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 MoreIntermittent energy source – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Latest version – feel free to comment or edit – strangely, has a large number of refrences from the claverton site. Jump to: navigation, search Erie Shores Wind Farm monthly output over a two year period An intermittent energy source is a source of electric power generation that may be uncontrollably variable or more intermittent than […]
Read MoreCorrespondence received from CSP / Trec regarding " Proposed presentation of benefits and costs of European Supergrid by Dr Gregor Czisch"
Proposed presentation of benefits and costs of European Supergrid by Dr Gregor Czisch Dear Dave, Thanks very much for sending this correspondence. A couple of points about CSP and wind power: Wind power has been supported for much longer than CSP and is much further down its cost-reduction curve than CSP. The TRANS-CSP report from […]
Read MoreNuclear and Wind are Officially Stated to be Incompatible
This statement , from E.ON and EDF was in the financial pages of the Guardian on 16th March 2009. Fred Starr and Dave Andrews put in a briefing note to this effect in the Inst of Civil Engineers Journal ” Energy” last year. But we also pointed out that nuclear cannot exist without back up from fossil, and because […]
Read MoreIs wind power reliable? – An authoritative article from David Millborrow who is technically experienced and numerate, unlike many other commentators
The UK has committed itself to a very ambitious target to increase its wind powered generation
capacity by 2020. The EC’s 15% renewable energy target implies that renewable electricity,
much of its wind power, will have to provide between 35-40% of electricity supplies. This has
caused concerns in some quarters that the UK ‘s security of supply will be placed in jeopardy.
However, others say this concern is overplayed. In the following article, David Milborrow*
debunks myths surrounding wind power’s reliability.
Read MoreEarthwatch Lecture – Forests and Climate Change
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 MoreGas Turbines on the Isle of Man: A Case Study between the Manx Electricity Authority and Cranfield University. IDGTE paper at Cranfield, Thursday 19 March.
In the volatile energy market effective use of the available technological, energy and financial resources is now, more than ever, highly pursued. In a combined cycle power plant, gas turbines are the prime mover of power generation. Therefore, detailed understanding and monitoring of gas turbine performance, health condition and associated costs have a deep impact in the decision making process concerning the plant’s operational and maintenance strategy.
In this context, research collaboration between Manx Electricity Authority (MEA) and Cranfield University has been carried out since 2001 and a series of technologies and software have been and are still being developed at Cranfield University and some of them have been integrated into MEA Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Power Plant in Pulrose, Isle of Man. During this constructive and successful collaboration period, the University has been fortunate to acknowledge the industrial needs and make significant academic contributions through ongoing research projects jointly supported by both MEA and EPSRC. On the other hand, MEA has valued the complexity of asset management concerning the gas turbine and the combined cycle, therefore enhancing its trading and operational capabilities through the application of developed performance, diagnostic, trading and economic analysis software.
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 MoreNATURE magazine promotes CHP, CHP/DH and Rankine cycle turbine for energy recovery.
Nature this month carries a very good article on using high temperature waste heat to generate power in a Rankine cycle, and strongly advocates the use of CHP and holds out Denmark as an example. http://tx1.fcomet.com/~claverto/cms/download/311/
Read MoreKIV – Biomass and waste to energy district heating and power generation plants
KIV commenced the commissioning a new gasification EfW CHP and district heating scheme in September 2008. The plant has been designed to environmental standards above and beyond the EU Waste Incineration Directive (WID), which also incorporates Best Available Technique (BAT), lodged with the EU BREF documents office. The plant will be an EU ‘showcase’ project, which incorporates a presentation room for coach parties of visitors.
Approximately five years ago, KIV commenced a joint development for the gasification EfW CHP plant with Celje town council. The plant has an 18MWth input capacity for <38,000 tpa of a mixed fuel (80% RDF + 20% Sewage Sludge), with an average CV of 13.6MJ/kg, based on a guaranteed 8,000 hrs/annum availability. The scheme is connected to an existing District Heating scheme, which has a 110oC flow temperature. The scheme is ‘heat led’ and therefore produces a reduced amount of gross power at 2.1 MWe. If the scheme was ‘electricity led’, it would produce 3.8MWe of gross power.
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