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Inaccurate CRC Report Fines:

Felipe — Wed, 04 May 2011 07:15:51 +0000

Big Fine for Companies Who Provide Inaccurate CRC Reports

Time is running out for UK organisations whose half hourly electricity consumption totals more than 6,000 MWh per year (equivalent to approximately £500,000 annual spend) and are yet to compile all data for their CRC report.

Companies covered under this Energy Efficiency Scheme must provide a carbon emission report based on their annual energy consumption by the end of July, more precisely the 31st. Those who fail to meet the deadline will face severe financial penalties.

For instance, companies who hand in their CRC reports after the deadline will have to pay a fine of £5,000, plus £500 for each day that the report is overdue.

Inaccurate reports could cause serious damage to a business’s energy bill with increases of 5 to 10 percent. For each tonne either over or under-reported the fine is £40. For example, an organisation spending £20 million on energy could expect a fine of £1 million for a 20% error. Ouch!

A more realistic example would be, an organisation with an energy bill of half a million pounds, submitted 20 days late and with a 20% error, could face a fine of £55,433 (11% extra).

Recently the consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCooper conducted a research and found that only 21% of the companies interviewed were monitoring and reporting their carbon emissions. Out of the 160 companies surveyed only 67% reported that they were CRC participants.

Henry Le Fleming, carbon reporting specialist at PwC, said, however, that many companies are unprepared for the process of collecting the data, having not “stress tested their processes, systems and controls”.

In fact, the Carbon Commitment Reduction Scheme is not a considered scheme anymore, it is a straight forward tax intended to promote energy efficiency by the country’s largest users of energy.

Companies who comply with the scheme providing accurate CRC reports will enjoy significant financial benefits in the long run, due to improved energy efficiency. If done accurately these companies could reduce energy expenditure of 10% every year.

Complete information about the CRC can be found at our Carbon Commitment Reduction page. For more details about PWC’s research visit their website at: http://www.pwc.co.uk

If you would like more information on our range of energy services or would simply like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

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Oil Prices Hit New Highs:

Felipe — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 06:12:41 +0000

Brent Crude Hits Highest Levels since Financial Crisis

Brent crude oil prices hit a 2 1/2 year high and firmed at $121.06 yesterday. Concerns of a disruption in supply due to the unrests in the Middle East and the lowest US unemployment rate in two years were the major factors for this surge in oil prices. Last time Brent crude oil prices traded above the $120 mark was back in September 2008, right in the middle of the financial crisis. According to some analysts we have reached a “danger point” and if oil prices continue to rise global economy could suffer an inflationary shock putting global growth to a halt.

Estimates from the International Monetary Fund suggest that every $10 increase on oil prices shaves 0.2pc off world growth. Before the turmoil started in the Middle East Brent crude oil was being traded at around $98 to $100 a barrel, so with prices now at the $120 mark we can conclude that global growth will retract 4pc, based on the IMF estimates.

Over the past few days’ oil prices surged from $115 to $120. Market analysts stated that such increase was a “cumulative impact” of weeks of unrests in the Middle East, especially with military action in Libya showing no signs of an easy resolution.

Speaking to The Telegraph Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at Barclays Capital, said:

“Oil at $120 is a psychological level and it looks like it could be a trigger number, with markets suspecting something on the supply side from Saudi Arabia or OPEC. Spare capacity is becoming more limited and there is concern about the next supply outage.”

Paul Horsnell wasn’t the only analyst questioned by The Telegraph over the surge in oil prices. In the article “Oil rises above $120: what the analysts are saying” renowned market analysts explained why Brent crude oil prices peaked.

What affects will higher Brent crude Oil Prices have in the UK economy?

So it has already doubled the Monetary Policy Committee’s 2pc target at 4pc as climbing oil prices could accelerate inflation. The Office of Budget Responsibility has already estimated an increase of 0.5 percentage points in inflation this year due to the increase in oil prices since November 2010.

Not to mention other commodities that are directly and indirectly tied to crude like energy and gas. Higher oil prices means higher energy and gas prices.

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Japan’s Disaster Impacts on UK:

Felipe — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:17:42 +0000

Japan’s Disaster Impacts on the UK Energy Market

As uncertain to the future of the UK energy market, Japan’s disaster has caused even more uncertainties. Should the government stick with the nuclear energy programme? Or was what happened at Fukushima’s nuclear plant a warning that as efficient as nuclear might be, safety comes first?

