Using Biomass as a fuel is a positive benefit for the environment

Biomass fuel positive environment benefit

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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biomass-fuels

Biomass fuels – critique of FOE report

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 […]

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Papers in Energy Policy from Mark Delucchi and Mark Jacobson, Stanford / California University USA – 100% renewable energy at reasonable prices and timescales

Mark 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 […]

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Gasification gets The Guardian treatment

Comments 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 […]

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Hydrogen – the green currency of the future

All 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.

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POST NOW FILLED. PhD Studentship to Develop Biogas Fermentation Process Control. Applications are invited for an exciting 3 year studentship

POST 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 / […]

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"trams as the preferred solution for public transport in urban areas"

How 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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