Climate Change Challenge
Here is something for us to think about
60 ways to tackle climate change
www.ethicalconsumer.org/60-actions-help-tackle-climate-change?
Here is something for us to think about
60 ways to tackle climate change
www.ethicalconsumer.org/60-actions-help-tackle-climate-change?
REPORT FOR THE SHOSCOMBE ENERGY AND RECYCLING GROUP
MARCH 2019
This working group was set up in February 2017 to attend to the responses from the Questionnaire for the Parish Plan, about our environment and sustainability. The Actions we have taken are listed in the Action Plan as Actions 27 and 34-38 inclusive.
A27/38. Advice from B&NES about burning bonfires was circulated via the Newsletter and a copy of that advice is on the website in the Energy working group section.
A 34. Shared oil deliveries with Wellow. The application form for registering with the Wellow group is available on the website. Several Shoscombe residents are already members. The purpose of the group is to order central heating fuel oil in bulk, at discounted rates, and to reduce the number of heavy lorries that need to come through the two villages.
A35. A list of Green Energy suppliers has been compiled and published on the website.
A36. The village Freecycle site is operating via the Everything Shoscombe fb page.
Our group has no numerical data for the extent of recycling of our household waste now that B&NES has moved to the two-weekly cycle of rubbish collection. Anecdotal evidence in the village suggests more is being recycled since these changes were introduced. When B&NES announced these changes in collection, they had requests for more than 3000 new recycling green boxes across their region.
A37. The group has begun to look at the more common forms of renewable energy that we, either as individuals or as a community, could exploit. The most practical and accessible are described below.
The Need for Clean Renewable Energy
In 2016, in his annual letter to his Charitable Foundation, Bill Gates said that “A cheap, clean source of energy would change everything……..especially if young people get involved” [cited in ref.1]. So well done to the 1.6million school children who came out of school, across the globe, last week in their highlighting of the breakdown of the world’s climate.
The reason for promoting renewable sources is that they are clean sources of energy and do not contribute to the increasing destruction of the global weather systems now occurring. All moves away from fossil fuels as sources for the world’s energy supplies are essential; renewable energy sources reduce and replace our dependency on polluting fossil fuels.
Financial markets regard fossil fuels as “Stranded Assets” [2]. Many large pension providers, banks, insurance companies, universities and councils are disinvesting from these areas.
In 2018 renewably-sourced energy in the UK rose to a record level of 33% of total power used; wind accounted for 17%, biomass for 11% and solar 4%. In November 2018 we passed a significant milestone when the energy generated from renewables in the UK overtook that supplied by fossil fuels.
Nuclear energy now appears to be a much more dangerous option following catastrophic accidents, failures of containment, the unsolved problem of highly reactive waste disposal and for being the world’s most expensive source of power, by far. It is the one energy source that has bucked global trends as it has never become cheaper with time, as all other sources have. A distinguished nuclear engineer has recently described the new nuclear design for reactors such as that at Hinckley Point C as ”unconstructable”. If the reactors do produce electricity, the Government has guaranteed EDF a price of £92.50 per MWh, at 2012 prices, index linked, for the first 35 years of its operation. This can be compared with offers from two recent bids to supply off-shore wind-generated power at £57.50 per MWh.
The energy group recognises that the systems described below have been criticised by climate change deniers for their limitations in producing energy continuously.
There are many ways that the fluctuating supplies from renewable sources can be smoothed out. Tesla, and others, spend large research budgets on improving battery storage. Excess capacity can be used to generate other clean fuels such as hydrogen from electrolysis of water or pumping water back up into reservoirs that power hydro-electricity schemes, such as that at Dinorwig power station in N Wales. Solar fuel cells are being developed that can produce methanol or ethanol from carbon dioxide and so are carbon neutral fuels. Anaerobic biodigesters are producing biofuels and research into adapting the processes of photosynthesis are ongoing.
The two major contributors to renewables today, described below, are those derived from the sun’s energy. The solar energy falling on the Earth in about 90 minutes is equivalent to the total energy used by the whole of humankind in a year.
Wind Power
This renewable source of energy creates neither water nor air pollution. Forty percent of the potential wind energy in Europe blows across the British Isles. The movement of the wind through the turbine blades is the mechanical energy that is used to turn the blades and convert that energy into usable electrical power.
Operational costs, once the turbines have been erected, is close to zero. On-shore wind farms are now producing electricity which is cheaper than that derived from coal or gas. Off-shore turbines are exposed to more consistent and stronger wind speeds so their energy is more reliable but are more expensive to maintain. In Europe as a whole, in 2018, 11.6% of its energy was supplied by turbines while Denmark leads the continent, generating 43.4% of its own needs from wind power. The largest off-shore wind farm, (September 2018), was the Walney extension in the UK and four of the world’s largest seven arrays are in the UK too.
Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Energy
Photovoltaic solar cells are devices capable of converting of sunlight directly into electricity by using semiconductors [3]. Solar panels are comprised of a number of such cells and panels can be ground, wall or rooftop-mounted. More sophisticated arrays can be fitted with tracking technology to follow the sun’s transit and produce up to 25% more energy.
As with the costs of producing wind turbines, unit costs have fallen steadily. The average cost of a watt of solar PV generating capacity has fallen at a consistent rate, from £76.6, in 1976, to less than £0.76, by 2014. Projections from these data suggest that this figure will drop to less than 15p by 2040. [1]
The politics associated with these essential forms of energy production are dealt with in the article on fracking which is in preparation.
Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP)
These work by extracting heat below the ground surface and use the derived heat for use in the home.
The surface of the earth is warmed by solar energy and stores this heat. At a depth of about 2 metres the temperature is consistently around 10 degrees Centigrade. The first component of the GSHP is a long pipe that is buried in the soil up to two metres deep; it contains water and a small level of antifreeze to capture the heat. The water is then pumped into a heat exchanger and the energy transferred into the domestic supply. The heat is usually used to provide under-floor heating but can be used in other ways.
For every unit of electricity used for the pump, 3-4 times more units of heat are produced. This reduces the production of carbon dioxide by around 70% (for this bundle of energy) and if renewably-sourced electricity is used then carbon emissions approach zero.
In economic terms GSHPs are much cheaper than electrical heating and cheaper than oil-fired boilers, burning coal or LPG or gas. Currently Ofgem oversees the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), that pays a tariff for newly installed systems for 7 years; for a 2-bedroomed semi- detached house this works out to around £2357 per annum. (See ghsp.org.uk for more detail).
Air Source Heat Pumps
With these systems the heat harvested comes from the air outside the house. The heat is created by the principles of vapour compression refrigeration, similar to a domestic refrigerator. A refrigerator takes heat from the enclosed space where food is stored to keep it cool and releases the heat into the room via the pipework behind the fridge. The difference here is that the air pump takes the heat from the outside air and releases it into the home. Again, this can be used for under-floor heating or for the domestic hot water system. These pumps require more maintenance than GSHP systems but again can qualify for Ofgem’s RHI, as above. More information about these systems can be examined at: https://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
I would like to thank Tom and Paul Clark for their information on ground and air pumps and for compiling the list of Green Electricity suppliers.
Bibliography
[1] The Switch. Chris Goodall. Profile Books, (2016). ISBN 978 1 781256350
[2] Letter from Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England to the Environment Audit Committee, (30th October 2014). Viewable at www.parliament.uk/docs
[3] The Burning Answer: A Users Guide to the Solar Revolution. Keith Barnham. Weidenfield and Nicolson, (2014). ISBN 978 1 78022533 3
These two books are extremely informative about renewable energy and I would recommend them to anyone wanting to find out more about the exciting potential there is out there.
Chris Upton
MARCH 2019
This working group was set up in February 2017 to attend to the responses from the Questionnaire for the Parish Plan, about our environment and sustainability. The Actions we have taken are listed in the Action Plan as Actions 27 and 34-38 inclusive.
A27/38. Advice from B&NES about burning bonfires was circulated via the Newsletter and a copy of that advice is on the website in the Energy working group section.
A 34. Shared oil deliveries with Wellow. The application form for registering with the Wellow group is available on the website. Several Shoscombe residents are already members. The purpose of the group is to order central heating fuel oil in bulk, at discounted rates, and to reduce the number of heavy lorries that need to come through the two villages.
A35. A list of Green Energy suppliers has been compiled and published on the website.
A36. The village Freecycle site is operating via the Everything Shoscombe fb page.
Our group has no numerical data for the extent of recycling of our household waste now that B&NES has moved to the two-weekly cycle of rubbish collection. Anecdotal evidence in the village suggests more is being recycled since these changes were introduced. When B&NES announced these changes in collection, they had requests for more than 3000 new recycling green boxes across their region.
A37. The group has begun to look at the more common forms of renewable energy that we, either as individuals or as a community, could exploit. The most practical and accessible are described below.
The Need for Clean Renewable Energy
In 2016, in his annual letter to his Charitable Foundation, Bill Gates said that “A cheap, clean source of energy would change everything……..especially if young people get involved” [cited in ref.1]. So well done to the 1.6million school children who came out of school, across the globe, last week in their highlighting of the breakdown of the world’s climate.
