Dear Claverton,
There was a very interesting article in today’s Evening Standard by Robert Lea on how useless is the Select Committee on Energy. I sent him the e-mail below.
However I have attached a word copy of the article, which is headed “WHY ENERGY MPs SHOW THE SYSTEM IS ROTTEN”
Can you put this on the website please!!!!!!
Best regards
Fred
Read MoreThe consultant I work for is undergoing a major redundancy process in the water engineering side of the business, with the majority of jobs being lost at graduate level and below.
We have been informed that the reasons for this are that the draft determination from Ofwat appears particularly tough and as such, we won’t be getting any work out of the water companies for possibly as much as a year. It is also apparent that when the work does start to come, unachievable efficiency will be required, forcing consultants to “offshore” work to India and the like.
To make graduates redundant in this country, only to employ staff in India in their place does not seem acceptable. If we, as an industry, are left with this as the only option to be able to survive, then it would seem that Ofwat has got it wrong and we should be doing more to influence its decision making.
This is a very important issue for the country as we have already practically lost manufacturing as an industry and cannot afford to lose construction skills overseas.
It is also clear that the reason for the harsh determination is that the government doesn’t want to put water bills up because it is still hoping to win the approaching General Election.
This is unacceptable and is destroying an industry. What is the ICE doing about this?
Joe Andrews, mailto:joekayaker at hotmail dot com
Read MoreDavid Porter of the AIP (founded originally by David Andrews as the AIEP to counter the monolithic anti market and anti chp bias of the CEGB – Ed.) needs reminding that grants for A++ fridges etc (say we offer £30 to reduce baseload from 600 to 120 kWh/yr = £750 to save 1 kW) are cheaper […]
Read MoreToday, The Times has claimed that Britain’s potential renewable resources are insufficient to meet demand, and therefore that Britain needs new nuclear plants. This is reported as having been stated by the new Chief Scientific Advisor to DECC, Professor David MacKay FRS, the author of the free online book: Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air – though it appears that The Times invented this quote. Nevertheless, the claim that Britain cannot live on its own renewables, is also made in his book.
However, the claim is not true.
On the professor’s own (underestimated) calculation of Britain’s renewable potential, it is possible for Britain to power itself from wind and solar. Current energy demand (heat, transport & electricity), is 98kWh per person per day (245GW), and the professor’s book identifies 68kWh/d (170GW) of wind onshore and offshore, and 55kWh/d (137.5GW) from photovoltaics, which together gives 123kWh/d (307.5GW). That means that even ignoring wave, tidal, geothermal and biomass, Britain’s renewable potential supply just from solar and wind substantially exceeds our energy demand.
Read MoreInvitation to a lunchtime debate Delivering a 21st Century Infrastructure for Britain
Read More“Getting urban car trips down from 70% to 50% would save about 5% of UK carbon emissions.”
Transport is an energy intensive activity, heavily dependent on oil (99.97%) and a significant emitter of carbon dioxide (30% of UK total). Exhortation and education can reduce car dependency but in the absence of draconian powers to force people to change travel modes, people will freely choosing sustainable alternatives is surely the best way? Market research and behavioural studies demonstrate that for short journeys, under 2 miles (50% UK car trips) walking and cycling are acceptable options, when there are safe and attractive routes. For longer urban journeys ( < 5 miles = 75% of UK car trips) public transport should be the alternative to car ? In the UK most urban public transport is by bus (80% of trips). Car users however are not willing to use buses. Studies by the US Transportation Research Board shows that on a like for like basis of frequency, travel speed, fares etc, buses attract 40% less car users than even old rail services
Read MoreMost of the (sub)urban electric trains in UK are multiple units, where most if not all coaches have motors. The reason for this is the need to get high adhesion for rapid acceleration, by distributing the track forces to most if not all wheels. Rapid acceleration (and braking) are needed when stations are close together get a high service speed.
Inter City trains do not need urban rates of acceleration but high top speeds. Electric motor coaches are (much) more expensive than “trailer coaches”, so having one or two locomotives per train is a compromise over costs. THe TGV trains in France climb steeper gradients than most railways (3%) but 6 power bogies on an 18 coach (36 bogie) train is enough to get up the hills
In general it can be seen that there is not a lot to choose between the cost of wind energy, and coal, gas or nuclear. PV and CSP are considerablymore expensive however.
Read MoreUK is now a member of IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) – our ambassador in Berlin signed this morning.
Read MoreDr. Czisch gave a very interesting presentation the contents of which is summarised here, Rather than publish a paper on this set, Gregor has given us these links to his site where the varous papers can be studied.
The most relevant one for English speakers is probably this one:
“Low Cost but Totally Renewable Electricity Supply”
Read More