Renewable Heat Incentive launch set for next Spring

Solar thermal is one of the most affordable renewable technologies and the Solar Trade Association is looking forward to boom time.

Details of the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and related tariff levels have been announced by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), but anticipated news about the future of the non-domestic RHI has been postponed.

The domestic RHI will launch next Spring. As has always been promised, anyone who has installed a system since 15 July 2009 can claim retrospectively, as long as they meet the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) standards that applied at the time of installation.

DECC has confirmed the tariff levels for all four eligible technologies. These will be:

• Flat plate and evacuated tube solar thermal panels: at least 19.2p/kWh


• Ground (and water) source heat pumps: 18.8p/kWh


• Air to water heat pumps : 7.3p/kWh


• Biomass-only boilers and biomass pellet stoves with back boilers: 12.2p/kWh.

Payments will be made on a quarterly basis over a period of seven years. Householders who have already received vouchers under the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme will be transferred to the RHI and have their value deducted from their RHI payments.

Applicants will need to complete a Green Deal assessment to reduce their energy demand to a certain level in order to qualify for the payments.

Private landlords and providers of social housing will be able to apply for a property or properties that they own (provided they own the heating system). The landlord will receive the RHI payments.

For Local Authorities who use Arm’s Length Managed Organisations (ALMOs) to manage their properties, the application must come from the owner of the heating system.

New build properties will not be eligible for the scheme. The Renewable Energy Association said this "reinforces the need for the government to set demanding carbon compliance standards in the 2013 revision of the Building Regulations Part L, due for imminent release by DCLG".

People will not be able to claim for more than one space heating renewable heating system in the same property, with the exception of installations of solar thermal and another eligible technology.

Climate change minister, Greg Barker, said: “Investing for the long term in new renewable heat technologies will mean cleaner energy and cheaper bills. So this package of measures is a big step forward in our drive to get innovative renewable heating kit in our homes.

“Householders can now invest in a range of exciting heating technologies knowing how much the tariff will be for different renewable heat technologies and benefit from the clean green heat produced. We are also sending a clear signal to industry that the coalition is 110% committed to boosting and sustaining growth in this sector.”

DECC gives an example of what an installer might receive, in the case of a biomass boiler which might cost, say, £8,000 to install. In a year, the estimated heat use could be around 15,000kWh, which, at a 12.2p/kWh tariff, would result in a payment of £1,830. This would mean it might pay for itself in around five years.

New installations of biomass systems will need to meet air quality standards in relation to particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx).

Ofgem will be responsible for administering the scheme when it launches.

The RHI is funded directly from Government spending and has been given annual budgets. There are worries that, as with the payments for Feed-in Tarriff PV systems, they might unexpectedly decrease in the future. DECC will make an announcement on this around the time of the launch.

The news was welcomed by trade body the Heating & Hotwater Industry Council, whose director, Roger Webb, said: “it gives the industry confidence to invest in renewable heating products helping to protect and create jobs. We would of course like the tariffs to be higher but we understand the difficulty of introducing a government funded scheme in the current economic climate," he added.

"We will also be urging DECC to monitor uptake and if necessary to increase tariffs if they are not driving up product sales.”

Stuart Elmes, Chair of the Solar Trade Association's solar thermal working group, called the announcement “a massive boost for the solar thermal market. The value of this incentive is on a whole new level, there’s nothing like it anywhere in the world. From now on people can install solar heating with confidence that their system will be able to join the RHI scheme, and knowing what their payments will be worth.”

Solar thermal is one of the most affordable renewable technologies for homeowners, with a typical system costing around £4,500. This includes the replacement of an old hot water cylinder with a well-insulated solar cylinder.

Solar thermal systems are relatively small and appropriate for partially shaded roofs or those with limited space. A typical system will provide over half the hot water needs of the average home.

Paul Barwell, Chief Executive of the STA, said: “This announcement today is a major success for the STA. Our team has worked very closely with DECC over an extended period in an effort to ensure that the benefits of solar thermal are adequately recognised in the domestic RHI.

"In particular we have helped to drive a deeming calculation based on true occupancy that better reflects hot water usage in the home. The exceptional technical expertise of Stuart Elmes has been invaluable to our efforts.”

Ground source heat pump manufacturer Kensa's Managing Director, and Chairman of the Ground Source Heat Pump Association, Simon Lomax, said that the "Domestic RHI announcement made today, three and a half years after the initial consultation, is disappointingly short on detail."

Tim Minett, chief executive of CPL Industries, a supplier of biomass systems and wood pellet distributor, said he was “surprised the Government is offering more for other technologies but still expect biomass systems will be the most popular by far.

