The next regular meeting will be on Thursday 11^th April 2024 at:

Thus. 11.04.24 at 19:30 and every 8 weeks

Thus. 09.05.24 at 16:30 and every 8 weeks

Here are some notes from our March meeting. Nice to see people who’ve not been for a while. If you’d like more information on any of the topics, please contact or comment on the post below.

• Mixed messages from government following some major announcements!

In Feb 2024, the government announced it will withdraw from the TCP agreement on energy trading.  This is great news as it stops energy companies from suing governments if they passed laws affecting investments in their energy projects.  It was widely hailed as a move to enable Net-Zero policies, in reality it was probably just a reflection of what was becoming a costly liability to EU countries.  In July 2023 the EU had already made that decision leaving the UK little choice.

Ministerial announcement on not exceeding planning regulation in Local Plans could have an impact on Teignbridge’s pending LP inspection. Although it may be argued that the recent court cases in Oxfordshire and the wider case against the government on the lack of clear plans for achieving Net-Zero could be used to thwart this announcement.

We also talked about the second consultation on the Review of the Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA). Misleadingly, this was reported as the government building new gas-fired power stations, in reality it has some positive proposals on supporting renewables and “transitioning away from the unabated deployment of gas-based systems…”. See the Regen response so far.

• Is my gas boiler inefficient?

This question can be applied to many things, boilers, cars, windows, etc.  We discussed what terms like “efficiency” actually mean and how cost relates to energy and to ghg emissions.  The question we need to be clear about, before deciding on a solution, is “what is the problem?”.  Is it really an inefficient boiler, are gas prices becoming unaffordable or am I consuming more because I’ve changed some setting/behaviour? 

Many of our routine services (e.g. utilities) do not register in our daily lives, nor should they.  That is until we notice an increase in our bills or hear something about them.  For those who can afford to pay the increased prices, no further though is given to the subject, or we may talk about how utility prices should be kept down so everyone can afford to heat and light their homes.

We also tend to pick a solution we’ve heard about, one which is affordable, easy to do and appealing. Often this is a random process with the judgement on efficacy based on what we’d like to tell others.  Sometimes this makes us feel good, sometimes not so good.

So the question is, how much extra effort am I prepared to put in to find an effective solution that I will be happy with in the long term? Do I want to learn enough to spot a ‘sales pitch’ or ‘greenwash’?  I’m sure most of us want to, but struggle to find the time or interest.  Understandably not everyone can, so here are some pointers to where to get someone independent help with household energy use:

1. Follow some of the advice on actions, ideally after assessing your energy/ghg emissions using the Carbon Footprint Tracker (CFT).  There is a link in the ‘results’ tab under ‘list of actions’ in the ‘help’ panel where you can search specific areas.
2. a self-help programme (Energy Assessment Pack, E-Pack) available to TECs members with ongoing support.  This is aimed at anyone who wants to learn how to make more informed decision on actions they can take.  It includes measurements and modelling which are becoming more widely available such as the CSE scheme Jules mentioned.
3. Energy Saving Devon is aimed at those who do not want, or cannot, be involved and would rather be told what to do.  There is an interactive tool to “create home upgrade plan” under Resources.
4. Hiring a Domestic Energy Assessor and/or architect/heat engineer.  Best to get recommendations from someone whose done what you are looking for.  There are emerging standards/schemes to control quality (e.g. PAS2035), but these are not yet widely used.
   

• Does self-build result in lower carbon emissions?

Here is a report summary from the self-build trade body, some interesting insights.

• An irresistible opportunity to mitigate climate change and save money?

How does this offer from Ripple Energy stand up against its claims? Look at the short introduction video, is it an offer you cannot refuse?

The key to successful advertising is to tell people they’re getting what they want.  Advertising standards are intended to stop mis-selling, but how effective are these?  Advertising codes, published by government even has a relatively new section on ‘environmental claims’ as well as the well established ‘misleading advertising’ codes. It’s not clear whether this is a rigorously implemented as intended or if there is a threshold for number of complaints which isn’t being reached.

• Standards for emissions from our built environment.

I mentioned the RICS latest version of their whole life carbon assessment for the built environment. Worth reading some of the introduction sections, ‘1.1.background’ has a useful general perspective.

• YouTube video on Retrofit.

There is a lot of material on the internet covering retrofit.  As well as the signposting at the end of our energy webpage, this publicly available AECB video was shared by Paul B.  It does go into some detail and is ~40 mins long, but worth a look if you want to understand the reasons for and key information on Retrofit.

