ACE News

Water pollution at record levels

Water pollution at record levels

Water pollution at record levels as a new report from Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) accuses the water industry of falling short of the Environment Agency’s target to reduce pollution incidents. In 2024, water companies in England recorded 2,487 pollution incidents—more than double the target set by the Environment Agency. This marks the highest number in …

Read more

HS2 Bat Tunnel

HS2 bat tunnel

HS2 bat tunnel is more to the fore of environmental protections then you might think. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB) now before parliament which has been framed as the solution to an inefficient planning system supposedly held back by excessive environmental regulations, the HS2 bat tunnel included. But is the real story different? Exactly …

Read more

No coal in Cumbria

No Coal in Cumbria

No coal in Cumbria, as the Whitehaven coalmine’s planning application has been abandoned, ending a process that could have created the UK’s first deep coalmine in 30 years. As previously reported on this web site, the Cumbrian mine was ruled unlawful last September, with the judge agreeing with Friends of the Earth, which brought the …

Read more

Public inquiry into night-time flying

Public enquiry into night-time flying

Public inquiry into night-time flying rules at Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) was held earlier this month. Chaired by an independent planning inspector, the inquiry considered the legal meaning of the night-time flying rules following an appeal by airport chiefs. The outcome is not likely to be announced for several weeks. Currently the airport is permitted …

Read more

Windfall Tax Consultation

Windfall tax consultation

Windfall tax consultation has been launched by the UK government on plans to replace the profits of energy companies from the North Sea when the windfall tax comes to an end in 2030. The windfall tax, first proposed by Labour in 2022 and implemented by the Conservative government to help tackle the cost of living …

Read more

EV charging rollout

EV charging roll out

EV charging rollout, is predicated on the Government overcoming delays. A recent report published by the public accounts committee (PAC) reveals that the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) chargers across Britain is “patchy”, behind deadline and ignores the needs of disabled drivers. The parliamentary committee warned that the charging points needed to give drivers’ confidence …

Read more

Less Carbon Capture Investment

Less carbon capture investment

Less carbon capture investment is to be made by Drax just weeks after the government agreed to pay extra public subsidies worth about half a billion pounds a year to help the company develop its carbon capture project after 2027, as we recently reported. The Drax Group said it will provide less carbon capture investment …

Read more

Drax Carbon Capture and AI

Drax Carbon Capture and AI

Drax carbon capture and AI is now in the news as Artificial Intelligence use is directly responsible for carbon emissions from non-renewable electricity and for the consumption of millions of gallons of fresh water. It also indirectly boosts impacts from building and maintaining the power-hungry equipment on which A.I. runs, as Yale Environment 360 reports. …

Read more

Uncovering a dirty business

Uncovering a dirty business (1)

Uncovering a dirty business as plastics come at an unstainable cost to the environment. They are a ticking time bomb, so writes Alexander Clapp in his latest book ‘Waste Wars’ published on 25 February. In this amazing expose of how and why, for the last forty years, our rubbish has developed a massive global black …

Read more

Changes to Drax Support

No more subsidies for Drax

Changes to Drax support have been announced with the government halving subsidies and insisting that the company uses 100% sustainable wood. Reduced subsidies were announced for the wood-burning power plant Drax this week, with the government claiming the new deal will halve consumer costs and improve sustainability. It also ordered it to use 100% sustainable …

Read more