Renewable Energy Foundation

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Press Releases

Treasury Forces DECC to Cut Costs by Replacing Wind with Biomass

The Renewable Energy Foundation today welcomed DECC’s announcement of cuts to overall renewables subsidies that will contain costs to the domestic consumers and the wider economy.

In a shock announcement Ed Davey has today made public sweeping changes to the Renewables Obligation subsidy system, including cuts to wind power subsidies and a major change of emphasis to encourage the use of biomass in converted coal power stations, which is one of the cheapest ways of generating green electricity. The UK already has one such conversion, at Tilbury, thought to be the world’s largest biomass generator.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 26 July 2012

Domestic Consumers Shouldn’t Pay More for Arbitrary Renewables Targets

The Renewable Energy Foundation today welcomed the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) study showing that the UK's climate change policies are expensive relative to other major economies and damaging for UK industry. [1]

REF has consistently argued since its creation in 2004 that our renewable energy and low carbon policies are counterproductive, since the costs are unreasonably high and consequently unpersuasive to the rest of the world.
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Last Updated on Friday, 13 July 2012

Energy Bill Betrays Consumers

Commenting on the government’s Energy Bill, published today, and its proposed Electricity Market Reform (EMR), the Renewable Energy Foundation[1] expressed concerns that domestic and commercial consumer interest had been given a low priority in government reforms, and that ministerial claims that the Energy Bill offered the lowest cost route to a low carbon future were simply not credible.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 May 2012

In Spite of Opposition 70% of OnShore Wind Farm Applications are Approved

In an address to a Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI East Anglia) conference in Ipswich on Friday the 10th of February,[1] Dr John Constable, Director of Renewable Energy Foundation (REF, a UK charity publishing data on the energy sector [2]) told attendees that analysis of the government's own data[3] showed that contrary to widespread belief, the wind industry was not being significantly obstructed by planning objections. 
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Last Updated on Sunday, 12 February 2012

REF Calls for Transparency Over Secret Wind Power Constraint Payments

In response to an increasing number of press inquiries about the sums of money paid to wind farms to reduce output (the so-called ‘constraint payments’) Renewable Energy Foundation (REF[1]) is today publishing a new online database giving analysed details of all wind farms constrained off the system through the Balancing Mechanism, which is operated by National Grid[2].
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Climate Change Committee Confirms Multi-Billion Pound Green Policy Costs

Renewable Energy Foundation (REF)1 today issued the following interim statement on the Climate Change Committee’s study, Household Energy Bills: Impacts of Meeting Carbon Budgets.2

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) believes that green policies will put about £100 a year on the average domestic electricity bill in 2020 (p. 5), which is equivalent to about £2.6 billion (assuming that there are about 26m households in 2020, as there are today).
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Climate Change Policies put Fuel Poor in Jeopardy

At a central London event on Thursday 1 December 2011,  the Renewable Energy Foundation[1] launched  Energy Policy and Consumer Hardship, a new study of the likely impact of climate change policies on the affordability of energy.[2] 

Amongst its conclusions the study finds that:

1.  Current renewable electricity policies intended to meet the EU Renewables Directive in 2020, will impose extra consumer costs of approximately £15bn per annum, which is roughly equivalent to 1% of current GDP. This annual total is comprised of approximately £8bn in subsidy, £5bn in grid integration, and a further £2bn in VAT charged on these extra costs.[3]
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Last Updated on Friday, 02 December 2011

Huhne Unrealistic About Green Economy says REF

Responding to today’s speech by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the Rt Hon Chris Huhne, Renewable Energy Foundation observed that government was failing to come clean with the public on the cost and fundamental economics of contemporary renewables.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Winners of Energy Busters Competition Announced

The winners of REF's 'Energy Busters' competition, sponsored by uSwitch.com, were announced at a special ceremony at the Royal Bath and West Show on 4th June.

Attachments:
Download this file (pr 110608.pdf)Energy Busters Winners
Last Updated on Monday, 20 June 2011

Small Hydro is Best Performer in FiTs Stable

The Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) today announces the publication of its on-line searchable database of the small renewable energy generators subsidised under the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) scheme, available at www.ref.org.uk/fits.  Analysis of that data and related Ofgem renewables data show that small hydro is the best performer in the FiTs stable.
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Attachments:
Download this file (pr 18 05 11 Final.pdf)PR FiTs 18 05 11
Last Updated on Monday, 15 August 2011