UK fracking on the rise but not in Scotland

It seems that government backing has helped to ramp up fracking planning as applications have risen. Ken Cronin, chief executive of UK Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG) has announced that he has “seen a significant increase in applications happening around the UK over the course of the last two or three months”. David Cameron has made […]

Fracking to begin in Scotland?

Despite the SNP’s vehement opposition to fracking throughout the election campaign, it appears they’ve done a u-turn, with fracking companies lining up to start exploring Scotland. Mr Ratcliffe, whose company owns exploration licences across more than 700 square miles of Scotland, said: “The Scottish government . . . has said to us they’re not against fracking. But what they do need […]

Wind farm subsidy cuts threaten job losses

The “renewables obligation” subsidy will be closed to onshore wind farms from April next year instead of 2017. As the government ends subsidies earlier than expected, it’s feared that thousands of jobs will be lost. There’s also anger that the new government aren’t taking renewable energy pledges as seriously as they ought to. Maria McCaffery, […]

Tories take the wind out of SNP’s sails with subsidy cuts

The Conservative government is due to shut down the current wind subsidy scheme earlier than expected, effectively preventing the development of thousands of turbines, under plans being considered by Amber Rudd. It seems the Conservatives are making good on their manifesto pledge to end any new public subsidy for onshore wind farms – amid concerns that […]

SNP join Miliband’s madness

It’s spreading! Whether it’s a disease of economics-itis (the fear of and base mis-understanding of simple economic principles), or political opportunism, or simply the curse of the career politician, the SNP have joined the energy policy madness. The Scottish National Party have given support to Labour’ continued commitment to forcing energy companies to freeze energy […]