Wind Energy | Claverton Group

"Climate scientists: it's time for 'Plan B' " – The Independent Survey

According the Independent newspaper – Steve Connor, Science Editor and Chris Green. Friday, 2 January 2009 “An emergency “Plan B” using the latest technology is needed to save the world from dangerous climate change, according to a poll of leading scientists” carried out by The Independent. This is due to the collective international failure to […]

Promoters overstate the environmental benefit of wind farms

According to the Daily Telegraph, Dec 21, The British Wind Energy Association, (BWEA ) the wind farm industry lobby group, has been “forced to admit that the environmental benefit of wind power in reducing carbon emissions is only half as big as it had previously claimed”. This is because it used a carbon emission figure […]

100% carbon reduction possible with wind power, vehicle to grid and interconnection.

Review of solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy security

Mark Z. Jacobson is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University. and has amongst his qualifications a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a B.A. in Economics.
With Jacobson’s credentials, and the fact that this is a peer reviewed journal, the paper has to be taken seriously. He indicates that wind powered battery electric vehicles not only offer the most reduction in CO2 compared to other options, but is also better than the other options when other environmental impacts are considered. CCS is a poor option, and corn to ethanol or cellulosic ethanol are very bad indeed.
He notes, that as does Claverton, that the intermittency effects can be dealt with using a combination of geographic dispersal, demand management, storage, use of vehicle to grid, and weather forecasting.

Dr Maitland Mackie discusses "a second agricultural revolution" based on community funding of wind energy assets

Dr Maitland Mackie, BSc (Agriculture), MA Hons (Economics), CBE, LL.D, FRAGS Existing power companies are scouring the country for sites to build wind turbines. While this offers some profit for landowners Dr Maitland Mackie has other ideas. His recently formed company proposes that those in rural areas retain most, if not all, of the profits available – nothing less than a new agricultural revolution.

Maitland, a comparatively new member of the Claverton group, formed the idea for an energy company owned by the rural sector having seen the financial and aesthetic success of the turbines installed by his three offspring who now run the family dairy and ice cream business in Aberdeenshire (Maitland says he now basks in the reflected glory of their efforts).

Danish Wind Power and Electricity Export in 2007

By Paul Frederik-Bach, ex Director Danish Western Power Grid.

Denmark is considered to be a frontrunner in the use of wind power. In 2007 the generation of wind energy in west Denmark was 5.6 TWh or 26 % of the electricity consumption.

In east Denmark 1.6 TWh wind energy was generated, which is 11 % of the electricity consumption.

The normal interpretation is that 20

Paul-Frederik Bach, ex-Director of West Denmark Power talks about Danish Windpower and smart grids.

Paul-Frederik – who has been a stalwart member of the group and attended 3 previous Conferences, could not make the last meeting due to illness. He was kind enough to give us this presentation which came with the following note:

Dear Chris, Dave and Fred,

The Claverton group is a fascinating forum, because different and interesting people meet there. Of course I am disappointed that I cannot attend the conference. I hope to be present at a future event.

I attach a brief PowerPoint (7 slides) to meet your request. I have tried to summarize my views. You are welcome to use it as you may prefer, for presentation, for handout or for other purposes. Slide 4 is a summary of my Platts paper (which was written for the Claverton discussions from the beginning).

The conference programme seems to be well packed with interesting contributions. I hope that the papers will be available at the web site.

Uttlesford – the most CO2 per household in England – "100% renewable is possible" says Altechnica study.

Dr Derek Taylor, Altechnica and OU Open University Energy & Environment Research Unit

The Altechnica study on Renewable Energy potential in Uttlesford (commissioned by Uttlesford Futures) study shows that it would be potentially possible to ultimately obtain all of the household electricity, space & water heating needs and power personal cars from 100% renewable energy from within Uttlesford.

Uttlesford is the East of England District located in the North West corner of Essex that borders Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire and includes Saffron Walden, Great Dunmow and Stansted Airport within its boundaries. – Prior to Uttlesford Futures commissioning the study, Uttlesford District had been reported as emitting the most CO2 per household in England.

This study showed that domestic heat provision, electricity and potentiall

Optimal central power station back up for wind – what is Claverton view?

The old power-station retention concept does require a lot of maintenance work to keep them open.
Long start up times are also an issue particularly if the turbine and the whole of the steam system is cold.
In comparison the engine based local CHP option can operate happily with minimal maintenance and with remote unmanned start up and operation.

The benefits from wind are clear they replace fossil fuel but are not effective as replacement capacity unless linked to a sufficiently large area of the world to ensure some wind all the time.

2008 Claverton Energy Group Conference Papers Available

Those that have been forwarded in text format have been published as News Articles. Those in PowerPoint or PDF format have been uploaded to the website, and can be downloaded for reading at:

What is Microgeneration? And what is the most cost effective in terms of CO2 reduction

The UK Government definition of Microgeneration[1] applies to a rather surprising mix of heat and power generating technologies with a thermal output below 45kWt or an electrical output of 50kWe. It covers electrical generation from wind, solar photovoltaics (PV) and hydro, and heat generation from biomass, solar thermal and heat pumps as well as micro CHP which produces heat and power from renewable or fossil fuels. It is not just another term for small scale renewables, but comprises a portfolio of low carbon technologies.

There has been a tendency amongst advocates[2] and sceptics[3] alike to lump all Microgeneration technologies together, either as “all good” or “all bad”. This is particularly unhelpful when attempting to understand the potential contribution Microgeneration can make to UK energy strategy and it is important that we understand the particular characteristics and potential role of each technology.