The Market Leading Energy Consultant - Catalyst-Commercial.co.uk

Waste Heat Revolution:

Catalyst Commercial Services Ltd — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:02:19 +0000

Waste Heat Revolution in Sheffield

A team at the University of Sheffield this week have said they believe that the region’s famous steel plants could hold the key to a greener future for the South Yorkshire city. The experts at the University say that harnessing the waste energy created by the steel plants outside the city centre would produce an additional 20 MW of thermal energy.

Whilst this might not sound like much on paper, if this amount was produced consistently, over 2,000 homes and businesses could be heated using this method per year, having huge knock-on consequences for commercial energy in the city centre.

Professor Jim Swithenbank explained that ”It actually costs the steel plants to reduce the temperature of the flue gas and to cool the water used during steel manufacture. Recovering this heat and transferring it to the district heating network reduces the cost of heat production, improves energy efficiency and is beneficial to the environment, making a ‘win, win’ situation for the steelworks and the city,”

Swithenbank is something of an old hand in the heating and commercial energy system in Yorkshire, having helped develop the Sheffield district heating system during the 1970′s.

The original phase of the district heating system generates around 21 MW of electricity, which powers some 22,000 homes and businesses, with an additional 60 MW of thermal energy pumped around a 44km network of subterranean pipes; heating and providing hot water to 140 public buildings and 3,000 homes – reducing Sheffield’s CO2 emissions by around 21,000 tonnes per year.

If the engineers from the University’s SUWIC Research Centre’s plans come to fruition, the suggested expansion could knock a further 80,000 tonnes from that total.

Studies like the one in Sheffield could provide the tools for similar expansions across the UK; the researchers involved used a cutting-edge digital mapping software (GIS) to identify areas of high energy demand against potential new energy sources, assessing where an expansion would have the most gain.

Their findings, published in the Journal of Energy Conversion and Management, could see other cities with existing district heating systems using the same software to harness waste fuel in their region to provide more efficient commercial energy and heating to homes.

With the heating of buildings responsible for around half of the total energy used in the UK, a system that uses waste heat instead of traditional fossil fuel would be a huge boon for the UK’s pledges to decarbonise it’s fuel supply.

Is there a downside to an energy distribution system like Sheffield’s? We would like to hear your thoughts about “Waste Heat Revolution“.

Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

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

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information onWaste Heat Revolution from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

Greek Solar Lightning Project:

Catalyst Commercial Services Ltd — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:11:07 +0000

Greek Solar Lightning Project

The Unlikely Alliance Behind Clean Energy for Europe.

Of all the places you’d expect to find revolutionary renewable energy innovation, a country being kept afloat by bailouts on a continent plagued by an extended recession is probably amongst the least likely. But an improbable partnership has developed that could re-invent what we thought was possible from transcontinental energy has emerged, and it could signal a change in the way both commercial and residential energy is provided in the future.

Whilst Greece’s fragile economy might have left their relationship with the rest of the European Union strained in Brussels, a solar energy project being pioneered by Greece and Germany could prove to be an exciting new model for clean energy, that could have a knock-on effect for the rest of Europe.

Dubbed Helios – after the sun god of the Ancient Greek mythology – the project would aim to see thousands of solar panels installed along the famously-sunny Mediterranean coastline, which would then be transported by transmission lines to power homes and commercial property in Germany.

Given their recent pledge to ‘virtually eliminate greenhouse emissions by 2050′, the European Commission (the executive arm division of the European Union) have already put their full support behind Helios, thanks to it’s inherently clean and safe nature, as well as a lack of physical importation – unlike natural gas from Russia, for example.

As well as a more sustainable source of commercial energy, the EU also projects that installations like Helios will help them with a number of goals that have been laid out; such projects create a healthy number of new jobs, and will help the renewable energy sector grow in line with pledges made by the 27 EU member states.

Germany, currently the biggest EU economy, is having to rapidly change it’s stance as an exporter of energy to an importer following shutting down seven of it’s nuclear reactors. Whilst these reactors were scheduled to be closed over the coming years, the decision was made to shut them down almost immediately following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Whilst the goal of a nuclear-free, renewable energy economy is something of an ideal, the cost of this transition – for Germany in particular – has been strenuous, and could set a benchmark for the cost of energy importation that some countries may find hard to swallow; the European Climate Foundation has estimated that the transmission capacity of project Helios will have to double by 2030, at a cost of €68bn between 2020 and 2030 in order to keep it viable, a total that does not include the hundreds of billions needed for new generation projects.

