London Could Generate More Heat & Electricity Says Assembly
A London Assembly report suggests London could be generating more of its own heat and electricity with support from the coalition government.
The report from the London Assembly, Plugging the Energy Gap, says regions like London should be able to generate more of its own energy. London uses 13% of the electricity generated in the UK but only generates about 2% of the national generating capacity.
Only 70% of the energy used in the UK is generated in the country which means there’s a significant energy gap. London is made up of domestic and business energy users and consumes an enormous 13% of the energy generated in this country.
The report says that in the past London has missed out energy efficiency programmes which have been carried out in other areas of the country. Chair of the Environment Committee, Murad Qureshi AM, said “..it will take huge investment to keep the lights on and, at the same time, we need to keep carbon emissions and household bills down. The Government could more effectively address the country’s energy gap by supporting the capital to produce more of its own heat and power. The energy companies also haven’t put enough into energy efficiency works in London and we want to see the capital get its fair share in future”.
If the capital was able to generate more of its own heat and electricity then it may help to keep down both domestic and business electricity bills. Rising domestic and business electricity prices emphasise the importance of a large region like London being able to generate its own heat and power.
Among the proposals for energy generation in the London area are energy from waste schemes. These use general waste and food or other organic waste which is used to generate a combustible gas. This is then used to generate electricity and heat generated in the process can be used to heat houses and businesses close the biomass plant. In this way, not only is energy generated but the waste heat can be used to heat buildings and help households and businesses to keep their heating costs down.
The Mayor of London suggests that such waste to energy schemes could power as many as a million homes and businesses in the London area.
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Business Cuts Gas & Electricity Use To Slash Energy Bills
A Scottish based business cut its gas usage by 35% and electricity use by 11.5% last year and plans to cut its energy bills even more by 2013.
Based in Perth, Stagecoach, the transport group, said it plans to cut gas and electricity use by 2013 and cut its energy bills by £8 million.
As business electricity prices and gas prices increase it’s important that businesses look at ways of reducing their energy consumption and this is what Stagecoach has done. The company has used an energy management system made by Vickers Electronics. The system controls the heating and lighting in the garages.
As a result of this new energy management system the company cut gas usage last year by 35% and electricity consumption was cut by 11.5%. The company is now upgrading its energy management system and hopes to slash energy consumption further. It hopes to reduce consumption by 21.5%.
It isn’t cheap to reduce your energy consumption however and Stagecoach has spent £2.2 million on the initial system and now the upgrade.
The managing director of the UK bus division, Les Warneford, said “We are working hard to become an even greener business. The efforts of our staff, along with the Vickers energy management system, have delivered very good results for us through a marked reduction in energy consumption. We are pleased to be upgrading the system to help further reduce our carbon footprint at all of our depots across the UK and we will also continue to take steps to attract even more people on to our greener, smarter bus services”.
While cutting energy consumption the company has also slashed its carbon emissions by an estimated 58,000 tonnes.
Speaking from Vickers Electronics, David Hilton said “We are very proud of our long partnership with Stagecoach and the energy savings delivered. It is always gratifying to work with like-minded people who have a commitment to energy reduction for the benefit of the environment, and we are pleased that this can go hand in hand with commercial benefits”.
Small businesses can also reduce energy consumption by implementing some simple measures such as turning off lights when a room isn’t in use, turning down the thermostat by 1 degree, switching off computers and printers when they are not in use e.g. at the weekend and also turning off the heating at the weekend if the office is empty.
The other important factor is to compare business electricity prices and business gas tariffs. Don’t get rolled over into an expensive contract. Compare energy prices and then switch if you find a better deal.
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M1 Motorway Lights Switched Off To Cut Energy Bills
Lights on the M1 are set to be switched off by the Highways Agency in a bid to reduce business energy bills and help with the Government’s austerity programme.
Lights on the M1 between Junction 10 at Luton and Junction 13 at Milton Keynes are set to be switched off to help cut energy costs and improve energy efficiency. However, motoring organisations are not happy about the move and argue that lives could be at risk.
The AA is concerned that switching off the lights on this stretch of motorway is dangerous because it’s a stretch which will be subject to variable speed limits and drivers will soon be able to use the hard shoulder at busy times.
However, the lights will be turned off between midnight and 5.00 a.m. when it’s unlikely that variable speed limits will be used.
The head of road safety at the AA, Andrew Howard, said “We think there will be a number of operational issues. Where you can and can’t be is defined by signals and without lights there is a greater chance that people will make a mistake”.
Concern has also been raised by Brake, a road safety charity. A spokesman said “Although there are fewer crashes on our motorways per mile travelled due to the way these roads are engineered, when crashes do happen on these roads they are much more likely to involve multiple deaths and serious injuries because of the high speeds involved”.
