liquefied natural gas, which is the most expensive fuel, will account for just 6 percent of total power generation in 2022 under the plan, down from the current 22 percent. The overall electricity power capacity will increase to 100.89 million kilowatts by 2022, up from 71.36 million by the end of 2008.
The cost of nuclear power generation is 3 won per kilowatt compared with 22 won at coal-fired plants and 89 won for gas, according to the ministry.
Separately, the ministry said it would lend a combined 289.8 billion won to petroleum developers in 2009 to help the country secure stable energy supplies. Of the finished budget, 60 percent is to go to existing projects, both at home and abroad, and the remainder to new exploration.
The ministry said the government would increase the ratio of lending support to non government companies in 2009, while it would curtail lending to the state-run Korea National Oil Corporation.
South Korea also plans to expand its use of alternative energy. Under the government's long-term plan, renewable energy sources, including solar, wind and water, should account for 11 percent of power consumption by 2030 from the current 2.2 percent.
To achieve its goals, South Korea intends to invest 100 trillion won in alternative energy by 2030. The country seeks a 44-fold increase in the supply of solar power to 3,504 megawatts, a 37- fold gain in wind power to 7,301 megawatts and a 19-fold increase in biofuels supply.
Published: December 28, 2008
SEOUL: South Korea plans to invest 37 trillion won, or $28.5 billion, from 2009 to 2022 on new power plants, including 12 new nuclear plants, to improve fuel efficiency and cut emissions, the Energy Ministry said Sunday.
South Korea, one of the largest importers of crude oil, will also build seven new coal plants, 11 liquefied natural gas plants and 1 heavy fuel plant by 2022, but it will get rid of 3 existing coal plants, 6 liquefied natural gas plants and 13 heavy fuel units to improve efficiency, the ministry said.
"The plan is to generate more low-carbon power while decreasing the use of high-priced reserves such as LNG and coal," the ministry said, referring to liquefied natural gas. "Under the plan, the fuel cost will be about 56 percent lower than this year."
The total number of nuclear power units will rise to 32, or 32.92 million kilowatts, by 2022 and account for 48 percent of the country's total power generation, from 34 percent this year, the ministry said.
Liquefied natural gas, which is the most expensive fuel, will account for just 6 percent of total power generation in 2022 under the plan, down from the current 22 percent. The overall electricity power capacity will increase to 100.89 million kilowatts by 2022, up from 71.36 million by the end of 2008.
The cost of nuclear power generation is 3 won per kilowatt compared with 22 won at coal-fired plants and 89 won for gas, according to the ministry.
Separately, the ministry said it would lend a combined 289.8 billion won to petroleum developers in 2009 to help the country secure stable energy supplies. Of the finished budget, 60 percent is to go to existing projects, both at home and abroad, and the remainder to new exploration.
The ministry said the government would increase the ratio of lending support to non government companies in 2009, while it would curtail lending to the state-run Korea National Oil Corporation.
South Korea also plans to expand its use of alternative energy. Under the government's long-term plan, renewable energy sources, including solar, wind and water, should account for 11 percent of power consumption by 2030 from the current 2.2 percent.
To achieve its goals, South Korea intends to invest 100 trillion won in alternative energy by 2030. The country seeks a 44-fold increase in the supply of solar power to 3,504 megawatts, a 37- fold gain in wind power to 7,301 megawatts and a 19-fold increase in biofuels supply.
Sunday, 28 December 2008
UK's holiday waste smashes all records
Christmas packaging, millions of trees and up to a billion cards are heading to landfill – even though much of it could be recycled
By Rachel Shields Sunday, 28 December 2008
JASON ALDEN
Officials want toy manufacturers to improve recycling information on packaging
This is a toy story, but it has no happy ending. As millions of households wade through crumpled wrapping, plastic ties and discarded boxes, the sheer weight of refuse in coming days is expected to smash all records.
Waste watchdogs warned yesterday that rubbish from the estimated 100 million toys unwrapped last week is likely to burn big holes in the ozone layer as well as in parents' pockets.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) said toy manufacturers are not putting enough information about recycling on their packaging and, as a result, most of it will be sent needlessly to landfill. Over Christmas 2008 alone, this will lead to more than 400 extra tonnes of harmful C02. The news is a blow to the Government's 2007 Waste Strategy, which aims to see 40 per cent of all household waste recycled by 2010.
A survey by Recycle Now showed that while 89 per cent of British parents with children under the age of 12 would like to recycle toy packaging, 53 per cent found it difficult to know what was suitable for recycling.
"A large proportion of the packaging material from toys is actually recyclable because it is made from paper or cardboard," said Andy Dawe, Wrap's head of retail. "It is helpful for consumers to have labelling on the types of material that make up the packaging and which of these can be recycled. It also makes a real difference if different materials can be separated. For example, where a box includes cardboard with a plastic window, it should be made as simple as possible to remove the window."
The government-funded agency is now calling on toy manufacturers to improve recycling instructions on their products, and for consumers to redouble their recycling efforts.
"It's for manufacturers, government-led organisations and consumers themselves to do this," said Natasha Crookes of the British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA). "Seventy per cent of toy packaging is now recyclable, so it is really about getting people to recycle, especially at Christmas when everyone is busy unwrapping their presents."
British households generate 20 per cent more waste during the festive period, including one billion Christmas cards, eight million Christmas trees and 83 sq kms of wrapping paper.
Toy manufacturers are required by law to carry safety warnings on packaging, but are not obliged to include recycling instructions. The BTHA is currently drawing up new packaging guidelines that will include recycling.
Many retailers have made steps towards reducing packaging. Boots reviewed its gift sets and relaunched them this Christmas with reduced packaging. The online retailer Amazon recently launched a "frustration-free packaging" service, which reduces excess wrapping and which will begin in the UK after Christmas.
In 2007, the UK recycled 9.7 million tonnes of household waste, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year. However, some fear that the current economic downturn may lead to companies prioritising profits over their environmental obligations.