Q. Does the thought of investing in such vast clean energy projects during times of recession make your wallet wince?

Q. Or do you think a continent-wide energy overhaul will be worth it in the long run?

As usual we would like to hear your thoughts about “Greek Solar Lightning Project“.

Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on Greek Solar Lightning Project from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

Solar Business RIP:

Felipe — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:48:28 +0000

Solar Business RIP

New figures from the Department of Energy & Climate Change suggest that the recent axing of subsidies for Solar Panel installation could threaten to put the renewable energy source in the shade. The latest information from the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) have shown a 90% fall in the amount of solar panel installations since 1st April, leaving question marks over the progressive nature of the solar industry in the UK.

Stemming from a 50% decrease in the available subsidies for homes and commercial properties who decide to install solar panels, the decision from the Coalition government has drawn much controversy – including a high court case – but the latest DCC figures could be the biggest talking point yet.

Previously, anyone installing solar panels would receive 43p/kWh of energy generated, but since the cuts have come into effect on 1st April, that has plummeted to 21p/kWh.

In the three weeks since the change in subsidy, an average of 2.4MW of solar photovoltaic capacity has been added each week – a huge 87% down from the weekly average for the previous year of 18MW.

This vast drop in the amount of panels installed per week is likely to be met with outcry from many of the changes’ opposition, who feared that the ‘too far, too fast’ change could cost could endanger thousands of jobs in the solar and clean commercial and domestic energy industries.

Greg Barker, the Conservative minister responsible for the solar subsidy scheme, said the problem isn’t with their cuts to subsidy, but instead with a ‘broken’ commercial electricity suppliers system put in place by the Labour government that preceded them.

Barker also said the more stable structure would ultimately put an end to “solar booms” and busts, and “bring in a much greater degree of certainty and predictability.” He has set an ambition to have 22GW of solar capacity installed in the UK by 2020.

Caroline Flint, the shadow energy and climate change secretary, claimed on Tuesday that this target would take 169 years to reach at the current rate. “For months Labour has been warning that the government’s cuts to solar power would destroy thousands of jobs, cut off a green hi-tech British industry and stop families controlling soaring energy bills.” adding that the DECC statistics were “Shocking” and commenting that it will new take “a staggering 169 years for us to reach our targets for solar power.”

Solar Trade Association chief Paul Barwell, said: “We’ve seen drops in installation with every policy adjustment, but we expect this one will take a bit more time to pick up.” He said the reason take-up would take longer this time is the new requirement that homes must be reasonably energy-efficient before being entitled to solar panel subsidies – a requirement met by about half of homes.

“Many householders are aware that government has slashed subsidies,” Barwell added. “The challenge for us is to make householders aware that’s partly because industry has slashed costs, and partly because solar is so popular. There is no doubt that financially solar remains a great prospect for UK homeowners so there is no good reason why the UK market should stagnate.”

Interestingly all sides agree that the change in subsidy structure had to happen, as installations and maintenance of solar energy solutions have become considerably cheaper – the disagreement comes with the scale and speed of the cuts.

With so much to consider, would you rather we took the risk on another ‘solar bust’ to try and keep the amount of installations high?

Or do you think bringing the number of solar panels installed down to a more consistent rate now that installations are cheaper was the right thing to do.

As usual we would like to hear your thoughts about “Solar Business RIP“. Share your thoughts on the comments bellow or head to our social media outlets and let the world know your opinion.

Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on Solar Business RIP from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

Energy Market Report May12:

Catalyst Commercial Services Ltd — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:16:58 +0000

Energy Market Report May 2012

Our monthly analysis of the UK gas and power markets is now available on line for the month of May 2012. 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 May 2012 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 7560r request a call back at time to suit.

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

4 Bizarre uses for Wind Energy:

Catalyst Commercial Services Ltd — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:18:49 +0000

4 Bizarre uses for Wind Energy

Wind power has many amazing applications. These include offsetting carbon emissions, providing wind turbine jobs, appearing in adverts for energy companies to show how eco-friendly they are, and giving angry people something to complain about in local newspapers. You might not think that the uses of wind power go much further than that. After all, while wind farms might be a great idea, obviously there are a limited number of things you can stick a windmill on top of, right?

