Book Review – Eco House Manual by Nigel Griffiths

To those familiar with the popular Haynes range of car maintenance manuals, “Eco House Manual” by Nigel Griffiths will be both familiar and shocking. Gone are the rough pages with black and white photos of assembly activities and car parts, and in its place are glossy pages and colour illustrations.

In the same vein, this book moves on from the step-by-step guide to installing eco-technologies into your house. It takes a more wide-ranging view at all of the varied possibilities that a homeowner or developer can take to upgrade a dwelling to make it more energy sustainable.

Measure Once, measure again

I used to work in Aerospace Engineering and the site that I worked at was going through one of its many significant transitions. This normally resulted in either a call for volunteers to take early redundancy or that we’d won a contract and the profits were dependant upon a workflow that we weren’t used to.

One of the key characteristics of all of these times was the increase in activity that employed extra people to understand the statistics and their relationship to each other. I could never understand why this was the case until someone pointed out to me that in order to understand how efficient (or inefficient) a system is you have to understand what is going on.

Domestic Renewables

The use of renewable energy sources in the domestic home is something that has been available for years. The advantages of recycling rubbish, and composting old scraps of food is something that is as old as the hills. It is only recently however that the technology and public grants and incentives have coincided to allow domestic renewable energy gathering on an industrial scale.

Planning Requirements

In the UK the system of planning regulations have been setup by local authorities to ensure that any changes to properties (domestic or commercial) are in line with either the overall policy of the local council and/or sympathetic to the area in which changes are being made.

The planning system was not specifically been setup to cope with renewable technologies as they were never mainstream at that time. The rules are currently going through a process of updating to encompass these developments.

I am a hybrid

Much is made of the effort to convert the economies of the world off the tempting black gold and natural gas.

It is true that Man has exploited these resources in an effective way to build up societies and develop our communities. It is also true that the control of these resources is limited to a select few, who have a vested interest in keeping control of it.

But their time maybe coming to an end. The oil is running out, and eventually the gas will too. The foundations of these fossil fuels have taken millions of years to lay down, and we have exhausted them in a matter of four or five human generations.

The Industrial Revolution that started in England in the 1700s is going to have to adapt to survive, and it is doing just that. Yet there are still heated arguments about the remaining drips of oil, and how we are going to get at it.

One of the arguments is that of ‘peak oil’ and whether or not we have passed its time. The point of this conversation is to distract the general populations into accepting ever higher and higher prices, for what should be a communal resource.

However, there is a more universal set of resources that we can use. The universal nature of wind, rain and sunshine means that individuals can harness these energy resources and power our modern lives without recourse to the State.

It is possible to use solar power to provide hot water and electricity, wind power to provide electricity as well as ground / air source heat pumps to keep us warm in winter and cool in summer.

We do not have to be reliant on Big Business for our energy needs ever again.

The New Industrial Revolution is upon us, and I am coming to the point of my article. The doomsayers and pessimists amongst us point at the variation of renewable energy sources and the variability of energy production and create fear among normal people. This has the desired effect of confirming our reliance on Big Business and ‘Old Energy’.

Yet as a person, a human being I consume a number of different energy sources to power me. I eat different types of food, drink different types of drink and sunbathe in my garden. All of these different renewable energy sources combine to provide a reliant source of energy. Just like the wider world.

Planet Earth is just the same. There are a multitude of energy sources that we can use to meet our energy needs. The use of solar, wind, biomass, ground and air source heating can provide enough energy to sustain a modern lifestyle. It is certain that all sources will not be appropriate for all locations, but neither is the need that we all have to be served our energy the same way.

Some of us will rely on ‘alternative’ power stations serving communities, and some of us will be able to rely on self-sufficient power sources collected within our own homes. I am part of this world, and I do not need to plunder irreversibly in the search for energy. The World provides us our energy for free, and there is no reason why we cannot harness that and take our own responsibility for its provision.

My individual biological energy needs mirror that of the energy needs of modern life.

I am a hybrid, and it proves that renewables can power the world.

Zero Carbon Futures in Renewables?

Following an article by George Monbiot in today’s Guardian, two reports have been highlighted that propose a future free of fossil fuels. NOTE: Both of these reports are from external websites and are of significant size. Ensure that your data plan allows you to download files of this size or find a suitable wi-fi connection to do the same.

From the World Wildlife Fund for Nature:

http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/2011_02_02_the_energy_report_full.pdf

From the Zero Carbon Trust:

http://www.zerocarbonbritain.com/index.php/zcbreportmenu/category/1?download=1%3A2030

What both of these reports identify, is the need to look beyond the current thinking of fossil fuels and to source alternative energy solutions.

It is noticeable that the ultimate aim is to provide energy from wholly renewable sources. In countries such as the UK, this may challenge the traditional usage of the land for manufacturing materials and food. A balance will have to be struck, and the irony maybe that high-density, rich countries may lose out due to this conundrum.

Rich, low-population-density countries such as Germany have already proven that it is possible to generate the majority of power from renewable sources but this may not be possible everywhere.

I urge you to read all three articles and reports, even if your instinctive mindset opposes it. There is nothing better than trying to understand the other side of the argument, particularly in issues with such significance as this one.

Superbus

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s Superbus………!

With a top cruising speed of 155mph (250km.h), and spaces for 23 people, this could be the future of public transportation.

Imagine a fleet of these vehicles plying the routes around housing estates, picking and dropping off pensioners and families as they do their weekly shopping. Or perhaps you are thinking of the high-value limousine market? It would certainly make a statement pulling up to the Final Year Prom in one of these. The 16 gullwing doors (8 per side) would open and there you would be, all glamorous and sophisticated.

