16 minute read
Energy 38
Why is it proving so difficult to convince business owners to take a serious look at their energy outputs?
don’t know – and that lack of understanding can be overcome with simple steps. Advanced meters and smart meters can each provide an accurate measurement of energy use. There are many different types of advanced monitoring systems to build a detailed picture of energy useage. However, simply obtaining your half hourly meter information from your electricity provider can be the starting point to help provide valuable insights into your energy efficiency. Smart meters are also booming in popularity as they provide real time readings of energy use, and automatically send readings to suppliers. Smart meters and half hourly meter readings allow you to monitor and analyse energy-use patterns throughout the day, which can then be assessed against operational hours. For a business that operates 9am to 5pm, you will most likely see spikes in energy consumption during that time, with zero energy usage outside of these hours, apart from base load consumption such as fire alarms and emergency lighting. Seeing large spikes outside of operational hours is costly and easily fixable through an energy management system to measure energy consumption. Recent years have seen a proliferation in energy management system technology, bringing sophisticated systems and processes into play. Sub-metering is growing in popularity, as a method that gathers more granular energy consumption information about a business or site, pinning down the energy usage across different areas of buildings and pieces of equipment. This also often acts as an early warning system for any equipment that may need maintenance. It’s vital that businesses consistently monitor and measure energy usage: the more data you have, the more detailed your energy profile will be. There’s a common fear that green technology is a costly investment, however, most energy efficient solutions are relatively inexpensive, and the question I always ask my customers is: can you afford not to? Research by the Carbon Trust shows that most businesses can achieve meaningful cost savings through cutting energy consumption and that even low and no-cost action can usually reduce costs by at least 10%. And looking at the three main barriers which stop businesses from implementing energy management, it is clear they are all easy to overcome.
Advertisement
Pilot Group designs smart, safe and sustainable infrastructure solutions, with clients ranging from SMES to Amazon, Tesco, National Rail, and local authorities.
PILOT GROUP
thepilotgroup.co.uk
Responding to confirmation that the Ofgem price cap will rise a staggering 80% to a record high of £3,549, Polly Billington, Chief Executive of UK100*, says that with households already beset by a cost-of-living crisis, it’s impossible to see how many families will cope with an average energy bill rise of over £1,500 a year.
UK100
uk100.org We are looking down the barrel of a bleak winter across Britain. It is clear that urgent action is needed to help communities now.
But while cash handouts are a vital short-term measure to support the most vulnerable across the country, we cannot pretend that those funds are going anywhere but straight back to the energy firms already making record profits. The handouts already budgeted for will cost taxpayers £21bn. How much will that bill increase when the cap rises again in January? Doubling down on earlier and repeated calls for a nationwide energy efficiency drive to bring down bills and accelerate Net Zero progress, Polly adds:”With energy prices sky-high and only forecast to get higher, and millions facing fuel poverty, it is finally the time to grasp the energy efficiency nettle. The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use, and we need a nationwide drive to improve the energy efficiency of our homes — a drive that will permanently slash energy bills. We need support for an emergency energy efficiency strategy that prioritises, first and most urgently, upgrading Britain’s social housing stock. Local and regional leaders are ready to deliver those improvements and reduce bills for their constituents. But they need backing from the central government. Britain has some of the draughtiest homes in Europe. If our radiators kicked out five-pound notes instead of warm air, we would see wads of them escaping from homes up and down the country every winter. Our homes are leaking money and energy. But energy efficiency isn’t sexy. It doesn’t ignite culture wars. And it doesn’t sell newspapers. This can be the only explanation for why the Government has seemingly passed up almost every possible opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of Britain’s homes, including recently scrapping a £1bn scheme to do just that. Whoever takes the keys to Number 10 needs to face up to the challenge and focus on real solutions, not just throwing good money after bad. Short-term help is desperately needed in the face of the current crisis, but the only way to tackle it in the medium and long-term is to fix the roof while the sun is shining. And not just the roof. We need to insulate the walls and triple-glaze the windows too. End the wait. Insulate.
UK100 will host a “Tackling the Energy Price Crisis” summit on 17 November, in cooperation with the West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and Mayor Tracy Brabin, that will focus on the role of local and regional leaders in delivering energy efficiency upgrades. The event will also launch a new social housing retrofit report detailing the cost of upgrading all of Britain’s social homes and the benefits to households in energy bill savings alongside the jobs dividend. Register for the event here. More details on speakers will be announced shortly.
NEW TRAINS CLEAN AIR OF CO2
Railways could help counter climate change and remove CO2 from the air by capturing the sustainable energy generated when trains brake and decelerate.
US start-up CO2Rail Company has been working with a global team of researchers, including engineers from the University of Sheffield, to design Direct Air Capture (DAC), a technology to remove carbon dioxide from the air via special carriages on existing trains. The system works by using the large intakes of air that extend up into the slipstream of the moving train to move ambient air into a large cylindrical CO2 collection chamber.
