Would-be prime minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled this morning his proposals for setting up a public energy development company, to be branded Great British Energy and headquartered in Scotland.

GBE would not generate energy itself, but instead be a nationalised developer, initially enabling offshore wind and solar, followed later by technologies such as batteries and floating wind.  It would use home-grown renewables power to safeguard domestic supplies, while reducing the nation’s dependency on volatile, often dictatorial overseas suppliers of damaging hydrocarbon energy,

Labour’s GBE plans represent a big retreat from the party’s notion last year of investing £28Billion every year of a new Parliament in green measures.  Starmer scaled back the ambitions, agreeing with shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, pictured, that Britain’s public finances could now not bear such a burden.

GBE is positioned as a catalyst for private investment, with every pound of public cash stimulating three times as much from private and commercial backers.

The Conservatives last year granted over 100 new exploration permits for offshore extraction of climate-wrecking fossil fuels.  Today Starmer said Labour would honour them, but would issue no new ones.

Speaking on BBC radio, Sir Keir said oil and gas would be part of the UK’s “energy mix for decades to come” and Labour was “not planning to turn the pipes off instantaneously”.

“Labour’s ambition to get building new clean energy projects within months is hugely welcome” said Sam Richards, founder and campaign director of infrastructure lobbyists Britain Remade.

“But they won’t be able to get spades in the ground as quickly as they need to – unlocking the benefits of cheap power and lower bills – unless they tackle head-on Britain’s outdated planning system”, Richards cautioned.

“There is a list of projects currently sat in the Department ( of energy ) that on day one Labour can and should give the green light to; they should be signed-off as soon as new ministers get behind their desks”.

“Beyond that they should move as quickly as possible to reform consultations, streamline environmental impact assessments, and amend the habitats regulations to dramatically speed up the planning system for clean energy.”

Brian Allen, boss of Rovco, a high-tech company serving the offshore wind industry, observed; “Whichever government comes into power must have a very clear plan for supporting the offshore wind industry with the infrastructure, talent, and capital investment it needs.

“Otherwise, the renewables gap risks becoming a chasm. The UK’s current operational capacity in offshore wind is around 14GW, so we have just under 6 years to reach our target of 50GW by 2030″.

Training skilled workers remained a problem”, the Rovco boss went on. “The Offshore Wind Industry Council suggests an additional 70,000 workers were needed, many of whom could be found from  the oil and gas sector”.

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Currently boss of the Office of Nuclear Regulation, former theology student McAllister will begin work on November 6, as his predecessor Martin Cave leaves after five years.

With 40 years’ experience in energy, McAllister takes charge of the regulator’s strategic direction as it seeks to build an energy market fit for the future.  Reform of markets, incentivising third-party players such as flex aggregators, rationalising charging structures for grid reinforcement, and ending the scandal of decadal waits for connections which now face new generators, all weigh heavily in McAllister’s bulging in-tray.

Responsible for protecting consumers from high energy bills, restoring confidence and resilience in the retail market, and supporting progress towards Net Zero, his leadership will help shape Ofgem’s work in years ahead.

McAllister will also work closely with the government to support more households to move towards cleaner, cheaper energy generated in the UK.

Energy secretary Claire Coutinho greeted the regulator’s confirmation:  “I am pleased Mark is set to take up the position of Ofgem chair, bringing outstanding experience in the energy industry to the role.

“By working together with Ofgem”, the minister went on, “we will continue to ensure the energy market works for consumers, delivering lower bills and cleaner energy – with prices already down 55 per cent since their peak.”

McAllister, pictured, said: “Energy prices, security of supply and decarbonisation of the energy system are some of the most important challenges facing the UK today and which Ofgem plays a key role in addressing.

“I am looking forward to working with the new Board, management and entire Ofgem team to protect energy consumers and to help realise a net zero energy system through both our regulatory and delivery responsibilities.

“I am keen to engage with all stakeholders, including industry, consumer groups and charities to find the best solutions to the challenges we face together.”

