Global warming could trigger tsunamis in the UK, a climate expert warns, as the Government announces a £265 million subsidy pot for renewable energy developers. Meanwhile, green app Sugi launches a feature that enables users to offset the carbon impact of their investments, all new homes and offices are to have electric vehicle charging points installed, and food delivery firm Just Eat trials reusable packaging to help slash its plastic use. It’s the Good With Money weekly news brief.
Climate change could spark tsunamis in UK
Climate change could trigger tsunamis in the UK as melting ice sheets disturb the Earth’s crust, an expert has warned.
Currently, the ice sheets on Greenland are melting rapidly and at a rate which is constantly accelerating.
Bill McGuire, a professor of earth sciences at University College London, says this could have catastrophic consequences for Britain. He warns that the disappearing sheets reduce the weight put on the Earth’s crust, meaning it will start to bounce back after being crushed under thousands of billions of tons of ice.
This could lead to earthquakes and ‘submarine’ landslides – which occur when sediment slides down into the deep ocean – in Greenland, which is roughly 1,500 miles away.
These underwater landsides could trigger tsunamis which have the potential to reach the west coast of the UK, the professor warns.
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UK offers £265m subsidy pot for renewable energy
Renewable energy developers are to compete for a share of a £265 million subsidy pot as the Government aims to support a record number of projects in the sector.
Under the scheme, offshore wind developers will apply for contracts worth up to £200 million a year, with onshore wind and solar farms in line for their first subsidies in more than five years.
Alongside the £200 million funding pot for offshore wind farms, there will be a further £55 million available to emerging renewable technologies such as tidal power, of which £24 million will be earmarked for floating offshore wind farms.
The Government will also make £10 million available to developers of onshore wind and solar farms for the first time since it slashed subsidies in 2015, or enough to deliver up to 5GW of renewable energy capacity.
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All new homes and offices to have electric vehicle charging points
Electric vehicle (EV) charging points are to be installed at every new home and office, the Government has announced.
Rachel Maclean, the transport minister, said legislation would be brought forward later this year to accelerate the rollout of charge points across the country.
The announcement comes as the Government tries to dramatically increase the number of charging points across the country ahead of its ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030.
The minister also confirmed that all new charge points would have to deploy “smart charging” technology to prevent the electricity grid being overwhelmed by large numbers of drivers all plugging in when they get home from work.
Sugi launches carbon-offsetting feature
Green app Sugi has launched a feature enabling users to offset the carbon impact of their investments.
In a first for UK retail investors, Sugi is making it possible for an individual to offset an amount of Co2 that is directly related to the impact of their own investments. Users can control how much they offset by targeting specific investments or offsetting their entire portfolio, as well as keeping track of their offset history.
Sugi says its new feature lets investors take positive climate action while maintaining a diversified portfolio.
The app first enabled investors to check the carbon impact of their holdings and compare with similar investments. It has since also released a groundbreaking feature that allows users to monitor the global warming potential of their portfolios.
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Just Eat trials reusable packaging to slash plastic
Food delivery firm Just Eat has teamed up with reusable packaging service ClubZero in a bid to help cut the mountain of half a billion takeaway containers discarded in the UK every year.
The more environmentally-friendly alternative uses up to 50 per cent less Co2 than the plastic packaging currently used by Just Eat and is fully recyclable.
A three-month trial will see customers of six participating restaurant partners in London offered a convenient return system that permits packaging to be collected using the ClubZero app or dropped off at a designated collection area. If successful, the reusable packaging will be rolled out across the UK.
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