Well, you might think that, but you’d be tragically wrong. The wind is being used to power all sorts of weird things, such as:

Phone Chargers

In this day and age if you’re away from your Facebook page for than an hour or more you start hyperventilating and getting heart palpitations. Google has just released special glasses so that even as you’re walking around you’re getting the Internet rammed right into your eyes. Even people who are willing to give up sleeping in a real bed, under an actual ceiling, with proper toilets for some reason can’t cope with the idea of being unable to tweet about it.

Fortunately the solution is here, courtesy of the unfortunately named “Gotwind”. The device, commissioned by Orange, is basically a windmill you can stick on the top of your tent. Using a standard horizontal axis wind turbine, weighing only 150 grams, the device neeeds only 12 hours of charge time in a 12 mph wind to store up enough energy to fully charge your phone, camera and ipod in only a couple of hours.

Breaking Speed Records

We tend to think of wind powered vehicles as all that hi-tech, since we tend not to think of any technology that was used by Vikings as hi-tech. However, while sailboats are undeniably awesome, there are a couple of things they can’t do.

1, they can’t travel on land. 2, they can’t travel at 126 mph. The Greenbird, a “land yacht” driven by British engineer Richard Jenkins has done both of those things. Looking like something out of one of the lesser Star Wars movies, the craft is a testament to mankind’s dream of going really, really fast just, you know, because.

Giant Death Robots

Theo Jansen is basically a super villain. Just because he tells people he’s a “kinetic sculptor” and is doing “art” a lot of people haven’t realised it yet, but what he’s doing is building giant robots constructed from hundreds of plastic yellow tubes and unleashing them on the wild. He’s been doing this since 1990, taking the best designs and “breeding” them together. Yes, that’s right. They evolve.

As an example, take a look at this creature, wandering down a beach. Powered by the wind its many legs march like some sort of giant centipede or Roman legion. It’s terrifying. For those of you who always thought wind power could only be used for good, this is the perfect counter-argument.

A Magical Spinning Skyscraper

This self-sustaining skyscraper, designed by Dr. David Fisher of Dynamic Architecture, is 420 meters high, and has 80 floors, each rotating independently powered by a total of 48 wind turbines between each floor. The design looks sort of like a weird glass tentacle thing.

The construction of the skyscraper will be done in parallell stages, instead of building it from the ground up. There will be a solid concrete core to the building, and then the segments of each floor will be prefabricated at a nearby factory, making this about as close to real-life Lego as you can get.

The skyscraper will be built in Dubai, international home of crazy building designs, where there are 4,000 hours of wind a year. The designers believe they’ll be able to power the skyscraper with just four of its wind turbines, while using the other 44 to support the city’s power grid.

Guest Blog is from – Chris Farnell who is a freelancer writer interested in green energy and recruitment, including solar and wind turbine jobs throughout the UK.

As usual we would like to hear your thoughts about “The 4 Bizarre uses for Wind Energy“. Share your thoughts on the comments bellow or head to our social media outlets and let the world know your opinion.

Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on 4 Bizarre uses for Wind Energy from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

Floating Wind Turbines:

Felipe — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:21:39 +0000

UK and US to Fund Development of Floating Wind Turbines.

Britain’s energy secretary Ed Davey and his American counterpart Steven Chu are set to announce a joint venture between Britain and the US to accelerate the development of new floating wind turbines technology.

Floating offshore wind turbines should provide the cost effectiveness the “Wind Industry” needs to gain recognition amongst investors and establish itself as a leading renewable energy resource for Britain and other countries around the world.

Traditional offshore wind farms must be located in waters less than 200 feet deep. Studies revealed that wind speeds are consistently stronger above deeper waters.

Floating wind turbines will enable the possibility to tap into winds that are located in deeper waters. Not to mention that once the technology is fully deployed such turbines should cost a lot less than their conventional siblings.

Speaking on the matter, Ed Davey said: “Turbines will be able to locate in ever deeper waters where the wind is stronger but without the expense of foundation down to the seabed or having to undertake major repairs out at sea,”

The technology is not far off since there are reports that Portugal is working on a floating turbine for the Atlantic while Norway seems to be ahead of the pack with a prototype already floating on the North Sea.

Despite not having deployed this new technology yet, Britain is a reference for the worldwide wind industry since it has more wind turbines installed around its shores than any other country in the world and our market is rated year after year as the most attractive market among investors.

