Longannet power plant to shut next year

The giant coal-fired power station, Longannet, on the Firth of Forth in Scotland, UK, is to close by March 2016. Built in 1973 and now inefficient, Longannet is alone responsible for nearly a fifth of Scotland’s total climate emissions, releasing 9.5 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2013. Last year, Longannet was ranked as the 21st biggest CO₂ polluter in the EU.

Gina Hanrahan, climate and energy policy officer at WWF Scotland, said: “While Longannet has served Scotland well for over 40 years, it is Scotland’s single biggest source of climate emissions and a combination of EU air pollution rules, carbon pricing and factors such as transmission charging have made the aging plant’s closure inevitable.”

Source: The Guardian, 23 March 2015

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Editorial: New NEC directive should clear the air

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France: 100% renewables as cheap as 50% nuclear

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Biogas solutions for methane abatement

Four Nordic projects for anaerobic digestion of manure show the potential for this methane abatement technique under varying conditions.

Danish farming futures

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Marshall Islands calls for cuts in shipping emissions

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Ship scrubbers questioned

The ecological risks to the marine environment of using sulphur scrubbers are ignored, while the economic benefits have been overestimated, says German environmental organisation NABU.

New ships less fuel efficient than those built in 1990

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New draft EU air pollution limits weaker than in China

The EU is currently in the process of defining new emission limits for coal-fired power stations, but the draft new standards are in many cases weaker than existing national standards not only in Europe but also in China, Japan and the United States.

Shipping monitoring will contribute to CO2 targets

The newly adopted EU Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) regulation that requires ship operators to publicly report information on the environmental performance of ships is expected to contribute to a decrease in shipping sector CO₂ emissions.

Sweden without gas

Natural gas is not a necessary part of the fuel mix. Most of Sweden, including Stockholm, has no natural gas. The combined pressure of environmental NGOs and farmers stopped gas and led to the development of biomass instead.

Potential for shore-side electricity

Connecting ships at berth to onshore power will provide health and environmental benefits by reducing air pollution, greenhouse gases and noise.

Main menu

Longannet power plant to shut next year

In this issue

Higher ambitions needed for NEC

Editorial: New NEC directive should clear the air

Cities’ air quality efforts ranked

France: 100% renewables as cheap as 50% nuclear

Biogas solutions for methane abatement

Danish farming futures

Marshall Islands calls for cuts in shipping emissions

Offsetting of shipping NOx cuts?

Ship scrubbers questioned

New ships less fuel efficient than those built in 1990

New draft EU air pollution limits weaker than in China

Shipping monitoring will contribute to CO2 targets

Sweden without gas

Potential for shore-side electricity

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Food for Thought

Northern forests, climate change and the UNFCCC

EU climate targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C objective

Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Collaborative-Learning project

Air pollution in Europe and children’s health

Climate Change: A Himalayan Odessey

No further discussion needed. The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C

Fossil-free electricity 2021

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