Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Cardew

ed110220 said:

EVandPV said:

michaels said:

ASavvyBuyer said:

The pathway to net zero heating in the UK by the UK Energy Research Centre

So I need to replace my gas boiler but even with a 10k green home grant I can't make the numbers make sense for a heat pump.  the relative prices of gas and electricity is a key issue.  Are we under-pricing gas with regards to its climate impact or what else explains why heat pumps just don't make sense?

It's like you say, the price of leccy v gas. That's what puts me off, and probably most others who need it to make economic sense.
When gas is 2.4p and the average leccy is around 15p, there's just no contest unfortunately.
I'd have a heat pump in a flash if the running costs were on a par.

I get your point, but a small niggle would be that if you were using electricity for heating, you'd want to be on a cheap electricity tariff, not an "average" one. Eg mine is 12.054p/kWh with Green Energy's Oak tariff. That's very slightly more than 5x more than gas at 2.4p/kwh. Some ASHPs have SCOPs of about 5 (I'm not sure how realistic this is in actual use) and of course a gas boiler is not 100% efficient as some heat is lost in the flue gases, so the price difference may be less than you think.

The Energy Saving Trust commissioned a 12 month trial of both GSHP and ASHPs; the results were little short of a disaster - and attracted quite a bit of attention in the national press. The decided to run another 12 month trial with the manufacturers heavily involved. The results though better were still not good and the average SCOP for retrofit ASHPs was still below 3.0.(2.6??)

The trouble is that it is impossible to measure the installed system SCOP without sophisticated equipment. If an installation is poor, you have to claim against the installer and not the manufacturer and how do you provide evidence of poor performance? One installation on the first trial had a SCOP of 1.2!!

Martyn1981

Are off the shelf leccy and heat meters 'sophisticated equipment'?
Then you simply compare the heat provided by the heat pump (temp in v's temp out and flow rate) against the leccy consumed by the heat pump.
The average SCOP for the UK seems to be around 2.6 for ASHP's.

Edit for a CO2(e) comparison, I've found estimates for the UK grid of ~256g/kWh (2019) and gas at ~184g/kWh, so you need a COP of 1.4 to 'beat' gas on that metric, and I suppose as the CO2(e) of the grid leccy falls, this will improve further. In fact resistance heating may 'beat' gas in the near future, but of course the economics won't be pleasurable. For heat pumps the use of cheap rate leccy and some PV support will help a lot.

Martyn1981

Pile_o_stone said:

Alternatively we just stop eating living things?

Good news on that front, and a 'strange' finding that surprised me with a temporary vegan diet seeming to have benefits when going back to meat:

Vegan Meat Company Meatless Farm Closes $31 Million Funding Round As Meatless Diets Gain Popularity

Strong demand for plant-based foods has led Meatless Farm, founded in 2016, to become the UK’s leading vegan meat producer. The company announced recently the closing of a $31 million funding round to support its global growth strategy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created opportunities for this and other alternative meat brands on the global marketplace due to increased consumer interest in plant-based alternatives. New interest in meatless meals coincides with recent research out of Stanford Medicine which concludes that swapping out red meat for plant-based meat alternatives can lower some cardiovascular risk factors.

In Gardner’s study, the researchers observed that participants who ate the red-meat diet during the first 8-week phase had an increase in TMAO, while those who ate the plant-based diet first did not. But something peculiar happened when the groups switched diets. Those who transitioned from meat to plants had a decrease in TMAO levels, which was expected. Those who switched from plant to meat, however, did not see an increase in TMAO.

“It was pretty shocking; we had hypothesized that it wouldn’t matter what order the diets were in,” Gardner said. It turns out that there are bacterial species responsible for the initial step of creating TMAO in the gut. These species are thought to flourish in people whose diets are red-meat heavy but perhaps not in those who avoid meat.

“So for the participants who had the plant-based diet first, during which they ate no meat, we basically made them vegetarians, and, in so doing, may have inadvertently blunted their ability to make TMAO,” he said.

Whether this type of approach could be used as a strategy for decreasing cardiovascular disease risk remains to be seen.

Martyn1981

A look at the job side of the expanding RE role and the opportunities for UK graduates, although tbh a lot of this seems to be a rehash of the previous article on the push for off-shore wind, but I suppose some things are worth repeating:

Investors and graduates flock to UK's burgeoning windfarms

Coastalwatch

The Spanish Energy company are certainly pushing ahead with renewables on a global front it seems. Not have they just acquired Infigen Energy in Oz they already own a 52% stake in Scottish Power who have invested heavily in Wind farms north of the border here.

In any case it's good news for clean energy progress down under!

Iberdrola Developing Its 1st Solar–Wind Hybrid Plant In Australia

Iberdrola gets down to business in Australia with the construction of its first renewable energy project after the friendly acquisition of Infigen Energy, one of the country’s key developers of renewable energy projects. Located in South Australia, Port Augusta is thus far its first solar-wind hybrid plant in the world, with an investment of A$ 500 million.

