The Bioenergy Action Plan for Wales aims to generate at least 5 terawatt hours of electricity, about 20% of our current needs, from renewable biomass by 2020. It also aims to have biomass provide 2.5 terawatt hours of usable heat energy, about 3% of our current needs. This will result in a reduction of about 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year in comparison with generation based on fossil fuels. It will also create new jobs.

Biomass is organic material that can be used to create renewable energy. This includes plants, trees and vegetations, as well as sewage and animal waste. Biomass is ‘carbon neutral’, in that the amount of carbon it absorbs while growing is the same as the amount it produces when burned. The Assembly Government wants to ensure that biomass is obtained from sustainable sources, whether these are in the UK or overseas, and take into account the carbon emissions associated with growing, harvesting, processing and treating it.

The Coal Minerals Technical Advice Note (Coal TAN) gives comprehensive advice for local planning authorities and applicants. It will apply to both surface and underground coal sites.

Making the announcement, Environment, Sustainability & Housing Minister Jane Davidson said:

This new advice delivers a key One Wales commitment by the Assembly Government to introduce compulsory Health Impact Assessments for open cast coal applications, together with buffer zones which will now be set at 500 metres. It places an emphasis on planners and developers working closely with local communities.

It gives us an opportunity to make sure we strike the right balance between different interests and help ensure coal extraction is sustainable.

We have always said coal can play an important role in the supply of energy, particularly as Carbon Capture and Storage technology is developed. However, the quality of life of the people and communities closer to extraction sites must also be taken into consideration. As a government we want to ensure our policies and planning decisions maintain and improve the quality of life of local communities.

Commenting on the introduction of a 500 metre buffer zone, Ms Davidson added:

Including a 500 metre buffer zone policy is a significant step towards our common goals – planning for a coal industry that works with local communities, that respects the environment and, for the immediate future, continues to contribute to a secure, diverse and sustainable supply of energy and of coke for the iron and steel industry. We also recognise that coal working can be the best way to bring damaged land back to use, and sometimes, in exceptional circumstances, this will be closer to communities.

This means putting a high value on the well-being of the people who live and work in the Welsh coalfields, their health and every day amenity while at the same time recognising the value of our coal for energy, for steel, for employment and regeneration.

The funding will help get Prosiect Gwyrdd started. The Project is a joint initiative between five South Wales councils which will look at the best way to dispose of municipal waste that can’t be recycled or composted. The extra funding for Prosiect Gwyrdd will be up to £7.8m in a full year of operation depending on the final costs of the project.

On MONDAY 12TH JANUARY 2009, between 7 – 9pm,

@ DEMPSEYS PUB, on CASTLE STREET (CORNER WOMANBY STREET) CARDIFF.

Entry: £2 on the door (to cover cost of hiring room)

All welcome.

Speaker is… Molly Scott-Cato – Reader in Green Economics and Economics Speaker for the Green Party who will share her thinking about what transition means for the way we organise our economic life, and specifically in relation to trade and money. Followed by an opportunity for questions and a facilitated exercise/discussion

For further information, please contact info@cardifftransitionproject.org.uk

The popular shopping destination could be the first plastic bag free town in Wales if leading environmentalists in the county borough have their way.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is supporting Pontypridd Women’s Institute and Friends of the Earth in their campaign to make Pontypridd plastic-bag free with a special awareness day taking place this Friday.

Shopkeepers and market traders throughout the town are being encouraged to stop giving out plastic bags to shoppers in an effort to reduce the quantity sent to landfill. Pontypridd is the first town in Wales to date to launch such an exciting scheme.

Around 13 billion plastic bags are given free to UK shoppers every year. The bags can take between 400-1,000 years to break down, and like all forms of plastic they do not biodegrade and can contaminate soil, waterways and oceans, entering the food chain when ingested by animals.

Last year the Devonshire town of Modbury became synonymous with environmentalists as the first community in Europe to become plastic shopping bag-free.

Members of Pontypridd Women’s Institute, Friends of the Earth and Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Streetcare Team, are determined to make the first plastic bag free day a total success.

Plastic Bag Free Pontypridd will take place in the town centre on Friday December 12th.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s specialist Home Energy Officer is promoting the initiative, which is open to homeowners or tenants who have someone over the age of 70 resident in their home.

On offer regardless of income, insulation is the easiest way to make your home warmer in summer and cooler in summer.

As energy bills continue to rise, the focus of the Home Energy Officer is to ensure residents have access to schemes that help reduce their fuel bills to heat their homes affordably while also protecting the environment by reducing fuel consumption.

Free insulation is still offered, free of charge, to those in receipt of qualifying benefits, and also offered to others for a discounted price of £199 per measure.

As the campaign for affordable warmth and environmental friendliness continues, free insulation is now being offered to homeowners or private tenants with an occupant over the age of 70.

