To support customers who want to make the change from bottles to bags, 500 Sainsbury’s stores across the UK will be giving away JUGIT (TM) containers on Saturday 15 May. The reusable JUGIT (TM) containers are used to hold a milk bag and contain a spike that pierces the bag, forms a no-leak seal, and delivers milk through the spout. Currently available in semi-skimmed 2pt packs, the milk bags costs six pence less than a standard 2pt bottle of milk. The success of the bag and JUGIT (TM) is such that the company is now looking at the possibility of rolling it out further across its milk ranges.

Energyflo Construction Technologies Limited produces the world’s first dynamic insulation and filtration product, the Energyflo cell, which makes it easier and cheaper for developers to comply with new carbon reduction regulations. The investment, of £0.75m from SSEF II and £0.75m from the Scottish Enterprise’s Scottish Co-Investment Fund, will support the large-scale commercialisation of the Energyflo cell and the development of new products and markets.

The party plans to invest in wind energy, energy efficiency in public buildings and homes, and in bringing empty homes back into use through renovation.

Speaking at a press conference in Cardiff, Mr Clegg said for decades a succession of Labour and Conservative governments had run Britain to “serve the interests of one square mile - the City of London”.

He said: “We want to build a new economy which serves the interests of the 100,000 square miles of the UK, where we have growth that lasts.”

The Liberal Democrats plan to create a one-year green job stimulus plan, for which £3.1 billion of cuts in government expenditure would be used to bring 200,000 empty properties back into use, and invest in new green energy infrastructure and public transport.

There would also be a “90-day guarantee” for young people, who would be offered a place of training, work or apprenticeship after 90 days of unemployment, so they were not “left in a state of despair”.

Mr Clegg said: “We need all this infrastructure in any event but, of course, investing in that infrastructure is the best way to create jobs, particularly for young people today.”

He also declared that the General Election campaign was “starting to come to life” as a clutch of opinion polls showed an upsurge in support for the Liberal Democrats.

“I think this General Election campaign is starting to come to life for the simple reason that a growing number of people are starting to believe, starting to hope, that we can do something different this time,” he said.

Further evidence of the surge in support for the Lib Dems came in a YouGov poll for The Sun which put Mr Clegg’s party in the lead with 33% (up three points since a similar poll on Saturday). The Conservatives were on 32% (down one point), with Labour trailing on 26% (down two).

From the Press Association

Reinhard Clemens, member of the Deutsche Telekom Board of Management and T-Systems CEO, added: “The energy market is facing a radical change: power and data networks are converging. We have the necessary broadband fixed and mobile network, the service staff on-site and experience in handling mass data. After all, we process more than 40 million telecommunication invoices every month in our data centers.”

Smart grids are the key to integrating renewable energies profitably, efficiently and securely and improving energy efficiency in power supply, according to the cooperation partners.

Under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act, the share of energy obtained from renewable energy sources is to increase to at least 30 percent in Germany by 2020. An increasing number of decentralized and regenerative energy sources are making the distribution network more and more complex. In future networks, power consumption must be adapted better to fluctuating energy generation - otherwise it will not be possible to operate the overall system efficiently.

Smart grids can provide the information required for intelligent automated control in real time via data networks. On the consumer side, smart meters and suitable displays can measure and display power consumption at short intervals, enabling households to control their power consumption in a more targeted manner. The intelligent displays will also be able to communicate with individual devices in the future allowing - even in the consumer’s absence - cheaper rates to be used. This would then enable providers to motivate energy users to consume excess and cheaper energy by way of rates signals.

Kingston is designed to generate 1kWe of power which can be utilised in the home, and any excess not used can be exported to the national electricity grid.  It is anticipated that the Kingston Organic Rankine Cycle (”ORC”) based appliance will have a significantly shorter payback period compared to other micro-CHP technologies.  The unit is  tailored for installation in UK homes.  It integrates the Genlec ORC micro-CHP technology, which generates electricity using heat produced by a gas boiler.  The target performance for the Kingston appliance is to have an overall efficiency equivalent to a high-efficiency condensing boiler and an electrical efficiency of 10%.

Genlec has taken advantage of the improving conditions for micro-CHP in the UK market, particularly with the introduction of feed-in tariffs.  The Kingston is undergoing laboratory tests to determine its heating and electrical performance, and is expected to have full UK certification, including CE compliance during 2010.  Potential manufacturing and marketing partners have shown significant interest the appliance.

Adrian Hutchings, CEO of Energetix Group, commented: “The Group took the decision to develop and introduce a fully integrated appliance for UK homes, having recognised that the market conditions for micro-CHP were likely to improve.  This has resulted in the unveiling today of the Kingston.  We are currently in discussions with a major white goods appliance manufacturer and with power utilities for both its production and sale in the UK.