This renewable facility will combine 210 MW wind with 107 MW photovoltaic technologies and once in operation it will generate enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 180,000 Australian homes per year.

In total around 200 jobs will be supported during construction until the project is commissioned in 2021. Thus, Iberdrola is also contributing to foster the post-COVID green economic recovery and job creation in Australia.

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/10/10/iberdrola-developing-its-1st-solar-wind-hybrid-plant-in-australia/

NigeWick

Martyn1981 said:

Pile_o_stone said:

Alternatively we just stop eating living things?

Good news on that front, and a 'strange' finding that surprised me with a temporary vegan diet seeming to have benefits when going back to meat:

Vegan Meat Company Meatless Farm Closes $31 Million Funding Round As Meatless Diets Gain Popularity

Strong demand for plant-based foods has led Meatless Farm, founded in 2016, to become the UK’s leading vegan meat producer. The company announced recently the closing of a $31 million funding round to support its global growth strategy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created opportunities for this and other alternative meat brands on the global marketplace due to increased consumer interest in plant-based alternatives. New interest in meatless meals coincides with recent research out of Stanford Medicine which concludes that swapping out red meat for plant-based meat alternatives can lower some cardiovascular risk factors.

In Gardner’s study, the researchers observed that participants who ate the red-meat diet during the first 8-week phase had an increase in TMAO, while those who ate the plant-based diet first did not. But something peculiar happened when the groups switched diets. Those who transitioned from meat to plants had a decrease in TMAO levels, which was expected. Those who switched from plant to meat, however, did not see an increase in TMAO.

“It was pretty shocking; we had hypothesized that it wouldn’t matter what order the diets were in,” Gardner said. It turns out that there are bacterial species responsible for the initial step of creating TMAO in the gut. These species are thought to flourish in people whose diets are red-meat heavy but perhaps not in those who avoid meat.

“So for the participants who had the plant-based diet first, during which they ate no meat, we basically made them vegetarians, and, in so doing, may have inadvertently blunted their ability to make TMAO,” he said.

Whether this type of approach could be used as a strategy for decreasing cardiovascular disease risk remains to be seen.

Aren't plants living things? And, why pay somebody large amounts of cash to mess with your plants before you eat them? I let animals pre digest my plants and then eat the animals as they are more nutritious than plants.

Martyn1981

Extracts from this week's Carbon Commentary Newsletter:

2, Recycling demin. The fashion industry knows it needs to move towards greater ‘circularity’, or the use of existing fabrics as the source for new clothes. Just 1% of the world’s textiles are recycled. Levis moved a step forward this week with a commitment to buying second-hand jeans for up to $25 and then reselling them after cleaning for approximately twice this price. Customers returning jeans that are too worn to be resold will be given a credit voucher towards a new pair. The elderly jeans will be then recycled, possibly into clothes made by the Levis venture with Swedish renewable clothing startup Re:newcell, which use some viscose (made from trees) and used denim.
 
3, Insect protein. The scale of the funding going into non-meat proteins continues to impress. The French start-up Ynsect raised nearly $400m from US and French investors to complete its first full-scale mealworm plant in Amiens. The product can be used as a feed for animals and fish but can also be employed to add fertility to arable soils. Spanish wine producer Torres is one company that has ordered the product for its fields. Ynsect claims that the new factory will be the first carbon-negative and the largest (100,000 tonnes a year) vertical farm in the world.
 
4, Green ammonia. Orsted and the global fertiliser manufacturer Yara said that they wanted to build a plant to make hydrogen from wind power but indicated that the decision to proceed is dependent on subsidies. They are looking to put 100 MW of electrolysers not far from the Netherlands coast next to the Sluiskil ammonia plants. The intention is to make about 75,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year, about 4% of the total Sluiskil output. The renewable electricity needed to make ammonia is very substantial; just this one plant would require over 2 GW of electrolysers to completely convert. To provide this power will require at least 4 GW of offshore wind over the course of a year. (Current Netherlands electricity demand averages around 13 GW as an illustration of the scale of the task). The largest other green ammonia site, to be installed by Iberdrola in Spain, is only 20% of the size of this proposal. But Iberdrola committed to get this Spanish plant working in 2021 without subsidy.
 
5, Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell technology. High temperature electrolysis (or SOEC) can be relatively easily integrated into processes for making synthetic fuels based on hydrogen. Using the surplus that has been generated in heat producing reactions to make hydrocarbons may mean lower costs and higher efficiencies.  Two companies that build high temperature electrolysers using solid oxide technology should particularly attract our attention: Sunfire and Haldor Topsoe. Sunfire is part of the consortium to make e-fuels for aviation in Norway. The scientists at Haldor Topsoe contributed to an article in Science (paywall) arguing that their technology is now at the point of maturity, having initially been more expensive than standard electrolysis. It also uses cheaper and widely available catalysts. Haldor Topsoe has just shipped its first SOEC plant to the US for an unsubsidised chemicals application. 
 