The reason for promoting renewable sources is that they are clean sources of energy and do not contribute to the increasing destruction of the global weather systems now occurring. All moves away from fossil fuels as sources for the world’s energy supplies are essential; renewable energy sources reduce and replace our dependency on polluting fossil fuels.
Financial markets regard fossil fuels as “Stranded Assets” [2]. Many large pension providers, banks, insurance companies, universities and councils are disinvesting from these areas.
In 2018 renewably-sourced energy in the UK rose to a record level of 33% of total power used; wind accounted for 17%, biomass for 11% and solar 4%. In November 2018 we passed a significant milestone when the energy generated from renewables in the UK overtook that supplied by fossil fuels.
Nuclear energy now appears to be a much more dangerous option following catastrophic accidents, failures of containment, the unsolved problem of highly reactive waste disposal and for being the world’s most expensive source of power, by far. It is the one energy source that has bucked global trends as it has never become cheaper with time, as all other sources have. A distinguished nuclear engineer has recently described the new nuclear design for reactors such as that at Hinckley Point C as ”unconstructable”. If the reactors do produce electricity, the Government has guaranteed EDF a price of £92.50 per MWh, at 2012 prices, index linked, for the first 35 years of its operation. This can be compared with offers from two recent bids to supply off-shore wind-generated power at £57.50 per MWh.
The energy group recognises that the systems described below have been criticised by climate change deniers for their limitations in producing energy continuously.
There are many ways that the fluctuating supplies from renewable sources can be smoothed out. Tesla, and others, spend large research budgets on improving battery storage. Excess capacity can be used to generate other clean fuels such as hydrogen from electrolysis of water or pumping water back up into reservoirs that power hydro-electricity schemes, such as that at Dinorwig power station in N Wales. Solar fuel cells are being developed that can produce methanol or ethanol from carbon dioxide and so are carbon neutral fuels. Anaerobic biodigesters are producing biofuels and research into adapting the processes of photosynthesis are ongoing.
The two major contributors to renewables today, described below, are those derived from the sun’s energy. The solar energy falling on the Earth in about 90 minutes is equivalent to the total energy used by the whole of humankind in a year.
Wind Power
This renewable source of energy creates neither water nor air pollution. Forty percent of the potential wind energy in Europe blows across the British Isles. The movement of the wind through the turbine blades is the mechanical energy that is used to turn the blades and convert that energy into usable electrical power.
Operational costs, once the turbines have been erected, is close to zero. On-shore wind farms are now producing electricity which is cheaper than that derived from coal or gas. Off-shore turbines are exposed to more consistent and stronger wind speeds so their energy is more reliable but are more expensive to maintain. In Europe as a whole, in 2018, 11.6% of its energy was supplied by turbines while Denmark leads the continent, generating 43.4% of its own needs from wind power. The largest off-shore wind farm, (September 2018), was the Walney extension in the UK and four of the world’s largest seven arrays are in the UK too.
Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Energy
Photovoltaic solar cells are devices capable of converting of sunlight directly into electricity by using semiconductors [3]. Solar panels are comprised of a number of such cells and panels can be ground, wall or rooftop-mounted. More sophisticated arrays can be fitted with tracking technology to follow the sun’s transit and produce up to 25% more energy.
As with the costs of producing wind turbines, unit costs have fallen steadily. The average cost of a watt of solar PV generating capacity has fallen at a consistent rate, from £76.6, in 1976, to less than £0.76, by 2014. Projections from these data suggest that this figure will drop to less than 15p by 2040. [1]
The politics associated with these essential forms of energy production are dealt with in the article on fracking which is in preparation.
Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP)
These work by extracting heat below the ground surface and use the derived heat for use in the home.
The surface of the earth is warmed by solar energy and stores this heat. At a depth of about 2 metres the temperature is consistently around 10 degrees Centigrade. The first component of the GSHP is a long pipe that is buried in the soil up to two metres deep; it contains water and a small level of antifreeze to capture the heat. The water is then pumped into a heat exchanger and the energy transferred into the domestic supply. The heat is usually used to provide under-floor heating but can be used in other ways.
For every unit of electricity used for the pump, 3-4 times more units of heat are produced. This reduces the production of carbon dioxide by around 70% (for this bundle of energy) and if renewably-sourced electricity is used then carbon emissions approach zero.
In economic terms GSHPs are much cheaper than electrical heating and cheaper than oil-fired boilers, burning coal or LPG or gas. Currently Ofgem oversees the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), that pays a tariff for newly installed systems for 7 years; for a 2-bedroomed semi- detached house this works out to around £2357 per annum. (See ghsp.org.uk for more detail).