He added “Road casualties are not only catastrophic for the families involved, but a huge economic burden, so if there is a safety implication of turning lights off it could turn out to be a false economy as well as a desperately inhumane experiment”.
When the Government asked for cost cutting ideas from the public last year, the idea of switching lights off on motorways was one of the first to emerge. Since then business electricity prices have risen and the cost of keeping motorway lights on all night has increased.
So far lights have been turned off on sections of the M2, M4, M5 and M27 and the move has proved successful. Not only does it help to cut business energy costs but it also helps to cut carbon emissions.
However, the Highways Agency director, Derek Turner, said drivers would not be at risk from the move to switch off lights on the M1. He said “Since 2009 we’ve switched lighting off between the hours of midnight and 5am on 14 carefully-selected stretches of motorways and evidence so far indicates that switching off the lights hasn’t had an impact on safety. In March this year we also began permanently switching off motorway lights at three sites”.
He said they were not out to turn off all motorway lights. The move would just apply to stretches which had been carefully identified. He added “The money saved could then be used for other measures on the strategic road network where it would have a more significant safety benefit and potentially save more lives”.
If business electricity prices continue to increase then more agencies and businesses may consider turning off equipment such as lights at times when it’s not deemed necessary. Maybe some of the businesses which leave lights on all night in cities may think about switching off to cut down on business energy costs.
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Homeowners To Get Grants For Renewable Heating Systems
From the beginning of August, homeowners will be able to apply for Government grants to help pay for the cost of renewable heating systems.
The grants are part of a £15 million scheme to fund renewable energy schemes for 25,000 homes. The grants will help pay for a variety of sources of renewable energy systems such as wood pellet biomass boilers, solar thermal panels and air and ground source heat pumps.
The grants are available in the form of vouchers and the scheme is part of the government’s plans to support renewable heat. The £15 million funding should be able to help around 25,000 householders install sources of renewable energy in their homes.
Those being targeted for the grants are those who are not connected to mains gas of which there are around 4 million households in Wales, Scotland and England. Even though that number is much higher in Northern Ireland – here 70% of households are not connected to the grid.
Households which are not connected to mains gas tend to use heating oil or electricity to heat their homes which is not only more expensive but also has a higher carbon footprint. As gas and electricity prices increase sources of renewable energy may prove to be a more economical way of heating a home.
Consumers will get £1,250 towards a ground source heat pump, £950 for a biomass boiler, £850 towards an air source heat pump and £300 towards solar thermal water heaters. It’s thought the grants will provide about 10% of the total cost of the renewable heating systems. They may also benefit from subsidy payments through the renewable heat incentive which is due to be introduced next October though details of this scheme are still to be confirmed.
The climate change minister, Greg Barker, said “We’re making it more economical for people to go green by providing discounts on the cost of eco heaters. This should be great news for people who are reliant on expensive oil or electric heating as the premium payment scheme is really aimed at them. Getting money off an eco heater will not just cut carbon emissions, it will also help create a market in developing, selling and installing kit like solar thermal panels or heat pumps”.
As well as householders being encouraged to take up the grants it’s hoped landlords will also take up the grants to help improve their housing stock. In fact £3 million is being set aside to help them.
Anyone interested in the scheme should contact the Energy Saving Trust. The chief executive of the Trust, Philip Sellwood said “When people have the kit in their homes they really see the benefit. The main barrier that prevents people from taking the plunge is the up-front capital cost. This is a great start in overcoming this obstacle”.
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UK Wants Ireland To Build West Coast Wind Farms
The UK wants Ireland to build wind farms off its west coast with links to the UK to help it meet its clean energy targets.
There are plans to expand electricity grid connections throughout the whole of the British Isles including links to electricity grids in both Ireland and Britain. These would help to transmit the power generated by coastal wind farms back to Ireland and Britain.
The plan called the All Islands electricity plan, aims to open up remote areas has been drawn up by the British government. The idea is that power will be generated by wind farms, tidal farms and wave plants in order to boost its clean energy targets. It isn’t just confined to Ireland but also involves Wales, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
The energy minister, Charles Hendry said “The west coast of Ireland has some of the fiercest winds in Europe. They whip in off the Atlantic which makes it is an ideal location for wind farms. However, the Irish market for electricity is less than a tenth of that of Britain. That means that companies cannot afford to build windfarms in Ireland because there is no market for their power. We want to put that right”.
The UK has been accused of not doing enough to create new wind farms to cut carbon emissions. It’s thought that this idea to import clean renewable energy from overseas could help with the shortage of green energy in the UK.
There’s already a link being constructed which will connect the electricity grids in Ireland and Britain. It will go from Rush North Beach, Co Finegal to Barkby Beach in North Wales and cost around £500m. If other links are also built any power generated on the Irish coast could be transmitted back to the UK.
