education project, eco centre, exhibitions
Which energy efficiency measures can save the UK billions? Which country plans to end oil and gas exploration and production by 2040? And, is it possible to make money by removing CO₂ from the atmosphere?
Find out about This week’s ten biggest climate innovation stories — 7 September
(Via. Climate KIC – Daily Planet)
In recent months the world has turned to China to find new hope for renewable energy, especially with Trump and Brexit looming as threats to sustainability. In 2016 China almost doubled its solar capacity from 42.88 gigawatt in 2015 to 77.42 gigawatt in 2016. For comparison, solar capacity in the UK was 11.5 gigawatt in 2016.
In the following, I would like to share some personal impressions based on my recent journey through China. The first point that I found striking was the difference between the two most visible ways to harvest energy from the sun: solar water heating and photovoltaic for electricity. The first is visible almost everywhere in China: it is installed on the rooftops of newly build apartment blocks, but also on the roof tops of the houses of the poorest. No matter where I travelled to in China, solar water heating was there. It seems to be a decentralised solution, a way for households facing energy-poverty to generate warm water, which is a contrast to the West were more affluent households invest in solar energy.
The case of photovoltaic is different: whilst there were some modules on new buildings in Beijing, the most impressive display of photovoltaic that I have ever seen was in a rural area in the North of Gansu province, close to (inner) Mongolia. Sitting on a train to Dunhuang and looking out of the window the only thing I could see passing by for more than one hour were photovoltaic panels and windfarms. The size of these sites clearly indicate that these are commercial mega-projects. In contrast to the solar water heating I have never seen photovoltaic being used in poor neighbourhoods or villages.
It will be interesting to follow the future development and to see how these two very different approaches develop. Will we see more decentralised efforts of people trying to satisfy their personal energy needs or will we see more centralised mega-projects, replacing traditional power plants?
References
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-solar-idUSKBN15J0G7 (accessed 02/08/2017)
http://theenergyst.com/uk-solar-hits-11-5gw-up-19-in-2016/ (accessed 02/08/2017)
Britain’s first ‘green gas mill’ will convert grass into biomethane to heat more than 4,000 homes and is set to come online in 2018.
Dale Vince, the chairman of renewable energy company Ecotricity, is investing £10m in the first of a generation of what he calls ‘green gas mills’ that he says could compete against gas from fracking.
Grass at the plant being built at Sparsholt College will be turned into biomethane within 45 days and then injected into the national network.
A report published by Ecotricity on Thursday (17 November) argued that there is already enough suitable grassland to produced the amount of gas that the National Grid forecasts homes will consume by 2035, but doing so would require the building of around 5,000 mills akin to the Hampshire one.
The company is planning four other mills in addition to the one at Sparsholt College – in Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Shropshire, Wiltshire.
Read the full article ‘Could gas from grass rival fracking to heat UK homes?’ by Adam Vaughan on The Guardian web site.
Visit the Ecotricity web site to find out more about Ecotricity’s Campaign for Green Gas.
The UK Government can embed a “world class” low-carbon environment that could mobilise significant investment streams, but only if current policy gaps and mixed legislative signals are addressed with “bold” action.
That is the overarching view of the Future low carbon investment in the UK report, published on 16 November 2016 by a group of leading NGOs, which claimed that the UK’s carbon plan and industrial strategy could generate billions in clean revenue streams if the Government sharpens policies in the low-carbon heat and transport sectors.
“Integrating the carbon plan and industrial strategy can unlock investment in the power, heat and transport sectors into the 2020s,” the report noted. “Public investment in such projects brings significant benefits to the UK. Alongside attracting private investment, low carbon projects generate jobs, improve health and increase the competitiveness needed to export the UK’s skills and knowledge to global markets.
“The government can address current policy gaps with supportive spending and policy decisions in this parliament that set a clear direction for the future.”
The report, produced by the Green Alliance, RSPB, WWF, CAFOD, Christian Aid and Greenpeace, claimed that “bold” action is need to stimulate the UK’s low-carbon transition. According to the report, clearer policies on renewables could attract around £47bn of investment between 2021 and 2026, while £8.6bn could be saved annually during the 2020s by retrofitting domestic buildings with heat efficiency measures.
Read more about the findings and recommendations contained in the report in the full article, ‘Green groups call for ‘bold’ Government action to ignite UK’s low-carbon transition’, on the Edie web site.
Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark has announced that the Government is committing an additional £4 million to the Plug-In Van grant scheme and extending the eligibility to larger electric vehicles.
The Plug-In Van grant was launched in 2012, and was available to small commercial vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes. But with sales of electric vans remaining “limited”, grants of up to £20,000 can now be obtained by businesses that switch to electric vehicles (EV).
Currently, around 96% of vans and trucks are diesel-powered, and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) hopes that extending the scheme will not only increase demand for electric versions, but also encourage new entrants into the market.
Read the article ‘BEIS adds £4m to Plug-In Van grant to encourage electric fleets‘ on the Edie web site. More information also available on the GOV.UK web site.