"They are the easiest to retrofit to properties, simple to use and work in all weather conditions – a big factor in the UK – while 12.2p/kWh will cover the cost of installation, lower people’s fuel bills and provide regular income for years to come. What’s not to like about that? “The domestic RHI should be hugely popular as a fifth of the UK’s housing stock is not connected to the gas grid," but he added, "the chief stumbling block is lack of awareness among the public so what we desperately need now is for the Government to step up and promote the scheme vigorously.”

Brian Smithers, European Director, Rexel, agreed, adding: "it is also in the industry’s interest to drive awareness by educating consumers".

Non-domestic RHI decision postponement

At the same time as making the announcement about the domestic RHI, the Government said it was delaying a decision on expanding the non-domestic RHI scheme, which has been operating for over two years, until the autumn, a full year after the proposals were originally released in September 2012.

Industry response was to express disappointment. The Combined Heat and Power Association said the continuing lack of clarity and certainty is "unhelpful for the hundreds of millions of pounds of renewable heat projects currently under development".

Last year the CHP industry welcomed the proposals to expand the RHI scheme to include tailored support for heat produced from biomass and bioliquid CHP. The proposals highlighted recognition within Government that biomass CHP is the most optimal use for limited biomass resources.

Dr Tim Rotheray, Head of Policy and Communications at the CHPA said: "It is absolutely crucial that the Government now provide clarity and certainty. The Government’s proposals for a CHP-specific rate under the RHI is driving renewable heat projects around the country, and a clear, quick decision will help lock in these investments, lock in the jobs these investments will provide, and lock in our ability to meet our renewable heat targets with highly efficient renewable CHP.”

He did, however, welcome the boost to investor confidence given by the Government's decision, also just announced, to grandfather existing renewable CHP schemes from changes to its quality assurance programme.

The biofuel-industry trade body, the Renewable Energy Association, called the delay "disappointing", but welcomed the announcement on the domestic RHI.

The same response came from the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association's chief executive, Charlotte Morton, who called it "very disappointing for AD developers and operators. Making good use of heat from AD plants makes sense for operators, and will help the government deliver renewable energy targets," she added.

"The (non-domestic) RHI is currently well below its projected budget and another delay will simply make it harder for our members to deliver the projects government wants to see.

"DECC could help resolve this by giving developers clarity over the eligibility date, which would allow projects to start generating and using renewable heat if they have commissioned their plant within a set period," she concluded.

Scandal of the unclaimed renewable heat grants

Only one solar thermal installation has so far been completed under the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Only half of the grants offered by Government to businesses and councils to install renewable heating schemes are being claimed.

One of the main reasons appears to be lack of publicity, but the grant conditions also are claimed to be too tight.

Under the Renewable Heat Incentive, businesses and public sector bodies can claim a subsidy for every unit of power generated from technologies such as solar water heating panels, biomass boilers and heat pumps, in the same way as can be claimed for renewable electricity under the feed-in tariff scheme.

The first tranche of the scheme, launched last year by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), was underspent by 50%: £5.5 million of the £10.8 million budget was unclaimed. According to Ofgem, just 176 schemes are receiving payment, a pitifully small number.

The second stage, worth £7 million was launched in March, and the latest figures show a total of only £817,250 claimed. The vast majority of these are for solid biomass boilers.

If this rate of uptake continues until the scheme closes in March 2013, just £3.9 million will be spent.

New figures, released yesterday, show that DECC's current estimated expenditure for 2012/13, based on the total number of RHI applications received to date, is £18 million. The cap on spending is £70 million. At this rate DECC estimates only £42 million will be spent.

As the figure is based on applications rather than fully accredited installations, the eventual figure is likely to be lower.

The Renewable Energy Association's head of policy, Paul Thompson, said the difficulty in giving away the grants is due to three factors, all decided by DECC: the time-limit, the lack of publicity, and the small amount of support on offer, which, he said was “not enough money to influence people's decisions".

He said: "You've got to have a bright idea that's pretty much developed to be in a position to be able to meet the deadlines".

He called upon DECC to use unspent funds to run a publicity campaign. The Department is currently deciding what to do with unspent funds from the social landlord's scheme.

DECC also launched an £8 million competition for community groups on 24 July, to install renewable heating. Grants up to £160,000 are available but applications must be in by 7 September, which is too early for some groups to manage. In addition, the completion schedule is tight: projects have to be completed by the end of the financial year.

EU targets dictate that 12% of the nation's heating needs to come from renewable sources by 2020, an increase of 2.2% on 2011 levels.

What is mystifying is the lack of installation of solar thermal. In the previous support system run by DECC, solar water heating was by far the most popular technology. It has proved to be very successful in this country, much more so than solar PV in terms of value for money.

