Boiler company Baxi reports lots of interests in its low carbon products at the recent Ecobuild Exhibition at London’s Excel centre.

Baxi Boiler had working models of both their flagship models, the Baxi Ecogen dual energy system and Baxi Bioflo compact biomass boiler, on the Practical Installer stand which was sponsored by Plumb Center. The models attracted a lot of attention.

Head of Sales at the Low Carbon Technologies Division at Baxi, Graham Parkes, said:
“People came to the show with preconceived ideas about biomass and combined heat and power. They were able to see the models of the products on our conventional stand, and then come and see the technology in action, and they were blown away!

“Live demonstrations like this help to take away the mystery of unfamiliar technologies. People were able to see for themselves how straightforward the products would be to install and use. We were able to show that the products could provide viable heating solutions for their homes.”

The Baxi Bioflo unit is a free standing unit which is ideal for areas where the mains gas is not available and an alternative to heating oil and LPG is required. The energy source is wood pellets which are fed via a 34kg hopper. It’s compact size means it can be stored outside of the property (say in outhouses), or indeed, in the living area.

The fuel hopper feeds pellets into the top of the boiler and when the control system signals a need for heat, the boiler automatically fires up. Pellets are dropped into combustion chamber via an intelligent feed system. The Baxi Bioflo is, say the company, easy to operate and economical in fuel terms.

The Baxi Ecogen is what’s known as a dual energy system. Looking very similar to a normal wall mounted gas boiler, it provides both heat for the house and electricity also for the home. It utilises the technology of the Free Piston Engine which can create up to 1kWh of electricity for use in the home. Anything that is not used in the home, can be sold back to the grid (3p for every kW).

Graham Parkes said:
“At Baxi, we understand that there is not a single ‘silver bullet’ to solve the issue of reducing carbon emissions in homes. It is important to match the right technology with the property and the needs of the people who live there. That’s why we have an extensive portfolio of low carbon products suitable for a range of different applications. Baxi Ecogen and Baxi Bioflo are just two of those products, and have successfully whetted the appetites of Ecobuild visitors!”

The low carbon boiler range from Baxi will continue to make a impact over the coming years.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

There’s a new gas supplier in town and the raw material is human waste.

And although it’s a new gas supplier, there’s some familiar faces behind the project. British Gas, Thames Water and Scotia Gas Networks are hoping to introduce the project to more locations throughout the country.

Residents of Oxfordshire village Didcot are the first to use gas from their own ‘poo’ to power their cookers and heating systems.

The gas is called biomethane and is a clean gas manufactured from the discharges of human waste.

The gas is extracted from the waste and then goes through a number of cleaning processes before being pumped into the national grid.

Although regarded by some as a novelty, there is a real motivation behind such projects as a EU directive has stipulated that 15% of the UK’s energy must come from renewable sources by 2020.

And this has become a priority for British Gas whose head of energy, technology and innovation, Martin Orrill, said that the Didcot project, as well as other ones like it, are a natural step to making full use of renewable resources. As to whether the residents of Didcot might be perturbed by the use of human waste gas, he said:
“They will not notice any difference as the renewable energy source has no odour, and the infrastructure to deliver the gas is already in place.”

The human waste to useable gas process makes use of existing anaerobic digesters which already exploit bacteria to generate electricity, but now also removes a by-product called biogas which is then turned into biomethane. The cycle of the process from flushed toilet to gas into the grid is only 23 days.

British Gas has installed the collection and cleaning equipment at the Didcot sewage works operated by Thames Water. Around £2.5 million has been invested in the scheme.

Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said:
“This is an historic day for the companies involved, for energy from waste technologies, and for progress to increase the amount of renewable energy in the UK.”

Experts point to the project as a great example of what can be achieved with clean technology, although it’s admitted that it’s still on a very small scale. Figures suggest that if all of the country’s sewage plants were fitted with such equipment (and there nearly 10,000 plants currently operating), then the resulting renewable gas would only be enough to power 350,000 properties. This is based on the fact that the country produces nearly two million tonnes of sewage every year, with the average person contributing 30kg every 12 months.

There is also some debate as to the financial validity of this new gas supplier, with the Department of Energy and Climate Change being quoted as saying:
“Clearly there are benefits to the scheme, but we must also consider the impact of the cost, particularly given the financial constraints we must work within and the potential impact that funding options could have on vulnerable people.”

Martin Baggs, chief executive officer at Thames Water has the last word:
“Every sewage works in Britain is a potential source of local renewable gas waiting to be put to use.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

Energy suppliers in the UK are having to cope with a transformation in their sector says Chief Executive of Centrica Sam Laidlaw.

Mr Laidlaw should know, as Centrica owns British Gas, one of the main energy suppliers in UK. Comparing this new transformation to the dramatic change in the markets in the 1990s, Laidlaw emphasised that the new challenges the energy sector faced were climate change and energy security, and that it was these two challenges that would push the sector to change so drastically.

Energy services, Laidlaw claims, will soon be just as big as the energy supply business, and that British Gas and other energy companies and services will have to change around this ‘new model’. ‘The old utility business model is dead’, Laidlaw declared. Focusing on this new transformation, Laidlaw also announced £30 million of funding from British Gas to go to the proposed Green Deal; a government idea that would try to ensure customers’ homes are more energy efficient. This money would ‘go early’, without waiting for the legislation to go through government.