• What is ACT planning for this year’s national elections.

This question was raised at the meeting.  Coincidentally the ACT steering group discussed this very topic; whether we should run hustings again this year. After some discussion, it was agreed to draft questions which can be sent to prospective candidates in Teignbridge’s two constituencies.  We would then share the responses.

So we’ll put some time aside at our next Energy group meeting to discuss and formulate questions. Give this some thought and either come to the next meeting or send me your questions.  Here is an example to get you going:

“Do you believe the UK should lead the world by example in setting and achieving Carbon Budgets that keep our contribution to within the 1.5C climate tipping point?  If so, what priority topics will you set ahead of this?”

Written by Fuad

Energy group coordinator

fuad@actionclimateteignbridge.org

The next regular meeting will be on Thursday 14^th March 2024 at:

Thus. 14.03.24 at 16:30 and every 8 weeks:

Then Thus. 11.04.24 at 19:30 and every 8 weeks: 

Here are some notes from our February meeting, it was nice to see new faces and several old ones, one unlit!

Apologies if anyone found the discussion on battery charging too esoteric.

• How significant are heat domes in new housing developments?

Also called urban heat islands, these can result in health consequences as well as additional energy demand for cooling.  The general view was that this applied mainly to larger town/cities when overheating is already a major concern.  Appropriate planning rules to improve green spaces/corridors and allow better air circulation are still necessary in smaller urban areas, especially now, given a warming climate.  

• The numbers are in! We can now make a statement re charging residential batteries from the grid.

Jules has developed a spreadsheet to calculate this for individual cases, please take a copy to use.  I’m hoping we can put this discussion to bed with the following statements, but feel free to comment further:

1. In the absence of any other evidence, we’ve agreed to compromise on ‘typical’ round trip efficiency (RTE) for an AC-coupled battery system of 80%. Individual usage may make this higher (~85%) or lower (~75%).
2. Charging your battery from surplus PV provides the most effective payback for your battery system. This is what ACT recommends as it also reduces your carbon emissions from the electricity you consume.
3. Charging your battery from the grid at a significantly lower tariff (e.g. off-peak period rates) can further reduce the payback, by how much will depend on several factors, such as the relative unit price; number of charging cycles; % of grid charging compared to PV charging.
4. ACT does not encourage excessive charging from the grid as this may increase your grid’s Carbon Intensity and reduce the life of your battery. Instead, we recommend a careful analysis of the various parameters to calculate the financial and carbon impacts, before opting for this.

There may be other reasons for charging a residential battery from the grid, e.g. helping reduce demand during peak periods or ensuring sufficient backup energy is available in case of a grid outage.  Reducing costs is, however, only possible in a few cases, so it is worth using the calculator above to find out first.

• How well does the finance sector follow the energy hierarchy?

It seems more and more. The headlines we hear tend to be either euphoric trumpeting technological solutions or depressing highlighting the lack of effective action.  Often the less dramatic information is not reported.  Industry and commerce is well ahead of most governments and even ahead of most people in taking decisive action. Here is an interview as an example of a business focused on the 2^nd step of the energy hierarchy.

It would be even better if financial/economic system embraced the 1^st and most effective step in the hierarchy, namely cutting out waste.  We can do much to reduce (not eliminate) the 67/70 % inefficiency in energy systems (Europe/USA respectively), but we could also eliminate 25-50% unnecessary (wasteful) energy use which is more widespread in homes/businesses than we think.  Unfortunately, there is no money to be made in using less energy and behavioural change is challenging for most people.

• Scope-3 and carbon factors, sources and how we use them.

We are updating the carbon factors used in the CFT and associated lookup tools.  Look out for an adjustment to some of these.  If you are interested in joining the discussion to include different ways of calculating ghg emissions caused by our everyday activities, please contact Fuad.

• Hot water tanks and how best to heat them.

Hot water accounts for ~20% of total heat energy used in the home.  The question on how to ‘best’ heat this when there are several choices comes up quite often.  Heat Pump (HP) owners often ask this question because of the reduced performance when heating domestic hot water.  Quite a few people have PV diverters that channel surplus electricity to the immersion element.

It is sometimes tricky to work out the actual hot water energy consumption in a domestic setting.  This becomes more difficult in a public setting because planned consumption can vary a lot.  This is where energy assessment programmes like TECs’ E-Pack can help.