"It is vitally important that we carry on recycling," Mr Dawe said. "If we stop, all materials will go to landfill – and that is the worst possible outcome."
By Rachel Shields Sunday, 28 December 2008
JASON ALDEN
Officials want toy manufacturers to improve recycling information on packaging
This is a toy story, but it has no happy ending. As millions of households wade through crumpled wrapping, plastic ties and discarded boxes, the sheer weight of refuse in coming days is expected to smash all records.
Waste watchdogs warned yesterday that rubbish from the estimated 100 million toys unwrapped last week is likely to burn big holes in the ozone layer as well as in parents' pockets.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) said toy manufacturers are not putting enough information about recycling on their packaging and, as a result, most of it will be sent needlessly to landfill. Over Christmas 2008 alone, this will lead to more than 400 extra tonnes of harmful C02. The news is a blow to the Government's 2007 Waste Strategy, which aims to see 40 per cent of all household waste recycled by 2010.
A survey by Recycle Now showed that while 89 per cent of British parents with children under the age of 12 would like to recycle toy packaging, 53 per cent found it difficult to know what was suitable for recycling.
"A large proportion of the packaging material from toys is actually recyclable because it is made from paper or cardboard," said Andy Dawe, Wrap's head of retail. "It is helpful for consumers to have labelling on the types of material that make up the packaging and which of these can be recycled. It also makes a real difference if different materials can be separated. For example, where a box includes cardboard with a plastic window, it should be made as simple as possible to remove the window."
The government-funded agency is now calling on toy manufacturers to improve recycling instructions on their products, and for consumers to redouble their recycling efforts.
"It's for manufacturers, government-led organisations and consumers themselves to do this," said Natasha Crookes of the British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA). "Seventy per cent of toy packaging is now recyclable, so it is really about getting people to recycle, especially at Christmas when everyone is busy unwrapping their presents."
British households generate 20 per cent more waste during the festive period, including one billion Christmas cards, eight million Christmas trees and 83 sq kms of wrapping paper.
Toy manufacturers are required by law to carry safety warnings on packaging, but are not obliged to include recycling instructions. The BTHA is currently drawing up new packaging guidelines that will include recycling.
Many retailers have made steps towards reducing packaging. Boots reviewed its gift sets and relaunched them this Christmas with reduced packaging. The online retailer Amazon recently launched a "frustration-free packaging" service, which reduces excess wrapping and which will begin in the UK after Christmas.
In 2007, the UK recycled 9.7 million tonnes of household waste, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year. However, some fear that the current economic downturn may lead to companies prioritising profits over their environmental obligations.
"It is vitally important that we carry on recycling," Mr Dawe said. "If we stop, all materials will go to landfill – and that is the worst possible outcome."
Eco-town proposals receive fresh blow
The Government's flagship "eco-town" strategy has suffered another damaging blow after an independent report said one of the proposed towns was "unworkable".
By Patrick Sawer Last Updated: 10:08PM GMT 27 Dec 2008
Artist's impression of the proposed eco-town of West Carclaze, Cornwall. Photo: PA
The Pennbury plan for a 12,000 home development near Leicester is one of 12 shortlisted by ministers as part of their plans to build a string of environmentally sustainable new towns across the country.
But a leading consultancy on urban design and planning has damned the Pennbury scheme, submitted by the Co-operative supermarket and property group, as economically "unsustainable", "ambiguous" and "fundamentally weak".
The Halcrow Group, which was commissioned by four local authorities covering Leicester and the surrounding towns and villages to assess the Co-op's plans, said the new town was likely to produce fewer jobs than envisaged, would suffer from poor transport links and would be out of keeping in what is currently a rural setting.
The report's findings are another major setback for the Government's eco-town proposals, which have already been widely condemned by opponents as threatening the green field character of many sites for little if any environmental or economic benefit.
The four councils who commissioned the report are themselves split on the question of Pennbury. Leicestershire county council opposes the scheme and has accused Leicester city council, which backs it, of being “too easily bought” by the promise of £5 million from the Co-op for a feasibility study into running a tram from Pennbury to the city centre six away.
The eco-town strategy been beset by problems since it was placed at the heart of Labour's policy agenda by Gordon Brown at his first party conference as leader last September.
A shortlist of 15 was cut to 12 after developers dropped out and schemes were reconsidered. The final list of 10 is expected to be announced in the New Year, after which they will go through the normal planning process. But there are growing doubts over the viability of several of the schemes in the wake of the worsening housing crash.
Eco-towns, which will contain between 5,000 and 20,000 homes, are intended to be carbon neutral and act as an "exemplar" for environmentally friendly development.
Each must contain at least 30 per cent "affordable" housing, while properties must be on average only a 10-minute walk away from public transport and local services such as doctors' surgeries and primary schools. At least one person in each household should be able to get to work without a car.
The Government, however, admitted in November that only one of the 12 sites being considered is officially ranked as "generally suitable" for an eco-town.
Rackheath, in Norfolk, was judged to be Grade A because it was nearer Norwich and a working railway line.
The vast majority of the schemes, including Pennbury, were judged to be Grade B – which meant they "might be a suitable location subject to meeting specific planning and design objectives".
But the new report on Pennbury casts doubt on this.
It states: "The Co-op have at this stage in the planning process provided insufficient information to support the Pennbury proposal at this moment. We have serious reservations at this stage that neither the required transport infrastructure, nor the level of jobs required can actually be delivered.
"Both the economic strategy and transport proposals should therefore be substantially revised, as these are fundamental to the overall sustainability of the concept."
Dr Kevin Feltham, a Leicestershire county councillor and anti-eco town campaigner, said: "This report has left the Co-op's plans for Pennbury in tatters. The time is now ripe for them to withdraw their bid in the face of overwhelming evidence that its plans are unworkable."
The report's findings are a particular blow to the Pennbury scheme because Halcrow's consultants said it could have brought potential benefits to the region "in terms of new jobs, homes, community facilities and infrastructure, as well as pioneering new approaches to zero carbon living".