A chemical process separates the CO2 from the air and the carbon dioxide-free air travels out of the back or underside of the car and returns to the atmosphere. When a sufficient amount is captured, the chamber is closed and the harvested CO2 is collected, concentrated, and stored in a liquid reservoir until it can be emptied from the train into normal CO2 rail tank cars. It is then transported into the circular carbon economy as feedstock or to geological landfill sites. These processes are powered by on-board generated, sustainable energy sources that require no external energy input or off-duty charging cycles. When a train pumps the brakes, its energy braking system converts the train’s forward momentum into electrical energy in a similar way to a regenerative electric vehicle. Currently, this energy dissipates in the form of heat and is discharged out of the top of the vehicle during every braking manoeuvre. Research co-author, Professor Peter Styring from the University of Sheffield and Director of the UK Centre for Carbon Dioxide Utilisation, explained: “Currently the enormous amount of sustainable energy created when a train brakes or decelerates is simply lost. “The technology will harvest meaningful quantities of CO2 at far lower costs and has the potential to reach annual productivity of 0.45 gigatons by 2030, 2.9 gigatons by 2050, and 7.8 gigatons by 2075 with each car having an annual capacity of 3,000 tonnes of CO2 in the near term.” Unlike stationary DAC operations, which require large areas to build equipment and construct renewable sources of energy to power them, CO2Rail would be transient and generally unseen by the public. Eric Bachman of CO2Rail Company said: “On average, each complete braking manoeuvre generates enough energy to power 20 average homes for an entire day, so it is not a trivial amount of energy. “Multiply this by every stop or deceleration for nearly every train in the world and you have about 105 times more energy than the Hoover Dam produces within that same period, and that was a hydro-electric construction project that took six years and cost $760 million in today’s dollars.” He added: “Imagine stepping onto a train each morning, seeing the CO2Rail cars attached, and knowing that your commute to work each day is actually helping to mitigate climate change. “It will work the same with freight, if there is a choice between rail and another mode of transportation, I think this technology will sway many shippers.” The team found each direct air capture car can harvest about 6,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air per year – and more as the technology develops. Since trains are capable of hosting multiple CO2Rail cars, each train will harvest a corresponding multiple of CO2 tonnage. This, along with other significant savings, such as land, brings projected cost at scale down to less than $50 per tonne and makes the technology not only commercially viable but commercially attractive.
The team is also working on a similar system to remove CO2 emissions from the exhausts of diesel-powered locomotives which are still common around the world.
A CO2Rail car could help harvest harmful emissions.
CO2Rail
co2rail.com
The research “Rail-Based Direct Air Carbon Capture” is published in the Future Energy section of the journal Joule.
LAUNCHING YOUR NEW PRODUCT CAN BE MORE OF A FINANCE BOOST THAN YOU THINK
A product launch is always a fantastic opportunity for a company to celebrate their success, but we’d also like to celebrate your failures too! More on that later.
COODEN TAX CONSULTING
coodentaxconsulting.co.uk You might be celebrating further after reading this article because instead of following in the footsteps of a significant number of your peers and competitors, or indeed your own business in previous years, you’ve realized that your product launch also represents the point at which a significant failure arises, often without anyone really noticing, or even worse caring. This year you’re going to do something different, you’re going to pick up the phone and have a conversation about Research and Development Tax Credits with an expert. A spin-off company from a restaurant chain, has done just that and is on the verge of submitting a claim for a repayable tax credit of £45k for their plant-based food product development. It’s one of those, “unknown, unknown” moments that exist everywhere in business, but after being available for 22 years, Research and Development Tax Credits should no longer be one of them, but it is and alas, thousands of businesses continue to miss their right to claim this most generous of tax reliefs. We are one of those experts, we’re only small, but we do have some substance behind our claims, we’ve been operating for 9 years now and have supported nearly 200 companies to claim more than £25m in R&D Tax Credits claims. Let’s get back to your new product! It’s taken you nearly three years to get from concept to launch, along the way you’ve had Eureka moments and more abject failures than perhaps you would care to mention in polite company. You could claim Tax Relief on the bulk if not all of that threeyear activity depending on the timing of your accounting year end. If you aren’t quite ready to launch this year, but you and your team have been working thorough several ideas during the same time period and may be one or two of them are still going through the product development process, not having a finished product doesn’t prevent you from claiming now! In fact, you can claim for a completely failed project. The good news is those failures are great news for your cashflow, they clearly weren’t at the time,
but they are now. “Why” do I hear you ask? Well, normally your failure would go hand in hand with a scientific or technological challenge that you were trying to overcome. After all, we don’t set out to fail, it just seems to happen naturally! We celebrate your failure as much, perhaps more than we celebrate your success. It sounds strange but we celebrate your failure because we know that failure while difficult in the short term, will open up the opportunity for you to claim Research and Development Tax Credits, whether you are paying tax or not. they can boost your cashflow. The over-riding fundamentals for a successful claim for R&D Tax Relief are: There has to be a project (developing a new/ improved product) There has to be an advance in science or technology (you probably aren’t going to launch a new product that is worse than what you already have, or than If you aren’t quite ready to the market already has) launch this year, but you The advance has and your team have been to be achieved by overcoming some working thorough several form of scientific ideas during the same or technological challenge (the main time period and may be way to overcome these is by learning one or two of them are still and adapting going through the product through failure) development process, not The solution to the challenge cannot having a finished product be readily deducible by a competent doesn’t prevent you from professional claiming now! In fact, you operating in the field. can claim for a completely If you look back through your new product failed project. development, you’ll no doubt see it littered with failures and the one or two products that do make it to the point of launch didn’t get there by some fluke, they got there through overcoming every single technical or scientific challenge you were presented with. Now you just have one final hurdle to get over, and that hurdle is of your own making, you just have to talk to an expert to confirm that you can claim. Go on, dare you, go to your browser, type in https://calendly.com/cooden/fandd, or if you are reading the online version click on the link. Book a Find Out in Fifteen Minutes discovery section with our Director, Simon Bulteel and start your next journey, we promise it will be worth it, just to know, for sure! Speak to you soon.
