2. It is essential that carbon counting is done properly. A decision that one number is larger than another may set off a whole train of policy action. Just as the ‘financial engineering’ of a wind farm project may be as important as the nuts and bolts, so it will be with serious carbon counting. The importance of getting the right numbers and accounting procedures
3. The problem seems to be to get the numbers to lie down on the paper and stop wriggling.
4. 1. BIOFUELS Is all bio-ethanol equally green? Some figures on ethanol from maize and wood…. If you were offered a tanker-load of bio-ethanol could you be sure of its source?
7. And different plant is brought in to supply the load... Source: Peacock & Newborough
8. Source: Bettle, Pout & Hitchen The higher the load on the grid, the higher its carbon intensity
9. Pithy Questions: Should a saved kilowatt hour be credited with cutting transmission losses from the power station? Is a saved kilowatt hour an ‘average’ one or a ‘marginal’ one? What happens if gas prices go up?
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12. CHP plants produce both electricity and heat. Their overall fuel efficiency is higher than electricity-only power stations. It is a low carbon technology, but which does it produce - low carbon heat or low carbon electricity?
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14. What about a Stirling engine domestic micro-CHP unit? This is essentially a gas boiler that makes some electricity as well. Shouldn’t this be seen as something that provides ‘normal’ gas fuelled heat but ‘low carbon electricity’?
15. Between these two extremes are a host of other types of CHP plant and potential ‘disharmonies’ between the UK assessment method (CHPQA) and the European Co-generation Directive assessment method. A lot of further research and discussion will be needed…….
