Wind

After many months of Ed Milliband putting himself out there as a Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change that actually gets climate change, finally his big Plan, the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan was unveiled on Wednesday, in a speech in the House of Commons that namechecked Transition Towns and which is the boldest national vision for a low carbon society yet seen. Many others have since pitched in with their thoughts, I thought it might be useful here to offer an analysis from a Transition perspective.

UK announces long-term carbon reduction strategy
Climate change: Green dreams
Energy bill rises to tackle climate change are tiny

"What struck me the most, as a surprise, is the virulence in the downtrend in the world economy. That’s a negative for the peak oil story, but only a temporary negative. By crushing demand, we are in effect gaining two more years, maybe three, in which we in the consuming world have added to our time before the peak, and could take good advantage of, since the peak is right upon us-I have it still at 2015 for all liquids." (Charlie Maxwell is the life-long oil industry analyst viewed by Barrons’ magazine as their energy guru.)

A mid-week review, including:
-Prices and production
-Airlines under pressure
-Update on China
-Briefs

Allotment demand leads to 40-year waiting lists
Looking at Europe’s Green Ways
Energy policy of the Greens

State of Paralysis
Natural Gas Politics
US steelworkers form unlikely alliance as renewables reinvigorate rustbelt

The gospel of green (Hermannn Scheer)
Jeremy Revkin: 'Distributed power' to save Earth
Love affair with gadgets squeezing power supply
'Alarming' use of energy, materials in newer manufacturing processes
How to save energy: plug in a new gadget

At the 2009 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston two weeks ago, the top issues revolved around policy questions more than technology, such as drilling the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and climate change legislation. I saw little in the way of progress, however.

A weekly review from a UK perspective.

"Oh Lord, make me carbon-neutral, but not yet."
— Carl Mortished in the Times Online