But this is not a dream, this is the reality supported by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment and made practical by a variety of international academic organisations ranging from Delft & Cranfield Universities through to component suppliers such as Parkers, GKN and Bosch to name but a few.

The Superbus is made out of lighteweight materials in order that a range of 130 miles (210km) can be achieved. Yet this is an achievement in itself, when you consider that only a concept demostrator at the moment.

The Superbus is driven by electric engines, with an advanced progressive suspension system will be used to give the passengers a high level of comfortable ride. According to the Delft University of Technology the vehicle will be equipped with advanced radar in order to scan the road several hundreds of metres ahead so that Superbus can come to a timely stand still in case of an emergency or blockages in the road.

The environmental impact of the Superbus is much smaller than for instance a high speed train. This is because the energy consumption is much lower and the construction of the high speed infrastructure will cost less.

If Superbus is the future of public transportation, then I would be seriously tempted to sell my car. However, no matter how good the environmentally technological aspects of this project are, what matters is creating a culture where we try to smoothly integrate green technology in the best way possible. Superbus is one such cog that could make the world a nicer place to live in.

Book Review – Clean Tech, Clean Profits by Adam Jolly

The moment for the Green Revolution is now. And the country that takes the initiative now will be in a prime spot to reap the rewards. This is not just my view, but the view of the French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. But there has to be a trade-off between the energy recovered in new and innovative ways, and the ecological cost of doing that.

After having been living off the glut of North Sea oil, the UK now has to look long and hard about where its energy comes from. We all saw the political waves caused when Russia turned off the Gas Pipeline providing Ukraine with natural gas, and there is a danger that the UK in the future could be held to ransom in a similar manner.

In Adam Jolly’s book, “Clean Tech, Clean Profits” there is a logical story to the future of clean modern energy systems. Starting with recording the size of the energy challenge that the UK faces, to how the energy market will work and if it is capable of supporting large companies in their reaching to get the UK off its addiction to fossil fuels. The book is written in the form of a number of academic and business reports from a wide variety of sources that are knitted together to give a coherent outlook to the solutions to our energy problems.

This is a book that goes into significant detail of its specific area – be it a diagrammatic description of a CO2 Carbon Capture system or investigating the benefits of micro-generation in the home via a ground source heat pump. Clean Tech, Clean Profits takes in the broad sweep of interested parties when it comes to energy generation in the 21^st Century.

There are discussions about UK Government policy and its Renewables Obligation Order 2002 which requires power companies to source a part of their energy from renewables. Yet, there are reports about the usefulness of particular technologies (such a solar) to the individual domestic user.

This is a book that holds enough detailed information about modern energy generation to allow individuals and companies to make stable decisions. I would suggest that this book could become the standard by which all others will be measured, the benefits that this book can bring.

This book review was also published on Startup Business Book Reviews- Helping Small Business Win. Have you enjoyed this review? If you have, click through and buy the book HERE!

A Zero-Carbon City

In Abu Dhabi engineers are building the world’s first zero-carbon city. The aim is to prove that in the middle of the desert it is possible to create a city that is totally self-sufficient, but that also does not ‘cost’ the planet anything as well.

Called Masdar City, there is a wind tower in centre that tells the citizens how much energy is being consumed. This will become more important as the development grows and becomes a beacon of what is possible in the field of energy renewables. Other technological attractions that Masdar has are a fleet of driverless electric vehicles that ferry people from the entrance of the city, to the Masdar Institute (itself an offshoot of the Massachussetts Institute of Technology – MIT).

Masdar City is also powered by a solar thermal power plant that provides the city with solar energy into the electricity grid.

It is also attracting attention from major politicians. Before he was replaced, George W Bush made a visit in 2009, along with his Secretary of State Dr Condolezza Rice. Recent visitors include Hillary Clinton and the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon.

Only Phase 1 of Masdar City is finished, and the provisional timetable includes plans for 7000 residents and 12000 workers within 4 years. It is an ambitious timescale for an ambitious project to show the world how renewables are becoming more and more important.

This article has been derived from a photo gallery first published in the UK Guardian newspaper – http://goo.gl/rnnNw

Book Review – The Green Investing Handbook by Nick Hanna

We are all being told that the green revolution is one that will save our species. The oil is running out, and so will in time, the natural gas. Imagine if you could be in on the ground floor, investing in a new technology that could replace all of this but also earn you a decent slice of cash?

The aim of ‘The Green Investing Handbook’ by Nick Hanna is to provide a sensible and logical baseline to this burgeoning industry. The whole book is set out in a logical and easy to follow manner, which is no mean feat considering the information that is being transmitted here.

The book itself is spilt in to four main sections “How to Invest, Where to Invest, Directory of green companies, Resources”. In Part 2 there is further sub-division into the ten main areas of environmental services and technology, to give the reader a decent understanding of what investment in these areas entails, as well as a little bit of history of that part of the green industry. The directory in Part 3 provides a generous list of companies involved in green manufacture, split in a logical industry way to aid the location of a suitable set of contacts.

There is much to praise this book; the logical nature of its formatting, which aids the reader in finding the information that he wants; the sub-division of the industries that are potential investment points, and finally, the overall feeling that this book provides a complete range of possibilities. There is a proviso in the start of the book that states that all the information can change, and this is true given the rapid nature of industrial development in the modern world.

However, anyone considering investing or researching the green manufacturing industry could do a lot worse than use this book as their ‘bible’. Mr Hanna has written a handbook that will be part of the standard for a long time.

This book review was also published on Startup Business Book Reviews- Helping Small Business Win. Have you enjoyed this review? If you have, click through and buy the book HERE!