Energy

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have accidentally discovered a potentially profitable means of converting carbon dioxide into ethanol.  The team used a catalyst made of carbon, copper and nitrogen and applied voltage to trigger a complicated chemical reaction that essentially reverses the combustion process. …

Potential investors in UK fracking were recently advised that IGas Energy plc has a staggering 11 trillion cubic feet of recoverable UK shale gas within its portfolio.  The claim comes after an assessment by “independent” consultants DeGolyer & MacNaughton, which claims that there is a total of 102 trillion cubic …

National Grid has managed to increase the projected margin between energy supply and demand to 6.6 percent for the winter of 2016/17.  This has been achieved by spending more than £140m on additional back-up diesel generators together with extending the operating life of the Eggborough coal power plant in North …

According to government energy statistics for May to July 2016, just 5.3 percent of the UK’s electricity was generated from coal.  According to the government, this is a record low, meaning that generation from solar is now greater than from coal. Unfortunately, at 17.4 percent, renewable energy was down – …

Despite continuing low oil prices having all but bankrupted the fracking industry, North Sea oil and gas production just hit a 15 year high.  According to Emily Gosden in the Telegraph: “Oil and Gas UK said it expected last year’s 10.4pc increase in production – the first rise in 15 …

In a glowing article for the Falkirk Herald, Stuart Barber makes some remarkably optimistic claims about the future of the Ineos refinery in Grangemouth: “In five days time a cargo ship the length of two football pitches will dock at the Ineos jetty in Grangemouth to off load nearly one …

There is something very wrong in the world when climate campaigners find themselves on the same side of an energy debate as arch climate change denier Lord Lawson.  That, however, is exactly where we find ourselves following the government’s insane decision to proceed with the nuclear power plant at Hinkley …

In the run up to last year’s general election, following a complaint from Labour peer Lord Lipsey, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)  banned a Greenpeace advertisement which claimed that: “Fracking threatens our climate, our countryside and our water. Yet experts agree – it won’t cut our energy bills.” According to …

There are some things that you simply cannot say without producing howls of outrage.  Here’s one of them: you will not solve the problem of climate change even if you generate all of the world’s electricity from renewables.  The truth of this statement is self-evident if you take the trouble …

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has given the go-ahead for the MeyGen tidal energy project in the Pentland Firth between the Orkney Islands and the mainland.  The scheme, which initially involves deploying 86 1MW offshore tidal stream turbines, is expected to generate up to 398MW by the early 2020s. The …