Once again energy market specialists are divided into two groups. Those that believe Japan’s nuclear crisis will change global energy markets for good and those that despite knowing the risks of nuclear power plants still think the Government must not divert from its nuclear energy programme.

The events at Fukushima nuclear power station are likely to change national energy policies in nuclear countries and that includes the UK. China has already suspended new nuclear plant approvals and those that are under construction that do not conform to safety standards must immediately cease construction.

New safety policies and other costs for new and existing nuclear power plants could turn nuclear power less economic or even uneconomic. Nuclear’s loss could be natural gas and renewable’s gain. Although it is very early to say how this will affect the British power sector potential changes should not be downplayed.

Speculative analysis shows that gas could significantly be impacted by long-term policy changes which could lead to higher gas prices.

“With gas-fired power stations normally the marginal source of generation capacity in the UK, this is likely to result in higher electricity prices.” – stated an Energy Broker.

Unfortunately the UK relies on nuclear power stations to replace coal-fired stations that will be switched off over the next decade. Even those who once described nuclear energy as a “tried, tested and failed technology”, are now advocating that Britain needs a more balanced energy strategy, in which nuclear will be crucial.

On Sunday, Chris Hune, the energy secretary, ordered the chief nuclear officer to conduct an immediate review of the safety of Britain’s nuclear power stations.

Mr Hune who once was totally against nuclear power has recently turned into a supporter for new nuclear stations. Right now there are plans for five nuclear plants to be built in the UK over the next decade. Shifting to nuclear is crucial if Britain is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.

Despite agreeing that the UK will need to rely on nuclear to “keep the lights on”, Mr Hune still believes the UK can meet its climate change commitments without relying too much on nuclear.

“We can do the 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050 without new nuclear, but it will require a big effort on carbon capture and storage and renewables.”

On the other hand, the Conservatives are likely to oppose any move to scale back the nuclear programme. The prime minister said that nuclear should be par of the mix.

I leave you with the questions asked in the beginning of this article – Should the government stick with the nuclear energy programme? Or was what happened at Fukushima’s nuclear plant a warning that as efficient as nuclear might be, safety comes first?

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Middle East Unrests Continues:

Felipe — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:29:12 +0000

Middle East Unrests Continue to Influence Gas Prices

UK gas prices climbed to its highest levels in more than 21 months supported by conflicts in Middle East which are pushing Brent crude oil prices close to the $120 a barrel. On Monday Brent crude oil prices firmed at $117.40 a barrel, causing a rally in the UK gas market. Winter gas contract prices climbed to 68.50 pence per therm on Monday morning, the highest since May 2009.

Concerns about the turmoil in Libya, tensions in Saudi Arabia and rumours of the wave of anti-government protests spreading across the Middle East and North Africa, spooked the market early this week.

So far Libya has cut off only 2 percent of Europe’s gas supply but as unrests spread to countries like Oman, Yemen and Algeria, the uncertainties about future oil and gas production in these countries increase.

“The potential disruptions of gas production in countries currently under social unrest are significant,” – said an energy broker.

Higher oil costs push up some mainland European gas contracts and affect prices in the U.K. because of pipeline connections to Europe. Stronger oil also means that European gas suppliers may buy gas in the UK over the coming months as their oil hooked up prices rise in price.

Gas for summer 2011 contracts rose 1.75 pence to 59 pence and April’s climbed to 58.90 pence. Meanwhile spot gas prices were traded at 59.75 pence on Monday, up 2 pence from Friday. On Tuesday prices continued to surge hitting 60 pence per therm. At the time of writing.

Stronger gas prices means higher energy prices, baseload power for Tuesday was traded at 51 pounds per megawatt-hour. The biggest rise was seen on Winter 2011/12 contracts with increases of 2 pounds trading at 56.90 pounds per megawatt-hour. At the time of writing.

Updated

U.K. natural-gas and power contracts declined after two days of gains as crude fell and milder weather was forecast.

Gas for summer, the six months from April, lost as much as 1.55 pence, or 2.6 percent, to 58 pence a therm, according to broker prices compiled by Bloomberg. It was at 58.4 pence as of 9:25 a.m. in London. The winter contract dropped as much as 1.05 pence to 67.75 pence.

Gas for same-day delivery fell 0.9 pence to 58.9 pence.

