Case Studies Category
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Avian flu outbreak in Yorkshire
Defra has announced that a case of avian flu has been confirmed on a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire. Immediate action has been taken, including introducing a 10km restriction zone and culling all poultry on the farm to prevent any potential spread of infection. Poultry farmers are reminded that some strains of avian influenza cause a notifiable disease so if they suspect any strain of avian influenza they must inform their nearest Animal and Plant and ...
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Walney wind farm extension granted
The extension to the Walney offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea has been given the go-ahead by government - if built it will triple the size of the wind farm, already one of the biggest in the world. It is expected to create 230 new jobs over the four year construction period and around 185 jobs annually during the expected 25-year lifespan. Once built, it should generate enough electricity to power over half a million ...
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£14m fund for new energy technology
A £14 million fund to help businesses develop new products and technologies to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy security has been announced by Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable. The move is aimed at encouraging companies to invest in technologies that will meet future energy needs in a more environmentally friendly way, while at the same time boosting economic growth. In a separate competition, Innovate UK are making £5 million available to ...
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New £97m supercomputer for Met Office
Government plans for a new £97 million Met Office supercomputer mean forecast updates will be available every hour, with higher detail weather information for precise geographical areas. The world-leading High Performance Computer will help the UK to predict disruptive weather events such as flooding, strong winds, fog and heavy snowfall more effectively. It will also open up the potential for higher resolution models, which will have the ability to pinpoint more detail for small scale, high-impact ...
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Help stop the quagga mussel threat
Anyone who uses lakes and rivers is being urged to help slow the spread of an invasive mussel recorded in the UK for the first time this month. The quagga mussel, first spotted by Environment Agency teams carrying out water quality testing on the River Wraysbury, has now been confirmed in nine locations in the south east. To slow the spread of the species, anglers, sailors and others should use the "check, clean, dry" approach by thoroughly ...
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“Perfect storm” sees attractiveness of UK renewables fall
The UK’s appeal as a destination for renewable energy investment is at its lowest level for almost five years as a result of a combination of domestic and international factors, according to EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index. The sector is currently weighing the impact of a recent consultation on solar subsidies that will see the UK Government withdraw Renewables Obligation support for solar projects above 5MW two years earlier than planned. In addition, the Government has ...
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Badger culls resume
Natural England has today confirmed that all the criteria have been met to allow the second of four years of badger culling to start in west Gloucestershire and west Somerset, to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis. Operations in these areas where bovine TB is rife will be carried out under the existing four-year licences which allow six weeks of culling to take place every year between 1st June and 31st January. Start dates for culling ...
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World’s biggest tidal array to be built in Scotland
The world’s biggest tidal array is to be built in the North of Scotland, bringing jobs and energy security to the Pentland Firth region. The UK Government has provided £10 million worth of grant funding to the Meygen project which will provide enough electricity to power 175,000 homes and secure up to 100 jobs, when fully completed. Other funders include the Scottish Government and The Crown Estate. According to ministers, the £51 million scheme could inspire further ...
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Fears calmed over Russian food import ban
The news that Russia has imposed a ban on food imports from the EU, US and a number of other countries, as a result of tensions over the Ukraine, should not alarm British producers. According to a government spokesman, ministers are still considering the impacts of the ban but do not expect it to have a significant overall effect on our agricultural industry. Apparently, the affected agricultural exports to Russia account for just 0.2% of the UK's ...
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DECC releases key UK energy stats
The Department of Energy and Climate Change has released a digest of UK energy statistics for 2013, with some of the key figures as follows: In 2013, primary energy production fell by 6.3 per cent on a year earlier, due to record low coal output following mine closures; oil and gas output were also down as output facilities were affected by maintenance issues alongside longer term decline. Electricity generated from renewable sources in the UK in 2013 ...