“At Energetix we view the Feed-in Tariffs as useful in helping to drive the uptake of our micro-CHP products; however, unlike other micro-CHP technologies, our Genlec product is inherently low-cost in initial outlay and maintenance and, as such, the economic case for Kingston is not reliant on any such subsidies.”

To overcome the problem, the scheme will see the loan attached to the house rather than the person who took it out.

Around 500 homes in Birmingham, Sunderland, the London borough of Sutton and Stroud have been testing out a £4 million pilot for the Pay As You Save programme.

In the pilot, homeowners are making repayments for the green technology over a long enough period so payments are lower than the predicted savings on energy bills, though the financial packages also include options in which they pay some of the upfront costs.

The whole house energy makeovers, which the Government wants to roll out to improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s 22 million existing homes, will provide a range of technologies including insulation and small-scale renewables such as solar panels or ground source heat pumps to provide energy.

Mr Miliband said: “Helping people save energy at home can make it easier and cheaper to keep homes warm and appliances running. It is also the best way to cut our carbon emissions.

“This new approach will allow people to pay for home improvements after they have had them installed rather than before,” he said. “More people will be able to get the work they want done. That means less energy used, which is good for the environment, and lower bills, which is good for families, particularly when we have cold weather like we did this winter.”

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has already been in discussions with a number of sectors including retail and banking over how the loans can be delivered, while legislation will need to be introduced to allow for the loans to be attached to homesEnergy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband will announce details of a “green loans” scheme piloted in Sutton on Tuesday to help people pay for improvements to their homes to make them more energy efficient.

The scheme, which would see loans attached to the house where insulation, solar panels or other green technology was installed, aims to overcome the financial barriers and upfront costs people face when trying make their homes greener.

With the expense of green technology and people moving house on average every nine to 12 years, householders may not have a long enough period for paying back the loan before they move to ensure they save more on their bills than the cost of the repayments.

To overcome the problem, the scheme will see the loan attached to the house rather than the person who took it out.

Around 500 homes in Birmingham, Sunderland, the London borough of Sutton and Stroud have been testing out a £4 million pilot for the Pay As You Save programme.

In the pilot, homeowners are making repayments for the green technology over a long enough period so payments are lower than the predicted savings on energy bills, though the financial packages also include options in which they pay some of the upfront costs.

The whole house energy makeovers, which the Government wants to roll out to improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s 22 million existing homes, will provide a range of technologies including insulation and small-scale renewables such as solar panels or ground source heat pumps to provide energy.

Mr Miliband said: “Helping people save energy at home can make it easier and cheaper to keep homes warm and appliances running. It is also the best way to cut our carbon emissions.

“This new approach will allow people to pay for home improvements after they have had them installed rather than before,” he said. “More people will be able to get the work they want done. That means less energy used, which is good for the environment, and lower bills, which is good for families, particularly when we have cold weather like we did this winter.”

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has already been in discussions with a number of sectors including retail and banking over how the loans can be delivered, while legislation will need to be introduced to allow for the loans to be attached to homes.

At the time of thier application Niki Fenwick, a  Google representative, said “Right now, we can’t buy affordable, utility-scale, renewable energy in our markets. We want to buy the highest quality, most affordable renewable energy wherever we can and use the green credits. We don’t have any concrete plans. We want the ability to buy and sell electricity in case it becomes part of our portfolio.”

And in the wake of the Government’s announcement that it intends to oversee the installation of up to 10,000 wind turbines on and offshore, Dr Fouquet said ministers should also look to develop production of the technology within this country.

He said that Bosch, which makes gear boxes for wind turbines, currently had no plans to begin manufacturing in the UK, but could in the future if the market were to grow.

And he said there were huge opportunities in marine power, if it could be made affordable.

He said: “There is a skills issue for the UK. We do not have enough skilled people here.

“You need skilled people to produce technological goods if you’re trying to build up an industry to support wind turbines business, you need really good trained and well skilled workers.”

And he said there was plenty that could be done by government in terms of legislation or incentives to stimulate use of small scale renewables, such as the “feed-in tariffs” which are coming in to force in the UK in April to pay people for the electricity they generate.

He pointed to other parts of Europe, where building regulations require a certain percentage of a new house’s energy to come from renewables such as solar power or heat pumps.

While growth in Bosch’s heat pump market was in triple figures in the UK, small-scale renewables were still struggling to get off the ground, he said, warning there was “no real encouragement” for the technologies here.

Shell has invested $1.7bn in renewable energy over the last five years. The company is currently building a large off-shore windpark at Egmond together with the Dutch energy concern Nuon.

The company said it will now focus on bio fuels.

