Energy efficiency is still hot news in the UK and this month has had much talk about the potential for wave power but there was a much bigger announcement made regarding renewable energy. A £1bn contract was awarded Siemens and Prysmian for a new, innovative sub-sea power cable between Hunterston (Ayrshire) and the Wirral peninsula, near Liverpool.

Announced on the 16th February by ScottishPower, this new link between Scotland & England is the first of its kind and will increase the electricity flow by over 2,000 megawatts (MW). It will be the longest HVDC cable in the world and will pave the way for exciting new renewable energy initiatives to be developed in Scotland that could power 3 million homes. This venture comes at a time where independence is the high profile news with Scotland politically but this energy efficient project is much more interesting and positive!

This project began in 2009 with careful planning leading to this milestone of commencing work on the sub-sea link. Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: “I welcome this major investment in the electricity grid between Scotland and England. Scotland is already a net exporter of electricity, and this link will help us more than double our electricity exports to England from Scotland by 2020.

This underwater link will have a capacity of 2.2 GW - a worldwide first. Despite being a huge piece of business for Siemens and Prysmian, it is clear that the exercise is of great importance to ScottishPower and National Grid as we can see from the 2 respective quotes below:

Ignacio Galán, Chairman of ScottishPower, was quoted as saying: “The HVDC link is a major project in the context of a vital upgrading of the UK electricity grid over the coming years, with the electricity grid between Scotland and England already running close to maximum capacity. The additional capacity from this link will provide a significant boost to renewable energy projects being developed in Scotland in order to bring clean energy to consumers throughout the country and at the same time help meet carbon reduction targets.

"This link will have a vital role of play in meeting both the country's energy needs and helping to address the problem of climate change. We are investing in an innovative solution, using the most advanced technology. As a result, the benefits for consumers and electricity generators in being able to transport power in the most efficient way will be felt for years to come, said National Grid director Nick Winser.

To mark his 70th birthday, genius physicist Professor Stephen Hawking held a Q & A session on Radio 4. He touched briefly on the future of our planet in relation to global warming, suggesting that within the next 1000 years the planet Earth could be no more due to a disaster ‘such as nuclear war or global warming’. From a press perspective, this carbon reduction related news has been counter balanced by a study into when the next ice age will occur. An article from Nature Geoscience stated that due to rising levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, the next ice age will occur within 1500 years if C02 levels don’t increase any more. The likelihood sadly is that they will do.

Chinese steelmakers have made the news for the wrong reasons, reportedly declining participation in the global carbon reduction plan proposed by the World Steel Association. However, within the Chinese steel industry there are reports that steel mills have been actively reducing there carbon dioxide outputs at their own pace. The pressure grows on China to improve their carbon reduction efforts and one of the targeted opportunities is increasing the carbon sink. Forest coverage is the area of growth here for China, forest areas will go up by 12.5 million hectares.

With growing awareness that internationally CO2 emissions increased by 5.9%, the hardest part for domestic governments and the U.N is to create a positive perception of carbon reduction schemes. Without this, the major offenders will have the smoke screen to stay behind that threatens their economies.

When it comes to directing developments in global carbon reduction - are the UN up to the job?

Last month, it crushed me to read the international statistics on carbon reduction. The limelight in December has moved to the UN and the results from the recent 2 week UN summit held in South Africa was quite straight forward. The demonstrations at the Climate Change Conference really summed up where we are internationally with our attempts to slow global warming. Realistically, carbon reduction is going nowhere until we have real buy in from the power economies of China, India and the US.

The European Union have promised to set a new carbon reduction target (potentially exceeding 30%) in early 2012 and Denmark have made it clear that they really want to ramp up the targets. However, all eyes were on China, Brazil and India as huge contributors to world C02 emissions. The new Kyoto driven targets will incorporate all three nations. Inspirational words came from South African icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: "We have only one home. This is the only home we have," he said. "For your own sakes, you who are rich, we are inviting you: Come on the side of right."

Information communication technology (ICT) was also highlighted as a threat to carbon reduction targets. As ICT equipment and related services is booming the electricity usage associated with this is the issue. Microsoft and Google have both pushed their energy efficiency efforts quite publicly but this sector will gradually come more into the carbon reduction limelight.

The good news? Well, pressure continues to mount on the vast continents of the world that are churning out high volumes of C02 with no real carbon reduction commitment. Reluctantly, all major international forces will have carbon reduction targets to deliver on and so it does look like progress is being made.

Tough economic times inevitably increase pressures on government and questions on deficit strategy. The British Retail Consortium have demanded that increases in fuel tax are scrapped as well as keeping the minimum wage in check. The £1bn carbon reduction commitment has hit businesses in the pocket – it is up to the conservatives to boast continual success as a result of this vital initiative. George Osborne is expected to announce some climate change relief for industries new to carbon reduction agreements.

As the international penny pinching reaches a dramatic high, is there any positive news in our plight to save the environment? At a national level yes there is. In the last 20 years, the UK have reduced their carbon emissions significantly through increased natural gas usage. Globally, energy reduction is a tough one to crack. The simple facts are that global emissions are still rising.

We have to concentrate on what we can affect. The UK is seen internationally as leaders in carbon reduction targets and results. I think that the under fire government should be applauded for not budging on this. The focus on renewables particularly nuclear is clearly long term, progressive thinking that won’t get us to the carbon reduction targets in the next 10-20 years but it does display to Europe and indeed the world that the UK understand the paucity of fossil fuels and the importance of controlling climate change.

The immediate problem caused by the economic crisis is that carbon credits / prices are decreasing. Incentivising private sector organisations is the key to carbon reduction – simple as that. There has been talk about have an international carbon price which would be initiated and governed by the United Nations (UN). We need all countries to buy into low carbon trading systems – there has been progress but the profile at a global level of where we really are with carbon reduction must be raised.