Great Britain's Energy fact file

The_Green_Man_2

An interesting document full of data about the UK's energy useage.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48195/3224-great-britains-housing-energy-fact-file-2011.pdf

I found the following rather revealing:

Surprisingly, given the improvements in energy efficiency, heating’s share of
total energy use in homes has also grown: from 58% to 66%. This may
indicate that the rise of central heating made more difference to energy use
than better energy efficiency – by allowing people to heat the whole of their
homes rather than just individual rooms.

Another interpretation is that this reflects the way homes have been
extended over the years, increasing the heated volume, and especially how
conservatories have been added and heated – which significantly raises
heating energy use.

No matter, spending a fortune on putting PV panels on people's roofs will solve this problem. Oh hold on, PV generates the most energy in light summer months and space heating is required in the dark winter months. Also most UK heating isn't powered by electricity but by gas, oil and coal.


It doesn't seem to compute that the UK is pushing an energy technology that is great for hot countries where the greatest energy demand is during the bright summer months due to air conditioning requirements, but not so good in the in the UK where the greatest energy demand is during the dark winter months due to heating requirements.

What am I missing?

EricMears

The_Green_Man wrote: »

What am I missing?

You're missing the fact that electricity useage in homes is a small proportion of total electricity useage and that a fair bit of electrical energy is used in workplaces during summer daylight hours.

Always pleased to help out people who can't read to the end of a report.

The_Green_Man_2

EricMears wrote: »

You're missing the fact that electricity useage in homes is a small proportion of total electricity useage and that a fair bit of electrical energy is used in workplaces during summer daylight hours.

Always pleased to help out people who can't read to the end of a report.

Indeed, so why is the UK subsidizing PV on domestic homes when it's such a small proportion of energy used?

Always pleased to help the logically challenged. :rotfl:

spgsc531

The_Green_Man wrote: »

Indeed, so why is the UK subsidizing PV on domestic homes when it's such a small proportion of energy used?

From your own link, Page 51:

Greater use of renewables in electricity generation helps to reduce carbon

emissions from all electricity drawn from the national grid. This means that

housing benefits from lower carbon emissions along with other sectors of

the economy.

Housing can also benefit from renewable energy systems that provide heat

or electricity directly to the house. In both cases, there can be major

advantages in generating energy close to the place it is used, at smaller scale

than traditional power stations. This is known as ‘microgeneration’.


Always pleased to help those who can't read (especially their own link) :rotfl:

EricMears

The_Green_Man wrote: »

Indeed, so why is the UK subsidizing PV on domestic homes when it's such a small proportion of energy used?

Always pleased to help the logically challenged.

FIT payments are not restricted to homes (are there many homes which aren't 'domestic ' ?). Previous discussions on this board (which a mere newbie will probably have missed) have suggested that shops, office buildings, churches and village halls can achieve even higher self-consumption rates and thus benefit more than a typical 'home'.

And since when did logic play any part in government decision making ? It's a lucky chance that the FIT scheme has been so successful; many of us were expecting a re-run of the Groundnuts Scheme fiasco.

The_Green_Man_2

spgsc531 wrote: »

From your own link, Page 51:

Greater use of renewables in electricity generation helps to reduce carbon

emissions from all electricity drawn from the national grid. This means that

housing benefits from lower carbon emissions along with other sectors of

the economy.

Housing can also benefit from renewable energy systems that provide heat

or electricity directly to the house. In both cases, there can be major

advantages in generating energy close to the place it is used, at smaller scale

than traditional power stations. This is known as ‘microgeneration’.


Always pleased to help those who can't read (especially their own link) :rotfl:

LOL, what are you trying to prove with this?

You really do need to actually think before you post. This is almost as embarrasing as your link to a non-existent debate on the ethics of FIT payments. :rotfl:

Still waiting for that, by the way.

The_Green_Man_2

EricMears wrote: »

FIT payments are not restricted to homes (are there many homes which aren't 'domestic ' ?). Previous discussions on this board (which a mere newbie will probably have missed) have suggested that shops, office buildings, churches and village halls can achieve even higher self-consumption rates and thus benefit more than a typical 'home'.

And since when did logic play any part in government decision making ? It's a lucky chance that the FIT scheme has been so successful; many of us were expecting a re-run of the Groundnuts Scheme fiasco.

The difference with businesses is that if they use a larger amount of electrical energy then they could make PV pay off for them in energy savings without the recourse to public subsidies.

This isn't true for domestic installations, because as we agree, homes don't use enough electricity to make PV viable without subsidies.

EricMears

The_Green_Man wrote: »

The difference with businesses is that if they use a larger amount of electrical energy then they could make PV pay off for them in energy savings without the recourse to public subsidies.

They could indeed ! But in fact they're still entitled to claim FIT payments so get a second bite at the cherry.

And when the FIT schemes have achieved their objectives of reducing Solar Panel prices, domestic consumers will also be able to buy more panels without needing further incentives.

The_Green_Man_2

EricMears wrote: »

They could indeed ! But in fact they're still entitled to claim FIT payments so get a second bite at the cherry.

And when the FIT schemes have achieved their objectives of reducing Solar Panel prices, domestic consumers will also be able to buy more panels without needing further incentives.

When will that be?

EricMears

The_Green_Man wrote: »

When will that be?

I refer you to my earlier posting that gave an estimate.

The_Green_Man_2

EricMears wrote: »

I refer you to my earlier posting that gave an estimate.

An estimate or guess?