Air Source Heat Pumps
With these systems the heat harvested comes from the air outside the house. The heat is created by the principles of vapour compression refrigeration, similar to a domestic refrigerator. A refrigerator takes heat from the enclosed space where food is stored to keep it cool and releases the heat into the room via the pipework behind the fridge. The difference here is that the air pump takes the heat from the outside air and releases it into the home. Again, this can be used for under-floor heating or for the domestic hot water system. These pumps require more maintenance than GSHP systems but again can qualify for Ofgem’s RHI, as above. More information about these systems can be examined at: https://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
I would like to thank Tom and Paul Clark for their information on ground and air pumps and for compiling the list of Green Electricity suppliers.
Bibliography
[1] The Switch. Chris Goodall. Profile Books, (2016). ISBN 978 1 781256350
[2] Letter from Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England to the Environment Audit Committee, (30th October 2014). Viewable at www.parliament.uk/docs
[3] The Burning Answer: A Users Guide to the Solar Revolution. Keith Barnham. Weidenfield and Nicolson, (2014). ISBN 978 1 78022533 3
These two books are extremely informative about renewable energy and I would recommend them to anyone wanting to find out more about the exciting potential there is out there.
Chris Upton
|
At the Open Day on Saturday 25th February 2017, an Energy, Recycling and Sustainability Working Group was convened by five residents. Our group was looking at the responses from the community that arose from the Parish Plan questionnaire and were tasked with formulating an Action Plan that would attend to the matters raised. The information below seeks to address those matters.
Recycling. Over 80% of the respondents said that the recycling scheme run by B&NES was very important for them. This scheme will become more important when rubbish collections move to once a fortnight later this year. This move is to encourage more recycling across the area with an expectation that bonfire lighting could be reduced, as more material is recycled. B&NES advice on lighting bonfires. Background. The Government made stubble burning illegal in the 1990s because of the significant release of greenhouse gases and generation of toxic atmospheric pollutants. The latter occur as particulate matter the size of which determines their toxicity. The smallest of these particulates, known collectively as PM2.5 can be inhaled deep into the lung and cross into the bloodstream, affecting other organs. Particulates have been shown to cause asthma, lung cancers, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and birth defects. B&NES advice is found at: www.bathnes.gov.uk/environment/pollution/bonfires. A summary is included here. “Bonfires can affect people’s enjoyment of their homes and constitute a nuisance. DO
Fracking. Across the whole Village and hamlets, <1% of residents were in favour of fracking locally. For those wanting more information a comprehensive review of fracking will be added to this page over the Summer. Freecycle site. This most popular suggestion was supported by 75 people and the Working Group decided that the most effective way to create this site was via the Everything Shoscombe Facebook page. This offers a quick and responsive way to do this. It is anticipated that this will allow people to offer surplus goods such as furniture, clothing, building materials, etc. etc. It could also be used to advertise excess fruit and vegetables in season. Green Energy sign-up. The Working Group has compiled a list of six energy companies who supply energy solely from renewable sources. These are listed below: Ecotricity – https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy Good Energy – https://www.goodenergy.co.uk Bulb – https://bulb.co.uk/ Green Star Energy – https://www.mygreenstarenergy.com/ LoCO2 – https://loco2energy.com/ Octopus Energy – https://octopus.energy Several of them offer a switching service. Shared oil deliveries. Wellow already has a scheme in place, organised by Richard Holland. Buying heating oil in bulk each month saves between 2p and 5p a litre and has hundreds of separate lorry deliveries. Richard has agreed to add Shoscombe residents’ names to his lists. An application form can be found by clicking on the link: Wellow Oil Group. By completing the form on this link it will register your interest with Richard directly. Shoscombe Foodies. This is a group that buys organic food in bulk from Essential Foods and wants to recruit more people who want to buy organic produce. You can look at their catalogue at www.essential-trading.coop. You place your own order directly each month and these are bulk- delivered to the Village for collection. Wind and solar energy. Almost eighty people thought that these energy sources were worth supporting. The Working Group agreed to create a brief review of various renewable energy sources and these will appear soon on this page. We will also examine whether any of them might be feasible in our Community (powering the Hall with a small wind turbine, for example?). This will be a medium-to-long term project. Carbon capture/Nature reserve/Allotments/Orchard. This was the other set of topics in the Sustainability area we were considering. It was felt that we could probably make more progress in this project by liaising with the larger Environmental Working Group. If you are interested in any of the aspects of our Working Group please let us know and come and join us. Many thanks, Chris Upton, Chair of the Energy, Recycling & Sustainability Working Group. [email protected] |