Renewable Energy

The Geological Society's Hydrogeological Group and IAH are pleased to announce a two-day conference on 13-14 September 2016 to celebrate the International Association of Hydrogeologists 60th anniversary and the Geological Society's Year of Water, hosted by the University of Birmingham. The conference will incorporate the Ineson Lecture and re-launch of Groundwater our Hidden Asset, supported by the Groundwater Forum. 

"All UK hydroelectric projects with planning permission are in Scotland, according to research by Scottish Renewables."

The group said a total of 27 projects with a combined capacity of 58.5MW have planning permission, with 14 schemes totalling 26.8MW under construction in the UK – all in Scotland.

The study comes after news earlier this month that two community-scale hydropower plants in the Scottish Highlands have secured nearly £5 million investment from the Green Investment Bank.

Europe’s biggest ever floating solar panel array is being installed on London’s Queen Elizabeth II reservoir as part of Thames Water’s ambitious bid to self-generate a third of its own energy by 2020. 

Just over 23,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels will be floated on the reservoir near Walton-on-Thames, utilising a normally redundant suburban space on the surface, following an agreement between Thames Water, Ennoviga Solar and Lightsource Renewable Energy.

Renewable energy technologies can address trade-offs between water, energy and food, bringing substantial benefits in all three key sectors. This report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) looks at how adopting renewables can ease trade-offs by providing less resource-intensive energy services compared to conventional energy technologies.