Laidlaw explained: "Cutting carbon emissions from power supply alone is not enough and a greater focus must fall on energy efficiency. The focus is switching from delivering units of energy, to ensuring a well lit, warm and energy efficient home. The Green Deal has the potential to transform Britain’s housing stock. What’s needed now is to see the scheme up and running as quickly as possible. And if it is to truly transform our homes, it needs to capture all the technologies available, from insulation to microgeneration."

Laidlaw aims to cut the average carbon footprint by one third in British homes within 10 years, through more energy efficient measures being more widely applied and decarbonising the electricity supply.

It is no surprise that the Energy and Climate Change Secretary , Chris Huhne, is pleased by such thinking: "It’s great that British Gas is backing the Government’s Green Deal and investing £30 million to insulate their customers’ homes, helping them cut carbon emissions and energy bills. Once the full Green Deal is in place from 2012 we hope more consumers will benefit from a range of firms, kick starting a massive and long overdue improvement in home energy efficiency."

So energy suppliers in UK will have to change their thinking and their ways of thinking to secure low carbon affordable energy, if Laidlaw is to be proved correct.

Finally, he urges all involved in this business, including government, to work together to ensure that the change in energy service as we know it is a smooth and effective one.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

Coalition Minister Chris Huhne has told The Sunday Telegraph that he’s in favour of wind power as a way of solving the country’s looming energy crisis.

He said that more should be done to harness both offshore and onshore wind power. And these comments are being made against a backdrop of the UK having to currently import around 27% of its energy.

In a situation likely to put pressure on the new coalition, the Energy Secretary made clear his feelings that there was no money for state subsidies in order to build a new generation of nuclear plants. This was the idea which was the preferred way out of the energy crisis for both the Conservative and Labour parties.

And it’s not just a question of the Liberal Democrats being ‘coerced’ into voting for the nuclear power option. As part of the coalition agreement, they are allowed to abstain whenever a vote is taken in Parliament on funding for nuclear power.

Mr Huhne also said that he was a big supporter of electric cars. His comments were part of his general strategy to see that the UK becomes far more independent in terms of producing its own energy. This, he said, would allow the country to withstand external influences, including conflict, that usually send prices rocketing. He argues that the UK cannot survive on oil and gas which is running out.

He said that given the nightmare with planning issues, the best way forward was likely to be offshore wind farms. He told the newspaper:
“Offshore wind, I think partly as a result of fewer planning issues, is likely to be an important part of our energy independence going forward.

“We have a tremendous natural resource in the Dogger Bank, which is an enormous shallow area of the North Sea, the same size as Wales.

“It’s relatively cheap to put wind turbines in that shallow area. It’s beautifully windy so it does actually produce a lot of electricity – that is a really important natural resource for us.”

Yet of the 235 wind farms currently in operation, only 12 are operating offshore. Potentially, these farms have the capacity to generate over 4,000 mega watts of electricity, yet rarely reach that level as the wind is not consistent. As for the future, some five offshore farms are currently in construction, 27 onshore are being built and a further 468 farms are being planned.

As for nuclear power, Mr Huhne said:
“We basically said exactly the same as Labour on the point about no public subsidy. I suspect the difference is that we mean it. I suspect that new nuclear will go ahead. Investors are telling me very strongly that they expect to be able to go ahead given the framework we can put in place.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp

The UK’s religious buildings could generate some £34 million a year if they installed solar panels says the UK’s largest supplier of gas.

By installing solar panels on churches and other religious buildings including temples and mosques, the British Gas Green Streets Programme reckons that millions could be made by utilising the Feed-In Tariffs. This is a programme which pays companies, organisations and households for providing “green” electricity.

It reckons that power worth £29 million could be generated, plus savings of £5 million for not having to buy electricity from the grid, totalling £34 million.

British Gas reckons that this will be good news for the various religions that operate in the UK, especially the number of Church of England dioceses that are currently running deficits.

What’s more, British Gas reckons that the collective use of solar panels by religions could save some 42,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year which, they point out, equates to over 600 transatlantic flights.

Managing director of British Gas Phil Bentley said:
“These potential savings are great news for the UK’s religious buildings and their congregations, and give them the opportunity to lead their communities in tackling climate change and helping Britain move towards a low carbon society. Religious buildings are particularly well suited to solar power as they tend to have large south-facing rooves which receive direct sunlight for the main part of the day.

“The Government’s Feed-In Tariff scheme is the key to unlocking the potential of solar power in Britain. As Britain’s energy company, we at British Gas are committed to helping households, business and community and faith groups make the most of this opportunity to cut their carbon footprint and earn money for the electricity they generate.”

And the Church of England appear keen on the idea. A spokesman said:
“The Church of England is committed to saving energy and becoming greener throughout the UK and the potential for solar panels on our churches is an exciting prospect. Even though not all UK churches could adopt this model due to planning and architectural conservation laws, there may be thousands of Church of England buildings out there that could help create a greener future by generating clean energy as well as some much needed income.”

And it’s already happening. St Silas Church in London has already had its south facing roof equipped with solar panels. These are in the form of PV tiles which have been manufactured specially to blend in with the Welsh slate.

And the Masjid-e-Hamza Mosque in Birmingham plans to follow suit and hopes to be better off by the tune of nearly £6,500 a year.

Guest Article by Neil Camp