Nuclear gap
19 January 2019
Hitachi has pulled out of building a new nuclear power station in Anglesey, two months after Toshiba dropped its project in Cumbria. Britain’s nuclear energy policy is now in disarray.
Energy
Energy
EU energy interference
With cold weather on the way, the European Court of Justice has seen fit to meddle in the power market…
Automobiles: plan for electric cars
MPs on the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee have called for the sale of new cars with petrol or diesel engines to be banned by 2032.
Let's get scientific about energy
Independence from the EU will usher in a new era of opportunity for Britain. What do we want for our country? This demands debate wherever people work, interact or socialise – and an essential topic is energy production…
Ballot on Total rigs
Unite is balloting workers at three of Total’s North Sea oil rigs for industrial action following the company’s refusal to reduce the number of unpaid working days.
Small can be beautiful
Britain could take a world lead in a new nuclear technology, and boost its energy self-sufficiency too…
Strike hits North Sea oil platform
16 April 2018
Workers on the Norwegian oil giant’s Mariner platform in the North Sea went on strike on Saturday 7 April, downing tools for four hours in the morning and a further four-hour sit-in in the evening.
Make energy independent
Energy has been hardest hit by the deluge of EU directives instructing us what we could do and how we could do it…
Wind farm bonanza
Between 2012 and 2017 wind farm owners were paid £367 million in “constraint” payments – payments to not produce electricity.
1: Gas prices flare
The biggest jump in British gas prices in 8 years has prompted concerns in industry and government about over security of supply and an ever increasing reliance on imports of natural gas
2: The 'national' grid
The National Grid provides part of Britain’s fundamental and essential strategic industrial infrastructure.
A farewell to coal?
15 January 2018
The government has repeated its intention to close all coal-fired electricity power generation by 2025.
Work-in saves jobs
Decisive action by the workers at Burntisland Fabrication in Scotland has saved jobs at the oil and gas industry equipment maker.
Winter madness
National Grid plc will pay £122 million to keep ten coal and gas power stations in reserve to ensure that Britain gets through the winter without power cuts.
Bring back control over power generation
The opportunity of Brexit has to be about how we determine a strategy for power generation which will serve the nation for at least the next 100 years…
Hinkley C set for review
The government is to review the astronomically expensive Hinkley C nuclear plant deal with France and China.
Wind power: planning for subsidies
Planning permission for the world’s largest wind farm has been agreed 55 miles off the Flamborough coast – but the developer wants even higher subsidies than normal.
North Sea oil workers vote for strike over pay
14 July 2016
More than 200 Unite and RMT workers in the Wood Group working on Shell’s North Sea platforms have voted in favour of strike action over pay.
After Brexit, plan for power generation!
3 July 2016
The Brexit decision has thrown government plans for electricity generation into further turmoil, with renewed concerns over the future of the proposed nuclear power station at Hinkley Point.
Energy - Grid turns to the NHS
National Grid, the company responsible for balancing supply and demand, is recruiting cash-starved NHS hospitals to fire up their emergency generators and turn down their air conditioning systems when power supplies are scarce.
Coal free
16 May 2016
On 10 May 2016 no electricity was generated by burning coal in Britain. The previous day the National Grid had to issue a crisis call for additional generation to avoid power cuts. Deliberately taking out one source of power is reckless when Britain's energy supply is uncertain.
No advance without Marxism
13 February 2016
Political statement from the Communist Party of Britain Marxist-Leninist, 17th Congress, London, November 2015. There can be no advance without Marxism, because Marx showed that only the eventual victory of the exploited class, the working class, represents a real future. Capitalism means only destruction and war. Here in Britain, we need our own unique vision of a working class future in order to fight and win in the present.
Energy: we know how
A talk at the Free Thinking Festival in Gateshead shows we can use low-carbon energy to keep the lights on. We have the expertise to produce low- and no-carbon energy in large quantities safely.
Kellingley closes
13 December 2015
The last of Britain’s deep coal mines closed on 19 December. It sounds the death knell not only for coal mining but electricity generation from coal, hastened by government decsions posing as a commitment to deal with climate change.
Winter kills: fuel poverty on the rise
23 November 2015
On Wednesday 25 November, figures will be announced for the number of additional winter deaths of older people due to cold-related illnesses – and black balloons will be released to indicate the scale of fuel poverty in Britain.
No energy policy = no British industry
Without a credible energy policy Britain’s entire industrial future is at risk. Events in steel and power hammer home that truth…
Big blow for carbon capture
Innovation? What innovation? The government has effectively washed its hands of the White Rose carbon capture and storage (CCS) project based at Drax power station in Yorkshire
Wind and sun power not enough to replace coal
26 May 2015
A well-researched book makes the case for expanding nuclear power and explains why alternatives are not practical.
Ferrybridge C power station to close
23 May 2015
The announcement that Ferrybridge C power station will stop generating in 2016 twists the knife in what is left of coal power generation in Britain.
Why Britain needs an independent energy policy
Want a country without enough energy to prevent blackouts? Fancy a return to the 18th century? Just stick with the muddle of complacent governments and environmental extremists...