East Riding councillors have voted to withdraw from conversations about the possibility of a nuclear geological disposal facility being built in South Holderness. Councillors have voted 53-1 in favour of a motion brought by Councillor Sean McMaster, which called on the council to withdraw from the siting process for the facility. However, the process is ongoing for another site in our region, at Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire. Councillor Anne Handley, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “The purpose of the Working Group was always to open a conversation with the community about whether a GDF would be right for the South Holderness area. The council and NWS were clear about that from the very start. “In the past few weeks, many people within the community have made it clear that they find this idea unpalatable and do not want South Holderness to be part of the conversation. “Many other people have attended the drop-in events curious to find out more about the long-term benefits a GDF could bring to its host community. “Councillors have today considered all these views and decided that it is right to withdraw from this process.” Nuclear Waste Services, a division of The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, is currently seeking a suitable site for a GDF for the UK’s legacy of radioactive waste.

Renewable energy company Drax has become the latest founder member of the University of Sheffield’s newly-launched Energy Innovation Centre. The new partnership will drive forward research into next generation carbon capture technology, including innovations in bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, or BECCS. Drax joins Boeing as the second founder member of the Energy Innovation Centre (EIC), launched by the University of Sheffield Energy Institute, which offers partners from industry access to two of the University’s newest world class research facilities. The first – the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Innovation Centre (SAF-IC) – is a first-of-its-kind facility in the UK that tests and certifies new sustainable aviation fuels. The second – the Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC) – contains pilot-scale production facilities suitable for investigating different methods of carbon capture, utilisation and storage. The partnership will use the first-of-their-kind technology available at TERC to carry out research and development into carbon capture and utilisation technologies, and to investigate the use of other routes to decarbonise and defossilise industry, including renewable natural gas, hydrogen, battery storage and new BECCS technologies. In particular, Drax will look at BECCS, a process in which carbon dioxide from using biomass as an energy source, such as wood pellets or agricultural residues, is captured and stored. Because plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the process results in negative emissions. Access to the equipment at TERC, including the first-of-its-kind Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell, and a grate-fired biomass boiler which enables studies into BECCS, will mean Drax can carry out pilot-scale testing on some of the most cutting-edge carbon capture rigs in the UK. Drax is the second largest producer of sustainable biomass globally, and its biomass power station in North Yorkshire is the UK’s single-largest source of renewable power by output. The new partnership with TERC aims to further demonstrate and understand the opportunities for new forms of energy and application of BECCS in the UK’s energy and industry landscapes. Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian, Managing Director of the University of Sheffield’s Energy Innovation Centre, said: “We are excited to welcome Drax as a founding member of the EIC. Drax’s commitment to furthering renewables and other low-carbon sources of energy make them an ideal partner for driving research and development in these areas. “Combined with the expertise of the researchers at TERC, we hope Drax’s work within the EIC will lead to impactful, practical applications of innovative processes and technology. We look forward to working with Drax and to the continued growth of the EIC.” Jason Shipstone, Drax’s Chief Innovation Officer, said: “This new partnership between Drax and the University of Sheffield is hugely exciting for the carbon removals sector. The incredible facilities, and the global academic excellence of TERC, will enable Drax to innovate further as we look to deploy BECCS technology at scale in the coming years. “Governments around the world are increasingly turning to BECCS in the fight against climate change as it is the only technology which can simultaneously remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while generating dispatchable renewable electricity.”

There is some reason for cautious winter economic cheer with the latest research from the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body, R3, showing that all regions and nations across the UK, including Yorkshire and the Humber, saw an increase in the number of new businesses launching in January 2024 compared with the previous month.

According to the research, based on an analysis of data provided by CreditSafe, the number of start-ups in Yorkshire and the Humber rose by 39% from December 2023 to January 2024, with another 5,405 new businesses setting up in the region last month – over 1,500 more than in the previous month.

Some other regions and nations performed even more strongly with the North East seeing a 61% rise month-on-month; the South East up by 54%; and the South West and Wales experienced a 50% uplift. The lowest increases were in Northern Ireland with a 33% rise; and in the West Midlands, up by 35%.

However, there was a less rosy picture in Yorkshire and the Humber in terms of insolvency-related activity last month. While this type of activity (which includes liquidator and administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings) fell in all 12 regions and nations, Yorkshire and the Humber saw the smallest drop with a decrease of just 4.8% since December.

This means that in January, 236 businesses in the region were affected. The North East also saw a single digit drop in insolvency-related activity (-9.5%); followed by Wales (-13.3%); and the North West (-19.6%).

In contrast, the greatest decreases in insolvency-related activity were in Northern Ireland (down by 58%); followed by the South East (-35%); the East Midlands (-34.5%); and the South West (-33%).

Eleanor Temple, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and a barrister at Kings Chambers in Leeds, said: “It is certainly encouraging to see so many brave entrepreneurs across the UK having the confidence to launch a new business as we head into 2024, and also fewer businesses last month being impacted by insolvency-related activity.

“It is perhaps a sign that the tide is turning and people are starting to feel that the worst is over as inflation steadies and there is talk of possible interest rate drops later in the year.

“However, the UK economy is continuing to disappoint with inflation proving to be sticky, operating costs rising and consumer spending remaining under pressure. In such a difficult landscape, many businesses may be heading towards insolvency and would be well-advised to seek professional advice as soon as possible to avoid financial problems spiralling out of control.”

A must-attend event for professionals in the construction sector and the built environment will take place on Wednesday 28 February 2024.