But it said the plans "are not matched by sufficiently detailed commitments and proposals to ensure that these objectives can actually be delivered."
It found:
* The Co-op had produced no convincing evidence to support the assumption that 60 per cent of residents would be able to work in the town
* The planned location has poor transport links, making it unattractive for potential employers and businesses
* It is unclear from population projections whether there is in fact a need for so many new homes in the area
* There has been no survey of local environmental features such as ecology, landscape and cultural heritage
However, the Co-operative Group defended its proposals, claiming the Halcrow report recognised the potential benefits of the Pennbury eco-town. Ruairidh Jackson, its head of planning and property strategy, said: "We are in close discussions with Leicester Regeneration Company about the benefits our proposals offer and to improve the regeneration potential of the city as a whole. This story goes far wider than simply employment. It's about education and skills, about helping regeneration sites to come forward, about housing in the city, about unlocking public transport investment and, not least, about helping Leicester to market and promote itself to additional sources of investment.
"Our proposals are fully complementary to these objectives and we believe that we can help Leicester to be an even stronger and more successful city."
By Patrick Sawer Last Updated: 10:08PM GMT 27 Dec 2008
Artist's impression of the proposed eco-town of West Carclaze, Cornwall. Photo: PA
The Pennbury plan for a 12,000 home development near Leicester is one of 12 shortlisted by ministers as part of their plans to build a string of environmentally sustainable new towns across the country.
But a leading consultancy on urban design and planning has damned the Pennbury scheme, submitted by the Co-operative supermarket and property group, as economically "unsustainable", "ambiguous" and "fundamentally weak".
The Halcrow Group, which was commissioned by four local authorities covering Leicester and the surrounding towns and villages to assess the Co-op's plans, said the new town was likely to produce fewer jobs than envisaged, would suffer from poor transport links and would be out of keeping in what is currently a rural setting.
The report's findings are another major setback for the Government's eco-town proposals, which have already been widely condemned by opponents as threatening the green field character of many sites for little if any environmental or economic benefit.
The four councils who commissioned the report are themselves split on the question of Pennbury. Leicestershire county council opposes the scheme and has accused Leicester city council, which backs it, of being “too easily bought” by the promise of £5 million from the Co-op for a feasibility study into running a tram from Pennbury to the city centre six away.
The eco-town strategy been beset by problems since it was placed at the heart of Labour's policy agenda by Gordon Brown at his first party conference as leader last September.
A shortlist of 15 was cut to 12 after developers dropped out and schemes were reconsidered. The final list of 10 is expected to be announced in the New Year, after which they will go through the normal planning process. But there are growing doubts over the viability of several of the schemes in the wake of the worsening housing crash.
Eco-towns, which will contain between 5,000 and 20,000 homes, are intended to be carbon neutral and act as an "exemplar" for environmentally friendly development.
Each must contain at least 30 per cent "affordable" housing, while properties must be on average only a 10-minute walk away from public transport and local services such as doctors' surgeries and primary schools. At least one person in each household should be able to get to work without a car.
The Government, however, admitted in November that only one of the 12 sites being considered is officially ranked as "generally suitable" for an eco-town.
Rackheath, in Norfolk, was judged to be Grade A because it was nearer Norwich and a working railway line.
The vast majority of the schemes, including Pennbury, were judged to be Grade B – which meant they "might be a suitable location subject to meeting specific planning and design objectives".
But the new report on Pennbury casts doubt on this.
It states: "The Co-op have at this stage in the planning process provided insufficient information to support the Pennbury proposal at this moment. We have serious reservations at this stage that neither the required transport infrastructure, nor the level of jobs required can actually be delivered.
"Both the economic strategy and transport proposals should therefore be substantially revised, as these are fundamental to the overall sustainability of the concept."
Dr Kevin Feltham, a Leicestershire county councillor and anti-eco town campaigner, said: "This report has left the Co-op's plans for Pennbury in tatters. The time is now ripe for them to withdraw their bid in the face of overwhelming evidence that its plans are unworkable."
The report's findings are a particular blow to the Pennbury scheme because Halcrow's consultants said it could have brought potential benefits to the region "in terms of new jobs, homes, community facilities and infrastructure, as well as pioneering new approaches to zero carbon living".
But it said the plans "are not matched by sufficiently detailed commitments and proposals to ensure that these objectives can actually be delivered."
It found:
* The Co-op had produced no convincing evidence to support the assumption that 60 per cent of residents would be able to work in the town
* The planned location has poor transport links, making it unattractive for potential employers and businesses
* It is unclear from population projections whether there is in fact a need for so many new homes in the area
* There has been no survey of local environmental features such as ecology, landscape and cultural heritage
However, the Co-operative Group defended its proposals, claiming the Halcrow report recognised the potential benefits of the Pennbury eco-town. Ruairidh Jackson, its head of planning and property strategy, said: "We are in close discussions with Leicester Regeneration Company about the benefits our proposals offer and to improve the regeneration potential of the city as a whole. This story goes far wider than simply employment. It's about education and skills, about helping regeneration sites to come forward, about housing in the city, about unlocking public transport investment and, not least, about helping Leicester to market and promote itself to additional sources of investment.
"Our proposals are fully complementary to these objectives and we believe that we can help Leicester to be an even stronger and more successful city."
Climate change takes its toll on British countryside
Daffodills at Christmas and snow in October were just some of the unusual weather patterns noticed by the National Trust in the last year as climate change begins to takes its toll on the British landscape.
By Louise Gray, Environment Correpsondent Last Updated: 2:41AM GMT 27 Dec 2008
The National Trust saw plants emerge early because of a warm spring only to be washed out by a wet summer.
Poor weather led to a bad breeding season for birds and mammals due to a lack of insects. Scientists blamed climate change and said further extreme weather could wipe out many species altogether.
Matthew Oates, the National Trust nature conservation adviser, said a warm January and February brought out plants and encouraged birds to nest early.
