2011 – Page 2 – Fine Energy

Crop yields already being reduced by climate change

Climate change, not natural variations in weather, has reduced crop yields globally leading to food price increases, according to a summary in the UK’s Guardian newspaper today of a research study in Science magazine. Fine Energy does not yet have the Science article but will provide more on this story once we have read it and absorbed it. Meanwhile we welcome thoughts from arable and livestock farmers on this topic. It seems to us to combine short-term good news for farmers (food prices being driven up) with a worrying prognosis for the longer-term viability of conventional agriculture if yields continue to drop. We note however, in advance of seeing the full article, that a 20% increase in food prices over the 28-year period represents a low annual growth rate.

Flexible low-cost paint-on solar panel developed

Low-cost paint-on solar panels suitable for use on rooftops are being developed by Prof Paul Dastoor at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. In addition to the low cost, Paul cites flexibility as a benefit. From our experience of sites where otherwise promising rooftops are overlooked by residents who would object to titled panels on their roof, we would add as a planning benefit the capability to paint on to a low-profile support structure. Find out more at www.newcastle.edu.au/research-centre/COE

Feed-in tariffs (FITs) review announced

FITs will remain unchanged until April 2012 “unless the review reveals a need for greater urgency” UK Energy Secretary Chris Huhne announced on 7 February. This comprehensive review of the feed-in tariffs is designed to provide investment certainty, but the announcement is unfortunately likely to have the opposite effect, introducing as it does the possibility that tariffs may be changed before March 2012.

DECC’s announcement promises that the Government will not act retrospectively and that “installations which are already accredited for FITs at the time will not be affected.” Because of the lead time between putting cash into a project and getting it commissioned, this assurance is not enough. With the possibility of tariff changes taking effect before April 2012, investors could now find themselves lumbered with projects that would have been profitable if they were to have been successfully commissioned by March 2012, but which are now unable to recover their costs within realistic timescales.

To provide certainty for investors, the review now needs to take place quickly and to set a clear period of validity for tariffs going forward, without any get-out clauses. The focus appears to be on solar photovoltaic schemes of greater than 50kWp capacity, so investors in wind and smaller solar projects should not be as concerned as those looking to invest in large solar farms.

Energy Now Expo 2011

This year’s Energy Now Expo will take place on 16 and 17 February 2011 in Malvern. This event is for UK farmers and landowners who are interested in renewable energy opportunities. Come and meet us (and the rest of the industry) there.

Renewable Heat Incentive timescales

The consensus among renewable energy professionals and commentators appears to be that the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) will become operational in June 2011, and that the detail of the scheme – which heat technologies are included and the levels of financial support on offer – will become known in late February. The
Department of Energy and Climate Change site simply states that the scheme will go ahead in 2011.

Like the feed-in tariffs (FITs), the RHI aims to help the UK meet its emissions reduction targets by boosting the rate of return on clean energy investments. As with FITs, this financial support will gradually be withdrawn through degression (reduction) of the levels of support as uptake of these technologies increases and the resulting economies of scale allow costs to be driven down.