Green Energy Republic

Earth Hour - how to get ready

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Good FIT or bad FIT?

That’s right, we’re talking about Feed-in Tariffs – an extra payment for green energy generators to give the UK renewables industry the shot in the arm it needs. The right FIT can green up our power and begin decarbonising our economy. The government has made it law that the UK should have a Feed-in Tariff and now it’s time to create something that will work with the UK energy market.

But what kind of support do generators actually need? Do all generators need it? Who will  organise the FIT and most importantly: who is going to pay for it?

Well, Good Energy wants to make sure the UK gets a good FIT, one that works for the generators, administrators and power companies, and one that does grow renewables in the UK. Most importantly, one that doesn’t cost you and me, the energy users, too much money!

So, after plenty of head scratching we‘ve come up with our analysis report Feed-in Tariffs for the UK that looks at various FIT models and how well they will work. We hope you’ll take a look at our ideas and maybe agree with some of our findings. Even better, let us know what you think of our FIT models or throw some questions at us about it in the comments section.

Good Energy Generation Team

Countdown to Copenhagen - An introduction

In December 2009 what's probably the most important environmental event in history will happen. Some 15,000 delegates from across the world will meet in Copenhagen to decide the future of our planet. The “COP15” is a UN summit gathering world leaders, key scientists, environmental campaigners and businesses setting out to replace the Kyoto protocol, to agree upon a document that will bind every nation into taking action against climate change. 

This all sounds rather dramatic doesn’t it? That’s because it is. The event is being recognised as our last chance to curb the devastating effects of climate change. If important and difficult decisions aren’t agreed, and wide scale emission cuts aren’t enforced, the earth is likely to become a merciless place to inhabit. 

What’s on the agenda?

So far, it’s pretty vague. Throughout the year various events, research reports, discussions and meetings will build up to the summit itself. The general aim will be to agree a set of measures along these lines: 

• All developed countries to make severe cuts in their emissions.
• All developing countries to make concerted efforts to reduce CO2, and further development to happen sustainably. (The Kyoto agreement merely required developing countries to begin monitoring emissions.)
• New funding from rich nations to poorer nations to aid sustainable development and adapt to changes already taking place.
• Measures to protect the world’s rainforests and oceans.

A large part of the discussion is likely to revolve around energy, as energy production currently accounts for around a third of the world’s emissions. But energy powers the economy, so reducing emissions will have to be a well thought out process. Companies like Good Energy will be campaigning for the switch to clean renewable energy as part of the solution.

Background

The Kyoto protocol has been successful at raising the profile of climate issues, but not a lot else. The science and projections are out of date, and the enforcements negligable when considering what we’re up against. It doesn’t help that the two biggest emitting countries, the USA and China, refused to sign the original agreement and stick to the rules. Without cooperation from the worst offenders, there’s only so much any climate solution can offer. 

The run up to Copenhagen has been fairly uninspiring. The 2007 conference in Bali resulted mainly in an agreement to have another meeting. The 2008 summit in Poland didn’t amount to much either, with the exception of a few countries like Mexico volunteering drastic cuts off its own back. Perhaps nations were just holding off for the real deal. 

So how will this summit be any different?

Firstly, a sense of environmental urgency is finally emerging in political dialogue. Since Kyoto was signed, climate change theory has evolved from a potential hazard to a reality that has already begun to take shape. Many parts of the world are witnessing profound changes to their environment and weather systems. Marginalised communities in the Himalayas, for example, are experiencing rapidly changing weather conditions causing flooding and landslides, creating huge challenges for their agriculture.  

It wouldn’t be accurate to pinpoint single events as indicative of overall climate change, but extreme cases like Hurricane Katrina and more recently the Australian bush fires have acted as a savage wake up call, and given more political weight to climate science. 

Now that the changing climate has become something tangible, environmentalists are being taken more seriously and scientists are becoming bolder about their predictions. Almost all countries now agree that something urgent and meaningful must be done, even the US and China. With those two at the table we have a much greater chance of success.  

What are we up against?

So nearly everyone agrees on the need to make change. Who’s going to make those changes, and how they’re going to make them gets more complicated. This is where the conference could turn ugly. 

All eyes are on China and the US as the highest emitters. Each has a lot of power to sway whole regions of the world into action, so their positioning will be key. Environmental groups are praying that dialogue won’t be paralysed by the “we won’t do anything unless they do” mentality. The only way we’ll gain anything useful out of the conference is if major players are willing to cooperate, and make sacrifices. 

Make no mistake, this will not be easy. Europe is struggling to define its own energy cooperation at the moment, how will the whole world manage? Even if decisions on which countries are going to make cut backs, how to make them will be the next battle. Agreement on the solutions to climate change, both technological and sociological, will be a tough one to thrash out. 

To make matters worse, time is not on our side. Physical deadlines are pressing fast – we only have until 2015 to let CO2 emissions peak, then they have to be cut by at least 80% by 2050. We cannot underestimate the severity of this challenge.  

To get any meaningful result the conference will need a strong and very persuasive leader. Someone with a superior grasp on climate issues and diplomatic flair. Someone who can pull nations together to cooperate and compromise. 

The UK could be in a good position to take on this role, but any political environmental integrity that Miliband had managed to notch up in the creation of DECC has bee undermined by policy elsewhere in government on Heathrow third runway and the recent bail out of the UK car industry. It seems like this government when it gets down to the nuts and bolts, doesn’t take it seriously and is trying to return to a status quo – very unimaginative.  The UK political leadership needs to consider very carefully the structure of Britain they are putting in place.  

The world is looking to Obama, and with good reason

With clear passion for the environment driven through his Green New Deal policies President Obama, currently enjoying a honeymoon period as the new leader of the free world, is in the perfect negotiating seat. The US needs to show initiative if China is to budge. According to Jim Hansen, head of NASA and vociferous climate campaigner “Barack Obama has four years to save the world.”

What can he achieve?

The level of action needed to quell devastating climate change will mean severe sacrifices for his country, on both a personal and national scale. As the year progresses the measures that we will need to take now to hit targets will become clearer, but it is likely they will involve lifestyle changes across the board, and some tough economic decisions. President Obama will be under huge pressure from his home soil to make sure the sacrifices are not too great. Balancing carbon reductions with the desire for re-election will be a tough call. For Green Energy Republic this will be the truest test of his leadership. The key to it will be persuading the public that the cost of averting climate change now will be far less than the cost of cleaning up the mess that it causes. 

Leaders around the world will be under the same pressure, and unless this point is recognised all that will come out of Copenhagen is another document with half-arsed policies. Another conference with a huge carbon footprint. 

Momentum is starting to gather. Throughout the year we will gain a clearer picture of what will happen at the conference, and what will need to be achieved to stave off dangerous climate change. As energy policies and ideas emerge we’ll follow them closely right here. 

There’ll be a series of actions and events throughout the year that you can join in and campaign with, such as WWFs Earth Hour. We’ll keep you informed. Start today with Friends of the Earth’s Call for Climate Justice at the G20 summit.  

Green Energy Republic

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Earth Hour – lets spread the word bloggers

We know that most energy suppliers won’t be encouraging you to turn your  lights off, because that means less profit for them. But we’re not most energy suppliers. We want everyone in the UK that can (safety first!) to switch their lights off between 8.30pm and 9.30pm this Saturday night to support WWFs Earth Hour. 

If WWF succeeds in getting 1 billion people to switch off, that will be a sixth of the world’s population. This will be the most unified global statement you may ever have the opportunity to be a part of, and it’s really easy to do. Just follow these easy steps:

1. Make the pledge
2. Spread the word

Here are some online tools that can help:

• Join groups on facebook, twitter, flickr, myspace, and youtube , and message your friends telling them to do the same. On Friday, update your status to say “X is turning off the lights tomorrow night for Earth Hour”, so that all those people looking at facebook at work get to see.  
• Write an email to everyone at work. In fact email your whole address book telling them what you’ll be doing on Saturday night, and then mention it will be in the dark! Paste a link to the www.earthhour.org and tell them to take a look.
• Post comments and links on every single blog or online paper you visit telling them about Earth Hour. Not just environmental blogs, we need everyone doing this. 
• If you have a blog or website, add the light switch and post the films up. You can also download banners and widgets here. 
• If you are some sort of serial spammer for Viagra or dodgy loans, why not turn your skills to saving the environment? Make the most of your clever internet tools and email the world about Earth Hour. 

