Newcastle Area - Green Issues & Renewable Energy Business

[Geordie Ahmed]

Originally Posted by johnnypd

4 hours. a bit much!! though there will be some points where it'll only take 20 mins. i'd also worry about driving one out in the country where there'll be less opportunities to charge up. for now i think there a bit like scooters - something for getting around the city but no more.

Wow - Im guessing you can charge it and go off shopping, otherwise sitting there for hours would be painful and i cant see people doing that

Yeah you are right definately ideal for city driving - it would be good (tho i suspect very expensive) if they could implement charge points where people live so you can charge the car overnight

[johnnypd]

Originally Posted by Geordie Ahmed

Wow - Im guessing you can charge it and go off shopping, otherwise sitting there for hours would be painful and i cant see people doing that

Yeah you are right definately ideal for city driving - it would be good (tho i suspect very expensive) if they could implement charge points where people live so you can charge the car overnight

i think that is the general idea - charge while the car is parked. it makes sense in a way as cars are, for the most part, idle. however if you are driving a lot and need to recharge in the middle of a journey it would be a pain.

[DXNewcastle]

There's been a company converting Ford Transit vans and 7.5 ton Ford Cargo trucks to run on electric power for a few years now - and they're local! Tanfield Group plc at Vigo, Birtley have sold them to parcels firms, supermarkets, utilities and others. There's a TNT parcels 7.5tonner been doing the daily rounds in central Newcastle for well over a year.

The company doesn't seem to receive much local enthusiasm, I don't know why, 'cos the track record of their vehicle conversions seems fine to me.
I watched the well-laden TNT truck accelerating uphill quite nicely, but as a pedestrian, you do just have to watch out for their near-silent approach!

[Geordie Ahmed]

Another question, will they be charging to allow people to charge their cars?

[AngerOfTheNorth]

You'd have thought so - that'd be a lot of electricity to give away for free! However I'm under the impression that electric cars are more efficient and therefore cheaper to run than petrol cars, although I'm not 100% on that.

[Geordie Ahmed]

Originally Posted by AngerOfTheNorth

You'd have thought so - that'd be a lot of electricity to give away for free! However I'm under the impression that electric cars are more efficient and therefore cheaper to run than petrol cars, although I'm not 100% on that.

I can only see electric cars really kicking off if they offer a significant saving otherwise people would just stick with petrol

[toonlad]

Electric cars are not appealling to me at all. When I was living in the UK I drove 1.2l small car very sparingly, cycled and walked a lot, used low energy light bulbs, practicsed energy and water conservation, ate sustainably grown and organic food, recycled and basically did as much as I reasonably could to lower my carbon footprint. I like many used my car for lots of short journeys around the city, and the occassionaly jaunt up to the borders or cumbria, or down to lancs etc.

I would be the PERFECT candidate for one of these... but I wouldnt have one, because whilst they cost more than a traditional car, they offer a great deal LESS flexibility. Whilst this car meets my needs 80% of the time, what do I do the other 20%? What about ongoing maintainance costs? How long do the batteries last before replacements are required? Where is the repair and maintainance infrastructure outside of main dealers?

People are being given a choice:

Product A: PROS: Unlimited range with no other requirement than to fill up with relatively cheap fuel every 400-600 miles. Low cost of purchase, low cost of maintainance, long service intervals, huge amount of infrastucture deisgned to support the operation and running of the vehicle. CONS: Emits small amount of air pollution during its operation.

Product B: PROS: Emits no pollution during operation. CONS: Limited range, requires access to sparsely located charging stations at regular intervals. Higher cost of purchase, little infrastucture to support operation and maintainence. Maintainence costs uncertain, must be carried out by dealer.

I believe the industry call that a 'no-brainer'

[AngerOfTheNorth]

Well as Ahmed points out, the intention is that these cars will have much lower running costs. Their development isn't quite there yet (so they'll struggle against the petrol engine which has been around for about 100 years or so), but as I say by 2016 their range between refills should be roughly the same as a petrol car. When you add on the lower running costs, the lack of tax etc, it should compete. It doesn't yet, but six years isn't such a terribly long time to wait.

[Seamaster]

Originally Posted by toonlad

People are being given a choice:

Product A: PROS: Unlimited range with no other requirement than to fill up with relatively cheap fuel every 400-600 miles. Low cost of purchase, low cost of maintainance, long service intervals, huge amount of infrastucture deisgned to support the operation and running of the vehicle. CONS: Emits small amount of air pollution during its operation.

Product B: PROS: Emits no pollution during operation. CONS: Limited range, requires access to sparsely located charging stations at regular intervals. Higher cost of purchase, little infrastucture to support operation and maintainence. Maintainence costs uncertain, must be carried out by dealer.

