This article describes a novel concept using existing technology to very quickly a) control the desertification and sand drifts b) enable the establishment of plant species c) the construction of wind farms or CSP connected to Europe by either a lengthy HVDC transmission system, or the local production of ammonia which can readily be transported to eg Europe / USA and easily used as a vehicle fuel d) the construction of a vast area of seawater greenhouses using sea water pumped thousands of miles to be desalinated by solar energy to allow the production of food and or energy crops. (Contrary to what some ill-informed people claim this does not use a huge amount of energy compared to other national uses) e) unlocks the massive potential for carbon sequestration via organic matter in soil
Read MoreSolicitor seeking expert witness to aid defence of Drax 29
Dear Claverton Energy Group, Please forgive this e-mail out of the blue. I am a solicitor representing 29 environmentalists who face criminal proceedings arising from an incident last year when they blocked a train carrying coal to DRAX coal fired power station. They took the action in order to reduce CO2 emissions contributing to […]
Read MoreA Government still addicted to petrol – article by David Strahan in the Independant
Sunday, 26 April 2009 “All targets and no trousers” seemed to be the gist of the reaction from environmentalists to last week’s Budget. Greens welcomed the introduction of new, legally binding, carbon-reduction goals but attacked the lack of a clear road map showing how they could be achieved. Some applauded policies such as the extra […]
Read More'Tax the privileged and reduce the deadweight costs' – from Chris Cook, Claverton, letter in Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2b060736-2a1e-11de-9d01-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1 Published: April 16 2009 03:00 | Last updated: April 16 2009 03:00 From Mr Chris Cook. Sir, I am sure British correspondents will also be pointing out that it is not just the US tax code that is broken (“Mending America’s broken tax code”, Editorial, April 14), but this misses a deeper point. The […]
Read More"These Fossil Fools" – Catherine Mitchell – excellent article in the Guardian on futility of market solutions to climate change
The UK’s energy policy has to focus on lowering carbon emissions by a combination of renewable energy and reducing demand. This requires a system almost entirely different from that we have in place today: one that is conducive to innovation and change; and one that is flexible and resilient to all sorts of technological futures.
Read More"Green Grid" – Excellent article in New Scientist by David Strahan (The Last Oil Shock) on HVDC supergrids
Articles “Green grid” A version of this article was published in New Scientist on 12 March 2009. Original is here (This article was in part stimulated by the last Claverton conference held at Wessex Water, Bath where Dr Czisch spoke, and various discussions, (various discussions2), (various discussions3) (varous discusions4) on this website. Graeme Bathhurst is […]
Read MorePumping Power calculator – what power is needed to pump seawater to the middle of the Gobi Desert for desalination in the SeaWater Greenhouse? – answer – not a lot
The spread sheet for calculating this, kindly provided by Wessex Water, one of the UK’s leading water supply companies, is available here: This spread sheet enables you to calculate power needed to pump water any distance through any height: http://tx1.fcomet.com/~claverto/cms/?dl_name=Pipe_Headloss__Power_calculator.xls You can see that in fact, compared to national energy consumptions, […]
Read MoreSenior Energy Analyst reports on biochar as economic method of CCS
Hi Claverton,
Just read this on bio-char.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/67843ec0-020b-11de-8199-000077b07658.html.
Sound’s good to me. At £9/tonne this seems a sizeable contribution to GHG
reduction at a carbon price we already have in the EU cap and trade system.
I think the silver buckshot Al Gore cites will have many such low tech, low
cost solutions. For me making charcoal is an intuitively correct solution
as it seems to be a simple way of compressing the natural carbon capture
cycle that can be done at low capital costs and with lots of other benefits
as well.
Rgds
M
Read MoreEcoTrack: project monitoring for the carbon market
Introducing EcoTrack
Project monitoring is often haphazard and time-consuming. Furthermore, results from monitoring do not always lead to improvement and learning. Now EcoTrack makes project results transparent and easy to use.
EcoTrack is a new monitoring system for sustainable energy and household energy projects. It is highly reliable, networked, and results-based. Eco, a private company based in the UK, has developed EcoTrack to systematize the monitoring process, provide timely data, and enhance reporting to funders and other project stakeholders. EcoTrack allows users to track the progress of activities, outputs, outcomes and objectives against performance indicators. It therefore improves the quality of both monitoring and management.
Carbon Pathways Analysis – Informing Development of a Carbon Reduction Strategy for the Transport Sector
Carbon Pathways Analysis July 2008 Executive Summary Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Carbon Pathways by Mode Chapter 3: Carbon Pathways by Type of Journey Chapter 4: The Impact of Mode Switch on Emissions Chapter 5: International Comparisons Chapter 6: The Challenge for Transport Acknowledgements This paper has benefited greatly from the inputs of Mark Barrett […]
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