ENERGY MATTERS

[Stanley]

I thought so Tiz.... And all this is caused by our 'friends' in the Middle East manipulating the market to improve their long term income from a dinosaur of an industry that will fail completely as fossil fuels are phased out eventually. They will have to accept the inevitable and diversify or sink like a stone....

[Tizer]

From the BBC: LINK
Green energy projects are now the largest generator of electricity in Scotland, according to new figures. Department of Energy and Climate Change statistics showed almost half (49.7%) of Scotland's electricity demand came from renewable sources in 2014.

Scotland exported 23.7% of what it generated. With that figure taken in to account, renewables provided 38% of electricity generated - above both nuclear, at 33%, and fossil fuels, at 28%. Scotland has a target of generating 50% of its energy from green sources by 2015.

In 2014, Scotland generated 49,929 GWh of electricity with renewable electricity generation delivering 18,962 GWh.

Renewable generation for last year was up 11.9% on 2013, which was a previous record.

The sector north of the border employs 21,000 people directly and last year produced almost a third (29%) of the UK's renewable energy.

Sources of renewable electricity include hydro, wind, tidal, solar and biomass developments.

[Stanley]

They had a good asset long before 'green' and 'renewable' entered our vocabulary, the hydro power. This doesn't detract from their achievement. So, deep fried Mars Bars in Scotland are better for the environment than fish and chips in England. (Something wrong with that statement I'm sure.....)
See THIS and weep!

[Whyperion]

Biomass, isnt that chipped pine trees from the Nordic countries imported in?

Always said if the money cost of non-renewables is cheap, then use that to develop the manufacturing of renewable sources, particularly solar. All air-conditioning plants should be powered by solar energy. USA is considering cutting oil output to push price toward $39/$40.

[Stanley]

I am gobbling resources this morning, the CH has kicked in on top of the stove, it's a cold, windy morning!

[Tizer]

The traditional incandescent light bulb is fighting back!...
`New development could lead to more effective lightbulbs'
"US researchers say they have developed a technique that can significantly improve the efficiency of the traditional incandescent light bulb....scientists at MIT have found a way of recycling the waste energy and focussing it back on the filament where it is re-emitted as visible light"..."Using nanotechnology, they've built a structure that surrounds the filament of the bulb and captures the leaking infrared radiation, reflecting it back to the filament where it is re-absorbed and then re-emitted as visible light. The structure is made from thin layers of a type of light-controlling crystal. A key aspect though is the way that these layers are stacked, with visible wavelengths allowed to pass through while infrared get reflected back to the filament as if in a mirror"..."their first proof-of-concept units which reach an efficiency of 6.6%, but even that is almost three times the level of a standard incandescent bulb"..."In theory, the crystal structures could boost the efficiency of incandescent bulbs to 40%, making them three times more efficient than the best LED or CFL bulbs on the market." New light bulb

What I'd like to see next is an increase in the efficiency of solar thermal panels by development of technology that would convert other wavelengths, such as visible light, to infrared. Not only would this increase the amount of heat produced for a given set of weather conditions but it should allow greater heat production on cloudier days.

[PanBiker]

I picked up on this as well and it's OK but surely it will not reduce the energy consumption of the overall design. Light output apart it will have along way to go to match the consumption of comparable LED designs.

[Tizer]

Doesn't it mean the new bulb would need less energy to give the same amount of light?

[PanBiker]

I suppose you can read it both ways, a 60W lamp will still consume 60W but be brighter. A 60W equivalent LED is around 7.5W so the incandescent needs to hit that kind of power to light efficiency to compete. I suppose the other question is how easy is it to manufacture. Miniature high power LED's are very versatile and can be manufactured as flexible tape which is what I have installed under my kitchen cupboards, a 3M long strip runs at 6W.

[Stanley]

I heard this report as well and admit to being slightly puzzled. I thought that LED had made incandescent technology totally obsolete. My reading is that they have stumbled on this use of a new principle as an accident while pursuing wider research and it's good publicity for them. As for them still using the same wattage, I think that might be an incorrect assumption because for the technology to be commercial they would have to use less leccy for more light than LED equivalents. It's interesting but I'd need to know a lot more about them.
I got my first full energy statement from BG this morning. While I am pleased with the reduction in my direct debit and the news that I compare well with other similar consumers in the town I still admit to be being baffled by the way they present the information. I suspect they haven't quite refined their use of smart data yet! Still, the bottom line is that my direct debit for dual fuel, even with full shed use, is only £15 a month. The coal has to be added to this of course but on the whole I am comfortable with it. There is little doubt that the warm November and December have played their part and cooking on the coal stove makes a big difference.....

[Tripps]

I got an email today from a company called UK Power Networks - no me neither, offering to put me on their 'Priority Service Register'. No idea where they got my address from, and does it mean someone anticipates power failures? I get my electricity from e-on, who were my first port of call on the one and only occasion when my power failed in the last six years. They were good - registered my call, and later sent me a text explaining the situation.

