Sustainability

Laing O’Rourke’s operations will contribute net-zero carbon by 2030 and see half of its international workforce split equally between men and women by 2033 under new plans. All offices and project sites will use renewable energy providers and its company-car fleet will switch to electric vehicles to cut corporate emissions.…

Southampton Airport has been granted planning permission for an expansion of both its runway and car park. The 164-metre runway extension was approved by Eastleigh Borough Council in the early hours of Saturday morning, concluding an online meeting that had started on Thursday afternoon. The move comes as it has…

Scottish Power has submitted plans to build the UK’s largest renewables-powered hydrogen plant in the outskirts of Glasgow. The 20mW plant, known as an electrolyser, will generate hydrogen from water and be powered by wind, solar and battery energy power. It could supply hydrogen to the commercial market before 2023,…

The Welsh Government is exploring options to revive plans for a tidal lagoon energy project. It has advertised a market engagement exercise to understand the appetite among financiers, developers and contractors to work on a future project. Billed as the Welsh Tidal Lagoon Challenge, the government is exploring the nature…

RWE has committed to building its biggest ever wind farm off the UK coast after making a final investment decision on a £3bn 1.4-gigawatt offshore wind farm called Sofia. The energy giant is to forge ahead with construction of the project, which is situated 195km from the UK coast at…

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has launched a consultation on plans to force larger companies to publish sustainability policies and performance. The new rules are set to apply to all listed firms in the UK, as well as other employers with more than 500 staff and a…

The government’s flagship energy-efficiency scheme has had a bigger negative impact on SMEs than the COVID-19 pandemic, a firm involved in the initiative has said. Launched in October last year, the Green Homes Grant (GHG) voucher scheme allows homeowners to claim vouchers that cover two-thirds of the cost of some…

The UK Government may have underestimated the cost of decarbonising UK homes by as much as £65bn, a parliamentary committee has warned. A report from the environmental audit committee found the government may have underestimated the costs to decarbonise UK homes at between £35bn-£65bn. However, even this figure does not…

BP has announced plans to build the UK’s largest ‘blue hydrogen’ plant at its Teesside site. The new facility would target production of 1gW of hydrogen production by 2030 and would capture and store two million tonnes of CO2, a year – the equivalent carbon emissions of one million homes.…

Bechtel plans to increase its presence in the UK offshore wind market after partnering with Swedish wind-farm developer Hexicon. Bechtel plans to deliver large-scale floating wind projects along the coastlines of Britain and other countries, with technology the firm has described as a “game-changer”. Its floating wind-farm design can be…