Will a wind turbine work for you?
Depending on location, there can be huge variations in outputs from small wind turbines. This makes choosing a wind turbine a risky business, especially in urban areas. Now a new report funded by the Carbon Trust aims to help home and business owners assess the potential of their sites.
The report, based on work carried out by the Met Office, makes interesting reading; on average wind turbines at rural sites will yield about four times the energy of those at urban sites. This is due to higher wind-speed conditions in open areas. Indeed, some urban sites may not pay back the carbon embedded in manufacturing, production and installation of the turbine!
The report caluclates that based on current turbine costs and electricity prices, a saving of 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide is possible if 10% of the population installed turbines, or 0.3% of the UK's total CO2 emissions. The report makes some interesting recomendations:
- Future grant schemes should award funding only to installations which save reasonable amounts of carbon. How this is to be measured is as yet unclear;
- Wind turbine manufacturers should develop and adopt a carbon labelling system for their products, to enable consumers to estimate the lifecycle emissions of their installations (ie. embodied energy payback);
- A MINIMUM height limit for stand-alone turbines should be set of at least 11m to the turbine blade tip. This is to maximise the carbon savings of small-scale wind energy,
given the sensitivity of generation to height. However, this flies in the face of many local authorities guidelines for small wind turbines, which specify maximum heights belkow this figure;
You can download the report from the
Carbon Trust website.
Labels: energy yield, renewable energy, Wind turbine
posted by GreenEnergy360 at
Record Growth for Renewable Energy
Despite the economic downturn, 2007 saw record growth in renewable energy investment worldwide, according to a new United Nations report. Renewable energy accounted for 23% of total new generation added globally last year, equivalent to 31GW of new power generation capacity. This compares to the peak UK generating capacity of around 60GW.
Wind power attracted the largest share of investment - around £25bn. But spending on solar PV power grew most rapidly – investment of around £12bn in 2007 represents an annual growth rate of over 250% over 3 years. Total spending worldwide on clean energy projects rose to around £60bn in 2007 (a growth of 60 percent on the previous year) according to UNEP's "Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment" report.
In the UK, increasing heat and power fuel prices (British Gas projects rises of up to 30% as predicted earlier in the year by GreenEnergy360.org), along with legislation that specifies levels of renewables in new buildings is helping to expand renewable energy capacity. However, we are still lagging behind our competitors in terms of newly installed renewable energy systems. The sooner the government acts on its own recommendations contained in its recent
renewable energy consultation strategy the better! Click on the link to make your contribution to the consultation.
Labels: green power, investment, renewable energy, solar PV, wind power
posted by GreenEnergy360 at
Renewable Energy set for Funding Boost
The Government's eagerly awaited renewable energy strategy, published on 26th June, will contain a number of measures designed to boost microgeneration, including solar thermal, PV, small wind, heat pump and biomass technologies. Under the new proposals, up to a third of UK homes could be fitted with solar hot water systems, small wind turbines, solar photovoltaic (PV) or ground source heat pumps. The strategy includes the recommendation to provide preferential 'feed-in tariffs' for small generators, which have been instrumental in helping develop the renewable energy sector in countries such as Spain and Germany. The renewable energy recommendations are combined with stringent energy efficiency requirements, supported by loans, grants and incentives for householders and small businesses.
Energy Minister Malcom Wickes says that there is now a "huge momentum" towards renewable energy and that the government will ensure that carbon emission reduction will be the "core concept behind our energy strategy". He described the plan as "the most ambitious renewable energy strategy for Britain that we have ever seen".
Fine words from Mr. Wickes. However, we at GreenEnergy360.org have heard similar sound bites from previous Ministers, but past renewable energy strategies have yet to be tranlated into real action. Unfortunately, the Government's track record in this respect doesn't bear scrutiny. We shall see this time around!
Labels: biomass, energy efficiency, funding, government, grants, heat pump, renewable energy, solar, wind
posted by GreenEnergy360 at
Gas & electricity price rises mean better returns for renewable energy
The prices of gas and electricity are set to increase dramatically again over the next few months. This is due to massive hikes in wholesale costs, along with spiralling oil prices according to major suppliers such as British Gas. This means year-on-year increases to January 2009 in excess of 30% for some consumers.
The upside is that returns on investment for renewable energy technologies will improve. Up to now, GreenEnergy360 calculates returns assuming a relatively conservative fuel price escalator of 12% per year. At a more realistic rate of say 20%, compounded returns can improve dramatically. Why not try our on line renewable energy property assessment to check your own return on investment for renewable energy?
Labels: electricity, energy, gas, prices, renewable energy
posted by GreenEnergy360 at