However, the spring and summer was cold and wet, meaning there were fewer insects to pollinate plants or for birds to feed on.
By the autumn the wet weather meant a profusion of colour as the leaves turned and flowers bloomed early but a cold snap killed off more bees. Winter was mild, but species such as bats will struggle to survive because of the lack of feeding earlier in the year. Mr Oates said many species could not survive another poor spring and summer.
"A cold late spring, a wet summer, with few sunny days, and the long dry autumn has shown how dependent our wildlife is on the weather," he said. "Many species closely associated with the four seasons are having to cope with higher incidents of poor weather as our climate becomes more unpredictable.
"After two very poor years in a row we desperately need a good summer in 2009. Climate change is not some future prediction of what might happen, it's happening now."
Already daffodils are out in Guernsey this Christmas and spring flowers are expected to come out earlier.
Dr Tim Sparks, a climate change specialist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said Britain would experience warmer, drier summers and wet, mild winters, which could mean an increase in invasive species. He said: "The likelihood is we will gain species from the south and lose more vulnerable native species."
By Louise Gray, Environment Correpsondent Last Updated: 2:41AM GMT 27 Dec 2008
The National Trust saw plants emerge early because of a warm spring only to be washed out by a wet summer.
Poor weather led to a bad breeding season for birds and mammals due to a lack of insects. Scientists blamed climate change and said further extreme weather could wipe out many species altogether.
Matthew Oates, the National Trust nature conservation adviser, said a warm January and February brought out plants and encouraged birds to nest early.
However, the spring and summer was cold and wet, meaning there were fewer insects to pollinate plants or for birds to feed on.
By the autumn the wet weather meant a profusion of colour as the leaves turned and flowers bloomed early but a cold snap killed off more bees. Winter was mild, but species such as bats will struggle to survive because of the lack of feeding earlier in the year. Mr Oates said many species could not survive another poor spring and summer.
"A cold late spring, a wet summer, with few sunny days, and the long dry autumn has shown how dependent our wildlife is on the weather," he said. "Many species closely associated with the four seasons are having to cope with higher incidents of poor weather as our climate becomes more unpredictable.
"After two very poor years in a row we desperately need a good summer in 2009. Climate change is not some future prediction of what might happen, it's happening now."
Already daffodils are out in Guernsey this Christmas and spring flowers are expected to come out earlier.
Dr Tim Sparks, a climate change specialist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said Britain would experience warmer, drier summers and wet, mild winters, which could mean an increase in invasive species. He said: "The likelihood is we will gain species from the south and lose more vulnerable native species."
Money in old coal
Drax, which produces about 8 per cent of Britain's electricity, might seem an odd choice for a stock tip. One of Europe's dirtiest coal plants, it churns out millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. With Europe planning a tougher carbon emissions trading scheme in 2012, the theory is that such dirty plants will be gradually priced out of the market. But power station owners, and the government, are scared stiff about Britain's looming generation gap - by 2015 many older coal plants will be shut down because they do not comply with EU laws on air quality. The word is that the industry will ask the government for an exemption to keep the old coal plants open. Drax, which already complies with these EU rules, would quite rightly cry foul and expect some compensation in return - for example some easing of the carbon penalties it must pay under the EU trading scheme. It may not be good for the environment, but expect some haggling from the coal power lobby in the next year or two. With the government not wanting to risk blackouts, expect the likes of Drax to get their way.
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Targeting the Wasteful, Activists Seek End to California's Waste Board
By JIM CARLTON
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has repeatedly scolded state legislators for not doing enough to resolve California's budget deficit, which now stands at nearly $15 billion and which he said could balloon to more than $40 billion over the next two years.
Yet activists say the governor and other lawmakers continue to practice patronage politics that keeps questionable spending on the books. A prime example, they say, is the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
Last month, the Republican governor appointed former state Sen. Carole Migden to a $132,000-a-year seat on the waste-management board, an obscure panel that many critics say serves chiefly as a landing spot for out-of-work politicians. Ms. Migden, a Democrat, was trounced in her bid for re-election following a series of scandals including being fined $350,000 for state campaign-finance violations.
Mr. Schwarzenegger nearly three years ago appointed his former director of scheduling, Margo Reid Brown, to the board, which she now heads.
Leaders of the Democrat-controlled Assembly and Senate appointed two other former state legislators to the waste board last month after they were forced out of office by term limits. The governor gets to appoint the four other members of the six-person board.
"It's become a senior-fellow program for favored legislators," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a public-advocacy group based in Santa Monica.
One main function of the waste board is to oversee California's trash disposal, including approving permits to open or expand a municipal dump. But some groups say its duties could easily be folded into the California Environmental Protection Agency.
Jon Myers, a spokesman for the waste board -- who said he would have to speak on behalf of Ms. Migden, Ms. Brown and the two other newest board appointees, former state Sen. Sheila Kuehl and former Assemblyman John Laird -- disagreed that the job is redundant. He also said the board members themselves do a lot of work.
Lisa Page, a spokeswoman for Mr. Schwarzenegger, said the governor agrees the waste board is a waste -- even though he has appointed members to allow for a quorum to conduct business. "He agrees with those who have said this board should be eliminated, and will propose this again in his January budget," Ms. Page said.
The waste board is one of dozens of boards and commissions in California that consumer advocates say should be abolished because they serve no vital purpose. There are boards for barbers, landscape architects, court reporters and auto dealers. Advocacy groups managed to get rid of one for dry cleaners, and stopped the legislature from setting up ones that would have overseen aerobics instructors and astrologers.
Most board members are paid a per diem fee that often doesn't exceed $1,000 a year, and the boards' budgets are relatively small. The waste board's budget of $200 million, for example, pales next to California's overall general-fund budget of $104.3 billion.
Critics of the boards -- mainly consumer groups and many Republican lawmakers, who say they squander tax money -- say the spending looks bad when lawmakers are taking the ax to budgets of schools, social programs and other services. They also say the boards add a layer of bureaucracy to doing business.
