Action on climate emergency
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 …
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 …
Their profit – our loss is clear as the Norwegian state owner of the Rosebank oilfield off Shetlands has announced that it made £24 billion in global profits last year and plans to cut billions from its spending on green energy. At the end of January a Scottish court ruled that the earlier consent for …
Energy storage schemes planned for North Yorkshire, which would mean that the county could become a major provider of renewal energy storage in a £10bn plan to create 20% of UK battery energy storage in the county. Plans are being prepared for two systems on farmland, the Yorkshire Post reported on Saturday 30th November. Last …
Rosebank back in court as Shell has won a landmark case in the Dutch courts, overturning a 2021 ruling requiring it to cut its carbon emissions by 45%. Ironically the ruling came as the UN climate talks (COP 29), involving some 200 countries, started in Azerbaijan earlier today. The Hague court of appeal said it …
No more subsidies for Drax. Fossil Free North Yorkshire (FFNY) along with other environmental groups have called on Ed Miliband Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero not to agree any extension of subsidies for tree burning power stations at Drax in Selby and Lynemouth in Northumberland. In a letter to the Secretary …
Drax to pay fine of £25m after it was found to have failed to report accurate data on the type of material it burned at its site in North Yorkshire. As previously reported on this web site, Britain’s biggest power station, which provides about 5% of the UK’s electricity, receives large government subsidies for burning …
Drax the largest CO2 emitter was responsible for four times more carbon emissions than the UK’s last remaining coal-fired plant last year, despite taking more than £0.5bn in clean-energy subsidies in 2023, Jillian Ambrose the Guardian’s correspondence reported on 9 August. The power station near Selby in North Yorkshire burns wood pellets imported from North …
Will Labour ban new licences? The Guardian reports that following its election victory the Labour government is facing a legal dilemma over plan to impose an immediate ban on new North Sea oil and gas exploration before the industry’s latest licensing round closes. Its election manifesto pledged to the banning of new North Sea exploration …
The ‘dash for gas’ and oil as temperatures soar is reported across media in worrying news that last year was the warmest on record. It is generally accepted that this is a result of human-caused climate change and has also been influenced by the natural El Niño weather event. The news comes just weeks after …