In fact, renewable heat in general it is more cost-effective than renewable electricity, at a small scale.

Yet the Ofgem figures show that there has been just one solar thermal scheme supported under the RHI. The full figures are:

Technology Type	No of accredited installations / Registered biomethane producers	Installed Capacity (MW)
Biogas	1	0.113
Solid Biomass Boiler	162	6.02
Deep Geothermal	0	0.000
Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)	11	0.378
Municipal Solid Waste	0	0.000	Solar Thermal	1	0.008
Water Source Heat Pump (WSHP)	1	0.024
Bio-Methane	0	0.000

At the end of July DECC also published new regulations that introduce the stand-by mechanism for budget management to the RHI Scheme, part of the impact of which is to introduce an immediate change for biomethane producers who wish to register for the Scheme.

DECC's current consultation on the Renewable Heat Incentive long-term budget management has, as its preferred option, gradually reducing the tariff levels for new installations if deployment levels exceed forecasts.

On current trends, that is not likely to happen, and there could well be a third renewable heat underspend by the Department.

One would be forgiven for wondering if this is part of a deliberate pattern.

£10 million for renewable heating for social housing tenants

Social housing landlords can now apply for grants of up to £175,000 to install solar hot water panels, heat pumps and biomass boilers into the homes of their tenants.

It follows the launch of a second round of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) scheme by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), with a total budget of £10 million.

It is expected that around 60 projects will win funding across England, Scotland, and Wales. Good news as it is, the budget will only benefit about 5,000 individuals, however, just 0.1% of the 3.9 million who live in social housing. The vast majority of these households live in fuel poverty and would welcome this type of help.

A further scheme targeted at communities who want to develop district renewable heating schemes will be launched later in the summer; interested participants can register for details here for when the announcement is made.

The closing date for applications for this round is July 4 and it is running on a first-come first-served basis; once the budget for the scheme is reached then applications will no longer be considered.

Eligible technologies include biomass boilers, solar thermal panels, ground source heat pumps, air-to-water heat pumps and water-to-water heat pumps.

“Last year our low carbon heating scheme for social landlords helped nearly 1000 householders stay warm and reap the benefits of clean, green heat,” said Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker. “This year we have increased the cash available, which will help even more people move away from expensive old heating systems to low carbon, more sustainable alternatives.”

In the opening round last year, 37 social housing providers received a total of nearly £4.4 million. Only two of these were in Scotland and three in Wales. The rest were in England. One social landlord, New Linx Housing Trust, even received two grants. Just eleven received the total amount possible of £175,000.

Air source heat pumps were the most popular technology, probably because they are easiest to install. They represented 35% of installations, with solar water heating systems coming second at 33%. 19% of installations were ground source heat pumps and just 13% biomass boilers.

However, there are question marks over the efficiency of air source heat pumps compared to other forms of renewable heat.  In some circumstances they can cost more and emit more carbon than the form of heating that they may replace.

The scheme was welcomed by Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive of the Energy Saving Trust, which manages it and will evaluate the bids for funding. He said that it “offers real value to tenants as not only does it help them save money on their energy bills, but also helps them to reduce their energy usage”.

Criteria for funding include value for money, the type of fuel being replaced (with high carbon polluting fuel favoured), the presence of loft insulation to 250mm and cavity wall insulation (where practical), and the organisation's track record on delivering similar projects.

Those who have recently removed a mains gas heating system or currently heat their home with mains gas are only eligible to apply for solar thermal.

The amount of funding depends on the type of technology to be implemented:

Technology	Voucher Value
Solar Thermal Hot Water	£300
Air-to-Water Heat Pump	£850
Ground-Source or Water-Source Heat Pump	£1250
Biomass boiler	£950

Vincent Wedlock-Ward, Project Officer at Southern Housing Group (Isle of Wight Region), a previous social landlord competition winner, said that they received £175,000 from DECC under last year’s RHPP scheme. "This helped us replace old overnight storage heating systems with air source heat pumps for 40 householders living off the gas grid. Without this funding, this would not have been possible".

She reported that residents with the air source heat pumps fitted have found that their bills have been cut by half.

A programme of seminars is touring the country to explain what the scheme entails to local authorities and housing associations.

There is also an advice line on 0800 512 012 for more information. Winners will know whether they have been successful in early August.

Government leaves domestic biogas and microbes CCS out of its heat strategy

The Government has launched a consultation on its strategy for decarbonising heat which omits domestic biogas and the method favoured by Richard Branson for carbon capture.

This is the second consultation on the topic of heat in three years; the last one resulted in the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Green Deal. This one attempts to envisage how the market will be transformed as a result, and as part of the goal of supplying 15% of UK energy from renewables by 2020.

