Sustainable Business

Interview Dale Vince, Ecotricity 4/4 ange the We want to ch made in ergy is way en do that Britain and to ture of ix through a m technology, introducing elves and using it ours le to join us getting peop EMR is about enabling nuclear power and gas and will act as another barrier to the uptake of renewable energy. "This is a Government that came to power, with at least half of it saying there wouldn't be any subsidies for nuclear power, which is about to become the latest major U-turn – the Government will be providing subsidies for nuclear. "The EMR is about 'Contracts for Difference' primarily to enable nuclear power to be built, it's a form of subsidy. It will cost three times more per unit of electricity than onshore wind but you won't see the national newspapers ranting about that." However, the Government and its energy policies are doing little to dampen Vince's optimism and his drive to push renew- Ecotricity launched Nemesis in 2011, which broke the land speed record for a battery-powered vehicle able energy. So far, 2013 has been a busy year with plans for up to 22 windmills at Heckington Fen in Lincolnshire approved by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in February and final tests have been carried out on its micro wind turbine, known as the Urbine, which could be up to 40% more efficient than similar-sized turbines on the market. Vince is clearly not waiting for the Government to get on board with renewable energy and at the rate of growth the company has seen over the past few years it may not need to. Vince says that the concept is simple. The company is trying to do as much as it can to use the existing forms of renewable energy that are commercially available like offshore wind but also to bring new forms into use like wave power. "We want to bring this different way of thinking to the country to change the way energy is made in Britain and to do that through a mixture of introducing technology, using it ourselves and getting people to join us."

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