Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Coastalwatch

markin said:

20% is not hard to achieve it just takes time and being out of the rain, If the bags of wood have been sat in the warm shop for a month i can't believe it would be that far away from 20%, have they actually done a survey on it?

And Banning coal could put millions into fuel poverty.

It could be real money spinner for the council though, The smoke coming out your chimney indicates your burning wet wood that will be a £100 fine sir/madam.

Would you be happy breathing in those emissions?

markin

In towns they could enforce the smoke free areas, It seems a case of the people who only have a fire for looks spoiling it for the people who rely on it to heat their home,  The people still burning coal are likely not in a very populated area and not on the Gas Grid, Also with old solid walls that would need external or internal insulation as well as a new heating system installed. Im sure people still burning coal will struggle to find the money for that.

Wet wood and coal ban will hit the rural poor the hardest and the Government will find it impossible to enforce, say campaigners

"campaign group the Countryside Alliance, said: 'Thirty-six per cent of rural homes are off the gas grid network, so are reliant on solid fuel, oil or electricity."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8031019/Wet-wood-coal-ban-hit-rural-poor-hardest-impossible-enforce-say-campaigners.html

Up in smoke: Ban on the sale of wet wood and house coal hits 2.5 million homes as the Government clamps down on toxic air pollution

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8026987/Ban-sale-wet-wood-house-coal-hits-2-5m-homes-Government-clamps-air-pollution.html

EricMears

markin said:   It could be real money spinner for the council though, The smoke coming out your chimney indicates your burning wet wood that will be a £100 fine sir/madam.

I don't think there's been any regulation banning use of (your own) damp wood - just one to stop you buying it.

ABrass

markin said:

And Banning coal could put millions into fuel poverty.

I struggle to believe that coal is the main source of heat for millions in the UK.

But even if it is, that doesn't mean coal shouldn't be banned, it means that other means need to be provided to switch those properties onto a less Dickensian heating system.

Martyn1981

markin said:

And Banning coal could put millions into fuel poverty.

Why would they be put into fuel poverty? I though the idea here was to end coal sales, not other forms, such as the briquetted coke varieties, which may cost more, but are more efficient and therefore cheaper on an energy density basis?

Also, seems to me, a perfectly legitimate target group for government subsidies for home energy improvement and switching to low carbon heating such as heat pumps.

I can't imagine anyone complaining about their energy bills helping to subsidise such a group, especially given the CO2 reductions, but if that is 'offensive' in any way, then perhaps a targeted carbon tax (levy) increase on all FF's, with the receipts ring fenced for such support.

The worst thing we can possibly do is accept the status quo because changing it will cause disruption.

Martyn1981

Fun (and nice and scary) article, based on an equally fun (and scary) presentation by Tony Seba. Basically, big bad economics are closing in ever faster on transport and energy generation with cleaner alternatives (RE and BEV's), and economics tend to trump most arguments. Disruption is looking to be closer, and possibly faster than expected.

The Tipping Point

Imagine a world where transport is free, air is clean, and streets are quiet. Imagine a world where education is attainable, power available, and healthcare accessible to all. Imagine a world where the cost of living goes down instead of up. Now stop imagining and watch this talk by Tony Seba:

So, what has caused this tipping point? Technology. To be exact, renewable energy. In particular, solar and lithium battery technology have passed key thresholds where they are now more economically viable than the comparable fossil fuel technologies. And here is the punch — it has happened sooner than anyone expected! What this means is that regardless of the attempts of the fossil fuel industry to delay the transition, regardless of the indifference of governments, the shift towards renewable energy is happening and will now accelerate even faster than anticipated. Let’s dive into these points.

As Tony points out in his presentation, one has to look at all the industries that are underpinned by energy and transport, which is just about every industry, to fully grasp the implications of this. And this is one of those things that seems to fly over many a bright individual’s head. Once renewables have been installed, the cost of that instillation keeps going down until it reaches zero. There are very little additional inputs and maintenance costs. This is in contrast to our current system, which relies on the continual use and mining of resources. Fuel (energy) is needed to power the machines that mine the fuel, fuel is needed to power the refineries so the new fuel is useful, fuel is needed to power the vehicles that transport the fuel to the places it is needed, and all of this is done using inefficient technology which looses much of the potential energy of the fuel to heat. Put another way, the fossil fuel economy requires energy (whether it be coal, oil, or gas) to be continually pumped into it for it to continue functioning, and to obtain those energy sources, we need to use more energy. While, with renewables, once the energy is put into the mining and production, there is no more or very little [stored] energy needed to maintain the system, it can be produced where it is needed and occurs no or very little transport costs. Thus, it is foreseeable that we reach a stage where we have met all of our energy needs and no longer need to input energy to make energy.

joefizz

ABrass said:

markin said:

And Banning coal could put millions into fuel poverty.

