Tag: Renewable Energy

Climate Union : Sharing Principles

Post author By Jo
Post date June 28, 2010
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Image Credit : Gilbert & George, “Nettle Dance”, White Cube

I’m in the Climate Union. Are You ?

Soon we could all be, if the expansionist plans of a group of social campaigners come to fruition.

Taking in the unions, faith communities and the usual rag-tag bunch of issues activists, the Climate Union aims to establish itself as a political force for Low Carbon.

First of all, however, it has to tackle the uneasy and prickly problem of the exact name of the movement, and the principles under which it will operate.

The flag has been flown : a set of principles has been circulated for discussion amongst the “Climate Forum”. I cannot show you the finalised document yet, but I can offer you my comments (see below).

If you want to comment on the development of this emerging entity, please contact : Peter Robinson, Campaign against Climate Change, mobile/cell telephone in the UK : 07876595993.

Comments on the Climate Forum Principles
Jo Abbess
28 June 2010

I am aware that my comments are going to be a little challenging. I made similar comments during the review of the ClimateSafety briefing, which were highly criticised.

I expect you to be negative in response to what I say, but I think it is necessary to make sure the Climate Forum does not become watered-down, sectorally imprisoned and politically neutered, like so many other campaigns.

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Burning Things Is Wasteful

Post author By Jo
Post date June 18, 2010
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Centre for Alternative Technology

Burning things wastes a lot of energy – even burning waste.

1. Plain Old Inefficiency

The systems and infrastructure for the generation and distribution of electricity in the United Kingdom is extremely poor, nigh on immorally wasteful. See the diagram above from the Zero Carbon Britain 2030 report :-

https://www.zcb2030.org/

There are so many things that could be done to improve on that enormous loss of energy, and save on Carbon Dioxide Emissions at the same time.

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Zero Carbon Britain 2030

I’m sure you’ll be interested to know that the second Zero Carbon Britain report from the Centre for Alternative Technology is now available for free download from this website :-

https://zerocarbonbritain.org/
https://zerocarbonbritain.org/downloads/ZCB2030.pdf

Here are a few articles about the report release :-

https://neweconomics.org/publications/zero-carbon-britain-2030
https://www.cat.org.uk/news/news_release.tmpl?command=search&db=news.db&eqSKUdatarq=37990&home=1
https://www.greenbang.com/uk-carbon-from-637m-tonnes-to-0-possible-by-2030_14526.html
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/06/453523.html

Enjoy !

Tags CAT, Centre for Alternative Technology, Climate Change, Global Warming, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Energy, ZCB, Zero Carbon Britain, Zero Carbon Britain 2

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Windlings

Post author By Jo
Post date May 9, 2010
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Methods of electricity storage are considered essential in grids that have large proportions of wind capacity. This is because, surprisingly, winds have been known to quieten down a bit from time to time.

Some people take this fact too far. For example, there is the “Northern European Winter High Pressure” lobby, who continue to insist, in a number of forums, that low aerial flow entirely compromises wind energy expansion, just because there are several days in December or January that might be a little flat.

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The Price of Carbon

The Price of Carbon

by Jo Abbess
20 April 2010

1. Introduction

Policy strategy for controlling risky excess atmospheric greenhouse gas (Gowdy, 2008, Sect. 4; McKibben, 2007, Ch. 1, pp. 19-20; Solomon et al., 2009; Tickell, 2008, Ch. 6, pp. 205-208) mostly derives from the notion that carbon dioxide emissions should be charged for, in order to prevent future emissions; similar to treatment for environmental pollutants (Giddens, 2009, Ch. 6, pp. 149-155; Gore, 2009, Ch. 15 “The True Cost of Carbon”; Pigou, 1932; Tickell, 2008, Ch.4, Box 4.1, pp. 112-116). Underscoring this idea is the evidence that fines, taxes and fees modify behaviour, reigning in the marginal social cost of “externalities” through financial disincentive (Baumol, 1972; Sandmo, 2009; Tol, 2008). However this approach may not enable the high-value, long-term investment required for decarbonisation, which needs adjustments to the economy at scale (CAT, 2010; Hepburn and Stern, 2008, pp. 39-40, Sect. (ii) “The Consequences of Non-marginality”; MacKay, 2008, Ch. 19; Tickell, 2008, Ch. 2, pp. 40-41).

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Renewable Synergy

The news is that there is continuing progress towards a fully Renewable Europe. It is, after all, the only means to ensure a sustainable Economy into the future, given the twin blended threats of Climate Change Carbon Mitigation and Peak Fossil Fuels.

