Power storage needs government nudge

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Electricity storage, a Holy Grail of the power industry, is years from being widely deployed because of market and regulatory barriers, said an executive of S&C Electric, whose projects include enabling homes to use solar power at night.

The United Kingdom aims to create an extensive network linking data between energy producers, suppliers and consumers to increase efficiency, cut costs for homes and businesses and help meet its climate targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

A network like this, often referred to as a smart grid, has the potential to transform the way electricity is generated, distributed and consumed, particularly low-carbon energy.

With effective storage linked to smart grids, power suppliers can better manage electricity generated from wind and solar to make it available on windless or cloudy days, and electric car users can charge up during off-peak times.

“Everybody talks about storage as being the Holy Grail of what we need but governments until recently have been ignoring it completely,” said Andrew Jones, managing director of S&C Electric Company Europe, a unit whose employee-owned U.S. parent in Chicago has been operating since the early 1900s.

The United States, Germany and Japan have been earlier starters in developing storage technology, with varying projects of different sizes under way.

In Germany, for instance, Siemens is developing large-scale electrolysers, where power is passed through water and split into oxygen and hydrogen, as part of efforts to produce storage capacity.

Hydrogen, which can be contained and transported without any carbon emissions, can be used to generate power and heat, fuel cars or go into natural gas pipelines as an extra ingredient.

Other storage types include pumped hydroelectric, electrochemical storage through batteries and hot-water storage for heating systems.

In Britain, S&C Electric has won several contracts to provide grid technology for solar panels and wind farms, including one of the largest onshore wind projects. It also has a pilot project that enables homes to use solar power at night.

The combination of storage with renewable energy would remove peak demand, which could result in consumers paying less for their energy, Jones said.

UK HURDLES

Though some technology exists, the storage market, particularly in Britain, is held back because of high development costs as well as a lack of government subsidies and policies such as those to back renewable energy and electric cars, Jones said.

Britain could pump 13 billion pounds into its economy and create up to 10,000 jobs by upgrading its power distribution network with smart grid technology, an Ernst & Young report said last month.

But the government and power industry has yet to throw their weight behind electricity storage, Jones said.

“The government has clearly got to indicate to the market that storage is part of the smart grid puzzle,” he said.

“Some of the manufacturers still need an incentive to bring costs down. And venture capitalists take a (cautious) view of the market because they are not sure where it will go.”

In June or July, the government will publish its initial analysis on the barriers to storage development, as part of its review of different approaches to help balance the electricity system as it decarbonises energy use.

The government has made plans for every household and business to be fitted with a smart meter, a system to allow them to monitor their energy demand, by 2019.

And a 500 million pound fund, which started in 2010 and is monitored by energy regulator Ofgem, supports projects sponsored by the distribution network operators to try out new smart grid technology, operating and commercial arrangements.

Jones said part of the problem was that power generators, distributers, transmission firms and suppliers have distinct functions, which individually makes it difficult for them to justify a return of investment on storage.

“So in the UK we say there is a broken value chain which is being created by Ofgem to create competition but maybe it is actually being a detriment at the moment to the competition rules,” he said.

Jones said Ofgem understands the problem and is reviewing the best way to move forward. One possible option is a type of feed-in tariff for storage development, he said.

“If the government does say there is a (storage) market and gives incentives to get the costs down, then I think you’ll see a large amount of storage being deployed over the next couple of years,” Jones added.

‘Save the planet’, science leaders urge G8 governments

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Leaders of the global science community have issued joint statements to world leaders meeting at the G8 summit later this month in the US.

National science academies from 15 countries have called on the leading industrialised economies to pay greater heed to science and technology.

The academies include those from the US, China, India and the UK.

The organisations agreed three statements on tackling Earth’s most pressing problems.

According to Dr Michael Clegg of the US National Academy of Sciences: “In the long term, the pressing concerns are managing the environment in a way that assures that future generations have a quality of life that’s at least as equivalent to the quality of life we enjoy today.”

As the host G8 nation, the US national academy has taken the lead this year, working with counterparts to draw up a co-ordinated message for the summit.

For the past seven years, science academies representing countries that are attending the summit have issued statements to inform delegates of vital science and technology matters.