I struggle to believe that coal is the main source of heat for millions in the UK.

But even if it is, that doesn't mean coal shouldn't be banned, it means that other means need to be provided to switch those properties onto a less Dickensian heating system.

Im only just back from 2 weeks away but isnt this an England thing not a UK thing?
Reason I mention it is that still something like over 10% of NI homes are powered by wood/coal/turf. Any house built up until I think mid 1990 was coal central heating and its only in the last 10 years or so that gas has made any inroads. IIRC something like 70% of households are oil centrally heated. Moving people away from wood/coal/turf here would only move them to oil currently and conversion costs are in the order of a few grand. As I mentioned in other threads heat pumps dont work for me here during winter.

So whilst not millions I cant see it being adopted here (my house system is still dual fuel). I had the fire on last night as coming from +25C to -3C is a hell of a shock and only really needed to heat the living room for most of the time using my own seasoned wood.

Agree with the comments on green wood, sounds like greenwashing or maybe with my cynic head on a bit of a sop to certain companies who use pellets imported from the usa on big dirty heavy fuel ships across the atlantic to burn to produce energy to dry wood in large rhi kilns....

Metropolitan london again extrapolating the wood burner fashion craze to the rest of the UK without knowing the issues. As for wood vs coal. If youve used a coal fire you would know the difference. Bucket of coal put on the fire, lit and turned down will heat the house until morning, wood wont and will need continually fed through the night.

Exiled_Tyke

20% does take a while (usually a couple of Summers for me). Although I did read somewhere that up to around 25% is not a problem.   Although I try to avoid Kiln dried as I can't believe it's great for the environment, I have had some. I find in winter in the log store it can absorb a lot of moisture quite quickly, but as I bring it in to the house a week or two before burning, it soon dries out again and is ready for burning when I need it.  

I feel a lot more comfortably being able to check it with a moisture content meter and would advise anyone burning wood to get one. 

Incidentally I really can't see my local council investing/wasting resources on enforcing this. I think they'll just deal with complaints as they arise - which I can't see being very many.  Anyway I thought it was the sale of wet wood which will be banned. Presumably if you are foolish enough to put some in your burner then it's only your chimney (and therefore you) who will suffer. 

Martyn1981

Looks like the G20, despite US denialism (perhaps it's fairer to say Trump Administration denialism), is now accepting the enormous environmental and economic impacts of AGW/climate emergency.

G20 sounds alarm over climate emergency despite US objections

The G20 group of the world’s wealthiest nations have agreed for the first time to collectively sound the alarm over the threat to the financial system posed by the climate emergency.

Sources told the news agency that the statement of priorities included the importance of examining the implications of global heating for financial stability, as part of the work of the G20’s Financial stability Board, the steering group for international banking industry rules.
The language represented a compromise to overcome opposition from US officials at the first major meeting of Saudi Arabia’s year-long presidency of the G20, according to the sources. An attempt to include references to the downside risks for global growth posed by the climate crisis was dropped.
Concerns about the economic damage from rising global temperatures and extreme weather events have risen up the agenda among world leaders, central bankers and financiers in recent years. The financial system continues to fund activities that are inconsistent with meeting climate targets, paving the way for trillions of pounds of financial losses in the future and catastrophic environmental consequences should the world economy fail to adapt.

Martyn1981

Australia predicting leccy prices will fall thanks to the rollout of RE.

Australian power prices forecast to fall by 7% by 2022 as cost of renewables drops

Retail electricity prices are tipped to fall by 7.1% by 2022 – an average saving of $97 per household – according to the Energy Security Board.
In its latest report on the health of the national electricity market, to be released on Monday, the ESB credits new low-cost renewable generation for driving down wholesale prices and warns that severe weather and ageing coal power plants are threatening reliability of supply.

It found since 2005 total emissions across the national electricity market have fallen 15%, with emissions predicted to fall a further 26% to 41% below 2005 levels by 2030.
“This trend in emissions reflects the planned closure of ageing coal and gas fired generation, and its replacement by renewable generation and a variety of large and/or small scale storage projects.”