"The savings from abolishing a lot of these boards would be an easier entry to business and cheaper prices for goods and services," says Bob Fellmeth, director of the Center for Public Interest Law, a consumer-advocacy group based at the University of San Diego School of Law.
In 2004, Mr. Schwarzenegger recommended killing off 88 boards and commissions -- including the waste board -- after ordering a review that found most redundant with other state and local bodies or simply not needed. But he withdrew the proposal after fierce criticism from legislators and public-interest groups.
In the waste board's case, there has been widespread agreement that it should go. According to the California Performance Review the governor ordered, one of the board's chief functions -- acting as final authority on solid-waste permits -- is adequately handled through a thorough vetting by local agencies.
Some lawmakers, including several Democratic leaders, defend the board, as do groups that work to ensure public access to and oversight of government workings. The waste board's Mr. Myers said board members play a key oversight role, meet as many as four times a month and often inspect facilities whose permits they are considering.
Mr. Myers added that the board helps set the tone for what he called California's national leadership in recycling.
Write to Jim Carlton at jim.carlton@wsj.com
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has repeatedly scolded state legislators for not doing enough to resolve California's budget deficit, which now stands at nearly $15 billion and which he said could balloon to more than $40 billion over the next two years.
Yet activists say the governor and other lawmakers continue to practice patronage politics that keeps questionable spending on the books. A prime example, they say, is the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
Last month, the Republican governor appointed former state Sen. Carole Migden to a $132,000-a-year seat on the waste-management board, an obscure panel that many critics say serves chiefly as a landing spot for out-of-work politicians. Ms. Migden, a Democrat, was trounced in her bid for re-election following a series of scandals including being fined $350,000 for state campaign-finance violations.
Mr. Schwarzenegger nearly three years ago appointed his former director of scheduling, Margo Reid Brown, to the board, which she now heads.
Leaders of the Democrat-controlled Assembly and Senate appointed two other former state legislators to the waste board last month after they were forced out of office by term limits. The governor gets to appoint the four other members of the six-person board.
"It's become a senior-fellow program for favored legislators," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a public-advocacy group based in Santa Monica.
One main function of the waste board is to oversee California's trash disposal, including approving permits to open or expand a municipal dump. But some groups say its duties could easily be folded into the California Environmental Protection Agency.
Jon Myers, a spokesman for the waste board -- who said he would have to speak on behalf of Ms. Migden, Ms. Brown and the two other newest board appointees, former state Sen. Sheila Kuehl and former Assemblyman John Laird -- disagreed that the job is redundant. He also said the board members themselves do a lot of work.
Lisa Page, a spokeswoman for Mr. Schwarzenegger, said the governor agrees the waste board is a waste -- even though he has appointed members to allow for a quorum to conduct business. "He agrees with those who have said this board should be eliminated, and will propose this again in his January budget," Ms. Page said.
The waste board is one of dozens of boards and commissions in California that consumer advocates say should be abolished because they serve no vital purpose. There are boards for barbers, landscape architects, court reporters and auto dealers. Advocacy groups managed to get rid of one for dry cleaners, and stopped the legislature from setting up ones that would have overseen aerobics instructors and astrologers.
Most board members are paid a per diem fee that often doesn't exceed $1,000 a year, and the boards' budgets are relatively small. The waste board's budget of $200 million, for example, pales next to California's overall general-fund budget of $104.3 billion.
Critics of the boards -- mainly consumer groups and many Republican lawmakers, who say they squander tax money -- say the spending looks bad when lawmakers are taking the ax to budgets of schools, social programs and other services. They also say the boards add a layer of bureaucracy to doing business.
"The savings from abolishing a lot of these boards would be an easier entry to business and cheaper prices for goods and services," says Bob Fellmeth, director of the Center for Public Interest Law, a consumer-advocacy group based at the University of San Diego School of Law.
In 2004, Mr. Schwarzenegger recommended killing off 88 boards and commissions -- including the waste board -- after ordering a review that found most redundant with other state and local bodies or simply not needed. But he withdrew the proposal after fierce criticism from legislators and public-interest groups.
In the waste board's case, there has been widespread agreement that it should go. According to the California Performance Review the governor ordered, one of the board's chief functions -- acting as final authority on solid-waste permits -- is adequately handled through a thorough vetting by local agencies.
Some lawmakers, including several Democratic leaders, defend the board, as do groups that work to ensure public access to and oversight of government workings. The waste board's Mr. Myers said board members play a key oversight role, meet as many as four times a month and often inspect facilities whose permits they are considering.
Mr. Myers added that the board helps set the tone for what he called California's national leadership in recycling.
Write to Jim Carlton at jim.carlton@wsj.com
In technology, an effort to help the Japanese fishing industry
By Martin Fackler
Published: December 26, 2008
OTOSHIBE, Japan: The Shinei Maru No. 66 looks like the dozens of other fishing boats moored in this Japanese harbor. But its builders say it is the world's first hybrid fishing trawler. Switching between oil and electrical power for propulsion, it uses as much as one-third less fuel than conventional boats.
"It's like a Prius for the sea," said Tadatoshi Ikeuchi, 62, the boat's owner and captain.
Until very recently, commercial fishermen around the world have been laboring under the weight of high fuel prices. In Europe earlier this year, fishermen expressed their frustration by blockading ports to protest prices and taxes. In the United States, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, the former Republican vice presidential nominee, has called for low-interest loans to help Alaskan fishermen buy fuel-efficient engines.
Japan, meanwhile, is searching for high-technology solutions. The hybrid boat engine, which is still a prototype, is part of a multimillion-dollar government-led effort to rescue the Japanese fishing industry from energy costs, which are likely to resume their increase once the global recession ends and demand revives.
As part of the two-year-old program, the Japanese are also testing biofueled marine engines, computer-engineered propeller designs and low-energy LED lights on squid boats, which use bright lights to lure their catch.