Advice on this will depend on the objective and circumstances, so these need to be established first.  As a starting point, always use the energy hierarchy shown on our webpage.  That is only heat as much water as you need and only when you need it. This often reduces energy consumption by a significant amount, up to 50% when inadequate heating controls are used.

We discussed a couple of scenarios to see if it is possible to work out how to heat the required water using different technologies.  You can find a number of calculated actions in relation to heating water from the CFT results help panel, search for “hot water” in the ‘list of actions’ tool (make sure you select the year 2023).

• Vertically mounted PV panels.

There are few advantages of vertically mounted PV panels.  In the right orientation and with no obstruction low winter sun, they are likely to perform better in the winter but this is a marginal gain.  Overall, their annual output will be lower than an equivalent roof mounted system.

Planning rules apply equally to both roof and wall mounted domestic panels. It is, however, worth checking with the respective planning authority (TDC) and of course any immediate neighbours that may be affected. A number of people at the meeting expressed their experience that rules seemed to differ between different planning officers.  A case for asking for a copy of the applicable regulation?

• New study on domestic wood burners.

This study focuses on airborne pollutants like PM2.5 and other toxic emissions.  This topic is discussed from time to time at the Energy group meetings.  ACT has also published an article on the topic in early 2021, this generated several comments.

The general advice is, but each case can be different:

1. Burn wood as a primary source of heat generation, so basically using a biomass boiler, avoid room burners unless your home is a cabin in the woods.
2. Know the source of your wood to ensure ecological sustainability and associated ghg emissions.
3. Ensure your wood is of the correct quality to minimise health impairing VOC, NOx or PM emissions.
4. Take appropriate precautions to minimise serious health impairing emissions both indoors/outdoors. Urban areas are the most challenging.
5. Adhere to the latest regulations on sourcing biomass and on devices that burn these.

• Do e-mails produce more ghg emissions than paper?

Good question. We try to provide tools to help users make more informed decisions, often by comparing the impact of one or more options for doing/buying something, see the reference to these tools above.  Unfortunately, it’s not possible to populate the tools for all things as it sometimes takes a lot of research to get to a ‘good’ answer.

Luckily, we can usually find one or more ‘good’ references which we qualify to make sure they give a representative value for ghg emissions.  In this case Jules had “How Bad are Bananas” on hand.

It turns out e-mails and a sheet of paper, especially scrap paper, produce tiny amounts of ghg emissions (a fraction of a gramme CO2e).  For e-mails, most of this is related to making/using the computer.  When most of us have an annual ghg footprint of 10-20 tonnes, should we not be looking elsewhere for quick and effective reductions?

Nevertheless, we do send a lot of e-mails (and paper if we used this), so it’s good to follow the energy hierarchy mentioned above.  That is avoid unnecessary e-mail recipients, think about who needs to receive it and can you reduce the size of attached files (e.g. pictures).

Written by Fuad

Energy group coordinator

fuad@actionclimateteignbridge.org

The next regular meeting will be a zoom on Thursday 15^th February 2024 at 19:30

Happy Newy Year to you all.

Here are some notes from our January meeting, some interesting discussions on lots of topics raised by group members.

Strategic planning of gas and electricity networks.  Is TDC engaged?

This guide was launched by the Energy Networks Association, aimed at councils. A few years ago, ACT arranged a meeting for this to happen on a regular basis, not sure if this is still happening. We’ll try to find out.

Is timed low-carbon electricity matching system any closer?

This topic often raises the question of how to allocate ghg emissions to the electricity we consume from the grid. Unfortunately there are many misunderstandings often exploited by suppliers.  The TECs Greenwash guide has been tweaked to clarify some of the points raised at the meeting.

There are efforts to create software systems to enable half hourly ghg calculations.  This in leu of a monitoring/tagging standard with greater granularity than the current annual grid electricity Carbon Intensity.  The following is a recent example aimed at business consumers and generators.

Heat Pump basics (again!) and their deployment at schools, opportunities in Teignbridge.

Regen has a useful guide on shared ground source heat pumps, for use when supplying multiple buildings such as in the case of schools. Also see this example of HP deployment at schools.  Unusually, the Trust has measured things before designing the system, something ACT encourages we all do.

‘Insider’ report from COP28

Here are some takeaways from a webinar organised by the UK’s UN Global Compact Network with three speakers who had attended.