To top things up, Britain has roughly one-third of the potential sites for offshore wind farms in Europe, which is more than any other nation.

This new agreement between Britain and the US to accelerate the development of floating wind turbines is part of the American-British Memorandum of Understanding on ‘Collaboration in Energy Related Fields’ covering many different forms of power generation but including low carbon technologies to combat climate change, energy transmission and distribution and energy efficiency.

As usual we would like to hear your thoughts about “Shale Gas”, Hydraulic Fracking and the UK Energy Mix. Share your thoughts on the comments bellow or head to our social media outlets and let the world know your opinion.

Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on Floating Wind Turbines from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

Green Light for Shale Gas:

Felipe — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:55:30 +0000

Shale Gas Gets Green Light

Geologists Approve Shale Gas Extraction in the UK

The DECC commissioned a study from a panel of independent Geologists to investigate whether the seismic events experienced in the Blackpool area last year during shale gas extraction could be related to “fracking”. They concluded that hydraulic fracturing is “safe” as long as certain basic precautions are put in place.

This new report sparked up once again the shale gas debate. While critics say it will impede us from meeting our greenhouse gas reduction targets. Those in favour advocate that it could provide the energy security Britain has been dreaming of for years.

After last year’s seismic events in Press Hall, Blackpool area, the Cuadrilla Resources Ltd provided the DECC with a technical report to explain the two earthquakes of magnitude 2.3 and 1.5 that were linked to hydraulic fracture treatments.

This report has now been analysed by a group of independent experts in the fields of seismology, induced seismicity and hydraulic fracturing: Dr Brian Baptie, head of seismology at the British Geological Survey; Professor Peter Styles of Keele University, and Dr Christopher A. Green, GFRAC.

They concluded that there is only a “very small” risk of damage from earthquakes caused by hydraulic fracturing, posing no greater danger than that from conventional coal mining, which can cause seismic events of around magnitude three.

During an interview to BBC Radio 4, Dr Baptie said that “as long as the four main recommendations of the report were adhered to then there would be minimal risk, adding that there was “no evidence of structural damage from these kinds of earthquakes”.

The Experts’ Recommendations

the hydraulic fracturing procedure should include a smaller pre-injection and monitoring stage
an effective monitoring system to provide near real-time locations and magnitudes of any seismic events should be part of any operations
future fracking operations should be subject to a “traffic light” control regime, similar to that recommended by Cuadrilla’s consultants
unusual seismic activity, even at lower levels than the magnitude 1.7 proposed by Cuadrilla, should be carefully assessed before operations proceed.

For any future operations elsewhere in the UK the review recommends suitable actions to assess the seismic risk before any operations take place, including:

establishing the background seismicity in the area of interest
characterisation of any possible active faults in the region modelling to assess the potential impact of any induced earthquakes.

What the Critics said

Tony Jupiter former director of Friends of the Earth and chairman of Action for Renewables (A4R) said that the “environmental impact of fracking is comparable to coal and possibly worse, partly due to so-called “fugitive emissions” of methane from drilling sites”.

He also said that shale gas won’t have any impact on UK gas prices because of high extraction costs.

Joss Garman, Greenpeace’s senior energy campaigner, agreed that “there’s absolutely no indication that fracking for shale gas will reduce soaring household energy bills, while scientific studies suggest that this kind of gas could be as polluting as coal. This would also be a major blow for the British renewable energy industry, which would see investment hijacked by a new dash for gas.”

The report also received positive reviews. Rhian Kelly, CBI Director for Business Environment policy argued that “shale gas could unlock significant new infrastructure investments, help meet our carbon reduction goals and create many new jobs around the UK.”

But Garman counter argued that such investments could affect “our home-grown renewable energy companies”.

Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on Green Light for Shale Gas from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

Smart Meters Deployment:

Felipe — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:29:38 +0000

Smart Meters Deployment -

The Smart Metering Implementation Programme

“Smart meters are the next generation of gas and electricity meters which will play a key role in bringing our energy management into the 21st century. They will unlock huge benefits for consumers, giving us more control over how we use our energy at home and at work, helping us to cut energy consumption save money and reduce carbon emissions.” Those were the words of Charles Hendry MP, Minister of State for Energy, on the updated documentation of the Smart Metering Implementation Programme.

