Dear Richard Thank you very much for this fantastic paper about the forest I was asked if we also have this biomass debate in DK, yes we have, and the same arguments. The Danish District association DanskEnergy, the association of power companies held a conference recently about it and concluded that biomass with the certificates […]
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Re. the FOE briefing on using woody biomass in power plant. It is dreadful, masquerading as ‘research’ when it is just a re-tread of the appalling ‘Dirtier than Coal’ report from 2012-13. This was based on very biased research by the US legal anti-biofuels ‘hired gun’ Tim Searchinger. This carefully selected amongst the worst out of […]
Read MoreMark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi recently published two papers in Energy Policy expanding upon our article on 100% wind, water, and solar power for the world, published in Scientific American in November 2009. I am attaching corrected in-press proofs of the articles. Mark and I continue to work on various aspects of this, so we […]
Read MoreI am trying i to find a supplier of ready made -lightweight ro/ro tanktainers that will hold my own supply of clean syngas (no inerts) I make coconut shell activated carbon with high microporosity and hardness. Alternately am looking for someone who has experience working with ASG in particular- making portable tanks- also trying to work […]
Read MoreFolks In the run up to the UK election, evidence of an imminent global oil crunch has continued to build, un-noticed by the majority of people, almost entirely uncommented on in the election campaign. The CEO of a major oil company has admitted it no longer pays to build up new oil reserves. A US military panel has […]
Read MoreHi Dave and Chris Can I add my bit? UK homegrown biofuel could, at extreme, only supply 3 or 4% of UK transport fuel. Ethanol is such poor EROEI and competes directly with food, wheat, sugar, it should not count. We only have ~6M hectares of ploughable land (as in WWII). The figures for WWII […]
Read MoreComments are invited on the two gasification articles found on the The Guardian website today. They seem to have been written on the basis of a Press Release, without much background checking. I don’t want a bad word said about the author, Alok Jha, who is lovely, but I really think we need to unpack […]
Read MoreAll governments have pledged to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions; this effectively means that the world must move to:
Electricity from nuclear, renewable or decarbonised sources
Hydrogen from renewable or decarbonised sources
biomass derived methane gas or hydrocarbon liquids or
heat as a by-product, or from biomass, solar or geothermal sources.
Of these electricity and hydrogen are purely manufactured energy vectors competing as intermediaries between energy sources and final consumers. In recent years the tide seems to have moved to electricity as the ultimate solution, but this article will take issue with this. This is principally because of the severe cost implications associated with either electricity storage or its corollary – demand side management.
Read MorePOST NOW FILLED Applications are invited for an exciting 3 year studentship to develop biogas fermentation technology. A new company is being set up to commercially exploit anaerobic digestion technology. As part of this work the company is working with North Wyke Research and Exeter University. The group is looking for an enthusiastic Engineer / […]
Read MoreHow very sensible of you to recommend trams as the preferred solution for public transport in urban areas. I attach a note on the potential for integrating waste recycling with ultra light trams. If really good tram networks are installed (and the cost of installing lightweight rail has now been brought below £2 million per route kilometre double track) then, together with pedestrianisation, cycling and rickshaws, urban mobility can be brought to a very high level before having to bring in a few electric taxis.
Unfortunately I cannot get any of the relevant Departments in Government even to discuss these proposals, although Jonathon Porritt has now volunteered to take up the issue. I attach a copy of a letter to Hoon which still awaits a reply. The programme I am suggesting could easily be funded from a progressive transfer of money from the so-called Bus Service Operators Grant which spends some £400 million a year in subsidy to reduce the cost of fuel for diesel buses! The waste needs to be recycled urgently to prevent methane emissions to the atmosphere and to take some of the strain off landfill.
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