Sun Earth Energy
Geothermal
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- Written by British Geological Society
- Category: Geothermal
- Hits: 4617
March 2022: PDF to download from EGEC Geothermal [Click Here]
The term ‘geothermal energy’ refers to any heat derived from the ground, from depths of a few metres to multiple kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface.
Low-grade heat stored in the shallow subsurface (<200 m) is largely derived from solar radiation that is absorbed by the ground and distributed via natural groundwater systems and artificial structures such as flooded coal mines. The ground acts as a solar battery and, for this heat, utilisation usually requires a heat pump. This energy is widely described as ‘ground-source energy’ or ‘shallow geothermal energy’.
There is no strict definition for ‘deep geothermal energy’, but the UK Government has adopted the term to refer to heat resources derived from depths of >500 m. The heat of the Earth increases with depth, a phenomenon described as the geothermal gradient. This heat is partly the primordial heat from when the Earth was formed and partly heat generated from within the Earth’s crust from the decay of mildly radioactive elements. This upward heat flux varies across the globe, but in the UK is around 27°C/km (Busby, 2014). Assuming an average annual air temperature of 12°C, this means that subsurface temperatures at 1000 m, 3000 m and 5000 m are around 39°C, 89°C and 139°C, respectively.
Cross-industry coalition urges COP26 to Support AD
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- Written by Super User
- Category: Energy
- Hits: 2504
Organisations from sectors including agriculture, renewable energy, utilities and finance have written to the COP26 President Alok Sharma asking for his support towards unlocking the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) industry’s potential to address climate change and boost economic growth across the UK by transforming organic wastes into valuable bioresources.
The letter, signed by 19 organisations, urges Minister Sharma to become an advocate for improving waste management in the UK in the fight against climate change, by ensuring that all organic wastes are captured and transformed into valuable bioresources through anaerobic digestion technology – which gets the most out of such material – in order to rapidly decarbonise UK’s key industries such as transport, heat, agriculture and food and drink.
The group also ask for an immediate commitment to swiftly develop a policy framework for the AD sector to enable the industry to thrive and support the UK’s Net Zero and Global Britain ambitions, in particular addressing methane emissions this decade - and it's practical utilisation within the energy sector.
“The UK is currently missing a huge opportunity to build on an existing UK success story”, they write. “By turning all its organic wastes into bioresources, the AD industry could help:
- The UK achieve carbon neutrality, including delivering 30% of the 5th Carbon Budget shortfall
- Build back greener by creating 60,000 green jobs this decade
- Bring over £5bn of private sector investment
- Boost the UK’s exports to a $1trn global industry growing exponentially
- Support the UK’s agriculture sector and food and drink industry.”
With the letter to Mr Alok Sharma, the signatories seek the COP26 President’s support in unlocking the industry’s potential as fast as possible – thus helping place the UK at the heart of the fight against climate change as well as realise the government’s vision for an environmentally responsible and economically strong “Global Britain”..
The 19 signatories to the letter are: ADBA; Biogen; CCm Technologies; CNG Fuels; Country Land and Business Association (CLA); Energy Networks Association (ENA) ; Evonik Industries ; Food and Drink Federation (FDF); Gas Vehicle Network (GVN); GFD; Grissan; Institution of Gas Engineers & Managers (IGEM); National Farmers Union (NFU); Northumbrian Water; Privilege Finance; Scotch Whisky Association (SWA); Severn Trent; SGN and United Utilities.
Heat Pumps
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- Written by Mr Heat Pump
- Category: Geothermal
- Hits: 5456
For Commercial, Industrial and substantial private properties installations
With the ever rising costs of gas, oil and electricity, with attendant heating, hot water and cooling needs - now is the right time to consider [at long last - when we consider that Sweden has been installing heat pumps for over 50 years - heck I remember learning about them on my Construction Degree in 1972]
- · Heat pumps for industrial and commercial use
- · Heating power from 50 kW to 1000 kW (and more)
- · Working fluid: R134a (alternative R407C)**
- · Multistage options
- · Bespoke according to your demand
*Can be powered by an ORC [Organic Rankine Cycle] THE RANKINE CYCLE The Rankine Cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that converts heat into work. The heat is supplied to a closed loop, which typically uses water as working fluid. The Rankine Cycle based on water provides approximately 85% of worldwide electricity production. The Organic Rankine Cycle's principle is based on a turbogenerator working as a conventional steam turbine to transform thermal energy into mechanical energy and finally into electric energy through an electrical generator. Instead of generating steam from water, the ORC system vaporizes an organic fluid, characterized by a molecular mass higher than that of water, which leads to a slower rotation of the turbine, lower pressures and no erosion of the metal parts and blades.
** A growing focus on the environmental impact of refrigerants is fuelling demand for refrigeration solutions that can provide satisfactory cooling performance with a lower impact on global warming. This is propelling environmentally friendly refrigeration solutions to the top of the corporate sustainability agenda. In addition, local legislation is increasingly targeting refrigerant gases with high Global Warming Potential (GWP). R134a and R407c
Combined Heat, Power and Cooling
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- Written by Lindsey Zaranynika
- Category: Energy Efficiency
- Hits: 4423
Combined Heat and Power Systems
Using energy efficiently has become a goal across industries in the past decade. Rising energy prices, an increasingly competitive marketplace, and environmental regulation of harmful pollutant emissions have all incited commercial and industrial energy users to search out the most efficient and cleanest ways to use energy.
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