Keryl Lanfear, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Home Energy Officer, explained: “Loft insulation can save you up to £110 a year in energy bills and cavity wall insulation adds an additional £90 saving on top of that.

“As energy prices continue to rise, we are pleased to be able to promote and share information on schemes that reduce the cost of heating , while also protecting the environment by reducing fuel consumption.”

For more information on the scheme or to apply for free insulation, contact the Energy Saving Trust on 0800 512 012 (freephone)

For further details on energy efficiency , including the annual winter fuel payment for those aged 60 and over, contact Keryl Lanfear on 01443 493621

At an Energy Summit this week the First Minister said that since he last met delegates at the annual summit, the pace of change in the energy sector has continued to accelerate at European, UK and Wales levels culminating last week with the publication of the Wales Renewable Energy Route Map, the first to be published by a UK administration. Mr Morgan said:

The energy world has been a tremendously busy one, both at project and policy level, since we last met a year ago.

The key to our aims is to maximise Wales’ contribution to the abatement of global warming, not to produce a set of strategies that make the Welsh figures look good.

I am pleased to say that in Wales we have been equally busy meeting the tasks of securing our energy needs for the future.

It represents another big step by our small country on the path to making Wales a low carbon energy economy.

Expanding the production and use of low carbon and secure energy is one of the Assembly Government’s key One Wales commitments.

The Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, Jane Davidson, told the Summit that the Assembly Government was unique in Europe in having a legal duty to promote sustainable development:

Tackling climate change is my top priority and I believe the Route Map, which I launched in Cwmbran and London last week, is one of the ways that we can achieve this.

Climate change is with us. We have to deal with it but we cannot tackle it alone. Everybody in Wales needs to be taking part in the consultation around the Route Map as this will inform our Energy Strategy which we will be publishing before the end of the year.

I was pleased with the warm welcome that the Route Map received and it is good to meet people at summits like this to exchange views with all the stakeholders so that we can get the strategy right.

There is no magic bullet for tackling climate change. The Assembly Government is determined to do all that it can to ensure that we:

• All stop wasting energy
• All invest in more energy efficiency in our buildings and processes
• Reduce the carbon intensity of energy generation as quickly as practicable.

Wales is blessed with the kind of natural resources – geography, climate, tides – which can reach 33 terrawatt hours of renewable electricity by 2025 – a level that is equal to electricity demand.

The First Minister outlined to the Summit the major projects that have been developing in the last year including:

• The LNG terminals in Milford Haven nearing completion
• RWE are completing major flue gas desulphurisation installations and boiler upgrades at Aberthaw power station
• Rhyl flats offshore windfarm has started construction – one of the UK’s largest.
• Consent for Welsh Power’s 800 MW gas-fired power station at Uskmouth and Prenergy’s 350 MW biomass at Port Talbot – the latter being the world’s largest biomass-fired electricity power station
• While Tower Colliery close other coal developments are progressing across South Wales and longer term underground coal gasification prospects are being intensively studied at Cardiff University.

Other renewables milestones include the Bluestone biomass project and the announcement of multi-megawatt tidal stream projects off Pembrokeshire and Anglesey.

An announcement is due shortly of the outcome on the Forestry Commission Wind-farm tendering process.

The Commission’s report, Tidal Power in the UK, draws on extensive research and public and stakeholder engagement to reach the conclusion that, the UK’s outstanding tidal resources could provide at least 10% of the country’s electricity through a combination of technologies. A Severn barrage alone could potentially supply just under 5%.

However, the report insists that commitment to public leadership and ownership of the project is the only way to ensure the public gets a fair share of the rewards and to avoid short-termist decisions. It also asserts that a publicly-led project is the only way of ensuring that the network of estuary habitats protected by European law is not compromised as a result of a Severn barrage.

Sustainable Development Commission conditions for a Severn Barrage:

• A Severn barrage must be publicly led as a project and publicly owned as an asset to avoid short-termist decisions and ensure the long-term public interest

• Full compliance with European Directives on habitats is vital, as is a long-term commitment to creating compensatory habitats on an unprecedented scale

• Development of a Severn Barrage must not divert Government attention away from much wider action on climate change

Jonathon Porritt, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, said:

“The enormous potential for a Severn barrage to help reduce our carbon emissions and improve energy security needs to be balanced against the impact on the estuary’s unique habitat, as well as its communities and businesses. This is why we believe that any development must be publicly-led as a project and publicly-owned as an asset, in order to ensure that the Government takes full responsibility for taking a sustainable, long-term approach.”

The report also highlights the fact that the lower rate of interest available to a Government-led project would provide the only realistic way of financing a large-scale compensatory habitat package, as well as providing electricity to consumers at a competitive price.

“The Sustainable Development Commission is issuing a challenge to Government to embrace a new way of managing this major project,” said Porritt. “We are excited about the contribution a Severn Barrage could make to a more sustainable future, but not at any cost.