Mark Foy, ONR’s chief executive and chief nuclear inspector, paid tribute to his departing colleague: “Since joining us in 2019, Mark has always played a leading role within ONR and had very proactive involvement in our Board level interactions with industry duty-holders.

“He quickly established himself as a trusted and influential figure with fellow regulators, government, and industry.  We wish him well in his new role and thank him for his significant contribution to ONR.”

Two weeks ago, the government strengthened Ofgem’s board with five new appointments. Joining McAllister are

• Warren Buckley, outgoing chair of Citizens Advice
• Alena Kozakova, director at E.CA Economics
• Graham Mather, president of the Infrastructure Forum
• Jonathan Kini, non-executive director at utlitiies regulator Ofwat
• Dr Tony Curzon Price, a former advisor at Cabinet Office and Number 10, and at D-BEIS, predecessor to D-ESNZ

The government continues this winter to offer targeted support for home energy bills. Measures including £150 for over three million households through the Warm Home Discount, alongside Winter Fuel and Cold Weather payments.

This comes on top of £900 cost of living support for those in need, as well as nearly £40 billion to cover around half a typical household’s energy bill last winter.

Working in conjunction with the Ofgem price cap, the government’s Energy Price Guarantee also remains in place until March 2024.

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The automotive industry’s “sector bias” towards recycling risks overlooking other routes offering easier access to sustainability goals, say the British engineers.

Setting stiffer targets for recycling and waste collection, the new EU battery Directive seeks to embrace the whole battery lifecycle, from creation to disposal.   It mandates carbon footprint labels for batteries serving EV, light transport, and industrial markets, facilitating easier replacement for all. It even introduces digital “passports” for batteries, tracking them through construction, repeat sale and dismantling.

For various battery types it sets minimum levels of component recovery and content recycling, and against specific timeframes.

Autocraft’s experts welcome the initiative. But they say it downplays more environmentally-friendly alternatives such as repair and remanufacturing. Technology in those fields already exists and can be rapidly expanded, the UK firm believes.

Mike Hague-Morgan, Executive Director at Autocraft, commented: “We believe recycling is being prioritised too early in the EV battery lifecycle. Cells, modules, and packs are being sent for premature recycling, which usually involves incineration, before every last kilowatt-hour has been exhausted from them”.

Autocraft’s data highlights the inefficiency of current recycling processes, Hague-Morgan observed.

Endowing old EV power packs with second lives accounts for approximately 53% of the electricity required to produce a new one, 14% of the water and 59% of the associated CO2 emissions.

“Given its true impact, recycling is not the ‘green’ option people perceive it to be,” Hague-Morgan asserted

Eight years after the EU legislation has been enacted, it anticipates compulsory levels of recycled metals in batteries sold across the trading block’s 27 national markets as being 16% for cobalt, 85% for lead, 6% for lithium and 6% for nickel;

Five years later, by the mid 2030s, those required shares rise further, to 26% for cobalt, 85% for lead, 12% for lithium and 15% for nickel.

The Autocraft boss notes that, while the EU draft mandates that capacity of batteries should be  restored to ar least 90% of new, it describes remanufacturing as ‘an extreme case of re-use entailing the disassembly of any battery’s cells and modules.’

Hague-Morgan argues that battery remanufacturing is less of a burden than vehicle builders may believe. Autocraft already repairs and remanufactures thousands of battery packs every year for its OEM engine builders

Replacing a single battery module uses a tiny fraction of the electricity and water (3.2% and 2.8%, respectively) required to produce a virgin pack, while emitting a mere 2.9% of the amount of carbon and can be undertaken at regular intervals throughout the lifecycle.”

Autocraft’s boss said his firm’s remanufacturing supports their OEM clients in resolving warranty-linked problems, through dynamic testing and repair technology easily scaled up to meet market demands.

Awareness levels for remanufacturing remain low among vehicle makers, with misconceptions continuing to slow progress.

Hague-Morgan concluded: “Remanufacturing offers the most sustainable solution to extract all possible value from EV battery packs. Recycling is a valid option, but only once all avenues to repair and extend the life of each battery pack cell or module has been exhausted.

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