A recent, major UK research project investigated technical and social aspects of reducing the CO2... more A recent, major UK research project investigated technical and social aspects of reducing the CO2 emissions of UK domestic housing by 50% by the year 2030. As 80% of the UK housing stock that will be present in 2030 has already been built, this study aimed to research the whole life costs of three sets of energy demand reduction technologies for existing housing, over a 25-year period, suitable to deliver significant CO2 emissions reduction up to 50%. Demand side technological interventions in the form of fabric upgrades and ventilation systems are identified. Whole life cycle analysis of interventions carried out on two housing variants prominent in the domestic stock under different energy price scenarios is carried out using discounted cash flow and compared with the do-nothing option. The results show that, despite reducing annual energy bills, there is no clear financial case even over a 25-year horizon for householders to invest in the proposed interventions that contribute to...
When visioning for best possible future energy systems in a world with growing populations, limit... more When visioning for best possible future energy systems in a world with growing populations, limited fossil fuel resources, rising energy prices and less energy security -more individuals, communities and cities are looking to utilise autarkic principles to harvest, store and optimise use of local energy resources. Energy autarky can be described as a location that relies on its own energy resources for generating the useful energy required to sustain the society within that region or a situation in which a region does not import substantial amounts of energy resources. Functioning autarkic energy systems typically require a micro-grid, well understood energy demand and supply characteristics, opportunities for energy storage of various types and controls able to manage the harmonisation of system components. A critical additional ingredient is users who can work within constraints created by the adoption of autarkic principles. To elaborate the challenges and explore the issues invo...
The surface climatic and sub-surface ground characteristics (at deeper than 15 m) are favourable ... more The surface climatic and sub-surface ground characteristics (at deeper than 15 m) are favourable to implement bore hole heat exchangers (BHX) coupled to a chilled ceiling system for both new built and existing buildings in the UK. A spread sheet based model to design a chilled ceiling in conjunction with a BHX system coupled with a daily coolth storage system has been developed. The model has been applied to 4, 5 and 6 storey existing UK office buildings. The resulting reduction in the CO2 emissions due to displaced conventional air conditioning net of the additional electrical pumping power requirements for the proposed system have been calculated and is presented. Background The UK under the Kyoto Protocol is required to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 12.5% below 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012 (1). Industry and service sector of which offices form a substantial part are projected to account for 45% of the UK overall CO2 emissions in 2030 (2). UK wide efforts are being made to study the potential of various technological interventions for reducing the carbon footprint of domestic and non domestic buildings. Three existing UK office building types, 4, 5 and 6 storey offices have been chosen for the present study. The total energy loads of these buildings for the years 2005 and 2030 used in this study comprising of small power, lighting, space heating, space cooling and water heating loads along with other selected details of these office buildings are shown in Table 1. Heating and cooling loads shown here have been estimated employing the building energy simulation programme ESPr using the CIBSE TRY climate files (3). The concomitant CO2 emissions due to the total energy load and electrical energy consumption of a conventional chiller to meet the cooling loads of respective buildings are shown in Table 2. It can be seen that the cooling load resulted in 17, 9 and 14% of the total CO2 emissions in 2005 and 12, 27 and 14% in 2030 respectively for the 4, 5 and 6 storey office buildings. For CO2 calculations the cooling plant has been estimated to be electrically driven with a COP of 2. Emission factors of 0.19 kgCO2/kWh and 0.43 kgCO2/kWh respectively for natural gas and network electricity have been adopted (4). The 2005 energy loads shown in Table 2 have been calculated before applying any building fabric and small power equipment interventions to the three office buildings whereas the 2030 loads include the effect of applying these interventions along with the effect of variation of climates between 2005 and 2030. The respective interventions are discussed in detail in (5). Most of the offices in the UK require some type of cooling for part of the year often provided by conventional vapour compression chillers and air conditioners because the prevailing indoor temperatures can be higher than those for human comfort. The average subsurface temperature in the UK at a depth of about 15 m varies between 8-11 °C and at a depth 100m between 8-15 °C with the temperature rising at an average rate of 2.6 °C per 100 m beyond this depth (6). The mean observed equilibrium temperature for the UK at a depth of 100 m is reported to be in the vicinity of 12 ±1.6 °C (6). Subsurface thermal conductivity is a strong function of material composition and porosity and is generally within the range 1.5-4 Wm -1
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2009
This study looks at the cultural and behavioural sides of microgeneration, focusing on the UK. We... more This study looks at the cultural and behavioural sides of microgeneration, focusing on the UK. We consider household behaviour as well as installers' practices and institutional issues, and analyse the prospects for maximising energy and emissions savings from microgeneration. We consider what it would take to maximise uptake of the technology; whether installations would be the most appropriate and professionally installed; whether installations would then be used properly and to their full potential; and how behaviour ...
