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A new fund that is set to unlock greener ways to travel and to heat and power homes and businesses by harnessing a new approach to energy network innovation, has opened for applications. The Strategic Innovation Fund is part of Ofgem’s RII02 price controls for the electricity system operator and the network companies that operate Great Britain's energy pipes and...

New amendments to the Environment Bill announced by the UK Government include strengthening the duty to set a legally-binding target to halt species decline by 2030. Between 1932 and 1984, we lost 97% of our species-rich grassland, five species of butterfly have disappeared from England in the last 150 years, and indicators showing the state of birds dependent on farmland...

Single-use plastic plates, cutlery and polystyrene cups are among a raft of items that could be banned in England as part of a new public consultation being launched in the autumn. These proposals are set to lead to businesses using more sustainable alternatives. It is estimated that each person uses 18 single-use plastic plates and 37 single-use plastic items of cutlery...

Longer goods vehicles could become a permanent fixture on Britain’s roads as early as next year, the government has announced. This comes as the Department for Transport publishes its response to its consultation on the introduction of longer-semi trailers (LSTs), for which the majority of respondents were in favour of their use. It follows a nine-year trial of the vehicles, which...

Self-reported food waste has rebounded to pre-lockdown levels as restrictions lift and more food is potentially going to waste in UK homes as life returns to normal, environmental charity WRAP's latest UK Food Trends Survey shows. The charity's Love Food Hate Waste-campaign found that during lockdown many more people adopted positive food management behaviours that prevent food from going to...

The island nation of Madagascar is close to experiencing a climate-change induced famine, which has left families eating leaves and insects for survival. According to the United Nations (UN), the southern part of the country is experiencing its worst drought in four decades, with more than 1.14 million people food insecure. Of those 1.14 million, an estimated 14,000 people are already...

Plans to release beavers into the wild in England have been set out in new a consultation, marking 'a cautious step' towards further reintroductions and establishing native beaver populations. Beavers can play 'a hugely significant' role in helping to restore nature to England. Widely referred to as ‘ecosystem engineers’, they create dams from trees, mud and rocks, which raise water levels,...

Farming seaweed and growing algae from the by-products of whisky manufacturing are among 24 projects awarded £4 million government funding to boost biomass production. The projects, from start-ups and family-run businesses to research institutes and universities, will receive funding of up to £200,000 from the government’s Biomass Feedstocks Innovation Programme to produce low-carbon energy using organic materials. The projects will boost biomass...

A new research programme has been launched to address 'the critical gap' in understanding how marine ecosystems will respond to the continued growth of offshore wind as the sector ramps up to deliver 40GW of offshore wind by 2030. The £7 million programme, known as ECOWind, is a joint initiative led by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in partnership...

Between March 2019 and September 2020, ESB Independent Generation Trading Limited and Carrington Power Limited regularly submitted misleading data to National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO) about the minimum amount of energy the Carrington power plant could supply, Ofgem market monitoring has found. According to the energy regulator, this caused NGESO to purchase more energy from the plant than needed,...