This year, they are targeting leaders attending not just the G8 summit but also the G20, the Rio+20 environmental summit, and other important events.

‘Influential’ message

In past G8 summits, the views of the collective academies have been influential. World leaders including Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have previously met with representatives of the global science community and the text from their statements has ended up in the final summit communiques.

“I think most governments pay attention to science,” says Dr Clegg

“The fact we have a consensus of a great diversity of countries is an indication of the importance of priorities that we as leaders of the global science community place on these issues”.

The three so-called “G-Science” statements say that priority should be given to finding ways of finding a coherent way of simultaneously meeting water and energy needs, building resilience to natural disasters and developing better ways of measuring greenhouse gas emissions in order to see if individual countries are meeting their international obligations to reduce emissions.

The first G-Science statement called on leaders to consider water and energy as closely linked issues. Otherwise, it says, there will be shortages of both. The statement recommends that governments pursue policies that integrate the two, emphasise conservation and encourage regional and global cooperation.

The second statement says more can be done to minimise the impact of major international disasters, such as a tsunami or nuclear accident. In addition to regular risk surveillance, the G-Science statement recommends building “resilience” to catastrophic events by, for example, improving public health systems.

The third statement calls for more accurate and standardised methods to estimate human and natural sources and sinks of greenhouse gases. It recommends that all countries produce annual reports of their greenhouse gas emissions and sinks. The academies also call for greater international cooperation to share new technologies and scientific data.

The statements have been signed by the leaders of the national science academies of Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the US.

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Diageo partners up for zero waste in Belfast

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Diageo is on track to reach zero waste to landfill by 2015 at its Belfast production plants in Northern Ireland by engaging in an industrial symbiosis programme.

The drinks manufacturer is among a core group of companies working with Invest Northern Ireland, a regional business development agency, to implement a zero waste to landfill policy.

Under the programme, Diageo is working with other organisations and key stakeholders to exchange materials, energy, water and by-products through the shared use of assets, logistics and expertise.

Diageo’s smallpack compliance manager Joanne Doak said industrial symbosis had helped the company divert over 450 tonnes of waste, including hazardous waste, from landfill so far across its Belfast operations.

She said: “We are well on the way to achieving zero waste. Diageo is proud of this achievement and we have agreed to host an industrial symbiosis workshop so that other businesses can learn from and share in our success.”

Invest NI’s director of technology & process development Olive Hill added: “As well as the obvious costs associated with waste disposal, there are a lot of hidden costs such as skip hire and collection charges.

“Add in the cost of raw materials and the processing time and energy used to get waste into the skip, and the real cost of waste escalates.

“The fact is that waste is costing businesses a lot of money so it makes sense for companies to reduce or eliminate the amount of waste that has to go to landfill.”

Coca-Cola slashes water footprint by 13%

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Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) has revealed it is continuing to make progress on its water, carbon and waste and packaging reductions.

Released May 9, its 2011/2012 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report (CRS) highlights how CCE is delivering against its 2007 sustainability targets. This follows on from its ‘Reasons to Believe’ sustainability report released at the start of this year, which saw CCE pledge to become “water neutral” by 2020.

In terms of water foot printing, the report revealed that water use decreased by 13%, against a 2007 baseline, with 1.43 litres used to produce 1 litre of product in 2011, compared to 1.64 litres in 2007.

Its total water consumption in 2011 was 9.4c um – down from 9.5c um in 2010, which CCE said demonstrates it is on track to meet its 2020 target of a 20% reduction – or 1.2litres across its operations.

Last year, 100% of CCE’s wastewater was treated to a standard which supports aquatic life before being returned to an ecosystem, with 3.2m c um discharged safely.

In addition, CCE joined forces with WWF-UK as part of its water replenishment partnership, which aims to improve the water quality in river catchments in South East England.
Meanwhile the increased use of new technologies, such as air rinsers, dry and semi-dry lubricants and electro chemically activated water also helped further cut water use.

Carbon emissions from the manufacture, distribution and cooling of products were shown to have decreased by 8.4%, while product volume grew by 3.5%.

An investment of about £14m was made to support carbon reduction projects, such as solar photovoltaic, wind and combined heat and power. It also pledged to generate 35% of its energy from renewables by 2020.

