When you follow the energy & climate news it soon becomes clear that the market is being pulled and distorted in so many ways that it is a wonder that it can 'provide' anything at all. This month we expect to hear that Eon and Scottish Power will be given tens of millions of pounds to develop plans for a working carbon capture demonstration plant giving Britain the opportunity to be 'world leaders in this fledgling technology' (read here that the Government obviously favours this technology). The ROC market, which had its roots in the 'let the market decide' principle' with its 1 ROC =1MWh has also been tinkered with and now some forms of Renewable Energy earn more ROCs than others (again read here Government favouritism!). Alongside this we have CRC about the be introduced to fill the gaps in Emission Trading schemes. How can firms be encouraged to commit investment when the rules keep changing? Where we can find encouragement is with schemes such as the Super Grid which will link all forms of Renewable schemes across North Sea countries providing solutions to the ever posed 'issue' that 'it's not always windy! The Grid will enable surplus energy on the windy days to pump up Water in Norway's Hydro plants allowing it to rush back down on the 'still days'!. Specialist (read here 'commercially minded') venture capital funds are also emerging with Alstom and Schnieder Electric joining forces to launch a venture capital fund to finance innovative start-up energy & environment enterprises. At the domestic level, green grants and favourable feed in tarrifs are now available to encourage domestic users to choose the right 'renewable energy' solution for them. read more ...