By Julian Singer Carbon Capture Use and Storage (CCUS) has had a rocky history in the UK. Ten years ago the coalition government offered to provide £1bn to support the winner of a competition between two proposed projects, but this was later cancelled. The Energy White Paper of December 2020 then committed to spend £1bn [...]
By Julian Singer Nuclear power plants currently generate about 15 per cent of the UK’s electricity supply. The government’s Energy White Paper, published in December 2020, predicted that nuclear would supply between 16 and 23 per cent of the total by 2050. In the same year the Climate Change Committee, an independent public body, predicted [...]
By Julian Singer The large second quarter profits generated by Shell and BP again raise concerns that too little investment is being made in renewable energy compared to oil and gas. A quick look at the FTSE listings highlights the concern: of the 145 companies listed in the Energy sector (Main Market and AIM), only [...]
By Julian Singer On 26 September Atome Energy issued a trading update for the six months to 30 June 2022, the first such announcement since it listed on AIM in December 2021. Atome claims to be the only pure international green hydrogen and ammonia production company on the LSE. This may well be true, although [...]
By Julian Singer Simec Atlantis Energy had a tough year in 2021. The company is mainly known for its tidal stream turbines located in the Pentland Firth in the north of Scotland, but in recent years it has tried to diversify into other renewables. In 2017 the company purchased the closed Uskmouth coal-fired power station [...]
By Julian Singer Geothermal energy is heat from the earth’s core that had arrived near the surface where it can be exploited. Proponents point to the very large amount of heat available, whereas pessimists point to the cost of exploiting all but the easiest sources, and sometimes query whether it is truly sustainable. Nevertheless, based [...]
By Julian Singer Verditek was formed in 2016 to identify business opportunities in the clean technology sector. It initially invested in three companies, one making flexible solar panels and two making different types of air filter. The company now focusses on solar panels manufactured at its factory in Milan with only a minor interest in [...]
By Julian Singer Quaise Energy proposes to drill wells of up to 20 kilometres deep into the earth’s crust to find temperatures of up to 5000C. The heat will be brought to surface to produce electricity using a conventional steam generator. Quaise plans to start drilling its first well in 2024 and to be producing [...]
By Julian Singer At the end of June, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) submitted to Parliament its annual progress report on the reduction of carbon emissions, as it has done every year since 2009. Although it is doubtful if many members of parliament have read all 618 pages of the report, they would have found [...]
By Julian Singer At the end of June Invinity Energy Systems, the manufacturer of vanadium flow batteries (VFBs) for electricity storage, announced its results for 2021. They show a sharp increase in revenue, up from £0.7million in 2019, £0.2m in 2020 to £3.2m in 2021. As explained by CEO Larry Zulch, much of the revenue [...]