Is someone somewhere warning me that more outages are likely?

[Wendyf]

Information HERE Tripps.....looks like they only want to help.

[Tripps]

Thanks for that. We're told constantly to be on guard against scams - so I am. It's in my nature to question everything - I bore myself quite often with it .
I looked what extra they would do for me. Seems they would call the Red Cross if required. Just how long are they expecting the outage to last? I then tried the supplier query, they didn't tell me, and I was told there was more than one supplier. That's odd seeing that they say they got my details from my supplier. I think I'll ignore them and see how persistent they are.

[Stanley]

David, I'd ignore them as well. If the leccy goes off and it's more than a local problem there isn't much you can do once you've made sure it isn't just your supply. The big problem with a long outage is freezers and the leccy companies know that so they'll be making sure you aren't out long enough to spoil the contents. Everything else is down to you, get the Tilley Lamps out, open the damper on the stove and go to bed until it comes on again! It's going to happen....

[Tizer]

It looks increasingly like the new Hinckley Point nuclear plant will be delayed even further and possibly abandoned. The EDF board meeting to finalise the decision has been postponed because of funding difficulties. It's not clear exactly what the reason is but EDF's shares have halved in price and the economic problems in China might have affected the China General Nuclear Power Corporation's 33.5% stake. Power prices have fallen dramatically in France and EDF's other nuclear projects are delayed and running over-budget. The start date for generation at Hinckley has already been delayed from the original 2017 to 2025.

[Stanley]

I heard those reports also Tiz. In addition the 'dash for gas' is stalled, the one build that has started is grossly over budget. Get the candles in as the margin of capacity over peak demand falls even further and contracts are put in place to buy expensive emergency supplies to fill the gap. And all this at a time when it has never been cheaper to borrow finance for projects like this. We don't have an energy policy.....

[Stanley]

Read THIS report about progress on the Hinkley Point reactors and then go into a corner and weep. It looks as though our 'energy strategy' could be terminally ill. Buy candles!

[Pluggy]

The sums they did when oil and gas were expensive, don't add up when its cheap.....

The price per megawatt hour agreed is little more than I'm paying for electric at retail prices.

However whats going to be happening in 2025 is anybodies guess.

[Stanley]

Ill take a small bet on power outages before then.....

[Tizer]

The latest episode of Radio 4's `The Bottom Line ' is on `Renewable Energy' and was very interesting:
"After the Paris summit on climate change and the global commitment to cut carbon emissions, The Bottom Line is going green - with businesses that generate energy from the sun, the wind - and from cheese. And, whilst the government is committed to getting more of its energy from renewables, Evan Davis and guests discuss why green firms are seeing red over cuts to subsidies they say are vital to update ageing infrastructure."
Guests:
Juliet Davenport, CEO, Good Energy
Jeremy Leggett, Founder, Solarcentury
Paul Cowling, MD, RWE Innogy UK
You can download the podcast here: Renewable Energy

[Stanley]

There is an interesting piece by 'Old Sparky' in the current PE. The EU are moving towards imposing controls over energy generation from Brussels. Similar to the powers they already have over fishing and agriculture....

[LizG]

Just recently we've purchased a new fridge and replaced all our light globes with LED's. Today we got an electricity bill and we were pleasantly surprised. The total bill was $189.92 with a delivery cost included of $104.10. After the credit for putting energy back into the grid from the solar panels, the outstanding bill was $102.97. So they actually paid us to be a customer this time. The last bill was in excess of $220 after the solar credit.

[Stanley]

Nice move Liz.... Anything that reduces those pesky bills is a good thing!

[Stanley]

BG bills are a mystery. I have had news that I have been given a credit of £82.96 from my 'final BG account' . I have absolutely no idea what this is about, no doubt it will become clear. I suspect they are rectifying a mistake they made some time in the past but will wait until it all becomes clear.... One thing is certain, the gas is still flowing!
By the way, the shed is the coldest it has been all winter. 50F this morning..... It will not deter me!
Late news just in. The Energy secretary has announced that the life of some nuclear plants is going to be 'extended'. Not clear yet which ones or how it's going to be done but this is no doubt a late reaction to the dreadful prospect facing as as the 'dash for gas' stalls and there is no clarity about the funding of the proposed new stations. The bottom line is that spare capacity is hanging by a thread....

[chinatyke]

BG bills are a mystery. I have had news that I have been given a credit of £82.96 from my 'final BG account' . I have absolutely no idea what this is about, no doubt it will become clear. I suspect they are rectifying a mistake they made some time in the past but will wait until it all becomes clear.... One thing is certain, the gas is still flowing!

Ring them! Sounds like another company could have signed you up without your knowledge or approval and told BG that you are changing suppliers. Worth a call.