Category Archives: Renewables

How to manage excess power

In a previous post on smart meters I raised the issue in passing of what to do with excess power output that may occur from very large penetration of  PV systems on the low voltage grid.  Germany is facing this … Continue reading

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Smart meters, the latest controversy…

Forgot wind turbines and even fracking, the latest controversy set to hit the energy world is smart meters.  The UK has one of the largest programmes of smart meter installation in the world.  The news was this week that the … Continue reading

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BP on renewables

In the previous post we had a look at the state of the traditional energy sources.  This blog post will cover renewable energy sources.  According to BP global solar energy output was up 15.% year on year compared with 2011.  … Continue reading

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There are some reasons for hope…

Two new reports are just out.  The International Energy Agency (IEA) has produced a report called “Redrawing the energy-climate map” and the annual BP review of world energy is also out. There is both good and bad news in the … Continue reading

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Is it possible to run an economy on renewables?

Today I read that Portugal produced 70% of its energy from renewables in the 1st quarter.  This is a dramatic increase.  Is it possible to run a modern developed economy totally on renewable resources as its set up today?  We … Continue reading

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Record renewables production

Well the 2012 renewables data is in for the UK and despite the weather, or because of it there was record production. That and a huge increase in capacity. As you can see we have good mix. Just not enough. … Continue reading

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Unrealistic expectations?

Unrealistic expectations or the future? in this article which covers some of the aftermath of last weeks comments by Alistair Buchanan.  We have covered some of the solutions to the intermittency problem in “No oil in the lamp”.

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Energy and crisis

Rarely can a book have had so much free publicity in such a short time as “No oil in the lamp” has over the last few days.  Alistair Buchanan the head of OFGEM gave speech stating the UK faces a … Continue reading

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Wind power – still a cause of debate

About 8 miles from my home in rural Suffolk (in the East of England) two wind turbines have recently been erected and will soon be producing electricity. These are the first large ones in this area, though there are several … Continue reading

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In praise of wood-burners

The Guardian newspaper has three editorials in the newsprint edition everyday.  Two of these are on global/local events from political perspective.  The other is a positive one on something or someone (in praise of…).  Last week it was on  “In … Continue reading

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