• Not just technological, we need social/behavioural change;
• action needs to be local & personal;
• need responsible business/organisations to develop a plan so as to leave the right legacy.
• Global stocktake to set targets in article 14 will need to be completed.
• GHG pricing in article 6 needs work to correctly set markets.
• Greenwashing is recognised as a serious issue.
• Easy part is over!
• Push government to have appropriate policies.

Behavioural surveys, are they useful?

This is an international survey with insights from different countries about climate change.  The relationship between level of concern, causes and actions is worth looking at more closely.

Transport Strategy consultation

Devon and Cornwall (Peninsula) questionnaire on transport strategy for the region, deadline 5^th Feb. Worth responding to as it is an opportunity to support some of the better ideas.

Observations from media outlets

BBC Radio 4 Start The Week had some good insights into the positive things that are happening as well as the economics and some science about the consequences.  The positives focused on technology, at no point throughout the 45 mins was reduction of energy consumption through behavioural change mentioned. The most unfortunate statement came from the presenter who suggested that 40% of UK energy came from renewables, this in connection to the UK being ahead of everyone else.  This of course is a mistake often repeated by politicians and media presenters.

What they should say is that ~40% of electrical energy is now generated by renewables. This represents ~17% of our total territorial energy consumption which is ~1,600 TWh/a compared to electricity which had dropped since the pandemic from 324 TWh/a in 2013 to 275 TWh/a in 2022. These figures do not include the energy we consume for the net import of goods and services.  It also varies year on year with recent reporting showing significant reductions, but mainly because of Covid.  It’s therefore worth looking at the source data (a toe = 11.630 MWh of energy).

Offsetting, what are valid actions? Tree planting, exported electricity

We discussed whether tree planting and exporting PV generated electricity to the grid can be used as a legitimate ghg emissions mechanism. This came up at the August meeting, in essence you want to make sure that the scheme:

• Needs to remove emissions which would not otherwise have been removed.
• Needs to correctly assign emissions avoided in the year that happens, not historic or future.
• Needs direct, verifiable evidence reported annually.

Sizing battery Power to maximise PV generation

Can one add batteries when on-site PV generation is much greater than on-site consumption, e.g. in the summer.  The direct answer is: technical yes but it would extremely unlikely to pay back financially within it’s expected life, it may even increase ghg emissions.

Anther topic which we’ve discussed on a number of occasions.  It really pays to do the calculations to size/design the PV and battery systems before opting for an installer’s suggestion, or even one’s own gut feeling.  To help with this please refer to the TECs guides for PV and residential battery systems.

Impact of new refrigerant (R290 vs R32) on HP efficiencies

Big claims are being made on the breakthrough R290 refrigerant will make on HP deployment.  R290, or propane, has been used as an effective refrigerant for many years.  It has several pros but also cons, e.g. it is highly flammable. HP manufacturers need to use refrigerant gases which meet the low Global Warming Potential regulations. R290 is ~3 times that of CO2 which compares very favourably to other refrigerants.

While the heat transfer coefficient of refrigerants used in HPs is important, it is not the only contributor to the overall system’s Seasonal Performance Factor (SPF).  There are several academic studies that analyse different refrigerants, e.g. this one comparing R290 to R32.

It is important to first establish that a HP is suitable for your home, something you can do relatively easily, start with the TECs guide on HPs.  When choosing a HP, it’s more important to establish the SPF based on the product data as applied to your home and how you heat it, rather than what refrigerant it uses.  It’s also useful to get real world experience of systems in operation if this is available.

Written by Fuad

Energy group coordinator

fuad@actionclimateteignbridge.org

The next regular meeting will be on Thursday 18^th January 2024

Thus. 18.01.24 at 16:30 and every 8 weeks:

Thus. 15.02.24 at 19:30 and every 8 weeks: 

Note that the December meeting is not happening. I wish everyone a great Christmas period, whatever you are doing.  Bring or sent me your topics/questions for our next drop-in meeting.  Here are some notes from our November meeting which again had new and returning faces.

Addendum to Local Plan submission, ACT’s draft response.

The council has made several changes to the Local Plan, the amended text (in red) can be commented on by 22^nd of December.  ACT has a draft response, we encourage everyone to respond to the Climate and Ecological policies if these have been amended.  It is important that as many individuals and organisation comment on these policies.

Cooperation with developers of UK’s first ‘low carbon’ road development, the A382!

