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Author Archives: Admin
GLA district energy research commissioned
November 2013: The GLA have commissioned research into how district heating systems can work successfully in new developments as energy efficiency requirements continue to increase. The approval document sets out that:
“With the improving standards for insulation and air tightness to retain heat within developments, it is important that communal heating systems within buildings are designed so that they do not contribute towards buildings overheating.
“It is therefore proposed to procure consultants to carry out a study into how communal heating systems, specifically in residential schemes, implemented as a result of policy can be designed to avoid overheating.”
This issue of district heating and overheating was briefly touched upon in research undertaken by AECOM for the Department of Communities in 2012.
Innovative Kingston heat pump scheme
November 2013: Local MP and Secretary of State for Energy, Ed Davey, recently opened a novel heat source pump scheme providing heating to a residential scheme in Kingston drawn from the Thames. An article in Renewable Energy Installer sets out that “Just 200 metres from the river bank, its 2.3MW community heating system draws up to 13 million litres of water each day through high efficiency heat exchangers. The low grade heat is carried to a plant room in the building via a closed loop where Mitsubishi Ecodan heat pumps delivers it as usable heat to meet all heating and hot water demands in the complex.”
A huge amount of background detail to this novel scheme can be read in trade journal Modern Building Systems here. Mitsibushi have described the scheme as “one of the most impressive in Europe if not the world. This is a pioneering installation and hugely innovative.”
Fuel Cells in London
November 2013: The Guardian highlighted in a recent story that the London HQ of Al Gore’s business is to be based in a new office development on Regent Street which has included a wide array of onsite energy measures installed including a gas-powered fuel cell.
“Climate campaigner and former US vice-president Gore said the £400m Quadrant 3 redevelopment showed a “sophisticated commitment to sustainability”. The headquarters of his sustainable investment company, Generation Investment Management, will be sited in the new buildings.
“The cell was developed by US company FuelCell Energy. It will emit 38% less carbon dioxide than using electricity from the grid and heat from gas-fired boilers, according to the crown estate, which says 350 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will be saved per year. Unlike fossil-fuel-burning power plants, the fuel cell produces power with virtually no nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SOx) or particulate matter (PM) pollution.
The new plant forms part of the central energy system that serves 500,000 sq ft of offices, shops, flats, restaurants and hotels in the Quadrant development.” Read the full Guardian story here.
Further detail on the installation of the fuel cell can be read here – which has been undertaken by Edinburgh based Logan Energy. The Quadrant 3 development has a number of other onsite energy measures installed (including a Combined Cooling Heat & Power plant, thermal stores and photovoltaics – see diagram below), as set out in the property brochure.
Another new London development to include fuel cell technology is that on 20 Fenchurch Street (more commonly known as the ‘Walkie Talkie’ building) which has installed a 300 kWe fuel cell, details of which can be read here and here.
Transport for London installed a fuel cell CHP in their Palestra building in Southwark back in 2010, details of which – including a video presentation – can be seen here and here.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News
Tagged CHP, City of London, Fuel Cells, Southwark, Westminster
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Brixton Energy on the Beeb
November 2013: The recent BBC London coverage of the Brixton Energy solar schemes can now be viewed on Youtube here. The new piece includes interviews with Brixton Energy and Repowering London Director Agamemnon Otero and Labour Council Leader of Lambeth, Lib Peck.
Cllr Peck states in her interview that local authorites should be looking to work on similar projects in their own areas but it will be about the will of councils to say they want to make these projects happen and get rid of the challenges and obstacles.
Funding Energy Efficiency Retrofit in London
November 2013: The GLA’s RE:NEW team have recently produced a guide identifying “potential sources of funding and finance available to London Boroughs, Registered Providers of Social Housing, private landlords and individuals to pay for energy efficiency retrofit measures in their housing.”
The sources of funding covered include the ECO, London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) and the Social Housing Fund. Download the guide here.
Posted in Energy Efficiency, News
Tagged Energy Efficiency, Funding, Housing, London Green Fund, RE:NEW
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Reducing building CO2 emissions through better design
November 2013: The GLA have commissioned research to determine the “most effective way for buildings to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions through the design and fabric, based on the Building Regulations modelling tools.” This study will support the GLA’s recent Supplementary Planning Guidance on Sustainable Design & Construction guidance (for more of which here) and London Plan targets which requires all major planning applications from 1 October 2013 will need to provide CO2 emission savings 40% beyond the 2010 building regulation requirements.
Full details of the commission here.
Posted in Energy Efficiency, News
Tagged Buildings, Carbon Emissions, Energy Efficiency, Planning
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Potential for biodiesel from use cooking oil and FOGs in London
November 2013: The Mayor announced today that TfL will be deploying 12o buses from the Barking depot which will run on a blend of 80 per cent regular diesel and 20 per cent biodiesel. The press release states that “Biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning fuel made from used cooking oil from the catering industry and tallow which is a residue from the meat processing trade. It is estimated that buses running on biodiesel produce 15 per cent less ‘well to wheel’ carbon emissions than an ordinary diesel-powered bus…No mechanical change is needed to allow a bus to run on a 20% blend of biofuel. The biodiesel in this trial is being supplied by Argent Energy with the standard diesel supplied by Prax Petroleum.”