Power for next month dropped for the first time in nine days, losing 90 pence, or 1.8 percent, to 50.10 pounds a megawatt-hour.

source: Bloomberg Businessweek

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How to Hire An Energy Broker:

Felipe — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:01:32 +0000

The Importance of Hiring an Energy Broker

Every week we bring you the latest UK energy and gas prices. These prices vary on a daily basis influenced by a series of factors that we talked about in our article: “Understanding the Fluctuation of UK Gas Prices“. As professional gas and energy brokers it is our job to stay on top of the news in order to find the best deals for our clients.

Now imagine you having to do all this for your business or allocating employees that have no experience in the UK energy market, to find your organisation the best business energy and business gas prices. First you would be wasting time that could be used on other projects that matter to your business, and second these professionals wouldn’t be able to find you the best deals because they don’t have the market knowledge to do so.

That is why it is extremely important to hire independent energy brokers if you want to not only find the best energy and gas contract, but also improve the energy efficiency of your business.

Energy brokers have the market intelligence to understand and predict market conditions, therefore, finding the best contracts that will reduce costs and improve efficiency. Leaving you with the calm and tranquillity to focus on what really matters to your business.

There is nothing like a fresh pair of eyes to uncover areas for significant improvement that may not have been previously identified. Energy consultants have the advantage of working with many different organisations in various niches which make them versatile professionals capable of finding energy management solutions for just about any business.

Another factor that highlights the importance of hiring independent energy brokers is supplier relation. Here at Catalyst for instance we work on behalf of thousands of UK companies which give us a bigger bargain power when purchasing energy or gas from suppliers.

Before you ask if we were not going to bring you the latest gas and energy prices, here they are:

Gas Prices

Gas for Tuesday delivery rose 0.20 pence to 56.00 pence per therm at 1005 GMT, and day-ahead contracts gained 0.25 pence to 55.95 pence. Gas for April rose to 54.90 pence and gas for delivery next summer went up 0.05 pence and traded at 54.80 while winter gas surprisingly fell 0.15 to 64.35 pence.

Energy Prices

Day-ahead power gained 0.25 pounds on the previous session to 48.45 pounds per megawatt-hour (MWh).

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Middle East Price Impact:

Felipe — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 23:47:43 +0000

Gas Prices Rise as Middle East Unrest Continues

What started in Egypt seems to be spreading all over the Middle East. Popular revolt and political uncertainty is making investors plan for the unpredictable, as crude oil prices continues to rise, which in turn is contributing to higher gas and energy prices.

When the protests started in Egypt crude oil prices were below the $100 mark, more precisely at $98 a barrel. Last Monday the Brent crude oil barrel was traded at $108. As UK gas prices are tied up to oil prices, prompt and curve gas prices rose too.

Prompt gas contracts for immediate and day-ahead delivery were both up nearly one penny from Monday’s close at 54.55 pence. While winter 2011 gas contract traded at 63.50 pence per therm, the highest level since October 2009.

On Tuesday morning National Grid data showed that the system was undersupplied which associated with a slightly higher increase in demand was also responsible for higher wholesale gas prices.

Since nearly 50% of UK power production uses gas as a fuel day-ahead energy prices also reported an increase of 0.75 pounds and were traded at 47.25 pounds per megawatt-hour. A drop in wind power generation also added to higher energy prices.

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Bill Gates Investing Millions:

Felipe — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:08:32 +0000

Bill Gates Investing Millions to Stop Global Warming

The man who revolutionised personal computing now wants to revolutionise the way we generate energy. After stepping down as the CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates has been investing millions of dollars to fight global warming; his ultimate goal is to find an energy source completely free of CO2 emissions.

Will Bill Gates ever find a way to generate carbon-free energy? Have your say here.

For the past few years Gates has dedicated most of his time and money to projects that range from the development of high voltage batteries to machines capable of extracting CO2 from the air.

As one of the most successful business men in history his words carry enormous credibility which gives more visibility to projects that might not leave the drawing board. Above all Bill Gates is seen as a visionary and if he believes such projects could change our lives, a lot of people will sit and hear what he has to say.

According to Mr. Gates the world needs an “energy miracle”, an energy source that is reliable, cheap and carbon free. He says we shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket and purse every available path to achieve this really big breakthrough.

Around the globe there are many countries generating energy from renewable energy resources that look very promising but not big enough to cause the impact needed to make a change. Tidal energy, geothermal and even wind are all good and clean energy generating resources but we need more than that.

The father of Windows is working on a new nuclear approach called travelling-wave reactor, which uses waste uranium for fuel. That dream is far from becoming a reality but if it does we could have cheaper energy with no CO2 emissions.

