Decisive action is needed by the next government to stop offshore wind schemes being shelved and attract billions of pounds of investment, a study has urged.
Issues with policy, regulation and funding have seen 8.2 gigawatts of offshore wind projects withdrawn in the 12 months to June, and others have been shelved since, a report by think tank Green Alliance said.
Under the new subsidies regime for low-carbon technology, new projects must compete for payments enough to install an additional 1.2GW of wind power in the five years up to 2020.
But greater stability could see investment in the region of £1.8 billion a year in the supply chain for offshore wind, more than three-quarters of which is made up of small and medium-sized companies, Green Alliance said.
The college is being set up by United Kingdom Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG), the body which represents the onshore oil and gas industry.
A UKOOG report released earlier this year said the development of shale gas in the UK could create a £33 billion investment opportunity for British business with the potential to create over 64,000 jobs.
The college aims to deliver a comprehensive range of advanced qualifications, up to and including honours degree programmes, and produce the highly skilled engineers and technicians of the future.
Growing emissions from energy are putting the world on track to see temperature rises of 3.6C, despite a boom in renewables, analysts have warned.
By 2040, energy demand will be 37% higher than it is now, putting pressure on supplies and pushing up greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth, a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests.
This is despite major growth in renewables, which will account for nearly half of the increase in power generation around the world by 2040 and overtake coal as the leading source of electricity on current trajectories.
Subsea 7 enjoyed a third quarter profit lift, but warned the dipped oil price was filling the market with uncertainty and delaying contracts.
The UK-based engineering and construction firm recorded a net income of $206million compared to last year’s third quarter total of $160million.
Hundreds of workers at an oil refinery have voted to continue an unofficial strike in a dispute over safety.
Engineering construction employees at the Humber Refinery in North Lincolnshire decided at a mass meeting not to return to work.
The refinery, owned by Phillips 66, processes barrels of crude oil into petrol and diesel.
Russia has signed a contract to build two more nuclear reactors in Iran to be possibly followed by another six, a move intended to cement closer ties between the two nations.
The deal comes less than two weeks before the November 24 deadline for Tehran to sign an agreement on its nuclear programme with six world powers.
The contract has no immediate relation to the talks that involve Russia and the US, but it reflects Moscow’s intention to deepen its co-operation with Tehran ahead of a possible softening of Western sanctions against Iran.
More than 2,250 jobs have been created in the UK’s wind power sector in the past year, according to the industry.
The number of people directly employed in the medium and large-scale sectors of the onshore and offshore wind industry has risen by 8% to more than 15,400 full-time jobs, a report by industry body RenewableUK said.
The number of indirect jobs, such as supplying components, has also increased by 8% since September 2013, to almost 15,000 jobs, bringing the total number of people whose livelihood is from the sector to more than 30,400, the report said.
Most of the jobs require qualifications in science, technology, engineering and maths, and more than 2,250 direct and indirect jobs in offshore and onshore wind have been created in just over 12 months.
Energy experts have criticised the Government’s “premature” assertion that fracking for shale gas would transform Britain’s energy supplies.
While gas can be a “bridging fuel” in the shift to a low-carbon economy, it would not be long before the fossil fuel became part of the problem rather than the solution in helping tackle climate change, they warned.
The Government has said it is going “all out for shale”, suggesting the unconventional gas source in the UK could bring down energy prices, improve security of supplies, and boost the economy in areas it is found such as the north west of England.
Plans for a new archive in Wick relating to Britain's nuclear industry took its first steps.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) have produced outline plans to house information and records for the Dounreay power plant in Caithness at the centre, as well as documents from sites across the country.
Taqa confirmed its earnings and production were significantly up while its debt had been decreased by more than 3billion dirhams in its latest financial report.
In its third quarter earnings, Abu Dhabi’s National Energy Company, revealed its net income for the year to date is 620million dirhams – a significant increase on last year’s 80million dirhams.
A boost in jobs in engineering, the oil industry and financial services has seen cities such as Aberdeen, Cambridge and Oxford almost match pay levels in London, according to a new report.
The capital is still stop of the pay league, with average salaries of £37,716, followed by Aberdeen (£32,769), Oxford and Cambridge (both around £30,000), said employment firm reed.co.uk.
