On the N-word and double standards
I’ve recently been conducting some telephone interviews for my research, talking with representatives from across the microgeneration industry. The general outlook was pretty positive but one respondent said he was nervous that microgeneration might get lost in the shuffle once everyone gets “totally sidetracked by this nuclear debate”. Talk about timing – that same week the BBC was packed with stories about the UK’s future energy supply gap, the roots of the problem, and most controversially rumours that Blair is `convinced’ on nuclear.
Say what you want about the rights and wrongs of nuclear power, it’s obvious why this is coming up the agenda now. The recent cold weather here in the UK has had everyone talking about energy security and as it happens, the world is meeting in Montreal to discuss climate change – on which, incidentally neither the UK nor the EU are doing particularly well on. Let alone Canada.
But back to the main point, the nuclear option is being reviewed now because it’s clearly crunch time for UK energy policy. There are legitimate concerns about energy security and environmental issues that need to be addressed and nuclear may well be part of the solution.
Unlike the last round of nuclear though, the government has made it clear that the technology must now stand on its own two feet. Well that’s great but I’ll believe it when I see it. There are continuing criticisms that the costs of nuclear are greatly underestimated and the government continues to underwrite the costs of waste management. Decisions made with these parameters don’t sound very, well, economic. As if to inadvertantly prove this point, the government’s chief scientist has recently called for a new levy on energy bills to pay for any new nuclear stations. This is exactly what Germany does to pay for renewables in their country and something that UK government has repeatedly resisted here as a `market distortion’.
This whole thing seems a bit like the evolution/intelligent design (ID) debate in the US. There, opponents to the teaching of ID in biology class have said if ID is a science, then it must follow the scientific method and its theories verified experimentally. In other words, the same set of rules must be used when comparing two alternatives. The same goes for nuclear in the UK: if we need it, fine. But the criteria of what is or is not economic should be equally applied to all alternatives.
Do you want to?
Tanis and I went to see Franz Ferdinand in Cardiff last week. Wow. What a fantastic rock show. The venue was a little bit squished and there were people passing out left and right from the heat and sweat but the Etch-a-Sketch stage set and sing-alongs made it all worth while.
Click below for some pictures.
(PS the weird picture is one of three wind turbine blades we passed on the motorway)
Funding for LCBP announced
I spent quite a bit of time this afternoon reading the various responses to the Government’s recent consultation on microgeneration and the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP). The proposals haven’t exactly been given a warm welcome and there are lots of comments like “we have serious concerns about x” and “we urge the DTI to reconsider y“.
One of the biggest criticisms was that the amount of new funding for the LCBP hadn’t been announced, making it difficult to comment on the substance of the programme (i.e. how the money will be shared by different technologies). Well the funding was announced a few days ago and it’s not going to make smooth any ruffled feathers. £30 million pounds over three years – no, wait, make that £28.5 million (£1.5 mil is being brought forward to bridge the gap between the end of the current programmes and the start of the LCBP).
Considering that the current PV grant programme alone had a budget of £31 million over four years, this is disappointing. The government has been making encouraging noises on microgen for a while now and the energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, continued to trumpet the benefits of microgeneration during his announcement :
“The installation of microgeneration products such as micro-turbines, solar panels and air source heat pumps are an excellent way for individuals, communities and businesses to make their own contribution to tackling climate change. As these become more widespread they can help to teach children and future generations about the benefits of renewable energy and the new to use our resources more responsibly.”
The Renewable Power Association rightly points out that while the funding “could have been far worse”, this is a missed opportunity. Microgeneration is one of the few technologies which can encourage households to become directly involved in the fight against climate change but for it to be successful, the government needs to provide a clear and supportive investment climate: both in the form of improved funding for developing technologies like PV and reduced regulatory hurdles for near-to-market technologies. So with this low level funding, there is now increased pressure on the DTI to deliver other reforms that will ensure continued investment in microgeneration. Further details on the LCBP should hopefully be announced in the coming weeks.
Self-indulgent double-album on hold
So we didn’t win the demo vote on BBC Oxford this week. Beat by a band of 13 year-olds with a bass player whose bass is “bigger than he is”. Good for them though…I think I could just about bang out “Blowin’ in the Wind” at 13, nevermind write my own material.
Seeing the light
I think every doctoral student must have a moment, usually just before they finish their thesis, when they find out that someone else has already done their research. That moment for me is now.
The Sustainable Development Commission last week published Seeing the Light, a report about “the impact of micro-generation on the way we use energy”. Some of its main findings are very similar to my research (evidence of load-switching to times of peak generation, increased awareness of electricity consumption) but it also extends my research by covering a wider range of respondents including schools, those without microgeneration, and those who acquired these technologies through their local councils.
On one hand, it’s disappointing that someone else gets to lay claim to “the first ever research into the effect of microgeneration on attitudes and behaviours in homes”. However by focusing on households who have purchased just one technology (solar photovoltaics), I’ve been able to contribute by both exploring the issues raised in the SDC’s report in greater depth (e.g. by placing the purchase and use of photovoltaics within a larger “continuum” of energy conservation and awareness actions) and by addressing additional complementary issues (e.g. by quantifying the mismatch between peak electricity generation in the daytime and peak electricity consumption in the evening and its impact on behaviour and the operation of the electricity grid). Also I’ve had a few academic publications on this topic which helps build interest from a different angle.
So congratulations to the SDC for commissioning this research and giving major exposure to this topic. Governments, both central and local, certainly do need to place greater emphasis on microgeneration but hopefully all of us working together in this field will be able to make policy makers “see the light”.
On the BBC!
About three years ago, me and some friends decided to form a band. At the time I was in Sri Lanka, the bass player was in Geneva, the guitarist was in Boston and the drummer in Winnipeg but that wasn’t going to stop us. We practiced our seperate parts and then played one gig to the rapturous applause of 20 before going our separate ways.
We decided to keep things going though by trying to record an album over the internet. I’d sketch out some songs and post the demos as mp3s for the others to comment on. Then during the recording process they’d email WAV files of their respective parts to me and I’d stitch it all together.
In the end there was about 12 songs and I think less than 5 people have copies of the full thing. But recently I thought I should send a selection of tunes to Nightshift, a local music magazine. One thing led to another and I got a phone call last week saying that some of our stuff was going to be played on the local BBC! How about that?! You can listen to the programme online (it’s about 45 minutes in) and vote for our song to be played in full next week.
The host says we’re his favourite *blush blush*
Edit: Download an mp3 of the broadcast. The full song can also be downloaded – “Your Morning Smile”.