Renew On Line (UK) 27

Extracts from the July-Aug 2000 edition of Renew
These extracts only represent about 25% of it

9. Around the World

Energy Clash in Norway

In March, the Norwegian Government stepped down after losing a vote of confidence in parliament, relating to the Prime Minister’s objection to the construction of five gas-fired power stations - an option advocated by the opposition.

The minority three-party coalition government had searched for different political solutions, including emission quotas, but finally the majority rejected an ultimatum over changes in the pollution regulation law. At present, Norway generates most of its electricity from hydropower. But with growth in affluence, fuelled by Norways share in North sea oil and gas, demand for electricity is increasing, so the introduction of cheap fossil fuel seems inevitable. Greenpeace commented ominously that "Norway's Prime Minister will not be the last head to roll in the low intensity carbon war."

However the situation in Norway could make it a good place to test new technologies. Norway have already developed some novel wave energy systems, and Shell and Siemens Westinghouse recently announced that they are developing a pilot fuel cell project to test the viability of zero carbon dioxide emitting gas-fired power stations. The 250kW pilot plant will be based on new solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and carbon dioxide (CO2) recovery technologies developed by the two companies. Captured CO2 would be sequestered in underground reservoirs, after which it could be injected into oil wells to increase production or sold for use in fish farms, agricultural greenhouses and so on. According to Shell, an additional benefit of the technology is that "nitrogen oxide emissions are extremely low (at less than 0.5ppm) compared with other power generation technologies".

Shell added "One of the early applications is likely to be offshore oil and gas operations, which require huge amounts of electricity. This is particularly important in Norway where 20% of the country's CO2 emissions comes from its offshore activities."

The technology could also be used for larger, land-based power stations, according to Norske Shell, but is not expected to be commercially viable for several years.

Details from Norske Shell http://www.shell.no

Swedens Biomass to help replace nuclear power?

Biomass is the strongest contender to replace nuclear power in Sweden, although it can't fill the power vacuum on its own, according to the head of Sweden's National Energy Administration, Thomas Korsfeldt. He told Reuters"Biomass stands for 92 terawatt hours (TWh) of Sweden's 480 TWh energy production and it could be increased by 40-50 TWh without harming the environment."

Biomass power, from the combustion of bark, straw, rice husks and wood chips, accounts for 19 % of the energy produced in Sweden and is used for district heating and electricity production. But the other renewables could also play a part - along with energy conservation and the more efficient use of energy.

Sweden closed its first reactor in November last year, in line with a decision to phase out all its 11 nuclear power plants, and plans to close a second reactor in 2001

CHINA'S SOLAR DEAL PUTS UK IN THE SHADE

Following a 1998 deal which provided solar electricity to Zimbabwe's rural households, China is about to equip Zimbabwe's capital city, Harare, with solar power. Other African countries are also reported to be interested in buying Chinese solar technology. Already, China manufactures as many photovoltaic (PV) cells as the UK. Another country emerging as a strong player is India, who produced five times as much PV as the UK in 1999. BP, one of the key manufacturers in India, has no PV manufacturing capacity in the UK. (Source: Frontier News Greenpeace)

The UK government however still claims that its policy is the correct one. In a House of Commons debate in January the Energy Minister Helen Liddell commented ‘PV is currently an expensive means of generation. Critics argue that the government could create a market by subsidising installations and that that would lead to economies of scale and a self- sustaining market. I do not think that would work because the costs are too high and the UK market is too small. I am not yet persuaded that the cost could be justified by the social and environmental benefits- this is an emerging technology. A 50,000-roof proramme with a 50% subsidy, as has been suggested by Greenpeace and others, would cost the taxpayer about £250 million.’

She added ‘That is not to say that we do not support photovoltaics - we do - but we need to ensure that we move towards a more cost - effective programme’, but she didn’t give any idea of how that was to occur. Indeed, she was also dismissive of the idea of Net Metering, claiming that ‘it is not immediately obvious’ that net metering would give PV projects the full value of the embedded power they produced, although she was not against the idea of the benefits of embedded generation being recognised.

TEXACO LEAVES CARBON CLUB

Texaco has become the first major US oil company to leave the Global Climate Coalition, the industry group that opposes action to reduce fossil fuel emissions. Texaco said it is not leaving the group because of any fundamental differences of opinion but because it wanted to speak for itself and through other broader-based organisations on the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. BP Amoco and Shell have already left the GCC, as have Ford and DaimlerChrysler.

Wind gets even bigger

Windpower keeps on expanding - globally it passed the 12GW mark a while back, and in Europe, according to new figures published by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), it reached 8,800MW by the end of 1999, rising over 30% during the year. The EWEA says the pace of growth proves that its 1998 claim that wind could provide 20% of European electricity by 2020 is "realistic"

Last year, Germany added nearly 1,300MW of new capacity, bringing its total to over 4000GW. Other large increases were recorded in Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy. The UK however is still limping along at around 350 MW.

Source: EWEA

Urban Renewables

Cities "have largest potential for renewables"

EU member states should be forced to adopt local and regional renewable energy action plans as part of the forthcoming renewables directive, a conference on European cities concluded last week. Organised by Energie-Cités, a grouping of EU municipalities involved in energy saving initiatives, the meeting concluded that the greatest potential for growth in renewable energy generation was in urban areas.

Held in Verona, Italy, the Energie-Cités seminar showcased innovative projects from around the EU. According to Mariàngels Pérez Latorre of the European Commission's energy directorate, who spoke at the seminar, "prospects for market penetration [of renewables] are the highest... in urban areas," despite being considered a rural form of energy until relatively recently.

She argued that, on a technical level, urban areas consume more energy and their buildings can incorporate more passive and active solar designs, while, politically, local authorities tend to have more autonomy in cities and can thus cut red tape in introducing schemes. Source: ENDS Daily Energie-Cités: http://www.energie-cites.org   Tel: +32 2 544 0921.

Tidal Warming?

It may not be the sun that’s the ultimate source of Global warming - but also the moon. That's the theory posited by Charles Keeling of the Scipps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California. The moon evidently suffers very long term 1500-1800 year cyclic oscillations in its orbit around the earth and the consequent change in the alignment of the earth, sun and moon influences the tides on earth - which in turn stir up more or less cold water from the depths. And that can trigger climate changes. Keeling suggests that this process was responsible for triggering the Little Ice Age 500 years ago. If so, then that means we have a while before we need to worry again - the next cycle will not hit until 3100 or so.