“It is vitally important that all parts of Government – including the Welsh Assembly Government and the South West Regional Development Agency – are actively involved in the project, to ensure that work is fully integrated into regional economic and development plans.”

The Commission also warns that the development of major tidal power resources should not be seen as a licence to ignore the need for dramatic reductions in our energy consumption, increased energy efficiency, and the wider decarbonisation of our energy supplies.

A barrage would be only one part of a major long-term sustainable energy strategy for reducing carbon emissions. Reviewing the different types of tidal technology, the report asserts that the way is open for the UK to exploit all some or all of its rich tidal resources for tidal barrages, tidal lagoons or tidal stream devices.

Tidal stream technologies

Emerging tidal stream technologies present exciting opportunities for low carbon energy production, and the report cites potentially huge rewards in terms of export potential from developing this technology. The Commission concludes that Government should ’stay the course’ to make tidal stream technology a viable proposition, whilst putting in place a robust regulatory framework and supporting the research required to understand potential environmental impacts.

Tidal lagoons

The report concludes that there are few direct conflicts between tidal barrages and tidal lagoons, with the exception of claims made for large scale lagoon development in the Severn Estuary. Although there is little authoritative evidence available on tidal lagoon technology, which proposes using hydropower turbines in an offshore impoundment, lagoons could potentially be developed in a number of shallow coastal areas with sufficient tidal range. The Commission would like to see the Government investigating their long-term potential by funding a demonstration project. This would allow a full evaluation of the costs and the potential environmental impacts.

Download the report Turning the Tide, Tidal Power in the UK here

Come and hear the powerful stories of the Iraqi oil workers and trade unions resisting the military and economic occupation of their homeland . . .

Tuesday 2 October at 7 pm

WALLACE LECTURE THEATRE

Main Building

Cardiff University

Park Place (opp. Student Union Building)

Speakers-

EWA JASIEWICZ

UK rep for the Basra Oil Workers Union & founder member of NAFTANA, an organisation that builds solidarity with Iraqi workers.

+ Speaker from the Stop the War Coalition

About the Ewa Jasiewicz:

In 2004, Ewa Jasiewicz visited Iraq to build links between the anti-war movement and Iraqi trade unions resisting both occupation and the corporate take-over of their counrty. She became the UK rep for the Basra Oil Workers Union, a militant trade union resisting both the sell-off of Iraqi oil to foreign corporations and the armies of occupation and helped organise Iraq’s first anti-privatisation conference.

Ewa has lived in Baghdad and Basra, supporting human rights groups, womens organisations, families, workers, trade unionists and Palestinian refugees.

Her articles have appeared in Red Pepper, Electronic Iraq, Z-Net, Counterpunch, Infoshop, Occupation Watch and The Socialist Review in the US.

This will be an important meeting to join the international campaign against the hydrocarbon law that aims to give control of Iraq’s oil for the next 30 years to foreign multinationals.

About HANDS OFF IRAQI OIL

Hands Off Iraqi Oil is a UK coalition opposing any foreign exploitation of Iraq’s oil reserves that rips off the Iraqi people. Members include Corporate Watch, Iraq Occupation Focus, Jubilee Iraq, Naftana, PLATFORM, Voices UK, and War on Want.

For more info. about this event contact Adam Johannes on 07940108146

TREBANOS SPRING CARNIVAL
SATURDAY MARCH 24TH 2:00 PM

COME AND JOIN IN THE FUN,
A FANCY DRESS STREET CARNIVAL TO CELEBRATE
-WALES -
OUR COUNTRY, AND CULTURE
AND
OUR ENVIRONMENT.

MUSICIANS AND DANCERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY .

PRIZES FOR BEST ADULT AND CHILD FANCY DRESS.
CHILDRENS ART CONTEST.
FANCY BONNET PARADE AND CONTEST.
THE PROCESSION WILL START 2:30PM AT THE BOTTOM OF GLYN MEIRCH ROAD, ALONG SWANSEA ROAD THROUGH TREBANOS, UP HEOL Y LLWYNAU AND BACK TO SWANSEA ROAD.

TREBANOS HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF OPPOSITION TO THE PROPOSED 48″ HIGH PRESSURE GAS PIPELINE RIPPING IT’S WAY THROUGH OUR WELSH COUNTRYSIDE. ALL ARE WELCOME TO EITHER JOIN IN OR JUST SPECTATE. BRING YOUR KIDS, YOUR PETS, YOUR HORSES AND PONIES, YOUR BIKES OR YOUR ZIMMERS !!!!

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL AFTER 6 PM

JAN FRAYNE – 07973 619183

RACHEL EVANS – 01792 830417

PAT FRAYNE – 07745068514

* Fight the Pipe Website *