Dr Gregor Czisch’s meisterwerk is being translated into English for publication this Summer :-

Scenarios for a Future Electricity Supply: Cost-Optimised Variations on Supplying Europe and Its Neighbours with Electricity from Renewable Energies

You would never know from the plainspeaking title just how exciting this is : seriously cheap Energy and peacemaking collaboration all in one shot !

The management consultants PriceWaterhouseCooper (couldn’t they think of a more speakable name ?), have just published their own view on Europe and North Africa combining to provide a one hundred percent renewable Energy solution :-

https://www.pwc.co.uk/sustainability/

https://www.pwc.co.uk/eng/publications/100_percent_renewable_electricity.html

Tags Energy, Green Collar Jobs, Green Development, Green Economy, Green Energy, Green Growth, Peak Coal, Peak Economy, Peak Energy, Peak Fossil Fuels, Peak Metals, Peak Money, Peak Natural Gas, Peak Nuclear, Peak Oil, Renewable, Renewable Energy, Renewable Future, Sustainable Energy

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BP : After the Gas and Oil are Gone

Post author By Jo
Post date March 16, 2010
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Together with a couple of my peers, I’ve been taking a look at BP’s “sustainability”, both from a business point of view and from a Climate Change point of view.

We’ve just given a presentation, of which I offer you a couple of the slides and the script to accompany them.

The central point of issue is : what will BP do after the Gas and Oil are gone ? There may be decades of reasonable hydrocarbons left to exploit, but how will Pension Funds get their return on investment after that ? Where is the future thinking ?

And what about Climate Change ? Retreating from Alternative Energy back into its core business of Oil and Gas means that BP plc will not be able to make substantial cuts in the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of the products that they sell – which means that sooner or later, when Carbon Energy is rationed, their business will start to implode.

Tags BP, Carbon Energy, Climate Change, Energy, future, Investment, investors, Oil & Gas, Pension Fund, Renewable Energy, Renewables, return on investment, Sustainability, Sustainable Energy

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Green Energy : Stuck in the Sidings

Post author By Jo
Post date March 5, 2010
1 Comment on Green Energy : Stuck in the Sidings

If you can imagine the engine for new, renewable and sustainable Energy systems as a train which should by now be thundering down the tracks, get this : it left the depot only to get stuck in the sidings.

Enough of the locomotive metaphors, already. On to the analysis. Here’s an excerpt from Catherine Mitchell’s fine book “The Political Economy of Sustainable Energy” (2008, 2010) :-

Tags Atomic Energy, Atomic Power, Climate Change, Energy infrastructure, Energy Investment, Energy systems, Global Warming, New Nuclear, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Energy

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Fossil Fuels Ruel, OK ?

https://www.polluterharmony.com/

It’s easy to stay on top of the heap – just throw rocks at everybody trying to climb The Hill.

Fossil Fuels are free when they come out of the ground, but exact a heavy price on the Environment – a cost that cannot be measured in Money – since wealth is made from Fossil Fuel Energy.

Unless we cut the thread – the causal relationship between Energy use and Carbon Dioxide emissions – then we will all lose wealth – from the destruction of the natural environment.

The only practical answer is to reduce the amount of Fossil Fuel that is burned. But that would impoverish us. So we need to have Zero Carbon Energy to replace Fossil Fuel Energy.

Renewable Energy is the only source of future wealth.

Tags Carbon Energy, Carbon-free Energy, Energy, Fossil Fuel, Fossil Fuels, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Wealth

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Do Hold Your Breath

If I had a eurocent for every time a Climate Change denier-sceptic told me that if I really, truly believe that Carbon Dioxide causes Global Warming I should just stop breathing…well, I’d be rich enough now to afford to buy the whole of Belgium, or at least most of economically-depressed Wallonia. Mmm…Waffles.

But seriously, holding your breath in the form of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) is one of the big flashing signs for the future of ReSmoothing, smoothing Renewable Energy supply, that is.

Tags CAES, Compressed Air Energy Storage, Energy, engineer, engineering, Flow Batteries, Flow Battery, Fuel Cell, Hydroelectricity, Hydropower, PHES, Pumped Hydro Energy Storage, Pumped Storage, Renewable, Renewable Energy, Storage, underground

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Anthony Giddens : Blaming Consumers

Post author By Jo
Post date January 6, 2010
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Anthony Giddens, as a “key architect of New Labour”, disappointingly brings to the table a less than razor-sharp understanding of what is responsible for Global Warming Pollution.

He seems to be content to be cynical about the Consumers in the Free Market Economy, without questioning the role of the Producers of the Energy and goods consumed.