“I hope this investment will ignite our imagination once more in science, medicine, energy and make our economy stronger, our nation more secure, and our planet safer for our children,” said President Obama.

A summary of the incentives follows:-

Tax Incentives

• Three-Year Extension of PTC: The bill provides a three-year extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for electricity derived from wind facilities through December 31, 2012, as well as for geothermal, biomass, hydropower, landfill gas, waste-to-energy and marine facilities through ecember 31 2013.
• Investment Tax Credit (ITC) Accessible to All Renewable Energy: The bill provides project developers of wind, geothermal, biomass and other technologies eligible for the PTC, the option of instead utilizing the 30% ITC that previously only applied to solar and other clean technology projects.
• Repeals Subsidized Energy Financing Limitation on ITC: The bill would allow businesses and individuals to qualify for the full amount of the ITC, even if their property is financed with industrial development bonds or other subsidized energy financing.
• Grant Program in Lieu of Tax Credits: The bill allows project developers to apply for a grant from the Treasury Department in lieu of the ITC. The grant will be equal to 30% of the cost of eligible projects that start construction in 2009 or 2010. It will be issued within sixty days of the facility being placed in service or, if later, within sixty days of receiving a grant application.
• Increases Credit for Alternative Fuel Pumps: The bill increases the size of credits for installing alternative fuel pumps at gas stations from 30 to 50% ($30,000 to $50,000) for taxable years 2009-2010.
• Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credits: The bill provides $2 billion worth of energyrelated manufacturing investment credits at a 30% rate.vi These credits apply to projects creating or retooling manufacturing facilities to make components used to generate renewable energy, storage systems for use in electric or hybrid-electric cars, power grid components supporting addition of renewable sources, and equipment for carbon capture and storage (CCS).
• Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicle Credit: The bill increases the tax credit for qualified plug-in electric drive vehicles for the first 200,000 placed in service. The base amount of the credit is $2500. Batteries with at least 5 kilowatt hours of capacity have a credit of $2917. The credit is further increased by $417 for every kilowatt hour in excess of 5 kilowatt hours, but cannot exceed $5000.viii The credit is allowed to be taken against the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
• Five Year Carry-Back Provision for Operating Losses of Small Businesses: The bill would extend the carry-back period for net operating losses (NOL) from two to five years for tax years 2008 and 2009.x An eligible NOL includes the NOL for any taxable year ending in 2008 or if the taxpayer chooses, any taxable year beginning in 2008. An election under this provision may only be taken for one taxable year.
• Extends Bonus Depreciation: The bill extends, through 2009, the temporary increase of bonus depreciation to 50% that Congress enacted last year. These write offs can be applied to capital expenditures ranging from $250,000 to a newly increased threshold of $800,000.

Direct Spending

• Direct Spending for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: The bill provides $16.8 billion in direct spending for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs over the next ten ears.
• Grid Development: The bill provides $4.5 billion to modernize the nation’s electricity grid with smart grid technology. The bill increases federal matching grants for the Smart Grid Investment Program from 20% to 50%.
• R&D, Demonstration Projects: The bill provides $2.5 billion for renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D, demonstration and deployment activities.
• Federal Power Marketing Administrations: The bill provides $6.5 million for capital investments by certain federal power marketing administrations in electric power transmission systems.
• Advanced Battery Grants: The bill provides $2 billion for grants for the manufacturing of advanced batteries and components. This includes the manufacturing of advanced lithium ion batteries, hybrid electrical systems, component manufacturers, and soft-ware designers.
• Defense Energy and Efficiency Programs: The bill provides $300 million to the DOD for the purpose of research, testing and evaluation of projects to energy generation, transmission and efficiency. The bill provides an additional $100 million for Navy and Marine Corps facilities to fund energy efficiency and alternative energy projects.
• Study of Electric Transmission Congestion: The bill requires the Secretary of Energy to include a study of the transmission issues facing renewable energy in the pending study of electric transmission congestion that is due to be issued in August 2009.

Bond and Loan Programs

• Clean Energy Renewable Bonds (CREBs): The bill provides $1.6 billion of new clean energy enewable bonds to finance wind, closed-loop biomass, open-loop biomass, geothermal, small irrigation, hydropower, landfill gas, marine renewable, and trash combustion facilities.
• One third of the authorized funding will be available for qualifying projects of state/local/tribal governments, one-third for public power providers and one-third for electric cooperatives
• Renewable Energy Loan Guarantee Program: The bill provides $6 billion for a temporary loan guarantee program for renewable energy power generation and transmission projects that begin construction by September 30, 2011.xxv Up to $500 million of the overall $6 billion can be used for the development of leading edge biofuels that have been demonstrated.

Source American Council on Renewable Energy.