Meanwhile, a plastics recycling joint venture with ECO Plastics, when operational, is anticipated to see 25% rPET used in all its plastic packaging in the UK by the end of 2012.

UK must go green to stimulate growth, says Chris Huhne

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Former cabinet minister Chris Huhne has issued a stark warning that the UK’s economic growth strategy will not work unless the government pursues “green growth” by investing in industries such as energy efficiency and clean energy.

Writing in the Guardian, Huhne says: “Much of our economic debate implies we must choose between going green or going for growth. That view may be the opposite of the truth. There is now hard evidence that the real choice is between green growth or no growth at all.”

Huhne, who resigned as energy secretary in February while he fights charges that he asked his former wife to take points on her licence for speeding, does not criticise the government and declined to name those he says are portraying green policies as a barrier to growth.

However, senior Liberal Democrats in the coalition have privately complained that some Tory colleagues have been obstructing policies such as the green deal and new building regulations to make homes and offices more energy efficient, as well as the powers of a new green investment bank.

Huhne’s intervention also comes amid growing concern about chancellor George Osborne’s strict austerity cuts in public spending, with critics arguing that he should be spending more to boost growth.

Pressure rose last week when official figures showed a second successive quarter of falling economic output – meaning the UK had entered a double-dip recession for the first time since 1975.

This week’s cabinet meeting spent 45 minutes on the issue. The prime minister’s spokesman later denied ministers discussed a change of tactics, but he said there was a conversation about the importance of making sure existing investment schemes did go ahead as planned – suggesting, perhaps, there was some unease about the pace of recovery.

Huhne’s argument focuses on an unprecedented situation where developed countries are in recession while energy and materials prices are rising. In the past lower demand from rich nations would have reduced the price of such key commodities, but now they are being driven higher by growth in Asia “on a scale never before experienced in economic history”.

Despite the promise of new energy sources such as shale gas, it would be “rash” to bank on prices falling in future, writes Huhne.

“Energy-saving is the win-win: it has the potential for job creation (for example in household improvements) and it supports growth by cutting bills and boosting spendable income,” he adds. “But there must be a wider agenda for resource efficiency too – recycling metals, repairing and reusing.

“There is a facile view that our green commitments – to tackling climate change, avoiding air and water pollution, protecting natural habitats – are an obstacle to growth. The message of the commodity markets is surely different. Resource-hungry growth could rapidly stall due to commodity price rises, simply because so many of us now want it. If we want sustainable growth, we do not have a choice. We must go green.”

Onshore wind sector is worth over £500m to UK economy

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The benefits of onshore wind to the wider UK economy are worth over half-a-billion pounds, according to a new report published by RenewableUK and the Department for Energy and Climate Change(DECC).

The report, by BiGGAR Economics, looks at 18 case studies of wind farms of different sizes drawn from across the UK. It analyses the contribution of wind farm development, construction, operation and maintenance to the UK economy at a local, regional and national level.

The report finds that onshore wind supported 8,600 jobs and was worth £548m to the UK economy in 2011. Of this figure 1,100 jobs were created at the Local Authority level, worth £84m.

If onshore wind is deployed at a scale suggested in the Government’s Renewable Energy Roadmap, the economy could benefit to the tune of £0.78bn by 2020, supporting around 11,600 jobs.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, said: “Onshore wind power is a cost effective and valuable part of the UK’s diverse energy mix.

“Not only does wind power provide secure, low carbon power to homes and businesses, it supports jobs and brings significant investment up and down the country too.

“Our policies of increasing community involvement will also help ensure the right balance between developers and community interests.

“With the cost of the technology coming down, there is a real opportunity to reap the economic benefits onshore wind can bring.”

Maria McCaffery, RenewableUK CEO, added: “We’re delighted with the results of this survey, showing the real value that wind provides – close to £700,000 for every MW installed in the UK, with over £100,000 of that staying in the Local Authority area.”

One in three of the jobs at local level are in operations and maintenance, showing that wind farms sustain employment, years after construction. For both the development and Operations and Management stages of the wind farm process the vast majority of the value of contracts stays within the UK – 98% of the UK spend on development, equating to £106,330 per MW, and over 90% of the Operating and Management costs, contributing a further £47,610 per MW.