As we get close to the mass roll out of smart meters across Great Britain in tow years time the government published a full range of publications to support and ensure that the benefits of the programme are maximised and that consumers are protected.

The full range of publications include:

an update on the Smart Meters Implementation Programme
a consultation on data access and privacy.
a consultation on the Smart Energy Code
and the Data and Communications Company licensing conditions
the Government Response to the Rollout consultation
updated Impact Assessments for the domestic and non-domestic sectors
a consultation on the Smart Energy Code
the Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications (SMETS), to enable suppliers to install smart meters during the Foundation Stage.

The strategic aim of the programme is to reach 28 million homes and 2 million small to med-sized businesses by 2019.

According to figures revealed by the DECC the smart metering roll out will cost £11.5bn over the next twenty years. However, with benefits of £18.6bn resulting in a net profit of approximately £7bn over the same period of time.

Small and medium sized business should reach savings of approximately £190 per annum by 2020 with the installation of smart meters. While, the average dual fuel household bill will see savings of £25 per annum by 2020. Savings could rise to over £200 and £40 per year by 2030, respectively.

To emphasise its concern with consumers the government is requiring that suppliers develop a code of practice covering the installation process.

Key points already delineated to be included in this code of practice are:

There should be no sales pitch during the installation visit.
Installers must provide energy efficiency advice as part of the visit.

Consumer Focus Chief Executive Mike O’Connor welcomed the decision to create a code of practice:

“We welcome the banning of sales during installation and that marketing will only be allowed if the customer agrees. This shows the Government has listened to consumers. We support the proposals to address consumer concerns around the privacy of information. But, to make this work, people must be aware of their rights and the choices available to them on how much information is passed to suppliers.”

To summarise, it is important to highlight the government’s efforts to engage consumers. Like Mr. O’Connor said: “Smart meters will only help people to become more energy efficient and cut their bills if they are able to easily understand and use the new technology.”

Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on Smart Meters Deployment from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

Renewable Energy Generation:

Felipe — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:06:45 +0000

Renewable Energy Generation Up & Emissions Down

As we get ready to publish our latest UK energy market report the DECC released last year’s energy statistics. Even though figures did not match the predicted targets Renewable energy generation expanded significantly and carbon emissions fell in 2011.

Renewable energy generation registered an increase of 35% in comparison to the previous year (2010). Back then renewables accounted for 6.8% of all electricity supplied in the UK. Last year it was responsible for 9,5%, only 0,5% short of the illusive 10% mark that had been predicted.

Overall low carbon generation rose about 4% accounting for 28.4% of all electricity generation in 2011. Offshore wind and hydroelectric generation registered the biggest increases followed by onshore wind and thermal renewables (including co-firing).

The following shows exactly how much each source expanded and the amount o energy it generated:

Renewable electricity source, TWh, % change on 2010

Onshore wind – 10.42 + 45.9%
Offshore wind – 5.11 + 67.9%
Hydro – 5.69 + 58.0%
Thermal renewables (inc. co-firing) – 13.27 + 11.4%
All renewables – 34.75 + 35.1%

Nuclear generation rose by 11.1% mainly because there were extensive outages the previous year.

With the increase in low carbon energy generation it was only logical that the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions retracted. According to figures released last week (March 29) by the Department of Climate Change (DCC) emissions were 7% lower than the 2010 figures.

“The decrease in CO2 emissions between 2010 and 2011 resulted primarily from a decrease in residential gas use, combined with a reduction in demand for electricity accompanied by lower use of gas and greater use of nuclear power for electricity generation” – UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Provisional Figures, download the complete report here.

Unfortunately the expansion of renewable energy generation and lower carbon emission did not have any effect on business gas and electricity prices.

On average business gas prices were 15.9% higher in the last quarter of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010 and that is including the CCL. If we were to exclude the CCL prices would be 16% higher.

Business electricity prices were 3.5% higher including the CCL and 3.6% excluding in the same comparison period.

Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on Renewable Energy Generation from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

Energy Market Report Apr12:

Catalyst Commercial Services Ltd — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:49:30 +0000

Energy Market Report April 2012

Our monthly analysis of the UK gas and power markets is now available on line for the month of April 2012. 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 April 2012 report here and all historical energy reports can be located here.

