Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

Not particularly interesting, but just a post to say that Energy Dome's 'CO2 battery' has recieved EU funding support. So its nice to see support going to various technologies, and the potential range of storage solutions (at all scales (power, energy and time)) is growing.

Energy Dome bags €17.5 million financing from EU body

CO2 Battery company Energy Dome has won €17.5 million (US$18.5 million) in grant and equity financing from the European Innovation Council, the maximum amount available.

The Milan-headquartered firm was one of 78 companies to win the funds through the latest round of the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) Accelerator funding programme, which received applications from over 1000.

The company inaugurated the first large-scale demonstrator project for its CO2 Battery technology in June last year, a 2.5MW/4MWh facility in Sardinia, Italy.

Its technology is based on a thermodynamic cycle, which charges by drawing carbon dioxide from a ‘Dome’ gasholder, storing it under pressure, and dispatching by evaporating and expanding the gas through a turbine back into the gasholder.

Energy Dome’s technology uses a thermodynamic cycle to store and dispatch energy with a 4-24 hour duration. It ‘charges’ by drawing carbon dioxide from a large atmospheric gasholder (the Dome) and storing it under pressure at an ambient temperature, and dispatches by evaporating and expanding the gas into a turbine to generate electricity and return it back to the Dome.

A recently-signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Danish energy company Ørsted will see the pair run a feasibility study on a 10-hour, 20MW system.

Martyn1981

2nd_time_buyer said:

Martyn1981 said:

This new wind record snuck in to 2022, with a new peak of 20.9GW. Though, with rounding, the previous record was also 20.9GW, so just a small increase.

However, the article raised a pleasant thought, as it mentions low carbon generation reaching 87%. I remember when folk (for many countries, not just the UK), liked to state that RE couldn't be supported on grids at more than 30% 40% 50% ..... I also recall national Grid ESO saying the UK Grid would (should) be able to cope with 100% low carbon generation by 2025, though they didn't expect it to reach that level by then. We'll obviously need more RE, and just the right timing, but perhaps we may see a brief ~100% in 2025(ish)?

New wind energy generation record set for the third time in a year

RenewableUK is highlighting a new wind energy generation record set on Friday 30th December and confirmed today by National Grid ESO.

Wind generated 20.918 gigawatts (GW) of electricity in the half-hour period between 6 and 6.30pm on Friday, beating the previous record of 20.896GW set on 2nd November and reaching a new high for the third time in a year.

National Grid ESO also announced that a new record was set on the same day for the percentage of low-carbon electricity (renewables and nuclear) generated in a half-hour  period, which reached 87.2%. Overall, wind provided 61.4% of Britain’s electricity that day.

I was wondering about when we might get to zero FF. However, the gas consumption has been low for an extended period to a large extent regardless of demand and wind supply, with imports, biomass, etc, making up any shortfall. This has made me wonder it i there is required to have a minimum tick over output for the power stations.

Really interesting question. And I don't know, but thought I'd throw out some ideas, and hope it encourages an answer from someone who knows, or knows where to look for estimates of what is needed and relative time?

So, first we need frequency control, provided traditionally by the massive .... mass of the steam turbines at power stations. These effectively act like the flywheels used to stabilise steam engines. That role would still be provided by nuclear, and bio-mass (though it seems to be doing demand following more and more), and perhaps any generation from other similar sources using storage of excess RE, such as H2?

Importantly now, batteries are offering frequency control services. So that will help, I assume.

I also assume that just because we have more RE, it may not necessarily be in the right area, at the right time, so that again will require gas, if there's local generation?

Plus, said gas may need to tick over, as you say, if it may be needed shortly. This isn't new, some gas and coal, would often be asked to run at a level where they could ramp up to generation fast. They got paid for this, since they would be burning more fuel, than if they let everything cool down, so curtailment payments are nothing new.

Next I'm thinking interconnectors. I assume (so could be totally wrong), that as the capacity of interconnectors increases, 'we' will be in constant contact with our European neighbours, and have an idea of what spare they anticipate having in the near term, so we can thus reduce FF generation accordingly, with some assurance ..... see I said I was making this stuff up, could be utter nonsense.


But, just to be clear, my understanding is that even if we do manage to reach 100% low carbon generation pa, by 2030(ish), it will importantl;y come with the word 'net'. So we will be burning FF gas for a long time* to help balance supply and demand, but after we take into account the form of imports and exports, the UK will reach 100% net low carbon generation.

