Endangered bus services get an extra £130m

Barry White

Regional bus services in England including many in Yorkshire that were at risk, have been given a reprieve after yesterday’s government announcement of £130m for at least six months. Many services faced being cut back when Covid grants which supported services during the pandemic, expired at the start of October. The Department for Transport said it would provide further support to ensure that services keep running until March 2023.

Continue reading “Endangered bus services get an extra £130m”

Soaring electricity prices brings explosive demand for solar panels

Patrick Collinson The Guardian 20 August 2022.

British households are racing to install roof-top solar electricity panels amid huge energy price rises, with installers saying demand has “exploded”. Simon Dudson, the chief executive of the Little Green Energy Company, which serves London and south-east England, says: “It’s absolutely crazy times. It’s unprecedented. We have had a 400-500% increase in business.”

The soaring price of electricity means a domestic solar panel system can now pay for itself in as little as seven years, and the way things are going, that could go down to five years. About a year ago, installers were saying the “payback” period was 15 years or more. Then there are the environmental benefits of solar panels.

Continue reading “Soaring electricity prices brings explosive demand for solar panels”

The food price squeeze – what is to be done?

Barry White

A food charity which campaigns for a sustainable food system which delivers health and well-being for all has recently produced a 4 point plan for the cost of living crisis. With inflation running at 9.4% (consumer price index for June) and the rate is expected to rise past 13 % in the coming months, The Food Foundation’s (https://foodfoundation.org.uk/ ) plan is very timely.

It points out that food and non-alcoholic drinks prices rose by 6.7% between April 2021 and April 2022, while household food insecurity rates between October 2021 and April 2022 were 60% higher than during the first six months of the Covid pandemic.

Continue reading “The food price squeeze – what is to be done?”

Cumbria coalmine decision delayed again

Barry White

As was likely given the forthcoming changes at the top of government, the decision on the UK’s first new deep coalmine in more than thirty years has been delayed. As reported (see: http://acesettleandarea.org/cumbrian-coal-mine-decision-delayed/) a decision was expected this Wednesday, but after the Westminster upheavals which also resulted in Michael Gove Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities being sacked by the outgoing Prime minister, it was unlikely that any decision would be made until after well after the new government takes office early next month.

Last week the Department wrote to Friends of the Earth (see: https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/coal-mine-decision-delayed-again) stating that a decision on whether or not to grant planning permission for the controversial new coal mine had been further delayed until “on or before 8 November 2022”.

Continue reading “Cumbria coalmine decision delayed again”

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial