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Archive for October 2011

Is carbon capture & storage a dead parrot?

As part of researching a forthcoming Gas Turbine World article about retrofitting CCS for gas-fired power plants, last night I attended a ‘Green in the City’ panel discussion put on by EcoConnect to discuss the future of carbon capture technology. Attendees would be forgiven for thinking carbon capture has no future. There is no shortage … Continue reading »

Shale gas in the UK: Why Chris Huhne is not screaming “Frack, baby, frack!”

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) response towards recent domestic shale gas developments has been notably reserved and avoids the partisan hyperbole of environmentalists and oil & gas industry players alike. Why? Isn’t shale gas the best thing since sliced bread? In case you hadn’t heard, Cuadrilla Resources, a joint venture between Australian … Continue reading »

“Show us the money” says Alstom after Scottish Power’s Longannet CCS project collapses

French power OEM Alstom wants part of a £1 billion UK Government pot to fund carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects for its proposed 426 MW oxyfuel project at Drax power station after Scottish Power’s Longannet project collapsed. On 19 October the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced Scottish Power’s £1 billion … Continue reading »

SSE’s wholesale market auctioning – Heads they win, tails we lose

The decision by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) to auction 100 per cent of its power generation reflects a growing realization among the so-called ‘Big Six’ UK utilities that the status quo is finished, the game is up. Consumers, regulators, politicians and pressure groups have been keen of late to put the boot into energy … Continue reading »

Are the UK’s Big Six utilities playing out 0-0 draws?

During BBC Radio Four’s excellent File on Four documentary about energy prices broadcast this week Professor Catherine Waddams, director of the University of East Anglia’s Centre for Competition Policy, likened the UK energy market to a sports event which no-one tries to win because each team has already won merely by turning up. The programme … Continue reading »

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