The report’s authors also point out that many of the 8,000 components required to manufacture a turbine are, or could be produced in the UK, driving up the amount of UK content during the construction phase, from a point of £529,383 per MW today.

The report concludes: “Many activities relating to the development of wind farms are already carried out by UK based businesses. As the sector develops, there are likely to be opportunities to increase this activity”

Crucially, it recognises the benefits for local economies, stating: “The experience of many local economies over the last few years however, has been that the economic impact of onshore deployment can be significant in terms of direct economic impact and wider indirect effects.”

Other wider benefits, whilst difficult to quantify, are also assessed, such as community benefit schemes, community ownership, investments in infrastructure around new developments and improvements to wildlife and habitat management.

The report also looks at 4 potential deployment scenarios for 2020 ranging between 10GW and 19GW as set out in the 2011 Renewable Energy Road map and 2010 UK National Renewable Energy Action Plan and what impact these would have in jobs and investment.

The report suggests that under the central scenario set out in the UK Renewable Energy Roadmap the onshore wind industry could support 11,612 direct and supply chain jobs; rising to 15,459, total jobs if wider quantifiable impacts are taken into account. This would contribute around £0.78bn to the UK economy.

However, with just a 2GW increase in capacity, to the 15GW suggested in the UK’s Renewable Energy Action Plan, these figures would rise to 13,771 direct and supply chain jobs 18,339 total jobs (including wider quantifiable impacts), with £0.91bn GVA going into the economy.

Summarising the report’s impact, Maria McCaffery, commented: “This study explains why in rural areas 68% of people support wind, and 57% of those living in rural areas recognise that wind brings benefits in terms of jobs, 12% more than those in urban areas.

“Rather than feeling that wind has been imposed on them, real people, across the UK are recognising the benefits of having wind in their backyard, and with Government’s help we’ll continue to build on the 8600 people employed across the country because of onshore wind, as promised by our members in the Wind Energy Charter”.

McCaffery sounded only one note of caution: “Whilst we can see that with increased deployment comes both increased value and jobs added, plus an increase in market share for the UK, if we were to only see 10GW come forward jobs will actually be lost in the development and construction phases, and there will be no increase in our market share.

“So it’s therefore essential for UK growth and employment to keep onshore wind progressing and revitalising communities”.

Queen’s speech promises reform of UK electricity market

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The Queen’s speech committed the UK government to introduce its Energy Bill, which promises to reform the electricity market to “deliver secure, clean and affordable electricity” while keeping prices “fair”.

The bill is supposed to support large-scale investment in low-carbon generation capacity to ensure that the lights stay in a cost-effective way.
The legislation will put in place institutional and market arrangements to support and encourage the £110 billion investment needed in the country’s energy infrastructure over the next decade.

Specifically, the bill will introduce a feed-in tariff with Contracts for Difference (FiT-CfD) to support low-carbon generation, providing certainty of revenues and making investment in clean energy more attractive. Meanwhile, a capacity mechanism will ensure that there is sufficient reliable and diverse capacity to meet demand.

An Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) will also be introduced to stop the construction of new coal plants that emit more than 450g/kWh.

The bill will also set up an independent, industry-financed regulator for the nuclear sector, in the form of the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said the government would publish a draft bill, with the legislation reaching the statute book by 2013.

“This is crucial legislation,” she said. “It is designed to provide investors with long-term certainty and incentives to invest in low-carbon.”
The move has been largely welcomed after press reports last week that the electricity market reform (EMR) would be left out of the Queen’s speech.

“The Prime Minister must honour his pledge to lead ‘the greenest Government ever’ and seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make our power system cleaner, more affordable and less reliant on increasingly imported fossil fuels,” urged Friends of the Earth’s executive director Andy Atkins.

The business lobby group the CBI and The Climate Group have also welcomed the news as a potential boost to growth.

“[The] announcements are an important stepping stone,” commented director-general John Cridland. “Business investment in low-carbon will only happen when the detailed market framework is in place.”

Mark Kenber, CEO of The Climate Group, says the moves are an important – albeit belated – step on the way to a low-carbon future.

