Energy Secretary Chris Huhne Wins £1 Billion in Funding for Carbon Capture Technology

Just recently, the energy secretary in the UK, Chris Hunhe, has won a big battle to secure some £1 billion from the Treasury to pay for the development of demonstration technology to capture and bury carbon emissions from power plants. This is big news for the energy industry in the UK despite the fact that it was only half the sum that was originally requested by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. However, it does rule out fears that some environmentalists had about the coalition government dropping the costly commitment altogether.

However, there is less good news for another section of the green energy department. The Treasury has apparently put the squeeze on proposals for a green investment bank. Chris Huhne did want some £6 billion in public money to set up this bank. This bank was going to encourage investments in risky green technologies.

As far as other spending goes in terms of energy, there has been some mixed feelings. There has been a 10 percent increase in the money for nuclear decommissioning. There is also some £400 million being proposed for renewable heat incentives for small scale projects, such as ground source heat pumps.

Other reports show that there will be £60 million in funding given to the upgrade of north eastern ports. This is critical for factories building blades for wind turbines. There will also be a 10 percent cut to so-called feed in tariffs. This is the subsidy for small renewable projects, such as solar panels, used by houses. Some were afraid that this feed in tariff was going to be done away with altogether. Thus, this is still pretty positive news.