There is a vast international market for such solutions. Many Japanese boat engines that use computers to improve fuel efficiency are already popular with American fishermen. And Yamanaka, the Tokyo-based maker of the hybrid engine for the trawler, which is called the Fish Eco, says the United States and Europe are large potential markets.
The Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry in Japan, which has led development of the new technologies, will subsidize their introduction as part of a $700 million aid package announced in July to help the fishing industry.
Modernization of this ancient profession seems the natural answer here to the commercial fishing crisis, which predates the steep rise (and recent fall) of fuel prices. Japan gave the world both sushi and the hybrid car. But fishermen say they doubt the effort will be enough to break the deep sense of malaise that has started to afflict fishing communities like this one in northern Japan.
After decades of sending its fleets to the far corners of the globe, and paying high prices for tuna and other premium fish for sashimi in global markets, Japan appears to many to be letting its fishing industry sink. The number of commercial fishermen has shrunk by 27 percent in the past decade, to 204,330 last year, hurt by declining birthrates and migration of young people to the cities, according to the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, an industry group representing fishermen.
The federation warns that rising fuel costs could prompt an additional 25,000 to 45,000 fishermen to hang up their nets. Before the recent decline in prices, boat fuel, known as heavy fuel oil, accounted for 20 percent to 30 percent of a fisherman's total costs in Japan, almost double the proportion three years ago.
The fishermen cannot pass on the increase to consumers in the form of higher seafood prices for fear of losing sales to less expensive imports from competitors like China and Vietnam.
They also worry that higher seafood prices would only intensify the shift in Japanese consumer tastes away from a traditional seafood-centered diet - a trend known as "sakana banare," or flight from fish.
"Higher fish prices will just encourage Japanese to eat more hamburgers and fried chicken," said Nobuhiro Nagaya, a managing director at the fisheries federation.
The average Japanese eats about 94 grams, or 3.3 ounces, of fish a day.
Gloomy sentiments about the future of Japan's industry are shared by officials at the Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry.
While their multimillion-dollar projects recall the government-orchestrated technology drives of previous decades, when Japan rose to global dominance in industries like semiconductors and supercomputers, officials express far more modest expectations today in an era of tight budgets.
"Technology cannot be the only answer," said Kazuo Hiraishi, an assistant chief in the ministry's maritime technology research division. "But Japan's excellence in electronics and energy-saving should be of some help to our fishermen."
While fishermen in countries like France, Spain and Ireland have staged disruptive demonstrations, protests in Japan have been more sedate, though still large.
Last summer about 200,000 fishing boats stayed in port on a one-day strike, and thousands of fishermen gathered for a rally in Tokyo.
The government responded two weeks later with the $700 million aid package, under which it promised to pay 90 percent of fuel price increases since December, but only to fishermen who found ways to reduce their consumption. The package also contained subsidies to help fishermen buy efficient new engines, like the hybrid.
A $250,000 subsidy from the Agriculture Ministry, for example, meant that Ikeuchi, the hybrid boat's captain, paid only $650,000 for the trawler, the same price as for a conventional boat.
Ikeuchi said his fuel use had dropped to about 285 liters a day, or 75 gallons, cutting his daily bill by about $100.
The propulsion system switches between a 650-horsepower heavy oil motor, which powers the main engine, and a 150-horsepower heavy oil motor, which turns a generator that runs a smaller electric engine for use when the boat moves slowly.
When Ikeuchi showed off the boat, which he uses to hunt for scallops, Pacific cod and kelp, the only visible difference from other boats in this small, man-made harbor was its dashboard, with small touch-controlled screens - high-tech devices for a craft made mostly of traditional-looking wood and steel.
Still, many fishermen who walked over to take a peek at the boat doubted it would be enough to save their industry.
Published: December 26, 2008
OTOSHIBE, Japan: The Shinei Maru No. 66 looks like the dozens of other fishing boats moored in this Japanese harbor. But its builders say it is the world's first hybrid fishing trawler. Switching between oil and electrical power for propulsion, it uses as much as one-third less fuel than conventional boats.
"It's like a Prius for the sea," said Tadatoshi Ikeuchi, 62, the boat's owner and captain.
Until very recently, commercial fishermen around the world have been laboring under the weight of high fuel prices. In Europe earlier this year, fishermen expressed their frustration by blockading ports to protest prices and taxes. In the United States, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, the former Republican vice presidential nominee, has called for low-interest loans to help Alaskan fishermen buy fuel-efficient engines.
Japan, meanwhile, is searching for high-technology solutions. The hybrid boat engine, which is still a prototype, is part of a multimillion-dollar government-led effort to rescue the Japanese fishing industry from energy costs, which are likely to resume their increase once the global recession ends and demand revives.
As part of the two-year-old program, the Japanese are also testing biofueled marine engines, computer-engineered propeller designs and low-energy LED lights on squid boats, which use bright lights to lure their catch.
There is a vast international market for such solutions. Many Japanese boat engines that use computers to improve fuel efficiency are already popular with American fishermen. And Yamanaka, the Tokyo-based maker of the hybrid engine for the trawler, which is called the Fish Eco, says the United States and Europe are large potential markets.
The Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry in Japan, which has led development of the new technologies, will subsidize their introduction as part of a $700 million aid package announced in July to help the fishing industry.
Modernization of this ancient profession seems the natural answer here to the commercial fishing crisis, which predates the steep rise (and recent fall) of fuel prices. Japan gave the world both sushi and the hybrid car. But fishermen say they doubt the effort will be enough to break the deep sense of malaise that has started to afflict fishing communities like this one in northern Japan.
After decades of sending its fleets to the far corners of the globe, and paying high prices for tuna and other premium fish for sashimi in global markets, Japan appears to many to be letting its fishing industry sink. The number of commercial fishermen has shrunk by 27 percent in the past decade, to 204,330 last year, hurt by declining birthrates and migration of young people to the cities, according to the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, an industry group representing fishermen.
