The Government is to appear at the Court of Appeal, standing accused of falling short of protecting the public from harmful and illegal air pollution levels. ClientEarth, the environmental law group, first brought its then-fresh case to the British High Court in December, forcing Defra - the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - to admit that it has breached European Union pollution limits. The judge decided not to take any action, ruling that it is a matter the European Commission should deal with. After it had applied to appeal this decision earlier on in the year, the Court of ... Full Story

Forecasts of sunny weather stretching into the weekend will no doubt cheer up farmers that have been concerned after the wettest April on record threatened an increase in pests and diseases. River flows dropped from unseasonal highs over the past few weeks to almost-normal levels for this time of year. In large parts of the UK, soil moisture levels are also nearly back to normal after endless months of droughts or prolonged soaking, as alleged by the Environment Agency's latest drought report. For southern and eastern England, the drought has so far been alleviated - although its hasn't gone away completely as ... Full Story

The Government has officially given the green light to 30 carbon cutting transport schemes today. The projects have received funding worth £113 million as a part of a second allocation courtesy  of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. The schemes are headed by 29 English council authorities with more acting as partners while covering eight regions. Norman Baker, the Coalition government's Transport Minister, said that all the projects have been designed so that a sustainable transport package can be created for delivering economic growth and reducing carbon emissions. Successful schemes that will receive funding are inclusive of a string of measures, which includes ... Full Story

An American company that has developed new groundbreaking technology that converts water into energy that can be used for a range of commercial applications has been given the green light following independent scientific validation. The technology will convert water vapour to new, more stable forms of hydrogen, named Hydrino, at just a portion of the cost. Based in New Jersey state, BlackLight Power said that it has received validation from six separate, independent studies conducted by leading scientists that Catalyst-Induced-Hydrino-Transition processes and cells represent a new breakthrough in the field of clean energy technology. As it emits zero emissions, hydrogen is regarded ... Full Story

Mount Solar Ltd, a British provider of solar mounting systems, launched its new range of solar roof anchors this week - which it says will help accelerate both installation and precision. Based in the Midlands, Mount Solar Ltd has in total developed four stainless steel roof anchors which have been designed for narrow rafters some houses and other buildings in the UK possess. According to the company itself, the mountings are able to accommodate rafters that are incredibly narrow at 35mm, as well as a wide variety of roofs. The anchors have been approved by the governing National Federation of Roofing Contractors ... Full Story

Government ministers will today publish the Coalition's much-anticipated draft Energy Bill, which is to set out the measures to encourage new investment in both cleaner and greener types of energy. In what marks the biggest shake-up of Britain's electricity market ever since privatisation, the Energy Bill is to lay out the framework for the decarbonisation of the UK’s energy infrastructure, while attempting to keep costs down to a minimum for consumers. These plans are seen as vital if the UK is to 'keep the lights on’ while ensuring that the nation meets the carbon reduction targets set for itself. Insiders have commented ... Full Story

Environmental protections mustn't be slashed as part of irresponsible, desperate dashes for growth - warned an all-party MP group today. Green investment is to play a pivotal role in Britain's economic recovery, reports the group, which has accused PM David Cameron of lacking a fit and proper demonstration of leadership while George Osborne's Treasury regards environmental measures as harming economic developments in spite of the green economy increasing at a minimum of four per cent per year. The raging debate over clean power's value and the value of investing in it has hit the peak of Government discussion in recent weeks. William ... Full Story

Which? has called on the Government to make radical overhauls to the Green Deal in order to ensure that it doesn’t trigger "huge hikes" in the cost of energy while protecting consumers. Which?, an independent organisation, campaigns on consumer interest issues and says that it is worried the savings on energy bills that were promised to householders as part of the Green Deal will not materialise. Additionally, consumers might also be sold products not covered by the 'pay-as-you-save’ scheme on energy efficiency. The Green Deal, to launch to British domestic customers on the first day of October, will be funding energy efficiency ... Full Story

Ewgeco, the Scottish energy management firm, will embark on an expansion drive aimed at bringing its energy display monitoring systems to companies across Britain. Close to £1 million of investment has been secured by Ewgeco and will help fuel its expansion drive. The company, based in the Scottish capital Edinburgh, designed its award-winning and patented display energy system in order to cut both energy costs and the amount of energy consumption in homes. Now though, Ewgeco is looking to start deploying its creation on a larger scale across businesses. George McGhee, Ewgeco's chief executive, commented that in a time where the economic ... Full Story

Boris Johnson has said that he will create green jobs as one of his key priorities during his second term in office as the Mayor of London, while also increasing the amount of green building retrofit programmes around the capital. Johnson, who saw off competition from Ken Livingstone to reseal his spot as the Mayor of London earlier this month, has said that he plans to shift the green programmes he started at the end of his first term into the spotlight over course of the next four years. One of the key priorities for Johnson will be guaranteeing that buildings ... Full Story

Cross-Channel rail operator Eurostar is now looking to seal its reputation as Europe's greenest short-haul option through the introduction of 10 new destinations. The company is aiming to develop services from its London St Pancras base to stations across the Netherlands, the south of France, Germany, and Switzerland - as alleged by a report printed in a leading British financial newspaper. The new routes are to be finished before 2018 and will compete with airlines currently operating in the markets of the already-mentioned countries. Nicolas Petrovic, Eurostar's chief executive, told the paper that by 2016 or 2017, it is hoped that people ... Full Story

The Green Deal and similar initiatives aimed at getting the public to reduce its use of energy will fail without any sort of national communications strategies backed by Britain's central government, the Green Alliance has warned. With fewer than six months left until the Green Deal's launch, research conducted by the Green Alliance has called into question the government’s present "dispersed communications" stance on its flagship energy efficiency plan and various other green energy policies, including smart meters. Drawing on feedback received from the private sector, which is inclusive of Britain's energy companies, local councils, and civil society groups, while using ... Full Story