To sum things up Bill Gates points out two immediate solutions the American and other Governments around the globe should take note to make the transition towards a carbon free society quicker. Increase investment in research and development of new energy generating technology and a well structured energy plan that considers each option based on the likelihood of success.

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Commercial Gas Rates:

Felipe — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:53:31 +0000

Commercial Gas Prices Ease – While Energy Prices Remain Steady

The ups and downs of UK commercial gas prices continue, while energy prices remain steady, thanks to the restart of nuclear reactors over the weekend. Right now several factors are influencing British wholesale gas prices.

Last week fear that the turmoil in Egypt could close the Suez Channel, made gas prices go up by a couple of pounds at the end of last week. Disruptions in the supply from the Langeled pipeline due to power failures in Kollsnes gas processing plant, also had it shares of guilt in higher gas prices.

According to National Grid data, on Monday night imports from Norway dropped to levels below 20 mcm, a plunge of 70 percent in supply. But on Tuesday morning flows returned to 70 mcm and Kollsnes, the Norwegian gas processing plant returned to full capacity after the unexpected outages due to power cuts.

With the unexpected drops in supply from Norway storage sites had to increase their flows which helped to maintain tranquillity in the UK gas system.

“Storage reacted to the drop in Langeled flows and demand is off so (we have a) comfortable system,” one gas trader said.

Despite a four day delay, the Al Mafyar LNG gas tanker finally birthed at Britain’s South Hook terminal yesterday morning which helped to keep commercial and business gas prices low.

Spot gas prices on Tuesday were traded at 54.00 pence per therm, down 3 percent, and today’s spot gas prices were traded yesterday at 53.90 pence, down 1p.

Curve contracts followed the bearish prompt lower, and softer oil prices also weighed on long-term gas contracts. Traders also said that a strong sell-off in March contracts had a knock-on effect on prices further out.

March fell 0.65 pence to 53.85 pence ($8.67 per mmBtu) per therm, while front summer gas prices dropped 25p and were traded at 52.62 pence.

Meanwhile energy prices remained steady despite the ups and downs of wind power generation. Storms boosted wind farms output well above 1,000 megawatts (MW) over the weekend, but a drop in wind speed yesterday resulted in wind power dropping to just above 500MW.

Day-ahead power prices gained 60 pence to 46.85 pounds per megawatt-hour (MWh). Front-month March fell in line with weaker gas prices as it traded at 46.40 pounds, 70 pence below the previous session.

If you would like more information on our range of Commercial Gas services or how we compare gas prices, or would simply like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

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Energy Market Report Feb11:

Catalyst Commercial Services Ltd — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 04:53:43 +0000

Energy Market Report February 2011

Our monthly analysis of the UK gas and power markets is now available on line for the month of February 2011. The service is intended to keep you up to date with all the major news in Europe’s gas and power markets. It is also designed to keep power executives focused on market activity in an easy to digest format.

Your find our February 2011 report here and all historical energy reports can be located here.

If you would like more information on our services or would like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

UK Business Energy Prices Drop:

Felipe — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 10:59:23 +0000

Energy Prices Drop Despite The Cold Weather

Despite going through one of the coldest winters in history, UK energy prices dropped. Strong gas supply from Norway, imported LNG and the restart of a nuclear reactor helped bring household and business energy prices down.

Normally when temperatures drop gas prices go up. This winter temperatures are several degrees below seasonal average which should have rocketed gas prices. Energy prices are highly influenced by gas prices, so every time gas prices go up energy prices soon follow.

“Everything has traded lower on gas,” said an energy broker.

Back in December we reported that UK Business Gas Prices Drop despite Forecasted Cold Spell, at the time a strong supply from Norway and Netherlands plus strong imports of LNG forced gas traders to lower their prices.

The same is happening again. National Grid data showed Norwegian gas via Langeled was flowing 69 mcm/day, while the Interconnector was adding 12mcm/day and Britain’s LNG terminals were supply around 90 mcm.

Gas prices for Wednesday dropped 60p for spot contracts compared to late December and were traded at 57.80 pence per therm. Gas for February and March was down 2 pence and was traded at 57.80 and 57.50, respectively.

In the power market energy prices followed and British baseload power prices for delivery on Wednesday was 49.85 pounds per megawatt-hour (MWh) and 55 pounds per MWh in peak, down GBP1.65 per MWh.