The federation warns that rising fuel costs could prompt an additional 25,000 to 45,000 fishermen to hang up their nets. Before the recent decline in prices, boat fuel, known as heavy fuel oil, accounted for 20 percent to 30 percent of a fisherman's total costs in Japan, almost double the proportion three years ago.
The fishermen cannot pass on the increase to consumers in the form of higher seafood prices for fear of losing sales to less expensive imports from competitors like China and Vietnam.
They also worry that higher seafood prices would only intensify the shift in Japanese consumer tastes away from a traditional seafood-centered diet - a trend known as "sakana banare," or flight from fish.
"Higher fish prices will just encourage Japanese to eat more hamburgers and fried chicken," said Nobuhiro Nagaya, a managing director at the fisheries federation.
The average Japanese eats about 94 grams, or 3.3 ounces, of fish a day.
Gloomy sentiments about the future of Japan's industry are shared by officials at the Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry.
While their multimillion-dollar projects recall the government-orchestrated technology drives of previous decades, when Japan rose to global dominance in industries like semiconductors and supercomputers, officials express far more modest expectations today in an era of tight budgets.
"Technology cannot be the only answer," said Kazuo Hiraishi, an assistant chief in the ministry's maritime technology research division. "But Japan's excellence in electronics and energy-saving should be of some help to our fishermen."
While fishermen in countries like France, Spain and Ireland have staged disruptive demonstrations, protests in Japan have been more sedate, though still large.
Last summer about 200,000 fishing boats stayed in port on a one-day strike, and thousands of fishermen gathered for a rally in Tokyo.
The government responded two weeks later with the $700 million aid package, under which it promised to pay 90 percent of fuel price increases since December, but only to fishermen who found ways to reduce their consumption. The package also contained subsidies to help fishermen buy efficient new engines, like the hybrid.
A $250,000 subsidy from the Agriculture Ministry, for example, meant that Ikeuchi, the hybrid boat's captain, paid only $650,000 for the trawler, the same price as for a conventional boat.
Ikeuchi said his fuel use had dropped to about 285 liters a day, or 75 gallons, cutting his daily bill by about $100.
The propulsion system switches between a 650-horsepower heavy oil motor, which powers the main engine, and a 150-horsepower heavy oil motor, which turns a generator that runs a smaller electric engine for use when the boat moves slowly.
When Ikeuchi showed off the boat, which he uses to hunt for scallops, Pacific cod and kelp, the only visible difference from other boats in this small, man-made harbor was its dashboard, with small touch-controlled screens - high-tech devices for a craft made mostly of traditional-looking wood and steel.
Still, many fishermen who walked over to take a peek at the boat doubted it would be enough to save their industry.
Winter cold puts a chill on green energy
By Kate Galbraith
Published: December 26, 2008
Old Man Winter, it turns out, is no friend of renewable energy.
This time of year, wind turbine blades ice up, biodiesel congeals in tanks and solar panels produce less power because there is not as much sun. And perhaps most irritating to the people who own them, the panels become covered with snow, rendering them useless even in bright winter sunshine.
So in regions where homeowners have long rolled their eyes at shoveling driveways, add another cold-weather chore: cleaning off the solar panels. "At least I can get to them with a long pole and a squeegee," said Alan Stankevitz, a homeowner in southeast Minnesota.
As concern has grown about global warming, many utilities and homeowners have been trying to shrink their emissions of carbon dioxide — their carbon footprints — by installing solar panels, wind turbines and even generators powered by tides or rivers. But for the moment, at least, the planet is still cold enough to deal nasty winter blows to some of this green machinery.
In January 2007, a bus stalled in the middle of the night on Interstate 70 in the Colorado mountains. The culprit was a 20 percent biodiesel blend that congealed in the freezing weather, according to John Jones, the transit director for the bus line, Summit Stage. (Biodiesel is a diesel substitute, typically made from vegetable oil, that is used to displace some fossil fuels.)
The passengers got out of that situation intact, but Summit Stage, which serves ski resorts, now avoids biodiesel from November to March, and uses only a 5 percent blend in the summertime, when it can still get cold in the mountains. "We can't have people sitting on buses freezing to death while we get out there trying to get them restarted," Jones said.
Winter may pose even bigger safety hazards in the vicinity of wind turbines. Some observers say the machines can hurl chunks of ice as they rotate.
"It's like you throw a plate out there and that plate breaks," said Ralph Brokaw, a cattle rancher in southeast Wyoming who has 69 wind turbines on his property. When his turbines ice up, he stays out of the way.
The wind industry admits that turbines can drop ice, like a lamppost or any tall structure. To ameliorate the hazard, some turbines are painted black to absorb sunlight and melt the ice faster. But Ron Stimmel, an expert on small wind turbines at the American Wind Energy Association, denies that the whirling blades tend to hurl icy javelins.
Large turbines turn off automatically as ice builds up, and small turbines will slow and stop because the ice prevents them from spinning — "just like a plane's wing needs to be de-iced to fly," Stimmel said.
Brokaw says that his turbines do turn off when they are too icy, but the danger sometimes comes right before the turbines shut down, after a wet, warm snow causes ice buildup.
From the standpoint of generating power, winter is actually good for wind turbines, because it is generally windier than summer. In Vermont, for example, Green Mountain Power, which operates a small wind farm in the southeastern part of the state, gets more than twice the monthly production in winter as in August.
The opposite is true, however, for solar power. Days are shorter and the sun is lower in the sky during the winter, ensuring less power production.
Even in northern California, with mild winters and little snow, solar panels can generate about half as much as in the summer, depending on how much they are tilted, according to Rob Erlichman, chief executive of Sunlight Electric, a San Francisco solar company.
Operators of the electrical grid do not worry much about the seasonal swings, because the percentage of production from renewable energy is still so low — around 1 percent of the country's power comes from wind, and less from solar panels. In addition, Americans use slightly less electricity in the winter than in the summer because air conditioners are not running. This is especially true in sunny areas, so solar panels' peak production matches the spikes in demand.
