
Incinerator to be built in Flixborough after government approval
Plans for an incinerator to be built on the edge of a North Lincolnshire town have been given the green light by the government.The North Lincolnshire Green Energy Park application was granted development consent by energy secretary Ed Miliband on Thursday.The plant will burn up to 760,000 tonnes of rubbish a year and provide power, heat and steam at the Flixborough Wharf site on the River Trent.North Lincolnshire Council leader Rob Waltham said he was disappointed with the decision and the government had not listened to local residents.
A decision letter cited a "substantial need" for the electricity that would be generated and "positive benefits to employment and the local economy" among the reasons for the approval of the scheme. The letter said these "outweigh the moderate adverse weight against the proposal associated with ecology and biodiversity, the moderate harm caused to heritage assets and landscape and the minor harm caused by emissions".
'Wrong location'
Waltham said: "I am disappointed that the government hasn't listened to local residents and the council and has given the go ahead for rubbish to be burnt at a massive plant in Flixborough."The council has been clear throughout the planning process that this is the wrong location for an incinerator that will be burning waste generated in other parts of the country."We will look at our further options to oppose this development that will be a blight on the area and increase traffic."Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Conflict in Iran is exposing the true cost of North Sea decline
For years, Labour's proposed ban on new drilling in the North Sea has been one of the party's most eye-catching policies. The pledge not to issue new oil and gas licences is based on 'science', according to Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, amid projections that licensing any new fields globally would be incompatible with net zero targets. In its election manifesto, Labour also argued that allowing more extraction from the North Sea 'will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis'. It was a premise that was questioned by some experts but won praise from others, as well as from environmental campaigners. But now, with a fresh conflict raging in the Middle East the policy is coming under scrutiny again, with critics warning that it leaves Britain more exposed to geopolitical crises. Energy security It's no secret that the North Sea is in decline. Whether Labour presses ahead with a ban on new licences or not, Britain's oil and gas output will continue to fall. But while that fall is inevitable, the rate of decline is not. The independent Climate Change Committee estimates that there will be demand for between 13bn and 15bn barrels of oil and gas in the UK over the next 25 years. Under current policies, less than one third of this overall demand is expected to be met by domestic production. That is equivalent to about 4bn barrels, with an estimated 3bn that could be exploited left underground. The balance would come from foreign imports. Mr Miliband has said boosting production would bring no material benefit to consumers because oil and gas prices are set by international markets and the output of the North Sea is too small to make a difference. But while many economists agree up to a point, some say this argument misses the importance of energy security. 'As long as you are a big importer, it doesn't make sense to reduce your production,' says Bjarne Schieldrop, analyst at SEB Research. 'What you need to do is to reduce your consumption as fast as possible. Energy has become more politically sensitive in recent years, with Russia using energy as a weapon. 'So actually, security of supply is extremely important. It's not just about the price.' Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Liberum, adds that if Britain and Europe produce more oil and gas collectively, they will be less dependent on supplies shipped from the Middle East in a crisis. In a global supply crunch, it is still unlikely that the UK would be at risk of shortages given its ability to outbid poorer countries for shipments when prices rise. However, French adds: 'Why would you leave yourself so exposed to doing that, when you potentially have the opportunity to divert your own domestic supply and give yourself more strategic resilience?' Fiscal firepower Producing more oil and gas domestically also brings other benefits in a crisis. In a scenario where the Iran-Israel conflict spreads, one of the biggest worries will be the prospect of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz seizing up. Around one fifth of the world's oil passes through this vital trade artery. 'If it's disrupted for any protracted period of time, then either global demand needs to fall substantially – which means a pretty deep recession – or the price of oil has to go up to ration it,' says French. In such a time, Britain would face higher oil and gas prices like every other country. But as a producer, it would also benefit from higher tax revenues, giving the Government more firepower to boost the flagging economy. For example, when the invasion of Ukraine sparked an energy crisis across Europe in 2022, the UK's tax take from company profits also jumped from £2.6bn to £9.8bn, providing valuable cash for schemes to support households with their bills. 'If the Exchequer feels that it needs to cap the price of energy, as it did previously, it rather helps if you're getting higher corporation tax receipts from the North Sea,' adds French. Decommissioning costs Another factor to consider is the impact the Government's windfall tax and licence ban will have on decommissioning, the process of safely retiring spent or uneconomical oil and gas wells. Analysts at Wood Mackenzie and Stifel have both argued that Labour's policies will speed up the rate of closures. This could make life harder for Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, because oil and gas firms can offset decommissioning costs against their corporation tax bills. As a result, squeezing the North Sea may deal a double whammy to tax receipts by cutting output and accelerating decommissioning. This is partly because oil and gas firms continuously drill new wells alongside old ones to improve the economic viability of their portfolios as a whole. Without the ability to keep drilling new wells, it becomes harder to continue drilling old ones economically. 'If you were to continue to licence, then that extends the life cycle of some fields, and therefore decommissioning comes later in the fiscal horizon,' says French. 'So you would start to rebuild more fiscal headroom than you might otherwise have – and one thing the Chancellor definitely needs, going into the autumn, is more fiscal headroom.' Carbon emissions Mr Miliband's claim that cutting domestic oil and gas production is good for the planet may also be in doubt. This is because unless Britain also slashes demand for these fuels substantially, it will simply have to import larger quantities from abroad. And that could actually end up generating higher carbon emissions overall, if we continue to rely on larger and larger amounts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and the Middle East. According to Rystad Energy, LNG can be up to 10 times more carbon intensive than pipeline gas. This is because while the emissions from burning it are the same, it requires energy to cool LNG to -160C and transport it by ship around the world. The analysis, reported by the BBC, found that piped gas from Norway generated around 7kg of CO2 per barrel, compared to an average of 70kg for LNG imported to Europe. Economic benefits Accelerating the decline of the North Sea may mean the UK also ends up with fewer green jobs. Academics at Robert Gordon University warned that oil and gas jobs were disappearing faster than new clean energy roles were being created as a result of the slower-than-expected deployment of wind farms. Whereas the offshore wind sector may only generate 29,000 jobs by 2030, some 58,000 disappear from oil and gas in the worst-case scenario. Paul de Leeuw, director of the university's Energy Transition Institute, said earlier this month: 'You have to wait pretty well to the back end of this decade before there's enough capacity in the renewables sector to take all the people coming out of oil and gas. 'It's a timing issue.' To avoid heavy job losses, researchers said Mr Miliband needed to either attract a larger share of turbine manufacturing to the UK or reverse his ban on new North Sea drilling licences to temporarily boost oil and gas production. For example, the report found that even if Mr Miliband hits his clean power targets, he could boost the number of green jobs in 2030 by boosting oil and gas production. Production of 500,000 barrels per day leads to just over 150,000 jobs – whereas production of 700,000 barrels creates around 200,000 jobs. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is consulting on a plan for the North Sea and says it envisions large numbers of jobs coming from offshore wind as well as more nascent industries such as carbon capture and hydrogen production.


Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Brits braced for tax rises as two thirds fear Rachel Reeves will need to hammer the public and firms or up borrowing to pay for Spending Review
Britons are bracing themselves for tax rises later this year as they fear Rachel Reeves ' Spending Review cash splash is otherwise unaffordable, anew poll suggests. Two thirds of voters (67 per cent) believe that the Chancellor's plans set out last week mean she will either hit them in the pocket or increase borrowing. And the YouGov poll shows that fewer than one-in-eight (12 per cent) believe that the plans, which will see billions more thrown at the NHS and nuclear power, are affordable with things as they are. The Treasury is already said to be drawing up tax rise options for the Autumn as economists warn Ms Reeves' plans no longer add up. Dividends and bank profits are among the areas being mooted for drumming up revenue to balance the books. The Chancellor declined to rule out tax rises again yesterday, amid fears that the Israel-Iran conflict could deal another hammer blow to the prospects for growth. The poll found that almost half of voters (49 per cent) believe Ms Reeves is doing a bad job. However her rating has improved from -41 to -33 compared to after the Spring Statement in March. The proportion of voters who feel that the economy will get worse over the next year also fell from 65 per cent to 54 per cent. Voters backed more money for the NHS, school building repairs and building more social housing. But in a blow to Ed Miliband only half say nuclear power is a priority, and fewer want money spend on AI, science and technology or building more railways. Ms Reeves insists her spending plans for the next three years are 'fully' funded. But critics have claimed the stalling economy, together with pressures on defence and a Labour revolt on benefits mean she is writing cheques with 'fantasy' money. The issues could crystalise at the Budget in the Autumn, when many believe the independent OBR will downgrade growth forecasts. GDP shrank by 0.3 per cent in April, although it has grown over the past quarter. The IFS think-tank has warned that tax rises look 'almost inevitable', ridiculing the government's claim to have identified billions of pounds in 'efficiencies' during a 'zero-based' overhaul of costs. According to the Sunday Times, a list of potential tax increases drawn up in the Treasury includes raising the bank surcharge. That is a levy on profits on top of the 25 per cent corporation tax rate. It was cut from 8 per cent to 3 per cent under the Tories, with suggestions it could return to 5 or 6 per cent. Another apparent option is increasing tax on dividends, often taken by company directors instead of wages. Currently the highest rate stands at 39 per cent - lower than the 45 per cent top rate of income tax. Removing a tax-free £500 dividend allowance would bring in hundreds of millions of pounds for the Treasury, but could punish small investors. Challenged on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that 'lots of experts' were already saying she would need to put taxes up, Ms Reeves said: 'Well we're a strong economy with strong foundations and we have weathered other shocks... 'We are still the only country to have secured a deal with the United States, and in addition we've got trade deals with India and the EU, so we are working hard as a government to strengthen our economy, to grow our economy in a way that creates good jobs here in Britain, paying decent wages, to put more money in peoples' pockets.' Options are always drawn up within the Treasury ahead of fiscal events, and not necessarily implemented.


BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Solar farm and battery storage plan for Doncaster village
The developers of a solar farm and battery storage scheme have said it could power almost 20,000 homes if given the Solar Renewables (BSR) said it intended to submit plans later this year for the site near the village of Hooton Pagnell, between Doncaster and said that the development would have wildflower meadows, grassland areas and sheep, and would be restored to agricultural use at the end of its 40-year has opened a public consultation that will run until 14 July. The 153-acre (62 hectares) site is to the south of Hooton Pagnell and near Hickleton Golf Club. Along with the battery storage facility, BSR said it forecast that the development could power 19,657 manager Hayley Burke said: "We encourage the community to take part in our consultation and share their local knowledge and views on our proposals, ahead of the project design being finalised and a planning application submitted." The consultation would include drop-in sessions, a webinar, an online form and a telephone hotline. A planning application to Doncaster Council is expected to be submitted by the autumn, and if approved, would include £310,000 towards community parish council and Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband have been approached for comment. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North