News

A new scheme to cut carbon emissions from big businesses and other organisations has come into effect. The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) initiative will require large firms and public sector bodies to buy allowances to cover their energy use.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has today (March 31) published its Climate Change Action Plan, detailing how renewables and the new subsidy scheme, the Feed-in Tariff, will have key roles to play in helping it to meet its carbon reduction targets…

TESCO will start selling solar panels this week, leading a stampede of retailers aiming to cash in on a controversial new subsidy scheme.

We are very concerned by your report of a possible delay to the introduction of the feed-in tariff scheme due to problems preparing the legislation, and we urge the government to do everything it can to ensure the scheme starts on time next month (Feed-in tariff delay alarms energy sector, 4 March).

If you want to install solar panels on your roof and take advantage of lucrative new feed-in tariffs but have been put off by a lack of funds, you could soon get a loan to cover the whole cost.

The renewable power industry has warned that it needs £500m from the government over the next two years if it is to help ministers meet energy and climate change targets. More than half of the cash is for offshore wind power generation, while another part is required if wave and tidal power is to move from experimental to commercial application, the industry said in a budget submission out tomorrow .

The government will come under fire tomorrow from a renewable energy sector increasingly concerned about potential delays in the implementation of a "feed-in tariff" meant to kickstart a domestic green power revolution.

If the government offered to pay you £1,000 a year for the next 25 years, in return for an up-front investment of £12,500, you'd snap it up in a second. Well, that's pretty much the deal on offer this week after the government finally revealed what it will pay those who install electricity generating solar panels – in and around their homes – through the new "Feed-in Tariffs" (FITs).

Today, after many months of delay, the government finally announced its detailed plans for the feed-in tariff. It is a huge disappointment for all of us who want to see communities taking control of their energy production.

The government drew back from a step-change in its proposed levels of support scheme for small-scale renewable energy schemes amid attacks by the Conservatives and campaigners for a lack of ambition.