1 December 2015

Energy News Global Apollo comes to life as

Mission Innovation It was launched five months ago and now it has

become a reality.

Prince Charles proposes green

financing initiative Prince Charles has proposed a new initiative to

ensure small-scale environmental projects receive

financing.

UK needs ‘57% emissions cut

by 2030’ The government should commit to an emissions

cut of 57% by 2030.

Community energy groups threaten

Treasury with legal action

Community energy groups plan to take legal action

against the Treasury following its “unexpected”

announcement to axe tax relief for the sector.

Energy efficiency ‘can reduce

business bills by 18-25%’ Energy efficiency can reduce bills by 18-25% with

an average payback of less than 1.5 years.

www.tridentutilities.co.uk

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Global Apollo comes to life as Mission Innovation

It was launched five months ago and now it has become a

reality.

The ‘Global Apollo Programme‘ which aims to make

renewables cheaper than fossil fuels to tackle climate

change has come to life as ‘Mission Innovation’.

It will be announced on Monday at COP21 by US President

Barack Obama and French President François Hollande.

The programme was supported by experts in the energy

sector, economists and scientists such as world’s leading

naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

Around 20 countries have committed to doubling their

investment in clean energy research and development

(R&D) in the next five years.

Lord Gus O’Donnell, Chairman of Frontier Economics and

one of the architects behind the programme told ELN:

“What we need now is to be clear about what the target is.

We said in Apollo it should be 10 years to make renewables

cheaper than fossil fuels and we needed a co-ordination

mechanism.

“I’m hopeful that we can now think about what is the

proper target and what’s the right co-ordination

mechanism to make sure that we all work together not just

the public sector working together but how we work

together with the private sector which is another fantastic

part of this.”

The UK government has not so far joined the programme

but Lord O’Donnell said he “would be delighted if they

can”.

He added: “I know the issue for them was the Spending

Review so it was difficult for them to commit to spending in

more sources but now that the Spending Review is done I

am really hopeful when the announcement comes forward

I’d like to hear that the UK will be a part of it.”

Lord O’Donnell believes that pledges to reduce carbon

emissions combined with investing in R&D is the “best

hope the world has for a long time”.

01 Energy News 1 December 2015 www.tridentutilities.co.uk

Prince Charles proposes green

financing initiative

Prince Charles has proposed a new initiative to ensure

small-scale environmental projects receive financing.

The ‘Commonwealth Green Finance Facility’ sets out cost

efficient and effective guarantees for green projects that

struggle to get funding.

The programme will seek investment from sovereign

wealth funds and pension funds.

The Prince of Wales made the announcement at the 10th

Commonwealth Business Forum in Malta last week, which

brought together 1,300 business leaders from around 80

countries, including 21 heads of governments.

The conference aimed to create new investment

opportunities and increase the involvement of the private

sector for sustainable economic growth.

Prince Charles said: “So much of the problem, as I

understand it, when dealing with projects that aim

to tackle some of the critical challenges we face

worldwide, is that they are small and risky for

investors. Finding ways to scale up and aggregate

these developments is therefore a vital part of the

solution.

“The Commonwealth, its members and businesses

have a huge role to play. We face an

unprecedented set of interlocking challenges, all of

which are creeping up on us in the shape of a

perfect storm – a global rise in unsustainable

population growth and consumption, migration,

rapid urbanisation, climate change, natural capital

depletion and social, economic and energy

insecurity.”

02 Energy News 1 December 2015 www.tridentutilities.co.uk

The ‘Commonwealth Green

Finance Facility’ sets out cost

efficient and effective

guarantees for green projects

that struggle to get funding.

Lord Deben, Chairman of the CCC, said: “By legislating the

fifth carbon budget at the recommended level the

government will take the next important step and build on

its commitment.”

UK needs ‘57%

emissions cut by

2030’ The government should commit to an emissions cut of

57% by 2030.

That’s in order to reach an 80% cut by 2050 on 1990

levels, according to the Committee on Climate Change

(CCC).

Its fifth carbon budget states new policies are required

to obtain this goal.

It adds the UK has “made good progress to date” as

“emissions have reduced by 36% on 1990 levels and if

current policies are effective will be down by 43% – 46%

in 2020”.

The report suggests the UK should aim to heat one in

seven homes using low carbon sources as well as have

“the majority of new cars bought in the UK partially

electric” by 2030.

It also suggests the country should be largely powered

by low carbon sources of electricity by this time and

“nearly all UK homes should have insulation installed”.

The CCC adds emissions must fall by 52% to meet the

fourth carbon budget. The proposed fifth carbon budget

continues along that trajectory and would continue to cut

emissions at the lowest cost to UK businesses and

households, it claims.

These are steady emissions reductions equivalent to 2%

per year from 1990-2014, 3% per year from 2014-2030 and

4% per year from 2030-2050.

Lord Deben, Chairman of the CCC, said: “By legislating the

fifth carbon budget at the recommended level the

government will take the next important step and build on

its commitment.”

03 Energy News 1 December 2015 www.tridentutilities.co.uk

Community energy groups threaten

Treasury with legal action Community energy groups plan to take legal action against

the Treasury following its “unexpected” announcement to

axe tax relief for the sector.

Community Energy England (CEE) served the Treasury with

a ‘Letter before Action’ yesterday – the first step towards

launching a judicial review.

It comes as the Treasury proposed to exclude community

energy schemes from a list of schemes including the

Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Social Investment

Tax Relief (SITR) from 30th November.

Community Energy Scotland and Community Energy Wales,

which are working with CEE, said their purpose in taking

action “is to make clear to the government how seriously

their collective members could be affected”.

CEE Chairman Philip Wolfe added: “Our letter gives HM

Treasury a final opportunity to reconsider its position in

light of the legitimate expectations of the community

energy sector arising from government statements in

the 2015 Budget.

“We have not taken the decision to challenge lightly but

believe it is important to seek the regulatory

consistency necessary to inspire the billions of pounds

of investment, which sustainable energy infrastructure

needs to survive and thrive over the next decade and

more.”

04 Energy News 1 December 2015 www.tridentutilities.co.uk

Community Energy Scotland and

Community Energy Wales, which

are working with CEE, said their

purpose in taking action “is to

make clear to the government

how seriously their collective

members could be affected”.

Energy efficiency ‘can

reduce business bills by

18-25%’

Energy efficiency can reduce bills by 18-25% with an

average payback of less than 1.5 years.

That’s according to a report by the Federation of Small

Businesses (FSB).

It also states 31% of FSB members said energy costs were

a barrier to growth and 90% of them want to be energy

efficient but only a fifth have been offered advice on how

to be.

The report adds 45% of small businesses say rented

premises prevent further efficiency and 61% of small

businesses say enhanced tax relief would encourage

energy efficiency.

It went on to say more than half of small businesses “are

motivated by environmental protection”.

The report states smart meters “are critical for helping

small firms take control of their energy use and reduce

costs”.

Energy companies must roll out smart meters for all

homes and small businesses by 2019.

A recent report by DECC showed nearly eight out of 10

smart meter customers have taken steps to reduce their

energy use.

05 Energy News 1 December 2015 www.tridentutilities.co.uk

The report states smart meters

“are critical for helping small

firms take control of their

energy use and reduce costs”.