Exclusive environmental investigations and films on energy, low carbon and alternative renewable technologies, climate change and the environmental impact of energy
The recent U-turn by of some of the UK's leading environmentalists - and one-time nuclear energy opponents - on the issue of nuclear energy, has caused vigourous debate in the media. Their reasoning is that we simply don't have the capacity to produce enough renewable energy to meet our needs. But as this comprehensive Ecologist report from 2007 shows the UK is really a renewable energy powerhouse.
Well, now we have it; nuclear power is once again going to save the day. In the past it helped save us from coal, now it is going to save us, if the rest of the world follows our example, from global warming.
The coal industry of last century is the prime reason Merthyr Tydfil has the worst health in the UK. Now, with more coal and cash to carve from one of Europe’s largest opencast mines, developers and the local authority are back to finish the job. Words and photographs by Amy Scaife
Renewables good, fossil fuels bad... unless, of course, renewables begin to take up more and more land in order to meet our energy needs. Paul Kingsnorth adds fuel to a tricky debate.
Two firms in the wind power sector illustrate how companies in the developing world can take advantage of increasing access to technological know-how, while staying within the bounds of intellectual property law, says Joanna Lewis.
Three years ago, winter was not a good time of year for residents at Hoathly Hill in West Sussex. A community founded in 1972 on the principles of Rudolf Steiner, many of Hoathly Hill’s residents enjoyed the sense of quiet self-sufficiency that living on a smallholding in Sussex’s High Weald gave them.
Parliament has recommended it, Sainsbury’s has tried it and Tesco is doing it, but what is the future for sustainable transport along the UK’s inland waterways?
Every year, each square metre of the UK receives between 900 and 1200 kWh of solar radiation. Capturing just some of this energy could make a significant contribution to fulfilling our energy requirements.
The UK has been described as the ‘Saudi Arabia’ of wind, with some 50 TWh of onshore and at least 450 TWh of offshore power available every year, well in excess of our current electricity demand.
There is much talk of the possibility of a future ‘hydrogen economy’, which will power all our vehicles and homes. It is important to remember that hydrogen is not an energy source; it is an energy carrier. To obtain hydrogen it must be split from either natural gas or water molecules. The former, most widely used, method not only requires energy but also gives off carbon dioxide (CO2) in the process. Hydrogen produced in this way requires more energy to make than will eventually be returned when it is used. It makes more sense from a climate perspective to burn the natural gas itself than to convert and re-convert it to hydrogen in this way.
Even among green campaigners, nuclear energy is quietly gaining ground as a potential solution to the impending energy crisis. However several issues – particularly those of raw materials, cost and waste – remain unaddressed within the mainstream of opinion.
Each year, UK livestock produce some 60 million tonnes of collectable faeces. If left to run into water-courses or even spread on fields, this waste can lead to the same problems associated with excessive fertiliser use – algal blooms and aquatic life starved of oxygen.
Clean Coal Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the technology of stripping carbon dioxide from the exhaust gases of fossil fuels and then burying it as a liquid underground.
Today's energy policies are concerned overwhelmingly with generating electricity. But 84 per cent of the energy we use at home is to heat our rooms and hot water. What if that energy could come from a source which is not only renewable, but is cheap, readily available, and even improves the environment it is extracted from? Adam Nicolson reports on the growing potential for wood fuel in Kent
Growing crops to solve the planet’s energy needs doesn’t work. Recycling the energy in our waste just might have a significant part to play. By Jeremy Smith & Jon Hughes
The world fervour for biofuels continues to grow at an alarming pace. In this comprehensive special report, the Ecologist examines the facts, fictions and fabrications behind this ballooning industry. The results are worrying...
In his final State of the Union address, George Bush announced his support for the adoption of biofuels on a massive scale. But is the plan such a good idea? By Pat Thomas
The world’s forests are natural carbon ‘sinks’ that remove and store atmospheric CO2. So why, in the name of saving the earth, asks Renton Righelato, are we cutting down these precious resources to make way for fuel crops?
Plant fuels can never meet our current and growing energy needs and, as Robin Maynard reports, adopting a ‘carbohydrate economy’ may prove disastrous for our farmers, our food supply and our future
Npower, owner of the UK's third largest coal-fired power station, says it will have to black out two million customers if it can't fill this lake with poisonous ash. Paul Kingsnorth investigates