On the N2EX wholesale power exchange, the day-ahead power auction cleared GBP3.51 lower than the previous day at GBP48.65/MWh.

But gas wasn’t the only reason energy prices dropped. The restart of Oldbury 2 220 MW nuclear reactor and its reintegration to the grid also played an important role in plunging UK energy prices.

There are also energy brokers that believe floods in Australia might influence UK gas and energy prices if coal supply is interrupted. UK coal surplus is high which means it won’t affect prices just yet.

Further more, weekend base was heard at GBP48/MWh, down GBP3 from the previous weekend, and week 2 base was offered at GBP50.75/MWh.

If you would like more information on our range of energy broker services or would like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

Internet’s Energy Consumption:

Felipe — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 04:04:01 +0000

The Internet’s Energy Consumption and Its Carbon Footprint

Over the past few years there has been an ongoing debate about the growing amount of energy needed to power the World Wide Web, a.k.a the Internet, and the impacts on our environment. Many have tried to pin down the exact amount of energy needed to power the internet and its carbon footprint. Recently The Guardian published an article saying that the Internet’s carbon footprint was around 300 million tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to every person in the UK flying to America and back twice over.

The article was published in August and with the number of internet users growing by the day worldwide I wouldn’t be surprised if these figures were higher nowadays. According to the UN by the end of the year there will be 2 billion world internet users, that is 1/6 of world population.

Hypothetically, if these growth rates remain the same, the entire world would be online by 2020.

To measure the Internet’s exact power consumption and then determine its carbon footprint we would need to know the precise number of computers, laptops and mobile phones that are online these days (which we don’t). Add that to the amount of energy consumed by all the Data Centres worldwide to then determine the internet power consumption and its carbon footprint.

Scary isn’t it? But we gathered some data just to give you a better understanding of roughly how much energy is needed to power the World Wide Web these days.

Back in 2006, data centres in America consumed a total of 61,000,000,000 kWh (yes you read it right 61 trillion kWh), which is enough to power the UK for 2 whole months.

A single Google search produces 0.2g of CO2. Not that much right? But now, 3,100,000 Google searches emit enough CO2 to power an average house for a whole month.

The monthly searches processed by Google produce 260 tons of CO2 which is equivalent to power an American fridge-freezer for 5,400 years. This consumes 3,900,000 kWh of energy, which is equal to washing 5.57 million loads of laundry.

But wait, it gets worse! A single spam message produces the equivalent of 0.3 grams of CO2. Multiply that by 62 trillion pieces of spam circling the World Wide Web each year and we have the emissions equivalent of driving around the Earth 1.6 million times.

Despite its huge energy consumption the internet is likely to play an important role as we move towards a low carbon economy. Thanks to advances in communication technologies an estimated 40% of the working population could work from home. If 40% of American workforce worked from home twice a week, carbon emission would be reduced by 53 million metric tons year, equivalent of taking 10 million cars on the road.

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New Wind Farms All Over Britain:

Felipe — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:33:20 +0000

Wind Farms To Spring Up All Over Britain

Wind Power a low cost green technology for the future - It is becoming ever so clear that the Government is planning in relying mostly on wind power to achieve its climate change bills commitment. By 2020, 15% of all energy generated in Britain must come from renewables. As the windiest place in Europe it is only logical that we rely on this type of renewable energy resource.

The Government is subsidising a handful of projects that are working on making eolic energy generation more efficient. Two of these projects have caught our attention – Floating Wind Farms and the new generation of giant wind turbines.

Floating wind farms have been discussed for quite a while now and the progress in research made by companies like Statoil are making a viable business opportunity for the near future.

The technology basically copies the principles from floating oil rigs and it will allow wind turbines to be sited in waters as deep as 300m. At the moment wind farms are usually sited at depths of up to 30m before it becomes difficult to build a standing structure.

These floating wind farms could also solve the complaint problems of many communities that are against onshore and offshore wind farms which are close to the shore and are blamed for ruining views.

But that problem won’t be solved anytime soon as a new generation of giant wind turbines taller than anything which has been built so far in the UK are planned for Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that two companies lodged plans to built wind farms with turbines of 493ft high. For reference these turbines will be three times taller than Nelson’s Column and two-thirds the height of Canary Wharf Tower.

According to the Sunday Telegraph that is only the tip of the iceberg as there is a total of 20 projects for these giant wind turbines.