AS THE COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS STARTS TO HIT HARD, IT’S TIME TO DITCH THE CAR FOR GREENER AND CHEAPER CHOICES
The soaring cost-of-living means it’s a worrying time for many people. Energy prices have risen to unprecedented levels and will increase further in the autumn. Food prices are rising fast and tough decisions are being taken by families as they choose between heating and eating.
Many workers are struggling with the cost of commuting to work. Transportation costs are increasing with car ownership becoming more expensive as insurance premiums rise and fuel costs soar. Public transport has also seen an unprecedented surge in ticket prices. Meanwhile, pressure is also mounting for organisations to reduce their environmental impact and achieve net zero status. However, addressing the climate emergency is about more than switching to electric vehicles. Multiple studies warn that driving overall must be reduced to hit climate targets.
Active travel makes a real difference
Employers can support staff during the cost-of-living crisis by improving their staff benefits offering. A positive change in commuting habits can be promoted by giving employees access to the Cycle to Work Scheme. Under the scheme, employees are encouraged to ditch the car and switch to cycling for their commute. Commuting by bike can save employees time and money, reduce harmful emissions, and improve individual health and fitness.
A Fairer Cycle to Work Scheme
Green Commute Initiative’s Cycle to Work Scheme gives access to significant savings of 33.25% to 48.25% on any type of cycle. The salary sacrifice payments come from the employee’s gross salary, reducing their tax and NI obligation. The interest-free payments can be spread over 3 to 48 months making it a very manageable monthly expenditure for employees. There are no ‘ownership fees’ so employees make the maximum possible savings available to them. GCI is a not-for-profit social enterprise with a vision for a cleaner and healthier future for everyone. When more people cycle, everyone wins.
greencommuteinitiative.uk
Our aim is to make seaweedbased bioplastic mulch film readily available to farmers and for it to be competitively priced.
SEAWEED SOLUTION TO PLASTIC POLLUTION DEVELOPED IN WALES
An innovative Welsh biotech start-up is developing 100% biodegradable, soil-enriching products to tackle the mounting problem of agricultural plastic waste.
A used starch-based mulch before it is ploughed into the soil. PlantSea is testing a seaweed-based bioplastic to replace agricultural plastic sheets, also known as mulch film, used to increase crop yields.
A staggering 45,000 tonnes of agricultural plastics are reportedly produced every year in the UK, according to a Defra 2010 study - and sheets spread over the soil to serve as a plastic mulch film1 make up over 40% of the total agri-plastic market.
The Environment Agency has highlighted agriplastic waste as a concern, because much of the 71% of land dedicated to farming in the UK is close to watercourses.
2
A study on microplastics in freshwater and soils from the Royal Society3, shows that some scientists believe there are higher concentrations of microplastics in rivers than in the sea, and there is evidence that the presence of microplastics in organisms can affect their habits by reduced feeding, decreased movement, and increased buoyancy, which affects feeding and swimming behaviour.
Seaweed solution
PlantSea, supported by AberInnovation business support programmes for industry, is producing seaweed-based biopolymers to create bio-plastic mulch films for growing food crops more sustainably, with plans to roll them out commercially to farmers. Co-founder Rhiannon Rees says there is an urgent need for sustainable alternatives: “Farmers use plastic mulch film to protect plants from insects and weeds, to keep the ground warm, and ultimately, achieve higher yields. They are great for lettuce and other salad crops. “Plastic mulch films go to landfill, and although there are some biodegradable films available that are made from starches, unless they are ploughed back into the soil and left for one year, they don’t degrade into compost. “Our prototypes of seaweed film are biodegrading well in soil with no need to plough them in,” says Rhiannon. “Seaweed is a very versatile, sustainable plant, which is readily available in the ocean. It grows 20 times faster than trees and it absorbs huge amounts of carbon.
“Seaweed farming is in its infancy in the UK, but it’s huge in Southeast Asia and some parts of Northern Europe, and it’s a great industry for coastal communities.