A critical review of the literature relating to government policy and behavioural aspects relevan... more A critical review of the literature relating to government policy and behavioural aspects relevant to the uptake and application of microgeneration in the UK is presented. Given the current policy context aspiring to zero-carbon new homes by 2016 and a variety of minimum standards and financial policy instruments supporting microgeneration in existing dwellings, it appears that this class of technologies could make a significant contribution to UK energy supply and low-carbon buildings in the future. Indeed, achievement of a reduction in ...
ABSTRACT An assessment is presented of the prospective use of micro-generation systems in conjunc... more ABSTRACT An assessment is presented of the prospective use of micro-generation systems in conjunction with electrolysers and hydrogen stores for refuelling private bi-fuel (gasoline/hydrogen) cars with hydrogen. For a range of system sizes and three power source operating modes, predictions are made of the annual travel range on hydrogen and the associated CO2 savings. A basic system (Mode A) operating solely from the output of a photovoltaic array was found to generate sufficient hydrogen to allow a passenger vehicle with a fuel efficiency of 8.5 l/100 km (33 mpg) to travel 613 km annually per kW of PV installed. An alternative system (Mode B) that permitted network electricity to contribute to hydrogen production, provided that the CO2 emission factor of the generated hydrogen was half that of gasoline, enabled an annual travel distance of 772 km per kW of PV installed. A hybrid micro-generation system comprising a PV and micro-CHP system (Mode C), where the electricity that would otherwise be exported from the dwelling was diverted to hydrogen production, achieved a more consistent hydrogen production rate across the year. This resulted in a lower on-site storage requirement; when compared with Mode A, it provided an additional annual travel distance on hydrogen of between 1285 and 1833 km. A utility factor was employed to indicate the extent to which a system design could deliver a given daily driving distance on hydrogen across the year. High utility factors (>70%) were only achievable for modest daily driving distances (10–17 km) for the considered range of PV sizes (1.7–8.5 kW).
A recent, major UK research project investigated technical and social aspects of reducing the CO2... more A recent, major UK research project investigated technical and social aspects of reducing the CO2 emissions of UK domestic housing by 50% by the year 2030. As 80% of the UK housing stock that will be present in 2030 has already been built, this study aimed to research the whole life costs of three sets of energy demand reduction technologies for existing housing, over a 25-year period, suitable to deliver significant CO2 emissions reduction up to 50%. Demand side technological interventions in the form of fabric upgrades and ventilation systems are identified. Whole life cycle analysis of interventions carried out on two housing variants prominent in the domestic stock under different energy price scenarios is carried out using discounted cash flow and compared with the do-nothing option. The results show that, despite reducing annual energy bills, there is no clear financial case even over a 25-year horizon for householders to invest in the proposed interventions that contribute to...
When visioning for best possible future energy systems in a world with growing populations, limit... more When visioning for best possible future energy systems in a world with growing populations, limited fossil fuel resources, rising energy prices and less energy security -more individuals, communities and cities are looking to utilise autarkic principles to harvest, store and optimise use of local energy resources. Energy autarky can be described as a location that relies on its own energy resources for generating the useful energy required to sustain the society within that region or a situation in which a region does not import substantial amounts of energy resources. Functioning autarkic energy systems typically require a micro-grid, well understood energy demand and supply characteristics, opportunities for energy storage of various types and controls able to manage the harmonisation of system components. A critical additional ingredient is users who can work within constraints created by the adoption of autarkic principles. To elaborate the challenges and explore the issues invo...
