Axe looms for top green quangos
A Cabinet Office list which was leaked to The Daily Telegraph this week reveals that the UK's most powerful green quangos are still in danger of being scrapped or merged as part of the Government’s upcoming spending review. Defra emerges as the department most affected by the proposed cuts, with more than 50 bodies set to be abolished. The list reveals that the Renewable Advisory Board is facing the axe, while the Carbon Trust, the Environment Agency and the Energy Savings Trust are still under review.

Our CEO Juliet Davenport, a RAB member, spoke to Business Green about the issue, commenting, "As times change, Government quangos need to change too. The Renewable Advisory Board has done some excellent work historically but going forward its existence is neither here nor there. What is important is that the Government listens to and engages with the renewable industry to deliver the goal of decarbonising the energy sector … [and] deliver the renewable renaissance Chris Huhne talked about at the party conference."

Our Managing Director Barney Rhys Jones added: "Activists and campaign groups need to seize the initiative to ensure that the 'big society' delivers on its potential but as yet undefined promise. Big society is the idea driving many of these cost saving measures – so we must play an active role in defining what follows. As it looks unlikely the government will spend much money on it, volunteers with ideas will be welcome to fill the vacuum."

Green businesses leap to defend DECC from Treasury takeover
Chris Huhne has been fighting the Treasury this week in an attempt to maintain the integrity of his climate department. Our CEO Juliet Davenport joined other green business and trade body representatives this week to warn that controversial proposals to move the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to the Treasury would undermine the effectiveness of the department and represent a “backward step” for the UK’s low-carbon economy.

“If the Government is serious about achieving any of its targets on renewable energy and climate change, it would be mad to put DECC in with the Treasury. The Treasury has undermined work on climate change for the past 10 years and we have only just begun to see progress [since DECC was formed],” Juliet said.

“If DECC needs to share offices with anyone it would make far more sense to put DECC and the Department of Transport together as meeting EU targets on emissions will require the UK to electrify our transport system, something they could work together on,” she added.

No Fair Deal for Energy Entrepreneurs
After many months of campaigning on behalf of our microgeneration early adopters for a fairer deal on the Feed-in Tariff we at last got an answer from Chris Huhne. Unfortunately it wasn’t the answer we were pressing for. “I considered the issue carefully on a value-for-money basis,” Chris Huhne said, “and I am afraid that the advice from my officials was clearly that we cannot introduce retrospection in such cases because it does not represent value for money. We are trying to introduce new schemes in future, and therefore, sadly, the only incentive and payback that people get is the warm glow of being pioneers.”

Good Energy CEO Juliet Davenport commented to The Guardian on the decision saying: “The UK microgeneration industry owes its existence to these early adopters who installed their own generation equipment because they wanted to make a difference to climate change. Many invested their life savings in such schemes because they believed it was the right thing to do – they deserve to be recognised and rewarded for their entrepreneurial attitude, not penalised.”

The world’s largest wind farm opens off the coast of Kent
Britain is set to generate more energy from offshore wind than the rest of the planet put together, after the opening of the world’s largest ocean wind farm off the coast of Kent. And it is great to see a world leading development from the UK.

The UK is determined to get out of the "dunce corner" on renewables, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said on Thursday as he officially opened the wind farm. The 100-turbine Thanet wind farm will produce enough electricity to supply the equivalent of more than 200,000 homes a year, and brings the UK's total power from onshore and offshore wind to more than 5GW - enough to power all the homes in Scotland.

Chris Huhne spoke of his goal for the UK to go through a “renewable renaissance without parallel in Europe” at the Liberal Democrat party conference this week. Bold developments in renewable energy provision such as Thanet wind farm are vital to achieving a homegrown future.

Turbine giants take on slow wind challenge
Encouraging news this week that wind farm developers could soon receive a major boost with the emergence of a new generation of wind turbines that promise to deliver outputs even at low wind speeds.

Vestas announced yesterday that it has received its first European order for the much-hyped V112 turbine – specifically designed to operate in less windy conditions – while US engineering giant General Electric (GE) this week unveiled two new turbine designs which the company claims will lead to increased energy output at low speeds.

A low carbon future depends on continued innovation in the renewable energy sector to allow us to tap into local resources with a variety of technologies.