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

Budget 2012, A Gas-fired Future:

Felipe — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 07:47:33 +0000

Budget 2012, A Gas-fired Future

As usual the annual Budget announcement was polemical. This time the biggest controversy was in the energy and environment sector where the announcements to support expansion of fossil fuels, especially gas, were not welcomed by environmentalists.

While George Osborne’s defends the Budget 2012 announcements that will support the construction of new gas-fired power plants in Britain by saying: “Environmentally sustainable must always be fiscally sustainable.”

Critics are calling it a polluter’s charter. John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace statement could not be clearer on his opinion: “A bad day for the environment”.

The Chancellor announcements to support expansion of fossil fuels, especially gas, coincide with Ed Davey’s speech from last week. Both indicate that it is more than likely that the government wants to stimulate a new building programme of gas-fired plants.

Mr Davey said: “Gas is cheap, has much less carbon than coal and will be the largest single source of our electricity in the coming years,”

While the statement was welcomed by the Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents the transmission and distribution network operators for gas and electricity in the UK and Ireland. It was decried by environmentalists, here is what they said:

“I am concerned about the focus that the Budget took on fossil fuels” (Mark Kenber, CEO of The Climate Group).

“Despite small green shoots of recovery, investor confidence, instability and uncertainty remain” (Michael Lunn, Environmental Industries Commission’s Director of Policy and Public Affairs).

“Sticks two fingers up at David Cameron’s promise to build a clean future – and gives a massive thumbs down to new jobs and cutting our reliance on expensive gas and oil” (Andy Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth).

“We had hoped for greater clarity around future energy and emissions policies to enable better business and investment planning.” (Melanie Leech, Director General of the Food and Drink Federation).

“We urgently need a long term, consistent policy framework to provide businesses with the confidence to invest in low carbon and energy efficient improvements” (Martin Baxter, Executive Director of Policy, Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, who believes the Budget does not deliver this).

After the Budget 2012 announcements it gets even harder to believe in David’s Cameron pledge to create the “greenest government ever”.

Especially after the Chancellor barely mentioning or ignoring key environmental related subjects such as: the Renewable Heat Incentive, the Green Deal, Electricity Market Reform policies, UK Green Investments (UKGI), the Green Investment Bank, changes to the Renewables Obligation, or the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office.

Q. Are you against or in favour of the Budget 2012 announcements on fossil fuel incentives?

Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

We really look to forward to hearing your opinion.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

The Greenest Government Ever?

Felipe — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:30:40 +0000

The Greenest Government Ever?

While the Coalition Government claims to be the “greenest government ever” public opinion says otherwise. A recent poll conducted by YouGov which was commissioned by Greenpeace revealed that only 2% of the British public believes that David Cameron has been successful in his pledge to lead the “greenest government ever“.

One of the first promises the prime minister made after he was elected was to “care passionately for the green agenda”. While visiting the Department of Energy and Climate Change just three days after he took office, Cameron said that “there is a fourth minister in this department who cares passionately about this agenda and that is me, the prime minister, right. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”

But cuts to renewable energy subsidies, rumours that restrictions on environmental pollution are about to be removed under the government’s “red tape challenge” and high EPS (Emissions Performance Standard) for the new generation of gas-fired power plants are prove that the coalition government is not so “passionate” about the green agenda as it claims to be.

YouGov Greenpeace poll results

The Poll asked: In May 2010 Prime Minister David Cameron said that he wanted the coalition to be “the greenest government ever.” Thinking about the coalition government so far, in terms of their policies on the environment, do you think that…

The government is the greenest ever: 2%
The government is greener than most other governments have been: 10%
The government is about average: 53%
The government is one of the least green governments ever: 7%
The government is less green than most other governments have been: 9%
Don’t Know: 18%

Ruth Davis, Greenpeace’s chief policy adviser, said: “The British public are actually very discerning and can’t be duped by catchphrases or husky-hugging.

They can tell the difference between PR puff and actual deeds and in this poll they have given their damning verdict. However, it’s not too late for David Cameron to turn this around and leave an environmental legacy he can be proud of.

He can start by reigning in his chancellor who seems hell-bent on trashing the environment.

Instead, what the economy needs now is investment in green industries that will deliver jobs, growth and protect the planet.”

The Greenest Government Ever – New Gas Plants and CO2 Emissions

Another government member not living up to his promises is the new energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey who vowed to continue his predecessor’s work by increasing the number of green jobs and to carry through Huhne’s vision of a green economy.