Tags advertising, Behaviour Change, Climate Change, coal, Consumer, Consumption, Energy, Free Market Economy, Gas, Lifestyle, Material Resources, Natural Gas, Oil, Petroleum, Renewable Energy, Stuff, Trade, Voluntary Behaviour Change

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British Sea Power Supergrid

Post author By Jo
Post date January 3, 2010
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“Supergrid”. Sounds a bit 1986-ish, really. But it could save Europe from industrial collapse as Carbon restrictions start to bite.

“Sun, wind and wave-powered: Europe unites to build renewable energy ‘supergrid’ : North Sea countries plan vast clean energy project : €30bn scheme could offer weather-proof supply : Alok Jha : guardian.co.uk : Sunday 3 January 2010”

Tags Energy, Energy Investment, Energy Revolution, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Energy

Climate Change Energy Revival Pet Peeves

Time to Care

It’s time that we all cared about what is happening to Life on Earth. Nobody in an alien spacecraft is going to come crashing through the clouds to save us with miraculous Energy technologies, or brand new Chemistry that beats the Laws of Physics to capture Carbon Dioxide right out of the air in the amounts we are emitting it.

Tags Climate Change, Energy, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Energy

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Some People Never Change

So I’m talking to some people and someone says that people don’t care about the fact they’re wasting Energy, that people just don’t think.

Even though they know about Global Warming and the risks of dangerous Climate Change, and they know about the connection between burning Fossil Fuels and Global Warming, they just don’t care about how much Energy they’re using.

And I know this is heresy to say so, but I said that people shouldn’t have to think about Energy, that they shouldn’t be made to feel guilty about using Energy. I said that the Energy that is provided to them should be Carbon-free and responsibility-free. People shouldn’t be forced to act against their nature. Energy is effectively free at the moment. It’s way cheap, even cheaper than food for a lot of people. So people use it. People love using Energy.

Tags Biomethane, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Energy, Energy Waste, Renewable Energy, Wind Power

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Free Energy : The Nuclear Power Dead-End

Post author By Jo
Post date November 12, 2009
5 Comments on Free Energy : The Nuclear Power Dead-End

“Sustainable Development” is a phrase with two distinct meanings.

When people trained in Economics think about what “Sustainable Development” means, they normally assume that Nature’s continuing bounty will sustain our development path. That the pyramid of wealth, the wealth accrual machine and monetary incentives will bring more and more people and material resources into optimal production, and there will be no end to the development of the enrichment of all peoples and the quality of their habitat. Growth is good, for it brings prosperity to all, health, wealth, education, freedom from want and a top-notch built environment.

Tags Atomic Energy, Atomic Power, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development

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David Miliband : Expecting Someone Shorter

Post author By Jo
Post date November 7, 2009
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To be honest, he was taller than I expected, and more Eastern in appeareance, a kind of lanky version of Mehmet behind the deli counter at my local Turkish International Food Emporium.

David Miliband was also considerably thinner than I would have liked, considering he might one day rule the New Labour Party, who might just rule my country again. We wouldn’t want him blown away by the slightest breeze, surely, would we ? He needs feeding in my opinion.

Tags campaigning, Climate Change, Energy, Global Warming, persuasion, politics, Renewable Energy, Science, soft power, Technology

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Claverton Energy Conference 8

Post author By Jo
Post date October 5, 2009
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The Claverton Energy Group will be holding its 8th Conference from 23rd to 25th October 2009 at the headquarters of Wessex Water, Claverton Down in Bath, England.

Advances in Energy technologies old and new will be presented amongst a wide-ranging and influential forum of engineers. The focus, as ever, will be the development of new infrastructure, within the context of the urgent need to de-Carbonise Energy supply.

https://www.claverton-energy.com/8th-claverton-energy-group-conference-2325th-october-wessex-water-bath-ba27ww.html

Tags Energy, Renewable Energy

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Throwing Caution To The Wind

Post author By Jo
Post date July 13, 2009
No Comments on Throwing Caution To The Wind

This is possibly going to be Renewable Energy’s biggest week ever in UK history.

And we’re going to need all the Wind Power we can get to meet Ed Miliband’s lofty ambition.

Tags Climate Change, Energy, National Security, Renewable Energy

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Carbon Rationing – A Chance Interview with Andrew Ross at the G20 Climate Camp

Post author By Jo
Post date April 1, 2009
1 Comment on Carbon Rationing – A Chance Interview with Andrew Ross at the G20 Climate Camp

Down at the G20 Climate Camp today, I had the opportunity to meet up with people I know from Climate Change work all over the UK and beyond.

Don’t be tempted to dismiss the Campers as sensationalism-seeking wildcats : we’re talking about a collection of some of the finest Science, Policy and Society minds there are, with a bit of the Press mixed in for good voyeuristic effect.

Tags Add new tag, Carbon Control, Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Renewable Energy, Scotland