James Box  NERC Science Programme Officer   This call is being led by EPSRC with the support of three RCUK cross-council programmes: Living with Environmental Change, The Energy Programme and the Global Food Security Programme; and the UK cross-government /industry UK Water Research Innovation Partnership (UKWRIP). It is hoped that the sandpit will enable UK researchers […]

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Plans for the Hinkley Point C reactor have been a agreement by the EU that the project does not break legal rules. For those who bring up the level of subsidy for renewable technologies the £17.6 billion for this project is a reminder of the scale of support nuclear energy still receives. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/22/hinkley-point-nuclear-reactor-gains-eu-approval As the […]

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Guardian  ‘Drilling will be allowed in national parks in ‘exceptional circumstances’ but ministers retain power to veto plans, Ministers will give the go-ahead on Monday for a big expansion of fracking across Britain that will allow drilling in national parks and other protected areas in “exceptional circumstances”. The government will invite firms to bid for […]

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A new Cebr report published today assesses the economic benefits that could be derived from Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd.’s proposed construction of six tidal lagoons across the United Kingdom. ‘Key findings from the study include: The construction of the six proposed lagoons could contribute a total of £27 billion to UK GDP over the twelve […]

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New nuclear build at Sellafield announced by Toshiba and GDF Suez     New York Times: London — Toshiba, the Japanese industrial giant, and the French utility GDF Suez have announced plans for moving ahead with a new British nuclear power station, adding momentum to the country’s atomic energy program. The facility, called Moorside, would be located […]

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Duncan Symonds, head of infrastructure at WSP commented: “Every Budget and Autumn Statement we get some sort of appendix update about the national infrastructure plan and it strikes me that it would be more informative to know which individual government departments are pulling their weight and which are delaying the delivery of important projects. I […]

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