Saturday, 31 May 2014

energy: by 2026 100% of german houses will be zero energy consumers... in the uk it will be under 5%.

When discussing the most efficient forms of energy, there are very different perspectives to be had: 
Futures Forum: What are the most efficient forms of energy? another look at nuclear...
Futures Forum: What are the most efficient forms of energy.. at a local level?

The letters pages of the Guardian have been considering this, in response to a piece by Simon Jenkins:

Renewable energy won't rid us of the horrors of coal

The Turkish disaster has brought home the grave costs of mining. But hysteria-led policies will only make matters worse

Simon Jenkins The Guardian, Thursday 15 May 2014 20.34 BST
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‘The death rate among Chinese miners may be down from some 6,000 a year at the turn of the century, but is still over 1,000 a year.' Illustration: Noma Bar

If 300 workers were to die in a nuclear accident or a shale gas blast, such an energy source would be doomed. Not so coal. Coal is the filthiest and most polluting form of energy, and the most dangerous to extract. I recall my Welsh grandfather boasting that none of his sons had "gone down the pit". Yet coal continues to exert a mesmeric hold on the world's imagination, especially on the left.


Renewable energy won't rid us of the horrors of coal | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian

In Germany, there are different perspectives on energy:
Futures Forum: “Energiewende” – energy transformation... reducing dependence on fossil fuels and changing the role of the large traditional utilities.
Futures Forum: Renewables are proving too successful in Germany...

To return to the letters page of the Guardian, it might not be just a question of power generation...

You can't write off the contribution of wind energy

The Guardian, Thursday 22 May 2014 21.00 BST


Thanet, off the coast of Kent, is Europe's biggest wind farm. Photograph: Carl Fox/Mirrorpix

As well as the coal miners killed in disasters, Simon Jenkins (A dash for renewables won't rid us of the horrors of coal, 16 May) could have added their occupational illnesses, as well as the diseases suffered by everyone as a result of breathing air polluted by burning coal. The great London smog of December 1952 killed more than 15,000 people. Electricity has a high political profile but only represents about 12% of end user power consumption, and unlike other fuels, electricity cannot be stored, so generation and consumption must be simultaneous. As peak electricity use only occurs for about 20% of the day, there are idle generators for more than 80% of the time.

The biggest UK energy problem is not supply but waste. By 2026 100% of German houses will be zero energy consumers. In the UK it will be under 5%. Thirty years ago more than 60% of electricity was coal-fired; today the figure is 38%. Electricity generation wastes nearly 60% of input energy. Other EU countries have combined heat and power stations that are 70% efficient. The most wasteful sector is transport at nearly 80%, and 99% dependent on oil. Indeed, more than 80% of all UK oil is now used for transport, as other oil uses have been replaced mostly by gas. There is as yet no economic alternative to oil for transport, but there needs to be: toxic transport fumes kill about 29,000 people a year, and all UK cities breach both the WHO and EU air standards.
Professor LJS Lesley
Liverpool


You can't write off the contribution of wind energy | @guardianletters | Environment | The Guardian

That is, German-built housing is much more efficient in terms of how they are built:

The German KfW programme stands out as one of the most successful measures for building renovations, which will be accompanied by a long term renovation roadmap targeting nearly zero-energy building standards for renovation by 2050.



www.zerocarbonhub.org/sites/default/files/resources/reports/Zero_Carbon_Compendium_Whos_doing_what_in_Housing_Worldwide_2011.pdf

Whereas in the UK, there's still a long way to go:

The UK’s housing stock is amongst the least energy efficient in Europe, and is responsible for nearly a quarter of our annual carbon emissions. 

Retrofit for homes | UK Green Building Council

And if we compare with Sweden, it is similarly not very impressive:



























www.energybillrevolution.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ACE-Research-Comparing-the-UK-and-Sweden-3.12.13.pdf

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