“This is a positive step after two years of lack of direction on the environment and the low carbon economy,” he said. “We cannot afford any more delays in kick-starting the much-vaunted green investment programme without running the danger of leaving the UK lagging further behind in the global market place.”

Network provider National Grid was positive too about the new mechanisms of support, with which it is likely to be deeply involved.

“National Grid is well placed and has the expertise to deliver the mechanisms outlined in the technical paper,” says UK executive director Nick Winser. “There is a lot of work to do to ensure we are ready to deliver these mechanisms and we remain committed to playing our part.”

Green energy industry groups RenewableUK and the Renewable Energy Association (REA) also welcomed the inclusion of the Energy Bill as a means of securing support and investment.

“This is of immense importance to project developers in renewables, as the measures it puts in place will eventually replace the Renewables Obligation (RO),” says chief executive of the REA Gaynor Hartnell. “If all works as intended, it should make project development less risky and means that the public pays no more than it needs to for green power.”

But Green MP Caroline Lucas accuses the government of squandering  “a vital opportunity to put action to tackle climate change and the growing environmental crisis at the top of its legislative agenda”.

“In the face of mounting scientific concern about the urgency of the threat we face from climate change, the deafening silence from this government is unforgiveable,” she adds.

She calls the EMR “deeply flawed” and legislation that without amendment will risk locking the UK into a “high-carbon, high cost and gas dependent future”.

The Queen’s speech also laid out legislation that will see the establishment of the Green Investment Bank.

For further information:
www.decc.gov.uk
www.foe.co.uk
www.cbi.org.uk
www.theclimategroup.org
www.nationalgrid.com/uk
www.renewable-uk.com
www.r-e-a.net

Plastics recovery hit by rising contamination levels

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The quality of plastic bottles sent for reprocessing in recent years has deteriorated due to the “rampant” rise of mixed plastics in the waste stream, according to an industry expert.
Eco Plastics chairman Peter Gangsted delivered a damning verdict on the state of post-consumer plastics collections in the UK as he highlighted the plight faced by reprocessors in dealing with poor feedstock levels.

His comments build on previous concerns outlined in a WRAP technical guide earlier this year, which found that the quantity of such materials were diluting the presence of PET and HDPE bottles.

Speaking at the official opening of Continuum Recycling’s £15m plastic bottle reprocessing plant in Hemswell, Lincolnshire yesterday (May 10) – a joint venture between Eco Plastics and Coca-Cola Enterprises – Gangsted said that certain materials such as black trays were contaminating input streams and presenting problems as they were virtually impossible to recycle.

Part of the problem, he pointed out, was that consumers were still confused about what materials to present in the recycling bin. He called for more education around the issue, saying that better public awareness would be crucial in underpinning future growth of plastics recycling.

With its new plant, Eco Plastics has stepped up its ambition to capture more of the plastics waste stream currently going to landfill. Despite the growth of plastic bottles recycling in recent years, Gangsted said the 400,000 tonnes currently being recovered was “still only a fraction” of the 1.8m tonnes generated in the UK each year.

“We want to see half of all post-consumer plastics resource recovered by 2020 – it’s a bold ambition given the 22% currently recycled today,” he said.

This view was shared by Eco Plastic’s partner in the joint venture, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE). CEE’s supply chain vice president & general manager Stephen Moorhouse also lamented the UK’s poor performance on plastic bottle recovery rates.

“This year fewer than half of all plastic bottles consumed in this country will be recycled. We all want to see far higher recycling rates within Great Britain and we welcome the new packaging targets recently announced by the Government. They won’t be easy to achieve, but it will give us real focus,” he said.

Moorhouse also called for a “national on-the-go [recycling] framework” to make it easier for people to recycle when out and about

The facility at Hemswell will be capable of processing 40,000 tonnes of bottle-grade rPET pellet, which will be taken to CCE’s Wakefield site for remanufacture. This will enable the brand’s bottle distributor to deliver on one of its key pledges to use 25% rPET in all of its bottles by the end of the year.

Meanwhile Coca-Cola Company, one of the main sponsors of the London 2012 Olympic Games, announced it had struck a deal with waste contractor SITA to transport all plastic bottle waste generated during the games to the Continuum Recycling facility for recovery.

