38 h. ago Germany boosts Nato’s eastern flank with new Baltic brigade amid threat from Russia – Europe live

Friedrich Merz visits Lithuania to mark the official formation of Germany’s first permanent overseas military unit since the second world warPortugal wants European energy regulators’ agency ACER to lead an independent investigation into the causes of the huge power outage that brought most of Spain and Portugal to a standstill last month, its acting energy minister told Reuters.Maria da Graça Carvalho said prime minister Luís Montenegro wants an independent investigation led by the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators to complement the technical report being prepared by the European network of transmission system operators ENTSO-E. Continue reading...

Events

66 h. ago Acorn project ‘crucial’, says minister after claim Reeves ‘going cold’ on scheme

UK energy minister Michael Shanks was asked by MSPs about the UK Government’s stance on carbon capture.

Politics

8 d. ago Energy minister pledges to put solar panels on ‘every possible rooftop’

‘If there is a rooftop that we can put solar panels on, we are keen to do so,’ Michael Shanks told the Commons.

Politics

1 week ago Tory shadow energy minister claims 2050 net zero goal ‘not based on science’

Exclusive: Andrew Bowie calls climate scientists biased and says country should not be ‘hamstrung by arbitrary targets’The Conservative party’s energy spokesperson has attacked leading climate scientists as biased and claimed Kemi Badenoch could take the UK out of the Paris climate agreement.Andrew Bowie, the acting shadow secretary for energy, told the Guardian that the target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 – passed into law by Theresa May – was “arbitrary” and “not based on science”. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Tory energy spokesman claims UN climate experts are ‘biased’

Exclusive: Andrew Bowie says Kemi Badenoch could pull UK out of Paris climate agreementThe Conservative party’s energy spokesperson has attacked leading climate scientists as biased and claimed Kemi Badenoch could take the UK out of the Paris climate agreement.Andrew Bowie, the acting shadow secretary for energy, told the Guardian that the target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 – passed into law by Theresa May – was “arbitrary” and “not based on science”. Continue reading...

Science

2 w. ago Badenoch a ‘climate defeatist’, Starmer claims in energy costs exchange

Kemi Badenoch urged Sir Keir to ‘change course’ to tackle energy costs during Prime Minister’s Questions.

Politics

2 w. ago Conservation groups hit out at ‘unfulfilled promises’ over Scotland’s seabed

The Open Seas coalition accused the Scottish Government of having ‘systematically neglected’ the country’s seabed.

Events

3 w. ago Gas boilers in new homes to be banned 'from next year' as Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband prepare to unveil strict Net Zero rules for housebuilders

Ms Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Mr Miliband, the Energy Secretary, are said to have been working together on the 'Future Homes Standard'.

Society

3 w. ago Minister warns against blaming Spain’s blackout on renewable energy

Spain’s environment minister, Sara Aagesen, promises ‘complete audit’ into causes of power outageEurope live – latest updatesSpain’s environment minister has warned against attempts to blame Monday’s unprecedented blackout across the Iberian peninsula on the increasing use of renewable energy, defending the reliability of the national grid and promising a “complete audit” to establish the causes of the outage.Speaking on Wednesday afternoon as a specially designated committee prepared to meet to investigate the blackout, Sara Aagesen pushed back at opposition parties’ claims that the socialist-led government’s drive to embrace renewable energy had compromised the grid’s stability. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Tony Blair backs down in Labour civil war over Net Zero targets: Ex

The former prime minister's consultancy insisted it 'supported' the Government's 2050 green energy target, the day after he said that such policies were 'irrational'.

Events

3 w. ago Spanish PM calls on private energy firms to help find cause of massive power cut

Pedro Sánchez says changes needed to guarantee ‘supply and future competitiveness’ of electricity after blackout Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called on private energy operators to help his government establish the cause of Monday’s unprecedented power cut across the Iberian peninsula, and said changes and improvements must be made to guarantee “the supply and future competitiveness” of the country’s electrical system.Spain and Portugal suffered a massive power loss that began just after 12.30pm on Monday and lasted into the night. At least five people are thought to have died in Spain as a result of the blackout, which left people trapped on paralysed trains and in the static lifts of apartment blocks and offices. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Labour Civil war over Net Zero as Tony Blair attacks 'irrational' green power push championed by Ed Miliband

In a thinly veiled swipe at the Energy Secretary, the former Labour prime minister said Western political leaders fear admitting that the current approach 'isn't working'.

Events

3 w. ago Germany’s Merz picks Eon energy executive as economy minister

Chancellor-in-waiting unveils CDU cabinet picks a week before taking office

Politics

4 w. ago Miliband confirms he could charge homes in the South more for electricity

The energy secretary confirmed ministers are looking at the plans, which have been dubbed ‘madness’ by Labour donor and eco-tycoon Dale Vince

Politics