But the measures he announced to be included in the forthcoming Electricity Market Reform legislation don’t reflect that.

Mr Davey wants to maintain the 450 grams per kilowatt-hour level of emissions from such plants until 2045 which according to Greenpeace calculations will lead to Britain missing its climate change targets.

Despite having to rely on this new generation of gas-fire power plants to avoid the electricity power cuts predicted to the end of this decade the government needs to set lower EPS for these new plants in other to meet its climate change targets.

Carbon Capture Storage

The solution to reduce CO2 emissions from gas-fire power plants lays on the development of carbon capture and storage technology but that too seems to be far from reality.

A National Audit Office (NAO) investigation concluded that the UK last valuable years in developing this new technology because of the way in which the competition for the first UK demonstration carbon capture and storage project was run.

Carbon capture and storage is a three-part process that involves capturing the carbon dioxide produced from burning fossil fuels, transporting it to a storage site, and permanently storing it under pressure, usually underground.

Then I ask myself: As the year pass will we have enough space to store all this CO2?

We want to hear it from you know: Do you think that this government is the greenest ever?

We would love to hear your thoughts about all this. You know the drill. Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy.

We really look to forward to hearing your opinion.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on The Greenest Government Ever from our site, Click Here to subscribe.

The Future is Thorium:

Felipe — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:12:23 +0000

The Future is Thorium

Safer, cleaner, sustainable and many times more effective than any other energy resource on Earth. Meet Thorium, a naturally occurring, slightly radioactive metal, capable of producing immense amount of energy, in a safe, environmentally friendly and very economic manner.

Readers of our blog need no further introduction to Thorium since we talked about it a couple of times before. Back in September 2010 we published “Is Fossil Fuel Dependence Over?” and “Top 5 Energy Resources“.

Since then Thorium research has gained some important ground and countries like the United States and China are already funding programs to deploy small nuclear reactors powered with Thorium.

In scientific terms these so called small nuclear reactors are known as Molten-Salt Reactors or LFTR (liquefied Fluorine Thorium Reactors). These reactors are ten times safer than current nuclear reactors simply because they have a self-controlled safe configuration. In short, if the energy supply to the nuclear power plant is cut down completely a Molten-Salt reactor would shut itself down immediately without the need to circulate water inside the reactor to prevent a meltdown.

One of the biggest advocates of Thorium and leading authority in the field is Kirk Sorensen, a former NASA researcher who now has his own company called Fible.

Kirk has been going around globe advocating on the benefits of Thorium and how it could change the global energy industry for good. Below you will find three videos where he talks about generating energy from Thorium, Molten-Salt Reactors and much more.

TED.com: Kirk Sorensen: Thorium, an alternative nuclear fuel

GoogleTech Talks: The Thorium Molten-Salt Reactor: Why Didn’t This Happen (and why is now the right time?)

THORIUM Molten-Salt Reactor [LFTR] – The Future of Energy

Earlier this month the UK has joined the Thorium bandwagon and formed a new parliamentary group to consider Thorium. The “All-Party Parliamentary Group” or APPG is formed by members of both the House of Commons and House of Lords and will consider the potential of thorium as an energy source.

The APPG will work together with the Weinberg Foundation, a not-for-profit advocacy group for thorium energy. Their job is to generate critical debate on the potential of thorium as a viable new energy source and examine reactor technology and new fuel designs in planning for the adoption of a viable cleaner, safer and abundant global energy solution.

Labour Peer Baroness Worthington, who is the patron of the Weinberg Foundation and Chair of the APPG, comments:

“Whilst public opinion is moving towards the acceptance of nuclear power to combat environmentally damaging fossil-fuelled energy sources, Fukushima clearly demonstrated the dangers of traditional solid-fuel uranium reactor designs. If there is a safer ‘green nuclear’ alternative, which also effectively tackles waste, proliferation and energy security, we have a responsibility to future generations to examine it.”

Vice-Chair of the group Dr Julian Huppert MP said:

“As a scientist I am delighted to help establish this platform for evidence based discussion and debate on this most important issue. Nuclear power has always had great potential and the UK was once a world leader in nuclear science research. We intend to explore whether energy from thorium can make a significant contribution to delivering a low carbon economy and help to reinstate the UK’s leadership position.”

Read the full Press Release here.

