EdF Behind Schedule: A General Indicator?

EdF has announced that it is behind schedule for achieving its 2020 CO2 emissions from electricity generation reduction target. It is also behind on is nuclear build programme (aiming for 2 reactors at Hinkley and 2 at Sizewell - but we all know about the problems of agreeing CfDs etc.).

So, it comes as a bit of a surprise that they still claim that they can hit their 2020 target. Possibly more worrying is the thought that this might be an indicator for the electricity sector as a whole.

Technology Support for the Elderly

The Chinese in the past numbered their days and years on a 60-year cycle ( the sexagenary cycle). As I am now settling into my second revolution of this cycle I was interested in research from the London School of Economics suggesting that the demand for "unpaid care" provided by children for elderly parents may exceed supply by 2017. The LSE argues that there is a need to develop support technologies to fill this gap.

Of course, there will also be a need for someone to supply luddite curmudgeons like me (fortunately not yet dependent upon my offspring) with the knowledge and expertise to manage the technology. This is often more difficult that producing the gizmo in the first place.

Unscramble Energy Efficiency Policies

And next in line is the CBI. They've recently published a report "Shining a light: Uncovering the business energy efficiency opportunity" which, among other things, calls upon government to streamline overlapping energy efficiency policies. Being a business support operation the CBI of course, includes shouts for further support for business - including energy intensive outfits - but, give them their due, also castigates many businesses for not taking the opportunities open to them. "Businesses also need to step up to the challenge" was the quote from Rhian Kelly, Director for Business Environment Policy. Quite so. I have long been amazed at the profligate waste demonstrated by many businesses when a little thought and investment could reap material gains.

The Green Race

We're just back from our summer holiday (2 glorious weeks in Alonissos) and, boy, can you tell it's party conference time. Every single issue group and it's brother is out there touting their particular beef. First up on my radar is the Green Alliance arguing that the UK is falling behind in the global race for the green market. Particular failings are the lack of political leadership (whatever happened to the "greenest government ever"?) and poor focus on delivery. In the case of the former there is clear political conflict at the highest levels in government (check out what Ed Davey has had to say recently about his Tory colleagues simply "not getting it"). Such a situation can do nothing but deter investment - especially as most innovation funding that's available is short term (where have we heard that before?) and there is poor supply chain support.

Commenting on the report Gordon MacDougall, COO of RES UK, couldn't help having a pop at fracking. Well, you'd expect that from his position but the UK's energy strategy is in such a poor state that I suspect that every available source needs to be pursued.

Secrecy, Obfuscation and Lies

I am in the middle of reading Ben Goldacre's "Bad Pharma" having previously read "Bad Science". The latter didn't surprise me and, perhaps not surprisingly, did not fill me with rage. The former has me seething. For the purposes of this post I'll not delve into the nastily unethical activities of the drug companies themselves - I just urge you to read Goldacre's book. Rather I just want to note that regulators and governments are deep in the mire, too. In some cases it's niaivity, granted, but in far too many regulators and governments appear to be in the pockets of the pharmacutical giants. And one of the ways this is manifested is by their connivance with big pharma in keeping the results of trials secret, in obfuscating the evidence, in approving worthless drugs and more.

What finally triggered me to put finger to keyboard was reading Nick Butler's latest blog post. Readers of this blog will have realised that I have some time for Butler and in his current post he comes with further evidence of a secrecy culture within Whitehall. In this case his target is DECC but the malaise is the same as one of those highlighted by Goldacre.

Butler starts off by noting a report in the Telegraph that claims that a study into the impact of windfarms across the UK is being suppressed by DECC. He then goes on to cite a stack of other energy related reports, working papers, assessments and studies that are not seeing the light of day.

As I have noted before, energy is the starting point of the nation's value chain and we should expect our politicians and civil servants to recognise that fact, to act in the country's best interests and to be accountable to all of us who depend upon their expertise and integrity. Instead we have a culture of silence which might cause one of a suspicious nature to suspect that politicians and civil servants are covering their embarrasment at the failure of policy, at their poor judgement and management, and, indeed, at their total ineptitude.

As for our drug regulators - just don't get ill.

Don't take my word for it - read Butler's blog - read Goldacre's book (and his Bad Science blog).

How Much CO2 For A Tweet?

Sorry about the "CO2" in the title. I can't quickly see a way of putting in a subscript (and the only way I can get anything resembling one in the main text is by using a smaller font). The chemist in me finds this really annoying. Nomenclature in chemisty is important with numerical subscripts, superscripts and those in normal sized fonts having different meanings. A shame on any application that doesn't allow their use. We are breeding a generation that is ignorant of the subtleties.

But that's not the subject of this post.

Mark P Mills, CEO of the Digital Power Group has recently published a report assessing the electrical demand of the global IT system. He argues that just short of 1/10th of all electrical energy usage goes on IT. This is not about the energy required to charge your smarphone or anything like that. This is all about data traffic.

Mills calculates that streaming one hour of video per week to a smartphone consumes more energy annually in the remote data network than running 2 domestic refrigerators for a year. Our "always on" data culture has spawned a huge number of energy hungry data farms and it is these that are contributing to the massive increase in energy usage that Mills writes about.

Makes you think, doesn't it? But does it stop you forever checking your rather trivial Facebook profile, sending meaningless tweets or uploading out-of-focus photographs?

Climate Change Preparedness

Researchers at Newcastle University have recently published an assessment of the climate change preparedness of 30 urban areas in the UK. They have done this by analysing documents published by the relevant local authorities and mapping their content and intent as mitigation and adaptation scores. A very mixed picture results. Some authorities have apparently well developed mitigation and adaptation strategies whereas others are only just embarking along either road. Very striking, and worrying, is the fact that mitigation appears to be the dominant activity in all areas. I think it is acknowledged that climate change is already upon us so, although there clearly is a requirement for mitigation to lessen future impacts, there is also a certainty that adaptation is an absolute requirement. London and Leicester come out as leaders in the latter; other areas would seem to be badly under-prepared.