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British Gas's fuel cell technology will be available 2012
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The next decade will see a startling growth in certain low-carbon technologies to help us meet the challenges of reducing our carbon emissions and increasing our use of renewable energy. The following technologies are, I believe, the way the market is going.
Biomethane to grid
Biomethane, or renewable gas, is gas produced from rotting organic waste that is then cleaned, brought up to grid spec and can be pumped straight back into the national grid. The most popular technology for making biomethane, as already used in Germany, is known as anaerobic digestion (AD) – the industrial equivalent of a cow’s stomach. In the longer term, pyrolysis (gasification) could potentially increase the scale of the opportunity significantly.
A recent study for National Grid by Ernst and Young has estimated that, under a conservative scenario, biomethane could account for 15% of the British domestic natural gas market in 2020, and for 48% under a stretch scenario. If its full potential were realised, biomethane could deliver large volumes of renewable energy through the existing grid, without digging up roads or changing domestic central heating appliances.
British Gas has already announced five biomethane demonstration projects, with the Thames Water and Scotia Gas Networks’ project making history in October 2010 by being the first biomethane plant to inject ‘green gas’ into the grid: British homes are now cooking their eggs on gas made from human sewage!
Smart meters
The roll out of smart meters will transform the way that people view and consume energy in the years to come. These show customers their energy consumption and how it relates to cost and CO 2 emissions. Making people more aware of their energy use provides a crucial step forward in reducing overall consumption. However, smart meters are also driving innovation in terms of controls and appliances that interact with them, as part of a new, smarter home.
Soon customers will be able to see not just their whole house electricity and gas demand but also how this breaks down into which appliances use the most energy, driving customers to be more efficient and invest in the latest A-rated models. Customers will also be able to have far greater control over how they use their energy than ever before, with smart boiler controls that allow control from a mobile phone. There will also be the possibility of being able to zone rooms so that radiators only heat up if a room is being used. The systems will be able to learn occupancy patterns and tailor the heating of a home to the individual needs of the occupants, thereby reducing waste.
Going even further forward, residents may want to allow utilities to have certain control over their home’s energy demand so that they can benefit from Demand Side Management (DSM) – switching-off appliances at certain times to help the grid control demand), which comes with the benefit of less costly energy tariffs as a result.
Micro CHP
British Gas feels that microCHP units will be the boilers of the future, allowing customers to produce their own electricity whilst at the same time heating their home. We are already installing the Baxi Ecogen boiler that uses Sterling engine technology to provide heating and hot water for the home. We are also helping develop the Ceres home power station that incorporates patented solid oxide fuel cell technology to produce electricity via an electrochemical process 24 hours a day, independent of the unit’s heating function. This cutting-edge technology should be available from 2012.
Gas heat pumps
Heat pumps extract heat from the outside air. They can do this even when the temperature is as low as -15°C. The free low-grade heat is then taken through a vapour-compression cycle which increases the temperature for use in heating and hot water systems. Gas heat pumps differ from electric ones because the compressors are driven either by a gas-fired absorption heat pump or by a gas engine rather than an electrical motor. The advantages of gas heat pumps over electrical is that they are able to operate at very high efficiencies even when outdoor temperatures are well into minus figures. They are particularly suited for commercial applications as often there is a heating demand as well as cooling.
LED lighting
The lighting market has already been transformed once from the gradual phase out of incandescent lighting and the increasing popularity of CFLs; and the same is set to be achieved again with the innovations in LED lighting. LED lights have greater efficiencies than current bulbs and lifetimes of up to eight times that of CFLs. Due to high initial costs LEDs have recently been limited to commercial markets but many major lighting companies are now developing LED bulbs that are less costly, have higher equivalent wattages and far warmer light output to suit residential customer tastes. The global LED market in 2007 was worth $4.6bn and is expected to reach a staggering $11.4bn by 2012.
Matt Eastland is product & innovation manager at British Gas New Energy.
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