I believe the industry call that a 'no-brainer'

The "choice" includes Product C: the plug-in hybrid, which offers the best of both worlds - full EV when possible, hybrid EV/ICE when necessary. We're a long way from either/or.

[Newcastle Historian]

Newcastle Journal, Tuesday 23rd March 2010 . .


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[Newcastle Historian]

Red light halts green travel cash promise
Mar 24 2010 by Amy Hunt, The Journal


HOPES of an enormous cash injection to make Tyneside one of the best places in the UK for green travel have been shattered by the Government.

Travel planners were hoping for £29m over three years to make Tyne and Wear a Sustainable Travel City.

The North East bid had made it onto a shortlist of four of England’s largest urban areas competing for the cash, which would have been matched by regional partners.

But the Department for Transport has now axed the programme in favour of a new Urban Challenge Fund and is unable to say whether any money will be available and how many local authorities would be able to bid.

Tyneside is forecast to have the fastest growth in car ownership in the UK over the next decade, with problems like congestion, air quality and health issues predicted to grow alongside this.

Projects planned for Tyneside under Sustainable Travel City included free bus passes and cycle training, as well as increasing car parking charges or cutting the number of car parking spaces available, in an effort to cut car use in the area by 20% over three years.

Council leaders have expressed their dismay at the decision and pledged to try to bring in green travel measures by other means.

Newcastle City Council’s executive member for the environment and transport, Coun Wendy Taylor, said: “It’s extremely disappointing because we got through to the last four and we were very hopeful of getting the money.

“To have to start all over again is very frustrating.

“A lot of time and effort went into our bid and to completely scrap the scheme and replace it with a different bidding process, especially when there is no clear information about what the criteria will be, is hugely annoying.”

The Tyne and Wear Local Transport Plan, a partnership of the five councils and Nexus, put in its bid for up to £29m in July 2009.

In August it was announced the Tyne and Wear bid had made it onto a shortlist with South Yorkshire, the West Midlands and Nottingham, with the successful bidder due to be announced in September.

But over the last six months things have gone worryingly quiet, with the DfT unwilling to reveal when an announcement would be made.

Now it has confirmed that the Sustainable Travel City programme has been scrapped.

But a spokesman was unable to tell The Journal how much cash would be made available under the Urban Challenge Fund, which has was unveiled by transport minister Sadiq Khan as a scheme to “support local authorities in delivering economic growth and improving the health and environment for local communities in urban areas”.

He could not say how councils would make a bid for money through the fund, what the criteria would be, when the bidding process would open, or whether the cash pot available would be as large as for Sustainable Travel City.

[AngerOfTheNorth]

I love the fact that one funding body is scrapped and replaced with another one which appears to have no money at all. Why bother replacing it then - just scrap it and have done with it.

[toonlad]

Originally Posted by Newcastle Historian

[B][SIZE="6"]Projects planned for Tyneside under Sustainable Travel City included free bus passes and cycle training, as well as increasing car parking charges or cutting the number of car parking spaces available, in an effort to cut car use in the area by 20% over three years.

Who come up with figures like that! Taking 1/5 of all car journeys off the road will need more than £29m and 3 years hard work. These people are dreaming

[johnnypd]

so, Siemens have announced they are going to build a wind turbine factory on the east/northeast coast of england, providing 700 jobs. this comes after GE announce the same, providing 1900 jobs, building turbines for the UK as well as sweden, germany and denmark. our councils and ONE have to be going overtime in order to secure these sites in the north-east. we already have clipper opening on tyne, blyth testing facility, and the tba mitsubishi site. we have the manufacturing tradition, free dock-side sites, burgeoning critical mass, and geographic proximity to offshore sites in the sea as well as northern europe.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...-700-jobs.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...e-factory.html

[AngerOfTheNorth]

Brilliant news - we seem to have nailed down the primary location in the UK (and one of the top in Europe) for turbine production. I just hope that these turbines continue to be one of the most effective means of electricity production over the next few decades and beyond.

I am still a little disappointed that we don't have a British industrial giant getting into the market though.

[Newcastle Historian]

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I remember our endless battles with LEEDS throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, for office jobs in the financial sector and for the "Regional Head Offices" of companies and Government Departments. We didn't win (sadly) very many of those battles. Now we seem to have a battle on our hands with another Yorkshire City in HULL . . . this time for 'factory work'. This looks more winnable, I hope

North East competes with Humberside over new Siemens plant
Mar 30 2010 By Adrian Pearson, The Journal



THE North East was last night placed in direct competition with Humberside in a multi-million pound bid to attract hundreds of jobs at a new wind turbine production factory.