Lets get this message spread!

Good Energy team

Earth Hour update

Ban Ki-moon tells us how it is:

Visit Earth Hour here.

Support Earth Hour and win a £50 voucher to spend at the Good Energy Shop

Earth Hour is on its way (see our post below for more info!), and we’ve been thinking about what to do for the big event. We’ve had a couple of ideas, but we’d like to see what ingenious suggestions you can come up with too. So get your creative juices flowing and think about how to spend an Earth Hour in the dark.

Post your idea in the comments section below, and the best one will win a £50 voucher to spend at the Good Energy Shop.*

Make sure your ideas have the environment in mind though – here are a few we wouldn’t recommend...

• Open your fridge door and use that as a light instead.
• Turn your lights off then drive somewhere with the lights on.
• Start that DIY project you’ve been meaning to get around to.

Make sure you have a look at the posts on the Good Energy Shop blog too.

Good luck and get posting!

The Good Energy Shop Team

*Entries must be submitted via the Good Energy Shop (GES) blog or the Green Energy Republic blog (GER) between 20/03/09 and 29/03/09.  Entries will be moderated by the GES, and will not appear until they have approved them.  No responsibility will be accepted for corrupted, lost or late entries.  Open to UK residents only.  The competition will be judged by GES, whose decision is final.  The winner will be notified and emailed a £50 Good Energy Shop voucher by 10/04/09.  No alternative prize available. 

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Earth Hour – Saturday 28th March, 8.30pm

You might not expect your electricity supplier to be asking you to turn your lights off, but that’s exactly what we’re doing on Saturday 28th March.  That’s because, from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm local time, the world will be plunged into darkness for this year’s Earth Hour.

It’s all happening on Saturday 28th March this year at 8.30pm, wherever you are in the world. It is an international WWF climate change movement that sweeps the globe, asking everyone wherever they are to switch off their lights for an hour, saving gigawatts of energy and raising environmental issues. This year, the campaign has turned into “the world’s first global election – between global warming and the earth.”

WWF are trying to get 1 billion people to vote earth by switching their lights off. Last year, 50 million people participated, so the 2009 campaign is a big push ahead of the UN climate summit in December. If 1 billion people vote by switching off, this is a powerful signal to world leaders that we care about the environment, and support change in policy.
As we discussed last week the science community have presented a document to the summit leaders on what we are up against. The next and vital step is for leaders to see public support, and this is probably the best opportunity for the global community to act in unison.

It’s going well so far - the 1,000 city target has already been broken, and famous monuments will be joining in the (anti?)spectacle – the Golden Gate bridge, the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel tower.

Good Energy is excited to be part of something huge that will be a clearly visible sign of a global desire to do something concrete to tackle climate change, and we hope you’ll get involved too. Some may feel this doesn’t make a difference, but in our opinion, something that raises the profile of the issue and encourages a change in behaviour is a good thing. There are lots of things you can do in the dark which involve the whole family – host a murder mystery evening, set out on a torch-lit treasure hunt, or take the opportunity to observe what goes on in your garden by night.

The first and most important thing you can do is make your pledge here. Once you’ve done that there are a whole host of other ways you can encourage friends and family to do the same.

See this link for how you can help:

http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/how_you_can_help/fundraising.cfm

Green Energy Republic

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Countdown to Copenhagen: Can the Scientist Superheroes save the planet?

Last week science moved into politics as 2,500 leading climate experts gathered in Copenhagen to make a passionate plea to politicians: Act now before climate change renders large areas of our planet completely uninhabitable.