We would love to hear your thoughts about all this. You know the drill. Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy. We look to forward to hearing your opinion.

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

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on Electricity Power Cuts Unlikely from our site below.

Electricity Power Cuts Unlikely:

Felipe — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 23:46:36 +0000

Electricity Power Cuts Unlikely

Weak demand and new gas-fired power plants coming on-stream by 2016 should keep the lights on in Britain for the rest of this decade. UK Power cuts predicted to the end of this decade will be avoided thanks to increased energy efficiency, the economic recession, renewable energy resources and a new generation of gas fired power plants.

The good news comes from an influential new white paper published by analyst firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

According to the report the UK is “on track to keep the lights on through the critical years between 2015 and 2020″ thanks to new investments in energy infrastructure, coupled with relatively weak power demand.

This decade started with endless warnings from energy experts that the phasing out of old coal and nuclear plants risked the lights going out after the middle of this decade.

But weak demand due to the economic slowdown and the controversial but generous renewable energy subsidies seem to have proven these experts wrong.

The report predicts that while energy capacity margins will tighten around 2015 when the first wave of plant retirements take effect, they will stabilise at an acceptable level of 10 to 15 per cent.

Michael Liebreich, chief executive of BNEF, said: “The blackout plays an iconic role in British history – first with world war II and the blitz, and then the industrial strife of the 1970s.

UK Power Cuts

“The UK is embarking on an historic shift in its electricity supply, and commentators and critics have continually raised the spectre of the lights going out once again across Britain. Our analysis shows that, barring unforeseen circumstances, it is not going to happen.”

According to BNEF’s white paper during the economic recession of 2008 electricity consumption in Britain reduced 9% compared with the peaks of 2005 and it may not return to pre-slump levels for 20 years.

The new gas-fired power plants scheduled to come on-stream will generate a total of 15GW more than enough to make up for the 12GW of coal-powered plants being closed down.

But according to BNEF this will be the last “dash for gas” we see in Britain as the report predicts: “we will not see another boom in new-build, fossil fuel-based plants”.

New nuclear reactors predicted to be built after 2020 and increased levels of solar, marine and wind energy should reassure that.

The questions we ask you this week is: Will this last “dash for Gas” cause business gas and business electricity to peak towards the end of the decade?

You know the drill. Share your thoughts on our comments or head to our Facebook Page or Google+ page or tweet your opinion to @CatalystEnergy. We look to forward to hearing your opinion.

For those of you that are interested in reading BNEF report you can download it here.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook Or you might want to subscribe for further information on Electricity Power Cuts Unlikely from our site below.

Energy Market Report Mar12:

Catalyst Commercial Services Ltd — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:35:53 +0000

Energy Market Report March 2012

Our monthly analysis of the UK gas and power markets is now available on line for the month of March 2012. 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 March 2012 report here and all historical energy reports can be located here.

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

The Market Leading Energy Consultant - Catalyst-Commercial.co.uk

Waste Heat Revolution:

Waste Heat Revolution in Sheffield

Related posts...

Greek Solar Lightning Project:

Greek Solar Lightning Project

Related posts...

Solar Business RIP:

Solar Business RIP

Related posts...

Energy Market Report May12:

Energy Market Report May 2012

Related posts...

4 Bizarre uses for Wind Energy:

4 Bizarre uses for Wind Energy

Related posts...

Floating Wind Turbines:

UK and US to Fund Development of Floating Wind Turbines.

Related posts...

Green Light for Shale Gas:

Shale Gas Gets Green Light

Geologists Approve Shale Gas Extraction in the UK

Related posts...

Smart Meters Deployment:

Smart Meters Deployment -

Related posts...

Renewable Energy Generation:

Renewable Energy Generation Up & Emissions Down

Related posts...

Energy Market Report Apr12:

Energy Market Report April 2012

Related posts...

Budget 2012, A Gas-fired Future:

Budget 2012, A Gas-fired Future

Related posts...

The Greenest Government Ever?

The Greenest Government Ever?

The Greenest Government Ever – New Gas Plants and CO2 Emissions

Carbon Capture Storage

Related posts...

The Future is Thorium:

The Future is Thorium

Related posts...

Electricity Power Cuts Unlikely:

Electricity Power Cuts Unlikely

UK Power Cuts

Related posts...

Energy Market Report Mar12:

Energy Market Report March 2012

Related posts...