Manufacturing company Siemens has revealed plans to build an £80m wind turbine factory on the East Coast, creating around 700 jobs. As many as 1,500 jobs could be created in the supply chain.

But energy bosses say they are unlikely to make a decision until they know where the majority of the Chancellor’s £60m port investment fund will be spent. Alastair Darling announced the fund in his Budget last week, a move which some say could be a "mixed blessing" for the region.

Businesses in Humberside are working with port authorities and their regional minister Rosie Winterton to secure as much of the £60m as possible.

It is thought Humberside is desperate to secure the investment as part of a £100m infrastructure bill needed to attract Siemens.

In Tyneside much of the infrastructure is available already but there are concerns the region could not as easily find the space for another large factory.

Siemens has said its new factory will likely be built on the banks of whichever river attracts the most investment.

As a result Ms Winterton, the minister in charge of regional development agencies and an MP for Doncaster Central, will face up to North East regional minister Nick Brown over the £80m factory.

The Newcastle East and Wallsend MP has lent his backing to hopes for a Siemens factory on Tyneside. He said: "I think our ports and facilities here are a great offer and I look forward to a bid from the North East.

"We have already attracted offshore wind turbines here and we have room in the region for more.

"Our case is very strong, we will continue to back it, and we will leave no potential support unexplored, including this new port development money which is there to bid for."

In September The Journal revealed wind energy bosses at Siemens had visited Tyneside as they search for a location for a new factory.

It is believed Siemens bosses were invited to Downing Street to discuss ways the Government could help set up a new factory.

The firm’s interest came as American firm Clipper finalised plans to create 500 jobs sending two turbines a week along the Tyne.

Last night Newcastle Council leader John Shipley said there was plenty to attract new developers to the Tyne. "I think Tyneside would be an ideal location for the Siemens investment. We have some excellent potential sites which are ready for development immediately and represent a top-class offer," he said.

The Government is expected to announce the criteria for those wishing to use the port fund within weeks.

Development agency One North East has welcomed the potential of extra cash to help attract offshore companies.

Ray Thompson, One North East business manager for energy and engineering, said: "We are actively promoting the region to companies in the offshore wind sector, and the announcements by Mitsubishi, GE and now Siemens that they plan to set up manufacturing sites in UK are very encouraging.

"We welcome the £60m competition announced in last week’s Budget and are speaking with companies as we await detailed criteria and guidance on the competition from the Government."

Andreas Goss, Siemens’ chief executive in the UK, said: "The UK Government has created a stable framework to attract inward investment in renewables and offshore wind power in particular.

"The competition for land development, announced in the Budget last week, gives us confidence that the appropriate UK port infrastructure can be made available to support our production plans."

Port of Tyne bosses say there is the potential to make available a total of 200 acres of land, on both sides of the river, "to accommodate and exploit the associated opportunities".

Chief executive Andrew Moffat said: "It is great news for the region that Siemens are exploring sites in the North East to develop a £80m wind turbine production facility. The Tyne is well placed to play a major role in both the manufacture and servicing of off-shore wind technology."

[Newcastle Historian]

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Occasionally, a newspaper article is appropriate to two threads, so it gets posted twice.

This article, I feel, is appropriate to THREE threads . . . 'Science City', 'Newcastle Research', and (now) this one : 'Newcastle Green Issues' . . .

Originally Posted by Newcastle Historian

Green science to be at heart of the city
Apr 5 2010 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal



A flagship science HQ to be built on the site of the former Tyne brewery will be used exclusively for research into green energy, The Journal can reveal.

A £20m infrastructure project is currently under way to prepare the land near St James’ Park for the building, which should be one of the city’s most impressive when it is finished and occupied in 2014.

Scientists and business leaders behind the plans believe it will put Newcastle on the map as an international destination for research into low-carbon technology.

The Science City team have decided to slim-down their key areas from four to three after seeing how molecular engineering was an important part of the other themes and not worth its own investment stream.

Research into aging and health will remain at the General Hospital and work on regeneration and stem cell medicines at the International Centre for Life.

Science City chief executive Peter Arnold said the decision to offer the building as a home for “sustainability” research was just one sign of how the city was moving towards a new era of hi-tech jobs.

His plans for an Innovation Machine has seen some of the world’s top scientists flock to Tyneside were they are paid to develop businesses based around new inventions or new uses for existing technology.

“What we have with the Innovation Machine is a chance to really leave a lasting legacy in the city,” Mr Arnold said.

Work to prepare the ground for the science HQ is funded by the three partners; Newcastle Council, Newcastle University and development agency One North East.

Professor Nick Wright, Newcastle University’s pro vice chancellor for research, said that alongside a new university building on the site the city had a chance to transform itself not just physically but in its global status as well.

