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Archive for April, 2007

micro-CHP report delayed

Posted in chp, climate change, energy, engineering, micro chp on April 26, 2007| Leave a Comment »

The people in charge of the micro-CHP field trial at the Carbon Trust say their next interim report will be delayed until early June with the calculation methodology to follow soon after. So we’ll have to wait a little longer for the verdict on micro-CHP. Interestingly, the MicroGen units are still in the trial so maybe it will become clearer why BG Microgen closed down.

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how far can you transport wood pellets before losing the carbon benefit?

Posted in biofuel, biomass, climate change, energy, engineering, house, renewable energy on April 19, 2007| 9 Comments »

pelletsAt least around 3000 kilometres. Here’s why:

The BRE gives a carbon intensity of 0.025kgCO2/kWh for biomass. This includes an allowance for planting, harvesting, processing, and delivery to point of use. See the 2001 emissions report and the 2003 update.

But we need to vary the emissions figure based on distance travelled. The European Environment Agency gives a figure of just over 0.12 kgCO2 per tonne per kilometre for road transport, quoted here. Even more pessimistic, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution says 0.18 – 0.27 kgCO2 per tonne per kilometre (see table 4.4). (more…)

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using mass to cool your house

Posted in architecture, climate change, energy, engineering, house, italy, renewable energy on April 4, 2007| 11 Comments »

A few weeks ago at the end of a post about the myth of stone walls as insulation, I mentioned that high mass materials can be useful when included inside the insulation layer. Here’s why. (more…)

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