Renewables have overtaken fossil fuels in Europe in what is being hailed as a “landmark” moment. According to Ember and Agora Energiewende’s fifth annual report tracking Europe’s electricity transition, 2020 officially saw renewables generate 38.2% of the continent's energy mix, versus 36.97% from fossil fuels. This was a growth of about 4% compared to 2019
To get off the grid with home solar, you need to be able to generate energy when the Sun's out, and store it for when it's not. Normally, people do this with lithium battery systems – Tesla's Powerwall 2 is an example. But Australian company Lavo has built a rather spunky (if chunky) cabinet that
The government has restated its commitment to heat pumps following the most recent Future Homes Standard consultation. It investigated changes to Part L of the standard within which there were two key options, whether to target a 20% carbon emissions reduction in homes through “very high” fabric standards, or whether to target a 31% reduction
The solar sector has welcomed the UK government’s 31% home carbon emissions reduction target as part of the long-awaited Future Homes Standard update. According to Solar Energy UK, this target could lead to a five-fold increase in new homes built with solar technologies as home builders opt for the low-carbon technology to help meet reduction
On 1 January 2020 – just over a year ago today - the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) went live. A brand spanking new incentive scheme, the SEG was intended to replace the feed-in tariff (FiT) but with one major difference: this time the rate would be set by energy suppliers, resulting in a wide spread
2020 was a record-breaking year, with wind generation, solar, and coal-free records helping to make it the greenest year ever for Great Britain’s electricity network. The record for wind generation was broken on several occasions last year, with the final record set on 18 December when wind generated 17.2GW, National Grid ESO announced in its
After years of build up, a giant battery storage project is online in Moss Landing, California, and a huge one is on the way in Florida. Just five years ago, a 20 megawatt battery storage project was considered big. Now a 300 megawatt project, the largest in the world, has gone online in California, and
The government should reverse the VAT rise for home energy storage to help deliver up to 86,000 jobs and boost UK manufacturing. In an open letter to the government, the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) and a coalition of 30 industry groups have called for changes to the controversial rise in VAT
A new wind generation record was set over the weekend, hitting a high of 17.278GW during a half hour period on Saturday. This allowed a combination of onshore and offshore wind to produce 43.2% of the electricity mix, however this does not break the record set in August of 59.9%. Between 1pm and 1:30pm wind
Belfast and Manchester have both revealed climate change plans, with the latter targeting a 2038 net zero target. Having signed a cities pledge that outlines the actions Manchester will take to meet its environmental targets in its Race to Zero, leader of Manchester City Council Sir Richard Leese said the council was taking the climate