The surface climatic and sub-surface ground characteristics (at deeper than 15 m) are favourable ... more The surface climatic and sub-surface ground characteristics (at deeper than 15 m) are favourable to implement bore hole heat exchangers (BHX) coupled to a chilled ceiling system for both new built and existing buildings in the UK. A spread sheet based model to design a chilled ceiling in conjunction with a BHX system coupled with a daily coolth storage system has been developed. The model has been applied to 4, 5 and 6 storey existing UK office buildings. The resulting reduction in the CO2 emissions due to displaced conventional air conditioning net of the additional electrical pumping power requirements for the proposed system have been calculated and is presented. Background The UK under the Kyoto Protocol is required to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 12.5% below 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012 (1). Industry and service sector of which offices form a substantial part are projected to account for 45% of the UK overall CO2 emissions in 2030 (2). UK wide efforts are being made to study the potential of various technological interventions for reducing the carbon footprint of domestic and non domestic buildings. Three existing UK office building types, 4, 5 and 6 storey offices have been chosen for the present study. The total energy loads of these buildings for the years 2005 and 2030 used in this study comprising of small power, lighting, space heating, space cooling and water heating loads along with other selected details of these office buildings are shown in Table 1. Heating and cooling loads shown here have been estimated employing the building energy simulation programme ESPr using the CIBSE TRY climate files (3). The concomitant CO2 emissions due to the total energy load and electrical energy consumption of a conventional chiller to meet the cooling loads of respective buildings are shown in Table 2. It can be seen that the cooling load resulted in 17, 9 and 14% of the total CO2 emissions in 2005 and 12, 27 and 14% in 2030 respectively for the 4, 5 and 6 storey office buildings. For CO2 calculations the cooling plant has been estimated to be electrically driven with a COP of 2. Emission factors of 0.19 kgCO2/kWh and 0.43 kgCO2/kWh respectively for natural gas and network electricity have been adopted (4). The 2005 energy loads shown in Table 2 have been calculated before applying any building fabric and small power equipment interventions to the three office buildings whereas the 2030 loads include the effect of applying these interventions along with the effect of variation of climates between 2005 and 2030. The respective interventions are discussed in detail in (5). Most of the offices in the UK require some type of cooling for part of the year often provided by conventional vapour compression chillers and air conditioners because the prevailing indoor temperatures can be higher than those for human comfort. The average subsurface temperature in the UK at a depth of about 15 m varies between 8-11 °C and at a depth 100m between 8-15 °C with the temperature rising at an average rate of 2.6 °C per 100 m beyond this depth (6). The mean observed equilibrium temperature for the UK at a depth of 100 m is reported to be in the vicinity of 12 ±1.6 °C (6). Subsurface thermal conductivity is a strong function of material composition and porosity and is generally within the range 1.5-4 Wm -1
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2009
This study looks at the cultural and behavioural sides of microgeneration, focusing on the UK. We... more This study looks at the cultural and behavioural sides of microgeneration, focusing on the UK. We consider household behaviour as well as installers' practices and institutional issues, and analyse the prospects for maximising energy and emissions savings from microgeneration. We consider what it would take to maximise uptake of the technology; whether installations would be the most appropriate and professionally installed; whether installations would then be used properly and to their full potential; and how behaviour ...
A critical review of the literature relating to government policy and behavioural aspects relevan... more A critical review of the literature relating to government policy and behavioural aspects relevant to the uptake and application of microgeneration in the UK is presented. Given the current policy context aspiring to zero-carbon new homes by 2016 and a variety of minimum standards and financial policy instruments supporting microgeneration in existing dwellings, it appears that this class of technologies could make a significant contribution to UK energy supply and low-carbon buildings in the future. Indeed, achievement of a reduction in ...
ABSTRACT An assessment is presented of the prospective use of micro-generation systems in conjunc... more ABSTRACT An assessment is presented of the prospective use of micro-generation systems in conjunction with electrolysers and hydrogen stores for refuelling private bi-fuel (gasoline/hydrogen) cars with hydrogen. For a range of system sizes and three power source operating modes, predictions are made of the annual travel range on hydrogen and the associated CO2 savings. A basic system (Mode A) operating solely from the output of a photovoltaic array was found to generate sufficient hydrogen to allow a passenger vehicle with a fuel efficiency of 8.5 l/100 km (33 mpg) to travel 613 km annually per kW of PV installed. An alternative system (Mode B) that permitted network electricity to contribute to hydrogen production, provided that the CO2 emission factor of the generated hydrogen was half that of gasoline, enabled an annual travel distance of 772 km per kW of PV installed. A hybrid micro-generation system comprising a PV and micro-CHP system (Mode C), where the electricity that would otherwise be exported from the dwelling was diverted to hydrogen production, achieved a more consistent hydrogen production rate across the year. This resulted in a lower on-site storage requirement; when compared with Mode A, it provided an additional annual travel distance on hydrogen of between 1285 and 1833 km. A utility factor was employed to indicate the extent to which a system design could deliver a given daily driving distance on hydrogen across the year. High utility factors (>70%) were only achievable for modest daily driving distances (10–17 km) for the considered range of PV sizes (1.7–8.5 kW).
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