Electricity vs Fire

I have just finished reading "Electricity vs Fire", the latest offering from Walt Patterson. I have met and talked with Walt on a number of occasions on the conference circuit and have always found him deeply thoughtful, engaging and in possession of an inner humanity. All these qualities come across in this book which outlines very clearly why we must stop burning fossil fuels and transform our society to operate with "fireless" electricity.

Such is Walt's facility  words that this is an ideal book for the lay-person. Indeed, on occasion I was wanting Walt to "get on with it" but on reflection this was just because I've been in the business and know the arguments. The steady and logical route that Walt takes through the subject should cause few people difficulty in understanding. In fact, I think it should be required reading for all.

EV Batteries Slowly Getting There

A recent announcement from Bosch shows that EV battery technology is moving to a place where EVs really will be a possibly choice for many people. Bosch say that they expect to have a solid state battery market ready by 2020 that will double the mileage range of EVs but will half the current cost. This should really open up the market, especially for hybrids. Now all we need is clean electricity!

Drax Exits

Capture Power partners are putting a brave face on the exit of Drax from the White Rose scheme, saying that they are continuing with the FEED study, but the project must be somewhat more rocky now. The reasons put forward by Dorothy Thompson for the withdrawal just go to emphasise the shambolic nature of the government's energy and environment policies. Sadly there's likely to be more of the same.

Sainsbury's New Food Waste Project

My friends at Edie have recently posted this. We certainly need to tackle the obscenity of food waste but I must admit that my first thought when reading this report was "Where's the message about simply purchasing less?". Of course, BOGOFs and the like make money for the supermarkets so the cynic in me is not surprised at the omission.

I was recently unfortunate enough to catch an episode of "Eat Well For Less" on BBC TV - the sort of "reality" programme that I find really grating (and it is headed up by shouty-shouty Gregg Wallace - one of the more irritating presenters on the box). However, I was staggered at the shere stupidity of the purchasing regime of the poor subjects of the programme. If Mr Wallace and Co. can have a positive effect through this programme then all power to their collective elbows. Not that I'll be watching again - of course.

New CC Innovation

Readers of this blog will know that I have a passing interest in CC technologies. Consequently I feel that I should flag up this report from Edie about a relatively new GE process. I think this is in the "don't-hold-your-breath" department - but interesting none-the-less.

85% of Energy from Renewables by 2030?

Yup, you read the headline correctly. That is the possibility proposed by a new Greenpeace-sponsored report. Sounds ambitious doesn't it? And actually it is:-
> 47% increase in on-shore wind capacity;
> 270% increase in off-shore wind capacity;
> 1.5GW solar PV installations per year;
> grid balancing by:
>   pumped storage;
>   utility scale batteries;
>   domestic batteries;
>   interconnectors;
> development of
>   smart meters that actually have an effect;
>   smart appliances:
>   mass-market electric vehicles;
> 47.5% (yup, that precise!) reduction in domestic energy demand so presumably lots of insulation.

Wow!

The Greenpeace report doesn't come up with a figure for the cost but Edie reports that the CCC has posited a figure of up to £227bn will be required. All this may be technically feasible but do you see any government having the balls to push something like this through? No, nor do I.

And the report misses a big trick - the development of decentralisation technologies and micro-grids.

It's all very interesting, and all very necessary, but all very unlikely.

Call to Ban Microbeads

I have to admit that until now the very existence of microbeads had somewhat passed me by, let alone their potential toxic effects. This post from Edie therefore provided a very necessary wake-up call. I must check to see whether House Management uses these things and get her to change her practices if so.

Costa Litter Pick

Good to see this from Edie. I organise a bi-annual litter pick in our village and Costa vies for first place (with Red Bull) as the most frequently seen name on the trash we gather. Below is the haul from under 90 minutes last spring.

Fossil Extractors to Pay (a Bit) for CCS?

Edie had a post recently about a newly proposed amendment to the Energy Bill suggesting that "The Government shall undertake a consultation on measures requiring extractors and importers of petroleum to contribute to the development of Carbon Capture and Storage".

Hmm! Difficult one this. Clearly there need to be incentives to reduce CO2 emissions but hitting extractors and importers risks damaging more benign uses of the black stuff (where will plastics come from otherwise?). What's important is to reduce the burning of fossil fuels.

On the other hand, extractors and importers form an easy target rather than having to identify and tax every emitter.

I guess it's a case of "watch this space". And, in any case, who knows if the amendment will fly at all.

Incidentally, I note the final paragraph in the Edie piece indicating no decision on Drax and Peterhead CCS schemes until 2016. Talk about heal dragging!