Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

zeupater

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Hiya. The 97% of domestic gas that Ecotricity believe they can produce is after taking into account efficiency/insulation.

On this subject, I actually got in touch with them to point out that their suggested use of

didn't add up, as they'd need more land than the UK has. I asked them this, amongst other things:



So I asked if areas would be shared by more than one gas mill. They were really helpful and replied with this:



Overall, I think the idea is brilliant, and I love the fact that they are applying for licences wherever the fracking industry applies. Their idea certainly sounds viable, and I assume they've done the maths.

Hi

So they're effectively saying that it's not scaleable unless we all forego meat & projects such as reforestation are cancelled ... forget that for a game of soldiers, they'll need to divert their attention to something like algae and use the warm waters off the coast of Somerset to cultivate it! ... :D

HTH
Z

Martyn1981

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

So they're effectively saying that it's not scaleable unless we all forego meat & projects such as reforestation are cancelled ... forget that for a game of soldiers, they'll need to divert their attention to something like algae and use the warm waters off the coast of Somerset to cultivate it! ... :D

HTH
Z

Hiya. Got to be honest, that's not how I read it, more about working with agriculture, but obviously I don't have all the information.

Algae cultivation in sea water (Scottish loch's might be good locations) does seem to be the holy grail of bio-energy. I've not heard much lately, but hopefully that'll get off the ground (sea!) and could be enormous.

It's actually wonderful to see how coal led to technology, and technology may lead to coal displacement around the world. Interesting times.

Martyn1981

Plastic microbeads ban enters force in UK

Plastic microbeads can no longer be used in cosmetics and personal care products in the UK, after a long-promised ban came into effect on Tuesday. The ban initially bars the manufacture of such products and a ban on sales will follow in July.

Thousands of tonnes of plastic microbeads from products such as exfoliating face scrubs and toothpastes wash into the sea every year, where they harm wildlife and can ultimately be eaten by people. The UK government first pledged to ban plastic microbeads in September 2016, following a US ban in 2015.

Martyn1981

This article is worth a read, it looks like economics have 'trumped' the US President's plan to protect/subsidise coal and nuclear against cheaper gas and renewables.

Republicans have actually gone against the older and more expensive generation (and the President), so an economic tipping point has been reached. There's no going back from here - RIP coal.

Energy agency rejects Trump plan to prop up coal and nuclear power plants

An independent energy agency on Monday rejected a Trump administration plan to bolster coal-fired and nuclear power plants with subsidies, dealing a blow to the president’s high-profile mission to revive the struggling coal industry.

The decision by the Republican-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was unexpected and comes amid repeated promises by Trump to rejuvenate coal as the nation’s top power source. The industry has been besieged by multiple bankruptcies and a steady loss of market share as natural gas and renewable energy have flourished.

Energy secretary Rick Perry last year proposed fresh government support for coal-fired and nuclear power plants in an effort to slow the rate at which these units are being phased out, stating the output is needed to avoid power outages “in times of supply stress such as recent natural disasters”.

The plan would provide a lifeline to many ageing coal and nuclear plants that would otherwise go out of business, primarily due to the abundance of cheap natural gas and the plummeting cost of renewables.

The Department of Energy has noted that 531 coal-generating units were retired between 2002 and 2016, while eight nuclear reactors have announced retirement plans in the past year.

Donald Trump has vowed to arrest this decline and end the “war” on mining communities by repealing various environmental regulations put in place during the Obama administration.

But non-partisan expert analysis published last month calculated that the plan would cost US taxpayers about $10.6bn a year. And the money would be used to prop up some of the oldest and dirtiest power plants in the country, according to the joint report by research groups Climate Policy Initiative and Energy Innovation.

And in rejecting the proposal on Monday afternoon, the FERC declared that despite claims by the administration to the contrary, there is no evidence that any past or planned retirements of coal-fired power plants pose a threat to reliability of the nation’s electricity grid.

NigeWick

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Overall, I think the idea is brilliant, and I love the fact that they are applying for licences wherever the fracking industry applies. Their idea certainly sounds viable, and I assume they've done the maths.

I agree.

What may help even more would be for all new builds to be "passive house" standard.

NigeWick

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Hiya. Got to be honest, that's not how I read it, more about working with agriculture, but obviously I don't have all the information.

Young Master Vince is a vegan so I suspect that will be included in their numbers. But, I fall back to my position that if all new builds are "passive house" standard we will not need anywhere near so much gas. As a devout omnivore, I believe there are ways for us to have all of our energy from renewables and still have bacon for breakfast.

Martyn1981

NigeWick wrote: »

Young Master Vince is a vegan so I suspect that will be included in their numbers. But, I fall back to my position that if all new builds are "passive house" standard we will not need anywhere near so much gas. As a devout omnivore, I believe there are ways for us to have all of our energy from renewables and still have bacon for breakfast.

Devout meat eater here too, but have been cutting down as I'm concerned about the amount of land needed for beef production (in particular).

I'm interested in the 'lab grown meat' that seems to be getting good success, Impossible Meat I think, is one of them. The other possibility is insects, which need about 1/10th of the resources. I'm not adverse to trying an insect burger, but I'd rather not go first.

Ben84

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Overall, I think the idea is brilliant, and I love the fact that they are applying for licences wherever the fracking industry applies. Their idea certainly sounds viable, and I assume they've done the maths.

Their first plant it seems is going to be built not far from where I live. I largely like the idea, but I'm not sure why they're so focused on gas from grass.

Renewable gas can be made from many things:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/oct/05/human-waste-turned-renewable-gas

I like the idea of turning sewage sludge in to gas. I mean, it's an inevitable waste product and using it like this seems to reduce environmental impact and doesn't need any fuel to be produced - at least not in the sense of extracting gas or harvesting wood, etc.

Ben84

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Devout meat eater here too, but have been cutting down as I'm concerned about the amount of land needed for beef production (in particular).

I'm interested in the 'lab grown meat' that seems to be getting good success, Impossible Meat I think, is one of them. The other possibility is insects, which need about 1/10th of the resources. I'm not adverse to trying an insect burger, but I'd rather not go first.

Meat alternatives aren't entirely a future technology though, many meat-like vegan or vegetarian products already exist.

There's a lot of good vegan recipes already, including some that are very similar or identical to ones people already make. We had vegan cake today at work (our catering team are getting quite in to vegan food), which everyone was very positive about.

I suspect a trend toward vegan foods will happen quite naturally anyway as efficiency and prices become more important. A number of companies are now taking carbon emissions seriously too, and vegan alternatives are one way to reduce. I believe when food manufacturers get the process to mass produce vegan cakes and things right, a lot of people will be eating these types of products without really noticing it. It's possible even meat alternatives will eventually go mainstream.

zeupater

NigeWick wrote: »

I agree.

What may help even more would be for all new builds to be "passive house" standard.

Hi

I agree, the building industry really does need to try better than just meet minimum standards ...

Personally, I don't like the 'passivhaus' standard as the compliance criteria needs a serious update ... fill the house with enough plasma TVs and the 'passive' heating is sorted, booked against the massive allowable electricity budget ... ... someone we know uses more energy to directly heat theirs since TV &lighting technology has been upgraded, not a lot, but noticeable!

Anyway, energy usage can be seriously reduced through employing efficiency measures (insulation, LED lighting, TVs etc) and then bolting on various other measures ... the people running the blog on the following site .. Energy Efficient Home: Gas Jan 2013-Sept2017 ... seem to have seriously addressed both their heating and electricity usage in a way which doen't require the majority of UK housing stock to be condemned & rebuilt ...

HTH
Z