week ending 25 June 2010
Isle of Man Biogas
IT is unlikely to be economically viable to convert the Meary Veg sewage plant into a biogas facility, MHKs were told. Peter Karran suggested in the House of Keys that burning methane gas recovered from sewage could save £987,000 a year on energy costs. But Environment Minister John Shimmin said his understanding was that Meary Veg was an ‘aerobic’ sewage works and, in order to capture biogas, it would require significant engineering changes in order to seal the sewage in an anaerobic environment, where methane can be generated, captured and then burnt
Isle of Man Today 24th June 2010 more >>
Rutland Power
Farmer Monty Andrews, of Holmes Farm, Ketton, was given a special enterprise award for his personal turbine microgenerator. The turbine is the biggest of its kind in the country and helps generate the farm’s electricity. Mr Andrews said: “We’ve had the generator since last April to help power the farm. When you have a wind turbine, you can’t be completely self-sufficient because it’s not windy every day but I’m pleased with the way it has worked out.” Mr Andrews is currently waiting to hear from British Gas about their plans to feed the surplus energy into the village
Rutland Times 24th June 2010 more >>
Community Turbine
Residents in Palgrave will have the chance to air their views on plans to build an 18m high wind turbine in their village. Palgrave Community Council has submitted an application to construct the turbine near the community centre, off Rose Lane. The project, which aims to slash the centre’s annual £2,500 electricity bill, would also put power into the local grid when the hall is not being used.
Diss Mercury 24th June 2010 more >>
Skills
A NEW course aimed at helping students find work in the booming renewable energy sector is to start at West Lothian College. The course, based in the College’s Engineering department, covers such as wind turbines and solar panels, as well as more traditional energy sources such as oil and gas
Scotsman 24th June 2010 more >>
Low Carbon London
‘Low Carbon London – A Learning Journey’ is a major collaborative project which would involve working with communities and businesses to create a blueprint for a future electricity distribution system to support the Government’s Low Carbon Transition Plan. The proposed project would encompass smart grid technologies and carbon-cutting commercial arrangements to encourage customers to play a key role in helping to match London’s electricity demand with available low carbon electricity production. It would also look at ways to accommodate the anticipated growth in micro-generation while managing higher demand for electricity created by the switch to electric cars.
EDF Energy Press Release 23rd June 2010 more >>
Budget
The budget included plans to introduce a “Green Deal” for households to make home energy efficiency improvements, a move that will increase demand for green sector businesses such as solar panel providers and wind turbine manufacturers.
Green Grants Machine 23rd June 2010 more >>
Renewable Cheese
Two brothers behind plans to build a wind turbine to power their Garstang cheese factory have said they expect to see many other businesses following suit in the near future. Nick and Richard Kenyon, managing director and production director at Dewlay, said the growing push towards generating ‘green’ power had led to them building a £2.4m turbine at their factory off the A6
Garstang Courier 23rd June 2010 more >>
Farmers’ wind guide
STUDENT Will Weaver has devised a guide to help provide information about wind power to farmers and landowners. Will, of Frampton Cotterell, is due to graduate from Harper Adams University College in Shropshire in the autumn and looked at the renewable power source as part of his final year dissertation. He discovered that many landowners and farmers were interested in wind energy and using their land for turbines but didn’t know much about it.
Bristol Evening Post 23rd June 2010 more >>
Croydon Heat and Power
A mini power station could be built in the centre of Croydon as part of a £55m council plan to sell its own heat and electricity. The District Energy (DE) scheme would involve setting up a small-scale plant near the current council headquarters at Taberner House, powered by fossil fuels, renewable technologies or a combination of the two. A sprawling network of pipes would connect it to the council’s planned new £145m headquarters in Fell Road and developments at Taberner House and College Green.
Croydon Guardian 23rd June 2010 more >>
Sustainable Buildings
A new centre for sustainable building design opens today in London, showcasing the latest technologies set to help tackle the capital’s carbon emissions. The Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings (CEREB) is the first teaching, research and demonstration facility of its kind to open in London. Based at London South Bank University (LSBU) its purpose is to enable students, academics and industry develop the technologies that can help reduce the city’s carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2025.
Green Wise 23rd June 2010 more >>
Scottish Hydro
The Scottish Government has approved RWE npower renewables’ plans for a 3MW Cia Aig hydro-electro scheme in Inverness-shire.
New Energy Focus 23rd June 2010 more >>
Hydro Surge
The growing popularity for converting old water mills and weirs back to producing electricity has led to a six fold increase in hydropower in England and Wales over the last decade.
Telegraph 23rd June 2010 more >>
New Energt Focus 23rd June 2010 more >>
Independent 24th June 2010 more >>
Home Generation
Home owners are sceptical about the benefits of generating electricity to meet the needs of their own homes, says analyst Keith Harrison. In this week’s Green Room, he argues that the UK needs to have an effective subsidies system in order to encourage a significant uptake of domestic renewable technology.
BBC 22nd June 2010 more >>
Isle of Wight Solar
An Isle of Wight primary school has won the chance to compete at a regional renewable energy competition. Barton Primary won the Best Solar Design category at the Isle of Wight heat of the ‘Hampshire and Isle of Wight Solar Challenge’ held at Summerfields Primary in Newport on 21 June.