Coca-Cola’s head of sustainability for the Olympics, Katherine Symonds, added that the company expected to sell around 20m bottles of Coca-Cola throughout the course of the games.

DECC launches £20m marine energy funding competition

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The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has today launched its long awaited £20m funding competition for two large scale marine energy demonstration projects, calling on developers to submit proposals for new wave or tidal arrays.

Under the Marine Energy Array Demonstrator (MEAD) scheme, marine energy developers have until June 1 to submit an online application for funding with the government promising to announce the successful projects before the end of the year.

“This scheme will help move marine power to the next stage of development, the demonstration of a number of wave and tidal devices in array formation out at sea,” said Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker in a statement.

“This will take us one vital step closer to realising our ambitions of generating electricity from the waves and tides, powering homes and businesses across the whole of the UK with clean, green electricity.”

DECC said successful applicants must demonstrate that they can generate a minimum of 7GWh a year from at least three wave or tidal stream generating devices arranged in an array. The projects must also be able to fully up and running by March 2016.

The government is to host an event on May 2 for any firm considering lodging a funding application and is urging all interested parties to attend.

The new funding remains subject to EU State Aid approval, but a spokeswoman for DECC told BusinessGreen the government was confident approval would be granted.

“The Commission has previously approved grant aid support combined with revenue support for marine energy and we have evidence to show that the scheme will not provide an excess level of subsidy,” she said. “On this basis we believe we have a good case to secure State Aid approval.”

The MEAD funding is part of the government’s £200m development fund for low carbon technologies and will run in parallel to a series of similar funding schemes for early stage marine energy projects operated by other agencies, such as the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI).

It is also intended to complement proposed changes to the level of subsidy offered to marine energy projects through the Renewables Obligation scheme that are expected to result in higher levels of support across the UK for both wave and tidal energy projects.

Under the proposed changes, a final decision on which is expected in the next few months, the renewables obligation scheme for marine energy projects will be harmonised across the UK with all projects receiving five tradable renewable obligation certificates for each MWh they generate.

The latest funding will be welcomed by the emerging marine energy industry, although trade body RenewableUK has consistently maintained that £120m of government funding is needed to help take wave and tidal energy projects to a commercial scale.

The UK has emerged as the world’s leading marine energy market, but experts have warned that unless the sector continues to accelerate the deployment of commercial scale demonstration projects it risks losing its leadership position to rival markets in Asia and North America.

“The new competition will give us a clear idea of how the funding will be spent,” said a RenewableUK spokesman. “But we maintain that to move the industry forward in a meaningful way it needs at least £120m of capital funding. Otherwise there’s still a risk that we miss out on the opportunity.”

Highly-efficient solar cells aim to power your iPhone

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Powering smart phones such as iPhones with solar technology has moved a step closer, after a UK company set a new record for converting indoor light into electricity.

Cardiff-based G24 Innovations (G24i) claims to have produced a photovoltaic (PV) cell with an efficiency rate of 26 per cent, beating the previous record, also held by the company, by over 10 percentage points.

FThe company says the performance makes the cell almost five times more powerful than its nearest competitor, and according to its inventor, Professor Michael Graetzel, a 40 per cent efficiency rate remains feasible.

Richard Costello, chief operating officer of G24i, said such levels raise the possibility of the technology replacing batteries in consumer electronics or even reducing the carbon emissions impact of larger energy consuming appliances, such as TVs or sound systems.

The technology, which allows small solar cells to generate energy from low level indoor light, is already operating shade and blind systems for one of the largest hotels in Las Vegas and G24i is now working on applications for wireless keyboards.

“New applications of our technology become possible at this efficiency rate and current applications will require smaller modules to achieve the same power density, allowing product designers in the consumer electronics space to throw away the rule book,” said Costello.

“The global market for disposable batteries is worth in the region of $80bn a year. The potential to increase the volume of sales for our technology is immense.”

G24i has spent five years working to commercialise the technology, which works by using dye-sensitised cells that partially mimic the process of photosynthesis.

The design, which took several decades of work, won Prof Graetzel the 2012 Albert Einstein World Award of Science and the 2010 Millennium Technology Prize.