*As fast as we try to reduce the amount of gas, we will also be increasing the amount of leccy needed. So the amount in TWh's of gas may stop falling, but the percentage of gas will fall, and the CO2 savings will be at the other end as space heating, transport etc move to low carbon leccy.

michaels

Martyn1981 said:

Articles like this, pointing out what is so important, and so obvious, also make me very angry. Why did the fools in charge turn their backs on energy efficiency and insulation when it was going so well. Doesn't matter if they were in denial about AGW, or thought RE was 'green carp', it still would have saved money for the population, regardless of the source of the energy.

So much lost time.

Energy efficiency ‘war effort’ needed to cut bills and emissions, say MPs

A national “war effort” on energy efficiency is required to cut energy bills, reduce climate-heating emissions and ensure energy security, according to a cross-party committee of MPs.

Boosting efficiency in homes and businesses is the fastest way to cut energy use but the government missed a “crucial window of opportunity” last summer, the report from the environmental audit committee (EAC) said. The energy bills crisis was sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, while political turmoil in the UK resulted in three prime ministers in office between July and October.

The report said some of the windfall tax on energy companies’ profits should be used to bring forward efficiency funding and fulfil the government’s 2019 manifesto commitment to invest £9bn in energy efficiency: “A national ‘war effort’ on energy saving and efficiency is required.”

The number of UK energy efficiency installations, such as insulating lofts and cavity walls, peaked in 2012 at 2.3m. Subsequently, the then prime minister, David Cameron, slashed efficiency programmes amid claims he wanted to get rid of the “green crap” from energy bills. By 2021, annual installations were 96% lower, at fewer than 100,000. The EAC called for at least 1m installations a year by 2025 and a target of 2.5m by 2030.

“Bold action is needed now,” said the EAC chair, Philip Dunne. “We must fix our leaky housing stock, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and wastes our constituents’ hard-earned cash. The government could have gone further and faster.” Ministers were split over a public information campaign on energy efficiency, which finally launched in December.

Problem is a lot of the retrofit grants merely stuffed the pockets of cowboy installers who basically increased prices to the level of the grant.  At one point I could get a grant for solar thermal of up to 10k and received a quote of a few hundred below that for kit and installation that should have cost well less than 5k and might have saved me about £50 per year in gas water heating costs.

shinytop

Martyn1981 said:

Articles like this, pointing out what is so important, and so obvious, also make me very angry. Why did the fools in charge turn their backs on energy efficiency and insulation when it was going so well. Doesn't matter if they were in denial about AGW, or thought RE was 'green carp', it still would have saved money for the population, regardless of the source of the energy.

So much lost time.

Energy efficiency ‘war effort’ needed to cut bills and emissions, say MPs

A national “war effort” on energy efficiency is required to cut energy bills, reduce climate-heating emissions and ensure energy security, according to a cross-party committee of MPs.

Boosting efficiency in homes and businesses is the fastest way to cut energy use but the government missed a “crucial window of opportunity” last summer, the report from the environmental audit committee (EAC) said. The energy bills crisis was sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, while political turmoil in the UK resulted in three prime ministers in office between July and October.

The report said some of the windfall tax on energy companies’ profits should be used to bring forward efficiency funding and fulfil the government’s 2019 manifesto commitment to invest £9bn in energy efficiency: “A national ‘war effort’ on energy saving and efficiency is required.”

The number of UK energy efficiency installations, such as insulating lofts and cavity walls, peaked in 2012 at 2.3m. Subsequently, the then prime minister, David Cameron, slashed efficiency programmes amid claims he wanted to get rid of the “green crap” from energy bills. By 2021, annual installations were 96% lower, at fewer than 100,000. The EAC called for at least 1m installations a year by 2025 and a target of 2.5m by 2030.

“Bold action is needed now,” said the EAC chair, Philip Dunne. “We must fix our leaky housing stock, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and wastes our constituents’ hard-earned cash. The government could have gone further and faster.” Ministers were split over a public information campaign on energy efficiency, which finally launched in December.

Really simple.  Gas was very cheap so nobody cared. 

70sbudgie

Martyn1981 said:

2nd_time_buyer said:

Martyn1981 said:

This new wind record snuck in to 2022, with a new peak of 20.9GW. Though, with rounding, the previous record was also 20.9GW, so just a small increase.