Three ACT representatives will be attending a meeting with the developer and DDC’ project manager in November.  This is a Live Labs funded project is exploring a number of ways to reduce ghg emissions from both the build and operational phases. Our meeting is to explore how ACT can provide constructive input to the proposed measure and how these are calculated.

We discussed the need to ensure that any claims are verifiable so that ‘greenwashing’ is avoided.  As an example, we looked at a plug-in hybrid black cab, reported in a reputable outlet, which claims to have avoided 200,000t CO2.  There were enough numbers provided to make a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggesting that this claim was only possible if embodied emissions and emissions from electricity to charge the vehicles were ignored. An initial response appears to confirm that these were not included in the claimed emission savings.  Probably an oversight, but still greenwash!

ACT launches Carbon Lite training.

With ~75% of ghg emissions coming from burning fossil fuels for energy, ACT is keen to support organisations and individuals become more effective in tackling climate change.  We have found that many, including those actively working on mitigation, are not sure how to decide on appropriate actions for them.

ACT’s Carbon Cutter (CC) programme has been running for over a year now with several active trained CCs.  The three 1.5 hr training sessions can be challenging for some who are not yet sure of how active a role they want to play in their community.  The new single 2 hour training is aimed at those who want to be better informed, but not yet ready to becoming a CC.

All training, resources and follow-on support is provided by ACT for free.  Anyone interested, please contact ACT’s CC programme direct.   

DCC plan to trial ‘gully solutions’ for on-street EV charging.

Following on from our discussion last time on this topic, I’ve found out that DCC will soon have a project lead to investigate/evaluate a number of on-street charging solution for running a cable from the home to the vehicle parged outside.

Are bore holes a realistic option for GSHPs?

We had a good discussion about heat pumps (HP) and the difference between Air Source HP and Ground Source HP.  Unsurprisingly, this topic has come up on many occasions, but we never put numbers to the costs.

It is widely accepted that GSHPs have a better Seasonal Performance Factor (SPF) compared to ASHPs given the same building, heating system and usage.  This is because ground temperatures remain nearly constant at 8-12^OC in the UK at sea level.  These will be at the upper range in the Southwest and increase by several degrees 15 m or more below the surface.  Thermal properties of different soils will cause some variations as heat retention.

Other reasons to go for an ASHP, as quoted by an Energy group member, is problems with siting an ASHP.  This may have more to do with perceptions as these fan driven systems can be mounted discretely without causing noise or visual problems.

Unless otherwise measured, a useful rule-of-thumb is to assume an SPF of 2.7 for ASHPs and 3.5 for GSHPs.  This can vary significantly depending on the heat loss characteristics of the building and how the heating system is set up/used.  We have looked at several examples and calculated one case study comparing gas and ASHP for the same property, it would be good to get other measured examples.

There are now a number of GSHP installers/manufacturers in the UK, for example Kensa in the Southwest.  Ground loops, just below the surface, remain a popular choice if there is sufficient land area for the required heat demand.  More recently, deep vertical borehole versions have become more widely available as more people with limited space have opted for a HP system, e.g. terraced housing.

GSHP systems will be more expensive to install, but have several operational advantages.  So how much more expensive are they?  Much will depend on what groundworks are needed and how accessible these are.  The actual HP units and any changes necessary to the building/heating system will be very similar for both GSHP and ASHPs. Here is a useful guide on pricing and the different options with pictures and a video.   

Mel Stride MP meets “active climate groups”, but refuses to invite ACT.

Mel Strides invitation e-mail was a great opportunity for ACT, “inviting each of the core active climate change groups across the constituency to send one representative”.  Unfortunately, ACT were refused a representative on spurious arguments which turned out to be false!

Although ACT’s question was touched on by representatives from other groups, the subsequent report suggested that Mel Stride, despite his understanding and concerns about climate change, was not fully aware of some of the contradictions caused by recent government policy reversals.  Despite the many reports and briefings from the UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC), all the indications suggest that those in government making decisions are not fully versed with the critical importance of the legally binding Carbon Budgets.  Opting instead to aim for a distant Net-Zero by 2050.

ESO Market Survey.

Dominic reported back from the recent Electricity System Operator event he’d attended. This discussed network access, storage and demand side response.  For more information on these topics and more you can look at Regen’s resources, including Storage & Flexibility.

Written by Fuad

Energy group coordinator

fuad@actionclimateteignbridge.org