As with all wind farms however, any built on the west coast of Ireland are likely to be controversial. There will be arguments that the turbines will spoil the landscape and kill wild birds. In response supporters of sources of renewable energy and wind turbines will say they mean we’ll be less dependent on fossil fuels and they don’t pollute the atmosphere.
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Centrica Buys Family Plumbing Firm PH Jones
Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has bought a family plumbing company for £30 million.
Centrica has bought two thirds of a family plumbing business, PH Jones, run by Mr Jones and his wife for nearly 50 years, for £30 million.
Centrica is buying the plumbing company to add weight to its Community Energy division. This is the social housing division which provides central heating services for around 250,000 properties. It also installs over 8,000 central heating systems over the course of a year.
Mr and Mrs Jones’ two sons will continue to run the remaining utility services division of the company which has a turnover of around £15m a year. Martin Jones said “Having nurtured and successfully grown the business for nearly 50 years, the time is right for mum and dad to exit the company and enjoy a well-earned retirement”. He continued “We’ve built this business on strong family values and these have been the foundation of its success”.
The brothers will now concentrate on the growing smart metering business with plans to double turnover by 2014. Martin Jones said “By solely concentrating on metering services, our aim is to continuously improve the service delivery”.
While the Jones brothers will retain 250 engineers and 50 support staff, 850 workers will transfer to British Gas.
Centrica said the new business would improve its social housing energy services business. It added that it would also help social housing companies to reduce residents’ energy consumption, carbon emissions and energy bills.
The Managing Director of British Gas Community Energy, Betsy Bassis, said “The acquisition of PH Jones significantly accelerates our growth strategy. PH Jones is a successful, profitable company in this sector and combining its strengths with those of British Gas will deliver important benefits for our customers”.
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Govt Admits It’s Not Sure When Wind Power Will Pay For Itself As E.ON Gets Humber Gateway Go-Ahead
The Energy Minister Charles Hendry has said the Government doesn’t know when wind power will pay for itself while Chris Huhne has announced E.ON will build the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm.
Mr Hendry said that the Government had spent £2.2bn over the last eight years supporting wind power but said it was not possible to say when it would become profitable.
He admitted that eventually the Government would be able to cut back on the support it gave to wind farms but that it was impossible to say when this would be likely to happen.
Wind farms are part of the Government’s plans to reduce carbon emissions. The Government has promised to cut carbon emissions by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
This news coincides with the announcement by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, that the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm had been given the go-ahead.
The offshore wind farm will be built by E.ON and once completed should generate 230MW of renewable electricity. Mr Huhne said the Humber Gateway would provide a boost for jobs in the region.
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Grid Connections Are Key Says EWEA Chief
The Chief of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has said that grid connections in Scotland and Ireland must be “fast-tracked” to help with their wind energy development, reports irishtimes.com.
Christian Kjaer said that Ireland has not made the most of its vast wind potential. He said that if Ireland put money into wind energy then not only would it save money through reduced energy costs but it would also create thousands of jobs in development, manufacturing, trading and maintenance. It would also help reduce carbon emissions.
However, he said that it was essential to fast track grid connections to help maintain a competitive advantage.
The European Investment Bank recently announced that it was investing 300 million euros in constructing the Ireland-Wales interconnector. It comes as part of a 500 million euro investment package in the Irish electricity sector.
Source and further details: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/1002/1224255669231.html
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Passengers Asked To Visit Loo Before Boarding
It’s reported today that a Japanese airline is asking passengers to visit the toilet before boarding the plane. The report, on telegraph.co.uk says the airline, All Nippon Airways, is trying to reduce carbon emissions.
The airline suggests that if passengers visit the toilet before they board then they will be lighter. This means the aircraft will be lighter and thus less fuel will be used.
They hope that around 5 tonnes of carbon emissions will be saved in a month. The policy is just being tested at the moment but if after a month it finds that the results are positive, the Japanese airline will expand the trial.
Source and further details: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenertransport/6253728/Airline-asks-passengers-to-use-toilet-before-boarding.html
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Local Councils Urged To Join 10:10 Campaign
Ed Miliband delivered a speech at the Labour Party conference yesterday in Brighton, in which he encouraged all Labour councils to join the 10:10 climate change campaign, reports Environmental Expert.com. He urged them to pledge to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010 to help in the fight against climate change.
He said he would work closely with the Local Government Association to get all Labour councils on board the scheme which has already received the backing of the whole of the cabinet, shadow cabinet and the Liberal Democrat front bench.
So far over 20,000 individuals have committed to the campaign along with 1,000 businesses.
Further information: http://www.utility-exchange.co.uk/2009/09/wimbledon-school-joins-1010-campaign/
Source: http://www.environmental-expert.com/resultEachArticle.aspx?cid=35902&codi=71426&level=0§ion=5