Asked if the looming Government cuts would jeopardise this, he said he was confident the development would continue without delay.

Prof Wright added: “We’re hopeful we can avoid the worst of this, the Labour Government has been a big friend of science investment.”

He added: “We have planned all this knowing there is a possibility of a reduction in funding, so we at present do not see anything which will change the timetable for Science City.

“As long as the cuts are no deeper than what has been talked about so far we do not anticipate having to delay these plans.”

Newcastle Council leader John Shipley has welcomed plans to focus the region’s green energy expertise in Newcastle.

He said: “I genuinely believe we are heading towards achieving a status as world leaders in sustainability and this flagship building is a big step towards that.

“The recession did not help us but we the partners decided to push ahead with this investment and spend money preparing this site.

“I think we will see investors starting to come forward now and soon have a building we can be proud of.”

[Newcastle Historian]

North firm aims to transform riverside industry
Apr 21 2010 by Adam Jupp, Evening Chronicle



THE battle to secure £60m of Government cash to build a wind turbine factory has begun in earnest.

Marine engineering firm Shepherd Offshore today declared its intention to bid for a share of the so-called “port pot”, announced by Downing Street last month.

The money is intended for projects that will upgrade riverside sites for manufacturing use in the green energy sector.

Shepherd Offshore is already in the process of building a factory that will be occupied by American firm Clipper Windpower on the site of the former Neptune Shipyard, in Newcastle’s East End.

Three other turbine manufacturers, Siemens, GE and Mitsubishi, have stated they intend to build factories in the UK, creating thousands of jobs in the process.

But which region they choose is likely to hinge on how the £60m funding pot is distributed.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has remained cagey about how many projects are likely to win a share of the cash, issuing a statement that it reserves the right to “award funding to a single site; or to split funds between a range of sites, depending on the nature of the bids received.”

Now, the Shepherd family has publicly thrown its hat into the ring, saying Tyneside is the perfect place for further developments in the green energy sector. Shepherd Offshore chairman Freddy Shepherd said: “We are going to try our best.

“We have got competitors but we think we have got a good chance of getting this money and if we are successful, it will contribute to our goal of creating up to 6,000 jobs on the North Bank of the Tyne.

“We are very serious about winning this money, which will hopefully help us to attract international companies involved in wind and wave energy to the East End of Newcastle.”

As well as the Neptune site, in Walker, the Shepherds own around 200 acres of land, stretching to Howdon, North Tyneside.

The Offshore Wind Site Development Competition is open to port authorities and project developers who can demonstrate they have access to enough land to house turbine manufacturing plants.

They also have to be suitable for the transport of large and heavy products and already have heavy duty surfacing capable of bearing heavy loads in place.

The Shepherds say they can already provide all of this, as well as a captive labour market, desperate for work since the demise of shipbuilding.

Their declaration of interest comes as the Labour party declared the creation of green jobs as the centrepiece of its election campaign.

They say the Government is spending £400m on low-carbon projects over the next two years and argue that would be at risk if Tories came to power.

The party has unveiled a four-part low carbon industrial strategy, which includes increased support for research and development schemes and incentives for firms wanting to locate in the UK.

David Still, managing director of Clipper Windpower, which has a base in Blyth, Northumberland, said: “We wouldn’t have made our decision to manufacture in the UK without the strong support provided by Government’s energy and industrial policies – particularly the help we’ve had from the Environmental Transformation Fund and One North East, the regional development agency.

“Capital allowances are also an important driver for us. If the UK wants to maintain this new wave of investment in low carbon manufacturing as part of its strategy for future growth it’s critical these pro-industry policies are maintained.”

Mr Shepherd added: “The competition for investment in ports gives us the chance to improve the infrastructure of areas like Tyneside.

“Reduction in such support would make it harder for us to build our business, which is key to meeting the country’s future energy needs.”

[bigchrisfgb]

Possibly good news.

[Newcastle Historian]

Electric cars ordered for NHS staff in green initiative
Jun 3 2010 by Helen Rae, The Journal



A NORTH East health trust is putting its staff in the driving seat as it races to become more environmentally-friendly.

NHS South of Tyne and Wear is among the first NHS trusts in the country to invest in electric staff cars as part of its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint.

The scheme comes as the region continues to be at the forefront of the green car revolution, with 1,300 charging points being installed in the North East over the next three years and Wearside’s Nissan plant gearing up for production of electric car batteries and the Leaf model.

Brent Kilmurray, managing director – commercial at NHS South of Tyne and Wear, which covers Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland, said: “We are constantly looking at new ways to achieve our low-carbon ambition.

“We have already gained national recognition for our development of sustainable buildings.


FULL ARTICLE HERE - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-e...1634-26576056/