EWS | DIGEST IN BRIEF Search is on to find best small modular reactors for the UK The government has launched a competition to identify the best small modular reactors (SMRs) for meeting the UKs nuclear power needs. Companies can register their interest with Great British Nuclear, to participate in the competition for government funding support to help design and develop SMRs, which are smaller than conventional GW-scale atomic power plants. Carbon offsetting guide aims to prevent greenwashing UKGBC guidance enables a more holistic approach for practitioners The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has launched new guidance on carbon offsetting in construction, which updates previous UKGBC guidance on offsetting at individual asset level. The publication, which tied in with London Climate Action Week 2023 at the end of 230m for public sector decarbonisation The latest phase of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has been launched, says government agency Salix Finance. The government has committed up to 230m for the financial year 2024/25, for projects to reduce carbon emissions in public buildings across England, including hospitals, schools, museums and universities. Additional money has been budgeted for the scheme in 2025/25, to enable projects to be delivered over two years. University solar farm gets green light Local planners have approved an application by Cambridge University to build its own solar farm on green belt farmland to the southwest of the city. It will supply 30,457MWh per year, meeting more than a quarter of the universitys electricity needs. Carbon offsetting has a crucial role to play in the transition to net zero June, says responsible carbon offsetting has a crucial role to play in the transition to net zero carbon buildings once efforts to reduce embodied carbon and energy use intensity have been exhausted. However, purchasing offsets from the voluntary carbon market can be challenging because of its lack of maturity and transparency, increasing exposure to accusations of greenwashing. The guidance emphasises the importance of setting an internal carbon price for projects, given that the cost of accredited carbon credits on the voluntary market do not accurately reflect the full societal and economic cost of emissions into the atmosphere. It aims to enable practitioners to take a more holistic approach to carbon offsetting that goes beyond procurement of voluntary offset credits. The publication sets out three levels of ambition for industry-minimum requirements, good practice, and leading approach. Boiler Upgrade Scheme misses target The governments flagship heat pump scheme barely met half of its target in its first year, according to official statistics. Only 16,052 vouchers were awarded to support the installation of low carbon heating technologies by the end of May 2023, according to the latest Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) monthly progress report, published on 29 June. Of the vouchers awarded, 96% were for installing heat pumps. The figures mark the end of the first year of operation of the BUS, which was launched in May 2022 and is meant to support the installation of 30,000 low carbon heating devices per year from 2022 to 2025. Its shortfall in delivery means the government will claw back nearly half of the 150m budget for the first year of the scheme, which offers grants to households that replace fossil fuel boilers with low carbon alternatives. Earlier this year, the House of Lords environment and climate change committee described uptake of the BUS as disappointingly low, and said the scheme had been bedevilled by uncertainty over the direction of government policy on future home heating. Future Proofing Heat Networks for Good. Find out how - www.energiraven.com/highways 8 August 2023 www.cibsejournal.com