6, Synthetic fuels. Apparently 70% of all Porsches ever made are still driving. The company says it is researching synthetic fuels so that existing Porsche drivers can remain on the road in a net zero world. Although it has said that half of its sales will be electric in 2025 it also argues that combustion engine vehicles will remain an important part of its portfolio and will use very low carbon fuels made from hydrogen and captured CO2. In a step towards this target Porsche is one of the backers of a green hydrogen and e-fuels venture in the windy Patagonia region of southern Chile. Originated by a Chilean utility and Italy’s ENEL among others, a pilot plant will make methanol and gasoline/petrol. The International Energy Agency that wind and solar in Chile have the potential to make 160 million tonnes of hydrogen a year, double the world’s current consumption. Other recently announced projects in the country include green ammonia and ammonium nitrate, an explosive.
 
8, Direct Air Capture. E-commerce company Shopify said that it would pay Carbon Engineering to capture CO2 directly from the air (DAC) and it also invested in the company’s prototype site in British Columbia. Shopify is following payments company Stripe in investing in carbon removal alongside conventional offsetting measures such reforestation or regenerative agriculture. The sums are quite small; Shopify has invested just $1.6m in carbon sequestration but I think this may be the beginning of a trend in which corporations use DAC to achieve net zero earlier than they otherwise would.
 
9, UK offshore wind. The government announced a target of 40 GW offshore wind by 2030, up from 10 GW today. The press reeled at the expected expense of around £50bn/$63bn. It may be worth mentioning that the annual rate of required investment is little more than half that achieved in renewable generation in the UK in 2014. BP’s intended spend of $5bn a year would alone cover 80% of the requirement. 40 GW of offshore plus more than 13 GW of onshore wind will frequently exceed total night time consumption of electricity, particularly at weekends. This strengthens the case for hydrogen storage of surplus power. Other commentators focused on the amount of sea required to site the turbines. The space required will be less than 10% of the UK’s shallow waters.

 

Martyn1981

I've often commented on how impressive the actions of Scotland, and Bristol seem to be, and they make the news a lot. So nice to hear (for me) of Cardiff's plans to become carbon neutral and a quite comprehensive news piece on the actions to be taken.


Cardiff residents called on to join the 'One Planet' challenge

An ambitious new plan designed to drive Cardiff towards becoming a carbon neutral city by 2030 has been unveiled by Cardiff Council.

‘One Planet Cardiff' sets out the Council's response to the climate change emergency and calls upon businesses and residents to join forces with the council to make the lifestyle changes required, if Wales' capital is to become a truly ‘Green' and sustainable city over the next ten years.

Coastalwatch

And if anybody still doubts global warming the article below adds further evidence of it.

German ship completes historic Arctic expedition

The German Research Vessel Polarstern has sailed back into its home port after completing a remarkable expedition to the Arctic Ocean.

The ship spent a year in the polar north, much of it with its engines turned off so it could simply drift in the sea-ice.

The point was to study the Arctic climate and how it is changing.

And expedition leader, Prof Markus Rex, returned with a warning. "The sea-ice is dying," he said.

"The region is at risk. We were able to witness how the ice disappears and in areas where there should have been ice that was many metres thick, and even at the North Pole - that ice was gone," the Alfred Wegener Institute scientist told a media conference in Bremerhaven on Monday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54515518

Martyn1981

Article on the growing number of law suits in the US (and elsewhere) against the FF companies for the climate crisis. This article 
looks into the legalities and the science behind the actions.

Climate Lawsuits — Ask A Scientist

This summer Connecticut, Delaware and Minnesota joined some 20 states, cities and counties across the country that have filed climate change lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, charging that they have been aware of the threat their products pose to the climate for decades and deliberately misled the public about the reality and seriousness of global warming.

Many of those cases, including those filed by Baltimore, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., seek to hold specific companies liable for damages caused by a range of climate change-related impacts, including drought, intensified storm surge, sea level rise, and increased flooding and precipitation. Other lawsuits, such as ones filed by Massachusetts and Minnesota, allege that specific companies violated consumer protection and common laws by defrauding their residents through false advertising and other misrepresentations about their products’ risks. Among the defendants are BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and the American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas industry trade association in the United States.

Given this growing number of climate lawsuits, I thought it would be helpful to ask L. Delta Merner, who runs our new Science Hub for Climate Litigation, to provide some details about the Science Hub, the different types of climate lawsuits, and how scientists determine which companies are responsible for climate damage. Dr. Merner, who has a doctorate degree in geography and environmental systems from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, joined our staff in last November. Before coming on board, she was a senior scientist at the American Institute of Physics.