The GLA also commissioned consultants LRS to produce a report on the market opportunity for a biodiesel market in London using used cooking oil (UCOs), fats oils and grease (FOGs) from commercial and domestic sources in the capital. The report can be downloaded here and sets out to “evaluate the potential to reduce the emissions and carbon footprint of the bus fleet in London by using up to B30 biodiesel instead of petrodiesel. Additional sustainability benefits would be achieved by using biodiesel made from used cooking oil (UCO) and fats, oils and greases (FOGs) instead of virgin oils.”
The report references recent disputes in London over UCO (see Daily Telegraph story here) stating “only 3-4 years ago illegal disposal of UCO down drains was recognised to be a significant issue, recently the demand for UCO has soared and led to ‘Cooking Oil Wars’, whereby collectors pay increasingly escalating prices to commercial organisations for UCO.”
In terms of London’s potential to produce biodiesel, on the basis of national estimates, the report suggests that using the “ratio of London’s population to the national population and uplifting to reflect the greater concentration of catering establishments in London gives an estimate of 32-44 million litres of UCO waste arisings in the London area. There are nearly 24,000 food and beverage service activities in London, along with a further 835 businesses in London working in the food manufacturing sector, most of which contribute to the production of UCOs. In particular London has over 8,000 fast food outlets, with some of the highest concentrations of such food outlets in the country.”
Lot of interesting findings in this comprehensive report. More on biodiesel use in London here.
Developing Heat Networks in London
November 2013: At the BRE’s recent event Developing heat networks in the UK three presentations were delivered on developments in London – links to which follow below:
Bunhill Heat and Power – Charlotte Large, Decentralised Energy Programme Manager, Islington Council
Identifying secondary heat sources for future sustainable heat networks – Peter North, Senior Manager – Programme Delivery (Sustainable Energy), GLA
The third presentation by Ian Smith, Head of Sustainable Services, Southwark Council, on London’s first energy from waste district heating network, can be found here.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News
Tagged CHP, Community Heating, Decentralised Energy, Islington, SELCHP, Southwark, Waste
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Designing with data: shaping our future cities
November 2013: A new report undertaken by ARUP for RIBA sets out that we are now at the “Dawn of a ‘smart era [where the] vast quantities of data we produce is set to revolutionise the way we design and build our cities”. A series of case studies are set out in ‘Designing with data: shaping our future cities‘ which includes the London Heat Map:
“One of the key benefits of adopting a smart approach to data is the ability to see lots of datasets in context with each other, and to detect temporal and spatial patterns. This transparency saves time and cost by reducing the time needed to find and process key data. The London Heat Map is a case in point. The interactive tool developed by the Greater London Authority (GLA) allows people to identify opportunities for Decentralised Energy projects in London, such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) or district heating networks. Public organisations, property developers, social landlords or investors can also use it to view spatial information that can help them identify and develop Distributed Energy opportunities, such as data on: major energy consumers, fuel consumption and carbon emissions,energy supply plants, community heating networks,and heat density. The London Heat Map will evolve overtime alongside the Decentralised Energy for London programme and become more useful and sophisticated as boroughs and other stakeholders start inputting more energy data into the map.”
The report goes on to quote Alan Shingler, Partner, Head of Sustainability, Sheppard Robson who states “smart data could help test the impact of likely building fabric improvements through the Government’s Green Deal or regeneration schemes, to show how the GLA’s Heat Map would adjust to these variables. The data could also be used to model the impact of new renewable energy generation and future development on the map. This would enable the creation of a resilient low carbon transition plan for London that would take into account a range of considerations….where Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is proposed, heat could be more freely shared with neighbouring residential developments, schools, or public buildings with a relatively high heat load.“
Three recommendations are made in the report including one Energy for London strongly supports which is the greater ‘Digitisation the of the planning process’ where “Government should scope how it can standardise the digitisation of all information submitted for planning, and of standardising design data collection across local authorities. This public data should be open to unleash economic growth; and local authorities should be encouraged to use open data to inform local planning strategies.”
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News
Tagged Decentralised Energy, Heat Maps, London Heat Map, Planning
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GLA responds to Heat Enquiry
November 2013: The House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee is currently undertaking an enquiry into Heat. The terms of reference to the enquiry states that “so far much of government’s energy policy focus has been on low-carbon electricity generation (in particular, the Energy Bill, which aims to reform the electricity market). Yet heat is responsible for 46% of UK energy use, approximately a third of UK greenhouse gas emissions, and is a major cost in both the domestic and non-domestic sectors.”