However, the article raised a pleasant thought, as it mentions low carbon generation reaching 87%. I remember when folk (for many countries, not just the UK), liked to state that RE couldn't be supported on grids at more than 30% 40% 50% ..... I also recall national Grid ESO saying the UK Grid would (should) be able to cope with 100% low carbon generation by 2025, though they didn't expect it to reach that level by then. We'll obviously need more RE, and just the right timing, but perhaps we may see a brief ~100% in 2025(ish)?

New wind energy generation record set for the third time in a year

RenewableUK is highlighting a new wind energy generation record set on Friday 30th December and confirmed today by National Grid ESO.

Wind generated 20.918 gigawatts (GW) of electricity in the half-hour period between 6 and 6.30pm on Friday, beating the previous record of 20.896GW set on 2nd November and reaching a new high for the third time in a year.

National Grid ESO also announced that a new record was set on the same day for the percentage of low-carbon electricity (renewables and nuclear) generated in a half-hour  period, which reached 87.2%. Overall, wind provided 61.4% of Britain’s electricity that day.

I was wondering about when we might get to zero FF. However, the gas consumption has been low for an extended period to a large extent regardless of demand and wind supply, with imports, biomass, etc, making up any shortfall. This has made me wonder it i there is required to have a minimum tick over output for the power stations.

Really interesting question. And I don't know, but thought I'd throw out some ideas, and hope it encourages an answer from someone who knows, or knows where to look for estimates of what is needed and relative time?

So, first we need frequency control, provided traditionally by the massive .... mass of the steam turbines at power stations. These effectively act like the flywheels used to stabilise steam engines. That role would still be provided by nuclear, and bio-mass (though it seems to be doing demand following more and more), and perhaps any generation from other similar sources using storage of excess RE, such as H2?

Importantly now, batteries are offering frequency control services. So that will help, I assume.

I also assume that just because we have more RE, it may not necessarily be in the right area, at the right time, so that again will require gas, if there's local generation?

Plus, said gas may need to tick over, as you say, if it may be needed shortly. This isn't new, some gas and coal, would often be asked to run at a level where they could ramp up to generation fast. They got paid for this, since they would be burning more fuel, than if they let everything cool down, so curtailment payments are nothing new.

Next I'm thinking interconnectors. I assume (so could be totally wrong), that as the capacity of interconnectors increases, 'we' will be in constant contact with our European neighbours, and have an idea of what spare they anticipate having in the near term, so we can thus reduce FF generation accordingly, with some assurance ..... see I said I was making this stuff up, could be utter nonsense.


But, just to be clear, my understanding is that even if we do manage to reach 100% low carbon generation pa, by 2030(ish), it will importantl;y come with the word 'net'. So we will be burning FF gas for a long time* to help balance supply and demand, but after we take into account the form of imports and exports, the UK will reach 100% net low carbon generation.

*As fast as we try to reduce the amount of gas, we will also be increasing the amount of leccy needed. So the amount in TWh's of gas may stop falling, but the percentage of gas will fall, and the CO2 savings will be at the other end as space heating, transport etc move to low carbon leccy.

I think this is what you were talking about @Martyn1981 but I'm not totally sure. 

https://www.nationalgrideso.com/industry-information/balancing-services

Each of the services groups has a drop down menu with the specific contracts offered under that service.

70sbudgie

Also, flexibility services, of a meaningful scale, are starting to appear on the distribution networks.

https://www.enwl.co.uk/go-net-zero/flexible-services/latest-requirement/autumn-2022/

ENWL are asking for over 1GW and that is just one DNO.

70sbudgie

Radio 4 Rethink Climate, today, talked about whether technology can mitigate climate change. It isn't as specific as this thread, but covers a lot of the same topics.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001gl5k
I hope the link works.

Exiled_Tyke

OK so we all knew this already but still nice to see it in writing.

Wind generated a record amount of electricity in 2022

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64179918

silverwhistle

I think yesterday/last night may be a new record - creeping up by small amounts but should be larger increases next year with Seagreen and then Dogger Bank to come in for starters.

Martyn1981

70sbudgie said:

Also, flexibility services, of a meaningful scale, are starting to appear on the distribution networks.

https://www.enwl.co.uk/go-net-zero/flexible-services/latest-requirement/autumn-2022/

ENWL are asking for over 1GW and that is just one DNO.

Many thanks, that's really interesting and positive news. Shows that solutions will probably be everywhere - at generation level, on the transmission network, and then on the distribution network, and also from the demand side (customers). Brave new World.