Public Accounts Committee report calls on government to get a better handle on future fossil fuel infrastructure decommissioning costs The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of MPs has today published a new report warning there is “significant uncertainty over costs to taxpayers of decommissioning offshore oil and gas assets”, as well as a “poor understanding” within government […]
This report comprehensively examines a wide range o marine geoengineering techniques to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or boost the reflection of incoming solar radiation to space (albedo modification) or in some cases both. Further, the report recommends a) that a coordinated framework for proposing marine geoengineering activities, submitting supporting evidence and integrating independent […]
‘The race for vast remote ‘marine protected areas’ may be a diversion’ Following the UK Government’s announcement of the huge Ascension island No Take Zone – Peter Jones reminded me of the series of articles he and Elizabeth De Santo wrote about the contrasting approaches by Governments – UK Government being a good example – in […]
Michael Gove & Therese Coffey appeared before the Environment Audit Committee and their responses covered the new Environment Bill and also plans in the event of a Brexit no-deal. No surprises that in Gove’s own words these plans are ‘suboptimal’. Civil Service World ‘Environment secretary Michael Gove has admitted that the arrangements in place for […]
Water use has been increasing worldwide by about 1% per year since the 1980s, driven by a combination of population growth, socio-economic development and changing consumption patterns. Global water demand is expected to continue increasing at a similar rate until 2050, accounting for an increase of 20 to 30% above the current level of water use, mainly due […]
Environment Agency ‘Severn Trent Water Limited was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on 22 March 2019, for the incident which occurred in November 2013. In addition to the fine, the company was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £50,693 and a victim surcharge of £120. The incident occurred due to a blockage in the company’s […]
Yorkshire Water – customer behaviour campaigns to cut water use more effective than hosepipe bans The threat of a hosepipe ban during a hot summer could be a thing of the past, thanks to improvements in communications technology and a greater understanding of how to encourage customers to reduce water use, according to new proposals from […]
WWTOnline A group of farmers in Dorset have been equally rewarded by Wessex Water for growing cover crops that brought reductions in the levels of nitrates that enter Poole Harbour. ‘The work to protect the site came as the result of a first-of-its-kind uniform price scheme by online environmental trading platform EnTrade. The new scheme, […]