The waves in the Irish Sea could see 5% of UK electricity
April 24, 2009 at 4:45 pm
As the UK government is asked to explore more and more ways of improving and strengthening renewable energy sources, tidal power seems to be one that makes perfect sense for an island nation like Britain. The multitude of different currents and tides has often been a gift but a curse for those who make a living from the sea. However, new research, led by engineers at the University of Liverpool, has found that the waters off the coast of Liverpool and north-west Wales have some of the most ideal tides for producing electricity in the whole of the UK.
The “natural motion” of the Irish Sea, as it flows in and around Morecambe Bay, the Solway Firth estuary and the rivers Mersey and Dee, has been measured with the latest equipment, under Professor Richard Burrows and the Maritime Environmental and Water Systems Research Group at the University, and it is believed that the power of the tide there could provide over half of the region’s electricity when rigged up to the National Grid. It’s a staggering prospect and one that the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, who are working in partnership with the University, are very excited about.
A series of barrages would, in theory, be built at varying points in and around the estuary, and would push sea water through their turbines and sluices for over 11 hours a day. The predictability of the tide means that these barrages would be built in exactly the right place. Unlike other renewables, such as solar and wind, the tide remains a pretty constant entity so wouldn’t ever run out or alter strength and direction very much.
What does this mean for the country as a whole? Aside from the topical and forward-thinking notion of the proposal, the total amount of electricity these barrages could potentially provide is somewhere near to 5% of the whole of the UK’s electricity needs. There are even more benefits in terms of flood defences for the nearby beaches and riverbanks too.
The biggest hurdle, like all renewable energy ideas, is the government funding. These are big ideas with huge planning and maintenance costs. The competition for Prof Burrows and his team is from the other side of Wales at the river Severn estuary. There has been some considerable headway made in their bid to erect similar barrages. The good thing is the tide isn’t going anywhere, but there’s only so much money in the bank at present to help harness its potential.
How did Earth Hour work out in the end?
April 17, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Most of us are used to switching lights on to mark the celebration of something. This month saw lights all over the world being turned off for WWF’s ingeniously simple 2009 Earth Hour. It’s a great idea in case you don’t know. All over the world people are asked to turn their lights and power off for an hour. The hope is to raise awareness and send a message to the leaders of the world both ahead of the G20 in London and also in the run up to a very important environmental meeting in Copenhagen at the end of this year, where plans and targets will be drawn up ahead of the meeting in 2012 when the Kyoto protocol is due for renewal.
As with all things time-related, one of the first countries to get the nod to switch off was Australia. Sydney was the first major city to officially go dark for Earth Hour. The famous opera house and harbour bridge went from light to dark at 20.00 their time, causing hundreds of people to cheer on the riverside and light candles on the beaches all over the country. Following that, the darkness swept across south east Asia, taking in Bangkok and Manila, before reaching Europe and the significant Danish capital then arriving in the UK, where, although not official involved, London saw its City Hall and Houses of Parliament plunged into darkness. Brighton turned off the entire pier as did Dublin’s Custom House.
Crossing the Atlantic didn’t stop the flow of the operation. One of the biggest results for the organisers of this year’s Earth Hour was seeing the lights go out at the UN headquarters in New York. Their support will mean a great deal when the relevant meetings go ahead. LA, San Francisco and the strip at Las Vegas saw in the final lap of the event, the latter of which is a real sight to be seen and can be found, along with all the other cities, here.
Centrica putting the brakes on a £750 million wind farm
April 17, 2009 at 4:01 pm
We all know how important renewable energy is going to be over the next few decades, but how much has the recent financial crisis affected the plans already in motion? The company behind British Gas, Centrica, has had to reluctantly apply the brakes on its mammoth plans for a wind farm with a £750 million price tag.
The site, near Skegness in Lincolnshire, has been agreed. The plans have been drawn up and, in many areas, work has already begun. All that is missing are the actual parts, in the form of the turbines and the generators. These parts all come from Europe and further afield but because of the weakness of the pound this year, Centrica’s board has this month announced the company simply can’t afford to buy anything more to continue with the building work.
The farm would eventually be capable of providing 170,000 homes with energy. It fits in very nicely with the government’s desires to boost renewable energy plants, and wind power is one of the quickest ways to start generating electricity. Ahead of the G20 summit, this wasn’t the best news for Gordon Brown or Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Milliband. The likes of Centrica want the ministers to offer them special concessions for kick-starting plans such as the one in Lincolnshire. This particular wind farm could become the biggest in the whole country. 7000 turbines could supply just under a third of the UK’s energy. It’s just going to be a matter of being able to afford to build them.
Ofgem proposes changes to counter unfair prices
April 9, 2009 at 4:47 am
Ofgem has announced that energy companies are failing customers when it comes to direct debit payments by not making them clear enough. It has, however, stated that they are not overcharging or making mistakes.
Consumer Focus has also said that overcharging is not an issue, and that direct debits were “still the cheapest way of paying for energy”. However, Which? has said that many people are being overcharged by power companies.
The problems centre around the fact that many people do not know how much they have to pay each month in their direct debit bills, and many of them end up paying too much so that their accounts are actually in credit.
Which? has said that over 70% of the accounts held in the country are in credit, which means the energy companies are getting access to customer’s money in the form of free loans that they are not entitled to.
Alistair Buchanan, the chief executive of Ofgem, said that the investigation “found no evidence that suppliers are recovering more money from direct debit customers than they are due”. However, he went on to criticise the “lack of transparency” and “poor communication” that is a problem when the payment amounts are being increased.
Ofgem has now brought in new rules to counter the problem areas. These include a greater degree of choice for customers when it comes to repaying the credit in their accounts, encouraging customers to take regular meter readings and a requirement that the energy companies explain to their customers when refunds will be given.
Npower to cut bills by 8%
April 3, 2009 at 4:34 am
Npower has finally announced that it will cut its customers’ electricity bills by 8% at the end of March, making it the last of the major six power companies to reduce its charges following complaints that not enough was being done to lower them.
Npower has stated that this price reduction will lead to a £43 deduction in the average yearly bill, which it is hoped will go some way to easing the burden of hefty fuel bills.
However, it has stopped short of reducing gas prices as well. The reason for this, it claims, is that the wholesale price rises last year were not fully passed on to customers, so they will not be making any further reductions for now.
A few newspapers have stated what the average bill will be, with The Telegraph claiming it will be £1,245 and Times Online producing a figure of £1,256 with £35 in savings on the average bill.
Kevin Miles, the chief executive of Npower retail, said that although wholesale prices are “still higher than in 2007”, the company was “determined to reduce prices” for their electricity customers.
However, some have voiced concern that the price drop is not enough following the 42% increase in prices last year. The utilities manager at moneysupermarket.com, Scott Byrom, said that it was “cold comfort” for the people who are having trouble paying their bills.
Scottish and Southern, Scottish Power, E.On and EDF Energy will all be putting their prices down to different levels at the end of the month, and British Gas put its gas prices down in February.