Iraqi soldiers battling the Islamic State group have reportedly recaptured the heart of the town of Beiji, home to the country’s largest oil refinery.
Retaking Beiji could allow Iraqi forces a base to attack neighbouring Tikrit, taken by the extremists after their lightning advance this summer. It also represents a morale boost for Iraq’s beleaguered security forces after many of its troops fled the militant offensive.
State television quoted the top army commander in Beiji, General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, as saying troops recaptured the city’s local government and police headquarters at the centre of the town.
He later spoke to the station by telephone but the line appeared to be cut off after he said his forces were meeting stiff resistance.
A senior military official in Beiji confirmed the recapture of the city centre but added that intense clashes continued elsewhere in the town. He said 75% of Beiji was now in the hands of government troops.
Hundreds of workers at an oil refinery have voted to continue an unofficial strike in a dispute over safety.
Engineering construction employees at the Humber Refinery in North Lincolnshire decided at a mass meeting not to return to work.
A change in the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) could lead to more benefiting from renewable energy sources.
From spring 2015 social landlords will no longer need to have a Green Deal Assessment to be eligible for the scheme that pays its participants' heating costs, so long as they already have Energy Performance Certificates for their properties and that the properties are less than two years old.
Amber Rudd MP said: "Social landlords often provide homes for some of the most vulnerable people, by making the RHI more accessible to them, we hope more of their tenants will be able to enjoy warmer homes and lower bills."
German based Senvion SE has won a contract to develop the first community wind farm in Quebec.
The wind turbine manufacturing firm will deliver its 3.2M114 Cold Climate Version type turbines to the 150 megawatt (MW) Mesgi'g Ugju's'n (MU) wind farm in Quebec making it the product's first use in North America.
Rules to curb tremors from fracking are as strict as banning buses driving past houses or slamming wooden doors, experts said as they called for the regulations to be eased.
Energy engineers from the University of Glasgow said the measures brought in by the Department of Energy and Climate Change are unnecessarily restrictive, and rules closer to those applied for activities such as quarry blasting should be brought in.
Dr Rob Westaway and Professor Paul Younger, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Engineering, also said the risk of serious earthquakes caused by fracking activity is lower than feared.
The seismic restrictions - brought in after two small earthquakes were felt near Blackpool, Lancashire, following fracking for shale gas - require the shutting down of operations which cause surface vibrations greater than magnitude 0.5 on the Richter scale.
After initially delaying announcing its third quarter results, Transocean reported a third-quarter loss of $6.12 per share.
The confirmation comes after the firm was hit by $2.76billion worth of impairment charges, forcing the firm to push back its schedualed financial announcement.
Revenue for its third quarter earnings decreased by $58million to $2.27billion.
BP confirmed it is now operating the world’s first robotic coreflooding system in a bid to boost its enhanced oil recovery abilities.
The firm also confirmed the new technology will now be fully deployed on the Clair Ridge project in the North Sea.
Four solar power companies are considering an appeal after losing a High Court battle to stop the Government ending a solar farm subsidy scheme early.
Mr Justice Green, sitting in London, threw out their claim that there had been an unlawful change of policy.
The companies warned their defeat could lead to job cuts and multimillion-pound losses, and have “serious implications for the wider energy industry”.
Solarcentury, TGC Renewables, Lark Energy and Orta Solar applied for judicial review over a policy change by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) cutting short the renewables obligation (RO) scheme for large-scale solar farms.
The RO scheme, introduced in 2002, was to run to 2017 but the change means it is now due to end in 2015.
A north-east MSP has urged the Scottish Government to “bury the hatchet” with UK ministers and work together for the good of the North Sea oil industry.
Conservative Alex Johnstone said Brent crude oil was trading at under $83 a barrel, a four year low, and there had been a 20% drop in prices since the independence referendum on September 18.
Speaking at first minister’s questions yesterday, the MSP claimed the SNP leader put oil at the centre of the government’s campaign.
The Walney offshore wind farm, located in the Irish Sea, could triple in size after extension plans for the site were given the government’s seal of approval.
The wind farm, which will eventually generate enough energy to power more than half a million homes, is expected to create 230 jobs during construction and an additional 185 jobs annually during its planned 25-year lifespan.