As expected communities where the turbines will be built fear they are far too big and will blight the British landscape. Some claim that if it wasn’t for consumer subsidies made available by the Government these turbines would not be economically viable. Others go as far as saying that these turbines will be built in places where there is not much wind.

A spokeswoman for RenewableUK, the trade body for the renewable energy industry, said: “The increase in size is actually improving the economic benefits of wind energy since greater yields can be achieved, while maintaining the low environmental impact of smaller sized turbines.”

And added:

“Those seeking to block wind farm developments on the grounds of aesthetics are actually preventing the flow of thousands of pounds of investment into their local communities.”

Whether wind farms are built onshore or offshore and if they reach sky high heights or not don’t really matter to me as long as they prove to be efficient. So the Government and its regulatory bodies must be very strict when approving subsidies to renewable energy generation projects.

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Energy Market Report Dec10:

Catalyst Commercial Services Ltd — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:02:21 +0000

Our monthly analysis of the UK gas and power markets is now available on line for the month of December 2010. The service is intended to keep you up to date with all the major news in Europe’s gas and power markets. It is also designed to keep power executives focused on market activity in an easy to digest format.

Your find our December 2010 report here and all historical energy reports can be located here.

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

Global Warming Fact and Figures:

Felipe — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 01:58:42 +0000

Fact and Figures about Global Warming

There are many facts and myths surrounding global warming but there is no debate in the scientific world that human evolution has contributed to it. In this article you will find facts and figures that prove human kind are contributing towards climate change. In the last 50 years, Alaska’s temperature has gone up around twice the rate of the rest of the world.

This could very well be because Alaska is close to one of the biggest producers of green house gases countries.

Aviation is considered responsible for about 3.5% of climate change, but that figure could reach 15% by 2050 as air travel increases.

If China eventually uses as much paper as the U.S. currently does, it will need twice as much as the entire world now produces. Imagine how many trees will have to be cut down to produce that much paper.

Landfills account for more than one-third of all emissions of methane (a greenhouse gas) in the United States. In third world countries this margin is even bigger.

Loading the dishwasher fully, instead of using partial loads, can save about 100 pounds of carbon a year.

Putting your computer in sleep mode instead of using a screen saver is good for saving almost 1,100 pounds of carbon annually.

Since 2007 China is the world leader in total carbon dioxide emissions with 6018m metric tonnes of CO2. But that doesn’t mean China is the most polluting nation in the world.

A more useful metric is carbon emissions per capita, the average American is responsible for 19.8 tonnes per person, and the average Chinese citizen clocks in at 4.6 tonnes. The UK’s CO2 per capita is at 9.7 tonnes per person while Australia is on 20.6 per person.

One thing that there is no debate among scientists and climate change experts is that we need to reduce our CO2 emissions and a way to do that is to invest in renewable energy generation resources.

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The Ocean’s Power:

Catalyst Commercial Services Ltd — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:01:43 +0000

The Ocean’s Power

Nowadays the buzz words of the energy industry are “renewable energy“. Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat. As you might have noticed some of the afore mentioned resources come from the Earth’s biggest natural resources, the Oceans.

Oceans can produce different types of energy, including thermal energy from the sun’s heat and mechanical energy from the action of waves and tides. Public and private institutions around the globe are investing big bucks to harness this energy resource in ways that are safe, sustainable and environmentally safe.

The U.S. Department of Energy, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, or BOEMRE, and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, has announced a joint research to study the potential environmental impacts of harnessing energy from the oceans. The research will also develop techniques and regulations to support the responsible sitting and permitting of offshore wind energy facilities and ocean energy generated from waves, tides, currents and thermal gradients.

Speaking on the matter the US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said:

“The nation’s oceans represent a major potential source of clean renewable energy, and the Department of Energy is committed to developing the innovative technologies that will harness that potential,”

As afore mentioned there are many ways to generate energy using the oceans like, tidal, waves, offshore wind farms. But without doubt the most innovative and eco-friendly one is OTEC or Ocean Thermal Energy Conservation.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) uses the temperature difference that exists between deep and shallow waters to run a heat engine. As with any heat engine, the greatest efficiency and power is produced with the largest temperature difference and up until now this was the biggest challenge for OTEC. But recent developments in efficiency of heat exchange assisted by modern designs performance can reach theoretical maximum efficiency making OTEC a viable and efficient renewable energy resource. For detailed information on OTEC please read: Ocean Thermal Energy

As you can see there are many ways to harness energy from our oceans but we must do it in a responsible way without affecting the ocean’s eco-systems.

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