This is the most significant event so far in a series of meetings building up to the UN summit on climate change in Copenhagen this December. The summit will see 15,000 delegates from across the world, including all major leaders, meeting to thrash out a replacement for the Kyoto protocol. The environmental movement views the conference as our last chance to act on climate change, to strike a deal that binds all nations to embrace and enforce solutions to global warming. We can expect some drama.

Last week’s meeting was a taster of what’s to come. A document updating the climate scientists’ latest findings was presented to the Danish prime minister to be distributed ahead of the summit, laying the cards clearly on the table for world leaders:

• Previous models of climate change have now been rendered useless due to even larger than expected rises in emissions and a better understanding of the consequences. We’re already moving out of a recognisable climate, and change is accelerating. It’s much worse than we previously thought.
• The likelihood of mean temperatures rising by 6 degrees is increasing drastically. Whilst we’ve all made the “this would be quite nice in the UK” joke, the global implications are vast tracts of land being lost to sea level rises; rainforests being destroyed; hurricanes; severe drought, and areas of the earth becoming completely inhabitable due to extreme temperatures, producing conditions not seen for 30 million years.
• So what would this mean? Mass crop failure. Acidification of the oceans ruining their ecology. A complete depletion of resources.
• So what will that mean? Billions of people left homeless. The spread of disease. Conflict over resources, drawn out for centuries, and a planet made unsustainable for the species which depend on it for survival.

What was really interesting was how the scientists’ group are trying to get through to the politicians, directly criticising “ineffective governments” and weak institutions, saying there’s “no excuse for inaction.” They appealed to leaders to stand up to large businesses with “vested interests” and make commitments to real change.

"Scientists have lost patience with carefully constructed messages being lost in the political noise. We are now prepared to stand up and say enough is enough." Prof Kevin Anderson, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Manchester

The conference declared that solutions are still possible, but require strong leadership and innovation. They asserted that we have the technology, money, and public support to succeed.  With a passionate call to action, they demonstrate clearly what we’re up against, but conclude that the challenge is one we can meet if we act fast and act together.

The document detailing the scientists’ findings will be published in June. The next step will be presenting solutions.

We’ll be covering the run-up to Copenhagen in December with regular updates, so keep reading the blog to find out why it’s being labelled “the most important event of our lifetime.”

Green Energy Republic

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Good Energy to reduce prices again

This is no April fools joke but as of the 1st April 2009 we will be reducing our prices for the second time this year. I don’t want to make any mistakes with the numbers so you can read the press release verbatim below.

Good news!

Michael

Green Energy Republic team

Good Energy to reduce prices

Good Energy, the UK’s only dedicated 100% renewable electricity supplier, will be reducing its standard electricity tariffs by an average of 7.5% from 1st April 2009. This is the second price reduction this year, and follows a cut of 7.5% in January.

Our April reduction means a typical Good Energy customer will save more than £40 per year on their electricity bill.

Juliet Davenport, CEO of Good Energy, said, “We are really pleased to be able to reduce our electricity prices once again, ahead of our competitors again. We want to make sure our customers get the best value from their renewable energy supply, so we’re passing on the savings we’ve been able to make due to more favourable market conditions and improvements in our renewable trading systems.”

Although the price of renewable energy is still affected by conditions in the UK power market, Good Energy is working hard to reduce the impact on its customers of future volatility due to fossil fuel prices.

Good Energy buys directly from more than 500 independent renewable energy generators and is also planning to invest around £400 per customer to increase the power output of its wind farm in Delabole, Cornwall.

As well as helping its customers save money on their energy bills, these initiatives are a key part of Good Energy’s mission to make it easy for people to make a difference to climate change by supporting the growing movement of individuals, communities and businesses who are generating clean energy.

Carbon Capture and "Clean" coal, here's what the Coen brothers think

To follow up on our post linking to the economist article on clean coal, here's a visual angle directed by the Coen brothers. We have to be on their side as they are creators of the Big Lebowski!

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