The Greater London Authority (GLA) has submitted written evidence to the Committee outlining the significant decentralised energy programme underway in the capital. The evidence sets out a number of interesting points related to the wider scale deployment of heat networks as well as recommendations to Government in terms of its policies to promote decentralised generation. These include:
- The Mayor welcomes the Committee’s scrutiny of this often over-looked area of energy policy
- There are “inconsistencies in government’s energy policy and regulatory regime that are preventing heat generation and distribution in cities” which “…distort the market for heat by providing external financial support for some technologies, while largely ignoring heat networks“.
- Heat network deployment at the scale envisaged for London represents a significant infrastructural challenge, requiring approximately 3,600km of heat networks to be constructed by 2030 and equates to an investment opportunity of approximately £6bn
- Whilst district heating schemes can qualify for funding under ECO, the current two year target as well as uncertainty regarding longer-term target discourage energy suppliers from investing in these schemes. Government should consider setting longer term targets for the next phases of ECO, or provide guidance on how investment in district heating schemes can contribute to current or future targets
- We estimate that London housing development will generate at the very least £25m per annum under the proposed Allowable Solutions regime – by far the greatest amount of any region. Yet, because measures are likely to be cheaper outside London, London businesses and households will again be subsidising other regions and receiving less investment into low carbon, heating bill reducing measures. In addition, as Allowable Solutions investment is likely to lever ECO investment, there is a risk that the proposed scheme will exacerbate the imbalance in ECO investment away from London.
The Committee’s evidence gathering process continues in November – more of which can be found here.
The Big London Energy Switch
November 2013: London Councils’ Transport & Environment Committee recently discussed its initiative ‘The Big London Energy Switch‘ (further background to which is posted here). There have been two previous auctions through the collective energy switching scheme earlier this year, in April and June, and the initiative is now open to registration to users for a further auction to take place on 19 November. The London Councils’ paper highlights that a total of 1,847 residents switched through the first auction, saving on average £114 on their annual fuel bill.
Two more boroughs are now participating in this switch, bringing the total to 23. The note highlights some findings from the evaluation of the programme, undertaken by the Energy Saving Trust, stating:
- The scheme was effective at engaging with vulnerable residents, as evidenced by the high proportion of vulnerable residents that signed up, compared to the average proportions in London’s population – 41 per cent of those that registered their interest in the scheme indicated that they receive benefits.
- The tariffs offered from the energy companies for the spring auction were not attractive enough to persuade the expected proportion of registrants to make the switch – only 9 per cent of full registrants actually switched.
The note also highlights that the auction was originally set to take place in October however – “following discussions with energy suppliers, the date of the auction would be pushed back to 19 November… The reason is that there have been delays in Ofgem and the energy suppliers reaching consensus to implement the Retail Market Review (RMR) reforms, which are designed to make the market simpler and fairer for consumers.”
“Whilst changing the auction date is inconvenient for boroughs who have already publicised the date, the change increases the likelihood of energy suppliers providing bespoke tariffs in the auction and potentially increasing savings for the majority of residents.
“Overall we are disappointed that the date of the auction has been pushed back by a month, but hope that this will mean cheaper tariffs are offered by energy suppliers at auction and that more residents will be able to benefit from the scheme.”
The full EST evaluation report of the Big London Energy Switch, which includes 31 recommendations, can be downloaded here.
Energy & Climate Questions to the Mayor
October 2013: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
Climate change leadership; London’s successful ‘green economy”;
potential for wind energy in London; the human contribution to climate change; Nissan Electric taxis‘; emissions from electric vehicles; promoting community energy through planning; Mayor’s briefing to the House of Lords on the Energy Bill; Mayoral visits to the Dagenham wind power project; RE:NEW programme advice on supplier switching; supplier switching advice; Nuclear power and London; bills savings achieved by households under RE:NEW; the Mayor’s energy advisor’s visit to New York; the Mayor’s energy advisor’s visit to Rio de Janeiro; the Mayor’s view on wind farms; London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) Advisory Committee papers; nuclear power value to Londoners; roll-over energy contracts for SMEs; CO2 savings achieved under RE:NEW; the Mayor’s energy advisor’s visit to San Francisco; the Mayor’s view on MASDAR’s investment in the London Array; the Mayor’s view on shale gas; investment opportunities for London through financing wind power projects; hosting a London ‘Climate Week‘; RE:NEW advice supplier switching; renewable electricity supply to the Tube; SOURCE London charging points; London’s need for more electricity substations; completion of Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; applications to the London Schools Hydrogen Challenge; budget allocated to the Mayor’s new Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; the Mayor’s new Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; Londoners supported through the Mayor’s Know Your Rights helpline; GLA officers working on the new Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; RE:NEW report backs; Benefit Entitlement Checks (BECs) under RE:NEW; carbon offsets for flights; key activities in the Mayor’s new Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; private sector funding leveraged by RE:NEW; targets under the Affordable Warmth and Health Action Plan; community level responses to heatwaves; disseminating research undertaken to date on how to cope with heatwaves and the health impacts of cold homes.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.