But as renewable energy becomes a bigger part of the nation's power mix, the seasonable variability could become more of a problem. Already, power developers are learning that they must make careful plans to avoid the worst impacts of ice and snow.
Trey Taylor, the president of Verdant Power, which has put small turbines in the tidal East River in New York City and plans more for the St. Lawrence River in Canada, said that ice chunks could slide over one another "like a deck of cards," pushing ice below and harming turbines. That may rule out parts of otherwise promising sites like the Yukon River in Alaska, he said.
Kevin Devlin, the vice president for operations of Iberdrola Renewables, a wind developer, said that winter was probably the hardest time of year to maintain turbines, because workers must go out in snow and ice. Occasionally, he said, the turbines will shut down or set off alarms if it is too cold, and workers must brave the elements to fix them.
For homeowners, the upkeep of their power sources can also be a bother.
Stankevitz keeps his panels tilted 40 degrees or higher, but they still become covered with snow — and experts say that if even one cell in a panel is covered, the panel will not produce power.
On the other hand, the panels can get extra power from sunlight reflected off nearby snow. And like other electronic gear, solar panels work better when cold.
Stankevitz said that on some rare winter days, when the Minnesota sky is clear, the weather is freezing and the sun is shining brightly, his panels can briefly churn out more electricity than they were designed to produce, more than on the balmiest days of summer.
Published: December 26, 2008
Old Man Winter, it turns out, is no friend of renewable energy.
This time of year, wind turbine blades ice up, biodiesel congeals in tanks and solar panels produce less power because there is not as much sun. And perhaps most irritating to the people who own them, the panels become covered with snow, rendering them useless even in bright winter sunshine.
So in regions where homeowners have long rolled their eyes at shoveling driveways, add another cold-weather chore: cleaning off the solar panels. "At least I can get to them with a long pole and a squeegee," said Alan Stankevitz, a homeowner in southeast Minnesota.
As concern has grown about global warming, many utilities and homeowners have been trying to shrink their emissions of carbon dioxide — their carbon footprints — by installing solar panels, wind turbines and even generators powered by tides or rivers. But for the moment, at least, the planet is still cold enough to deal nasty winter blows to some of this green machinery.
In January 2007, a bus stalled in the middle of the night on Interstate 70 in the Colorado mountains. The culprit was a 20 percent biodiesel blend that congealed in the freezing weather, according to John Jones, the transit director for the bus line, Summit Stage. (Biodiesel is a diesel substitute, typically made from vegetable oil, that is used to displace some fossil fuels.)
The passengers got out of that situation intact, but Summit Stage, which serves ski resorts, now avoids biodiesel from November to March, and uses only a 5 percent blend in the summertime, when it can still get cold in the mountains. "We can't have people sitting on buses freezing to death while we get out there trying to get them restarted," Jones said.
Winter may pose even bigger safety hazards in the vicinity of wind turbines. Some observers say the machines can hurl chunks of ice as they rotate.
"It's like you throw a plate out there and that plate breaks," said Ralph Brokaw, a cattle rancher in southeast Wyoming who has 69 wind turbines on his property. When his turbines ice up, he stays out of the way.
The wind industry admits that turbines can drop ice, like a lamppost or any tall structure. To ameliorate the hazard, some turbines are painted black to absorb sunlight and melt the ice faster. But Ron Stimmel, an expert on small wind turbines at the American Wind Energy Association, denies that the whirling blades tend to hurl icy javelins.
Large turbines turn off automatically as ice builds up, and small turbines will slow and stop because the ice prevents them from spinning — "just like a plane's wing needs to be de-iced to fly," Stimmel said.
Brokaw says that his turbines do turn off when they are too icy, but the danger sometimes comes right before the turbines shut down, after a wet, warm snow causes ice buildup.
From the standpoint of generating power, winter is actually good for wind turbines, because it is generally windier than summer. In Vermont, for example, Green Mountain Power, which operates a small wind farm in the southeastern part of the state, gets more than twice the monthly production in winter as in August.
The opposite is true, however, for solar power. Days are shorter and the sun is lower in the sky during the winter, ensuring less power production.
Even in northern California, with mild winters and little snow, solar panels can generate about half as much as in the summer, depending on how much they are tilted, according to Rob Erlichman, chief executive of Sunlight Electric, a San Francisco solar company.
Operators of the electrical grid do not worry much about the seasonal swings, because the percentage of production from renewable energy is still so low — around 1 percent of the country's power comes from wind, and less from solar panels. In addition, Americans use slightly less electricity in the winter than in the summer because air conditioners are not running. This is especially true in sunny areas, so solar panels' peak production matches the spikes in demand.
But as renewable energy becomes a bigger part of the nation's power mix, the seasonable variability could become more of a problem. Already, power developers are learning that they must make careful plans to avoid the worst impacts of ice and snow.
Trey Taylor, the president of Verdant Power, which has put small turbines in the tidal East River in New York City and plans more for the St. Lawrence River in Canada, said that ice chunks could slide over one another "like a deck of cards," pushing ice below and harming turbines. That may rule out parts of otherwise promising sites like the Yukon River in Alaska, he said.
Kevin Devlin, the vice president for operations of Iberdrola Renewables, a wind developer, said that winter was probably the hardest time of year to maintain turbines, because workers must go out in snow and ice. Occasionally, he said, the turbines will shut down or set off alarms if it is too cold, and workers must brave the elements to fix them.
For homeowners, the upkeep of their power sources can also be a bother.
Stankevitz keeps his panels tilted 40 degrees or higher, but they still become covered with snow — and experts say that if even one cell in a panel is covered, the panel will not produce power.
On the other hand, the panels can get extra power from sunlight reflected off nearby snow. And like other electronic gear, solar panels work better when cold.
Stankevitz said that on some rare winter days, when the Minnesota sky is clear, the weather is freezing and the sun is shining brightly, his panels can briefly churn out more electricity than they were designed to produce, more than on the balmiest days of summer.
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