Earthwatch Lecture – Forests and Climate Change Thursday 26th March, 7.00pm-8.30pm at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR Our forests, home to an extraordinary range of biodiversity, and arguably one of our greatest safeguards against climate change, continue to be depleted at an alarming rate. How can we set about securing their future?
Read MoreToronto gets feed in tarrifs – we don't – we wonder why.
Quote “Renewable energy in Ontario got a massive boost Thursday with the proposal of a fixed-price plan that, by June, could see the province paying out generous premiums to large and small generators of green power. The premiums – called advanced feed-in tariffs – are what the government guarantees to pay over the life a […]
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 MoreA SEVERN BARRAGE OR WHAT? Options for Renewable Energy from the Severn Estuary
RSA Wales and Western Region Website http://www.rsawaw.org The Royal Society of Arts is registered as a charity in England and Wales 212424 The British Science Association Website http://www.britishscienceassociation.org The British Science Association is registered as a charity in England and Wales 212479 A SEVERN BARRAGE OR WHAT? Options for Renewable Energy from the Severn Estuary […]
Read MoreClaverton has been asked to comment on the attached submission from the REA to government
please put any comments, as a comment, and or send to John Baldwin ASAP. There are only hours in which to make a submission. The energy dimension to A sustainable recovery pathway Overview – a Green New Energy Deal The pathway to recovery from this economic downturn must take us in a new direction, not […]
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 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.
"UK Energy Risks – Uncertain but not Unimaginable" – Global Energy Advisory
On the 23rd of February it was reported that one of the large six utility companies in the UK lost £172.5mn, in just three months, by trading a gas position. This loss could have been against a background of relatively low gas price volatility; presumably this “increase in wholesale cost” will now be passed on to end consumers? Who trades and who pays? Who invests and who pays?
The new Energy & Climate Change Committee is today taking oral evidence from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Rt Hon Edward Miliband MP, in the House of Commons in London. The independent Global Energy Advisory White Paper entitled: Investment Failure, Fails Customers, was circulated to the Committee earlier this week.
The paper discusses the potential risks to UK energy security which are well known within the Industry. It also asks pertinent questions regarding the costs and consequences of the energy investment/trading decisions being taken at the current time.
This discussion will be continued at the Global Energy/Advisory Super Derivatives Seminar in London on March 5th – see below for full details.
Read MoreLittle known (or conveniently forgotten) reason for 1926 miners strike recalled – Dr Fred Starr
If no one has anything better, here is a slightly incomplete table for coal production. This has been compiled from various sources over the past few years.
Peak was 1913 when we were exporting 100 million tons at a price of around £1 per ton. This might be equivalent to £50 per ton today (or higher?).
UK coal exports began to get uncompetitive after WWI, and was one of the main reasons for the 1926 General Strike, when the coal owners wanted to reduce wages.
Coal output was insufficient in WWII (and afterwards) and was one reason for sending one in every ten
conscripted men down the mines
UK coal reserves are now given as somewhere between 400-800 million tonnes. Not the billions that everyone supposes.
If the UK energy system was totally dependent on coal, as it used to be, these would last 2-4 years.
Read MoreChristophe de Margerie (no less!) agrees with Hugh Sharman's long-stated view that we are unlikely, ever, to see 90 million bopd liquids production
“Recently, OPEC cut back oil production in an attempt to stem the oil price decline. How much might their cutbacks delay the onset of world liquid fuels production decline? Assuming the plateau model and five years to the onset of decline, each million barrels per day of oil production withholding buys roughly three weeks delay, so a steady, continuing reduction of say four million barrels per day over five years might result in a delay in the onset of world oil production decline by maybe three months. Thats not very much.”
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