Isle of Wight Council 22nd June 2010 more >>
Sustainable Southwark
Nicknamed “The Razor”, the 148 metre high 43-storey Strata SE1 has three built-in wind turbines that are integrated into the building’s fa ade. The development has focused on sustainability with whole house ventilation systems with heat recovery, a district heating system, low energy lighting and high performance glazing to feature alongside the integrated wind turbines.
Heating and Plumbing Monthly 21st June 2010 more >>
MCS Training
PTS is backing the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) by offering a range of accredited training courses from its Renewable Energy Branch in Aylesford, Kent. Courses from one to four days in length are now available following PTS’ partnership with Piper Assessment. Homeowners can apply for special funding when certain renewable energy products are installed by MCS accredited installers.
Heating and Plumbing Monthly 21st June 2010 more >>
Solar Glastonbury
More than 1,100 panels, costing £550,000 and covering 1,500sqm, will be installed on the roof of the Mootel, the barn where Mr Eavis keeps his cows while the festival is held on his fields. The panels will generate 200 kilowatts of electricity, enough power in a year to meet the needs of 40 homes. Mr Eavis will sell the electricity to the National Grid at a premium rate, guaranteed by the Government for 25 years. He expects to earn about £45,000 a year from the feed-in tariff as well as reducing his own energy bills, meaning that the system will pay for itself in six years.
Bristol Evening Post 21st June 2010 more >>
Sheffield Solar
Work to install one of the city’s first major solar farms on the roof of a University of Sheffield building began today (21 June 2010) - the date of the summer solstice - as part of a £120,000 investment into boosting photovoltaic research.
Sheffield University Press Release 21st June 2010 more >>
First Science 21st June 2010 more >>
BP vs Micro CHP
Maybe microgeneration is expensive, but its costs are clear and upfront; it is unlikely to cost billions in clean-up or decommissioning costs! So maybe the first micro CHP products such as the Baxi Ecogen are entering the market at over £6000 (incidentally less than half an equivalent PV system), it is highly unlikely that we will suddenly be presented with a £20 billion contingency cost if they fail to perform!
Micro Chap 20th June 2010 more >>
Forth Energy
Controversial £1.7 billion proposals by Forth Ports and Scottish & Southern Energy to build four -woodchip-burning power plants may be in danger of being rejected after several Scottish Government ministers appeared to speak out against them. Joint venture Forth Energy’s plans to build the 120MW biomass electricity plants in Edinburgh, Grangemouth, Dundee and Rosyth, to be formally proposed to the government for consent in the coming weeks, have been undermined by statements to wood suppliers by environment secretary Richard Lochhead and environment minister Roseanna Cunningham.
Sunday Herald 20th June 2010 more >>
Leicestershire College
A new £15m state-of-the-art college has been officially opened in Melton Mowbray. As well as rainwater recycling, the college has its own wind turbine generating 20% of its power.
BBC 19th June 2010 more >>
Solar Rip-off
The plug has been pulled on a solar panel energy company that ripped off customers. Rochdale-based SPWEC (Solar Power Wind Energy Company) Limited took £62,000 in deposits but failed to supply products to the majority of buyers. It then ignored phone calls and emails from frustrated punters. The Insolvency Service were called in by the government after a series of complaints and the company was wound up at the High Court
Manchester Evening News 19th June 2010 more >>
Friends of the Earth calls for Green Budget
A green approach to cutting the deficit could wipe £9 billion off the UK’s debt this year, Friends of the Earth said today. The environmental charity is urging the Chancellor to help deliver on David Cameron’s pledge to lead the greenest Government ever. Friends of the Earth is calling for the Government to make it easier for people to cut carbon emissions, through measures like a Stamp Duty rebate for households who make their new homes energy efficient. Supporting green schemes such as home insulation would create jobs, reduce fuel bills so families have more cash to spend on goods and services, improve public health and bring down NHS costs - almost one in five homes are currently classified as ‘excessively cold’. The charity is also calling for the Government to set up its proposed Green Investment Bank within a year, to provide essential funding for low-carbon industries and ensure UK businesses reap the benefits of a green manufacturing boom.
FoE Press Release 17th June 2010 more >>
FiT needs publicity
Solar panel installation experts at Solar Choice believe the Government is failing consumers by neglecting to publicise vital information about the Feed-In Tariff widely enough. The UK’s Feed-In Tariff came into effect in April 2010 and offers generous financial incentives to consumers opting to install solar PV panels in their homes. Yet despite this, there has been relatively little by way of information and publicity about the tariff made available to consumers.
PR Newswire 17th June 2010 more >>
Baxi Ecogen
The Baxi Ecogen is the first widely available wall-hung domestic micro-CHP boiler in the UK. The boiler produces up to 1 kWe of electricity per hour, to be used throughout the owner’s home. Electricity that doesn’t get used can then be sold back to the local network. Micro-CHP units are also included within the Government’s Feed-in Tariff scheme. This means that owners of a unit receive an additional 13p on top of the standard sale price for each kilowatt hour (Kwh) of power they sell.
CHPA (undated) more >>