The next regular zoom meeting will be on Thursday 6th July 2023 at 16:30 – 18:00 (and every 4 weeks thereafter).
We started by discussing one of the attendee’s experience with their Heat Pump. Much of the energy consumption before and after conversion from mains gas was recorded. This represents an important dataset for a case study which we can add to the collection already available, more on this at our next meeting.
We spent some time discussing options on how to reduce the impact of public Christmas lights, in this case LEDs on lamp posts. The estimated energy consumption would be about 25W for 7 hr per day on 10 lampposts (~0.2 kWh each per day). After agreeing that bicycle power or converting the methane from a cow at each lamppost may be a good way of engaging the public, their practicality would present some challenges! Not least, which end to collect the methane from. In the end we decided that either electricity from the grid would probably be the lowest Carbon option (~0.26 kgCO2/kWh). To recover the emissions from making the batteries and solar panels would take some time, unless these were regularly used for other events. We didn’t do pay-back calculation for an expected product life of 10 years, so do send me yours to see how easy you found it to do the calculation.
The role of forests and other natural carbon sequestration options often comes up. This article provides some useful insights into the subject. The data seems plausible given other references to the subject. There is just one major concern in relation to the baseline number used for current CO2 emissions from using fossil fuels and cement (≈ 9.4 ± 0.5 GtC/year). Can anyone explain this given that most ‘reputable’ sources put that number at ~34 GtCO2/year just from burning fossil fuels?
Several of you sent in the Rowan Atkinson piece on EVs in the Guardian newspaper. Much of this, but not all, reflects ACT’s position on the matter as reflected by the references to EVs on our website. Specifically, that we should not just buy a new EV, instead we should consider (calculate) the full life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of this and other options appropriate to our specific circumstances. I’ve previously mentioned the rule-of-thumb; if you do less than 5,000 mi/p.a. you are likely to increase your overall emissions, within the expected life of the vehicle, if you replaced your old ICE with an EV. If you do more than 10,000 mi/p.a. you are likely to reduce your overall emissions.
We didn’t have a chance to discuss Simon Evans’ response ‘debunking’ all the points made in the initial piece. Maybe we should pick some of these up at our next meeting, in particular the various references to ‘evidence’ why Rowan is wrong, e.g. the government’s cost-benefit analysis and the source of the life-cycle emissions analysis. Note the disclaimer in the latter “We emphasise that the forward-looking projections, forecasts, or estimates are based upon interpretations or assessments of available information at the time of writing”. Also to note is that both Guardian articles are using general assumptions on vehicle usage and owner behaviour, these do not apply to everyone.
There are some useful webinars being hosted as part of the Community Energy fortnight, please check availability as these are happening now.
We also briefly covered:
- Some of the possible volatility in the electricity supply and how this might play out in the UK.
- Geothermal potential in the UK (this is not the same as ground source heat pumps!).
- Presenting greenhouse gas emissions in a more accessible way, Real World Visuals offering a good example.
- How to end the climate crisis in one generation! Nexus from Regeneration.org
best wishes Fuad
Coordinator for the ACT Energy group
covering energy, built environment and transport
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