Launching the consultation, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey spoke of the need to cut emissions from the way we generate heat and said that many towns, cities and communities across the UK are already switching from fossil fuels to low carbon forms of heating like biomass, heat pumps and solar thermal.

“I want to give the opportunity to others to follow the pioneers," he said, “so that in time, our buildings are no longer dependent on burning fossil fuels for heat but using affordable and reliable alternatives to help create a flourishing, competitive low carbon manufacturing industry."

Alongside the consultation DECC published a series of electronic maps which show the heat demand from buildings across England, aimed at developers so they might identify areas in most need of low carbon heating projects and local authorities.

Demand reduction

The document envisages different solutions for different locations and geographies, as households, businesses and local authorities choose the approach that will work best for their circumstances.

It proceeds logically through an examination of measures to reduce the wastage of heat and hence demand, through to an examination of means to supply the remaining demand.

In particular there is emphasis on the potential for expansion in the heat pumps market and the solar thermal market. In 2010, the UK heat pump market alone was worth nearly £50m, and the solar thermal market grew 24% to £25m.

Heat networks

There is also hope expressed that more heat networks will be installed by, for example, integrating them with local authority plans for urban growth and regeneration.

The document notes that such networks can be the most effective way of supplying low carbon heat to buildings, offering the benefit of flexibility, since a number of different heat sources, such as biomass and gas boilers, combined heat and power (CHP) plants and heat from energy-from-waste plants, can supply the same network.

However, they have a high upfront cost due to the need to install the pipework, and to their dependence on municipal vision. Hence, although widespread in Europe, there are a few examples in this country, exceptions being Nottingham, Sheffield, Birmingham, Aberdeen, Southampton and a new project in Newcastle which is to be supplied from geothermal heat.

The Newcastle borehole will eventually reach 1821m and tap into water at a temperature of 80 deg. C, which will be used to heat a new science park.

Nottingham's one of the largest district heating networks in the UK, with a 65km network serving over 4,600 homes and 100 businesses and public sector properties; roughly 3.5% of the city’s entire heat consumption.

Measures for industry

The consultation also examines the decarbonisation of process heat for industry to create a separate strategy. "By focusing on biomass, biogas and electrification, as well as innovative technologies like Carbon Capture and Storage, we have the opportunity to achieve a competitive advantage, winning contracts abroad in a new and thriving global market," it says.

It recognises six major subdivisions of industry which will need their own specialised attention. These are: Coke and refined petroleum, food and drink, pulp and paper, basic metals, non-metallics and chemicals.

It sees particular opportunities for combined heat and power, which is ironic considering that George Osborne removed support from the technology in his budget two weeks ago.

Biogas

Responding to the Heat Strategy, Energy Networks Association (ENA) Chief Executive, David Smith, expressed disappointment that “domestic use of bio-gas has not been considered. As the Strategy points out, currently 81% of the UK uses gas for its heat and hot water.

"To ignore a potential fuel source which can use existing domestic heat infrastructure seems bizarre to say the least.

“With the proposal that gas for domestic heat be phased in only a decade or so the Strategy has also failed to consider the cost implications for the public."

The ENA is undertaking a major study on domestic heat out to 2050 that will be published in early May.

The Strategy does refer to biomethane injection into the gas grid for the industrial sector. It notes that the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) currently only gives support for biogas from anaerobic digestion, sewage gas and syngas for heating equipment with a capacity of less than 200kWh.

It says that the Government will consult on removing this limit or setting a higher limit in September.

Hot air

The RHI is currently limited to supporting installations which generate hot water or steam through a boiler or engine, as these can be metered relatively easily.

The Government is also considering the inclusion of equipment which can heat air directly, thereby potentially expanding the type and number of industrial uses of bioenergy which the RHI supports.

Electrification and carbon storage

The strategy also notes the potential for carbon capture and storage at a small, industrial scale. But it does not seem to be aware of the latest technologies such as the use of microbes, as supported by Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic.

In the short term it expects industry to concentrate on energy efficiency, switching to low temperature processes and sustainable biomass, using CHP and fuel switching.

After 2020 is looking for even greater efficiency of thermal processes using heat recovery or reuse between high and low temperature processes, greater use of biogas and sustainable biomass, and further electrification of lower temperature processes, for example through direct electric steam generation as the grid itself is the carbonised.

In the longer term wider deployment of carbon capture and storage is anticipated to capture the remaining inherent process emissions. Further fuel switching to electricity and biomass for the remaining high-temperature processes is also expected.

Roger Webb, director of the Heating and Hot Water Industry Council (HHIC), thought this could be a problem. "From the strategy it seems there is a big push on electricity rather than fossil fuels - so the main question is how quickly can we move forward to low carbon electricity?"

DECC expects to receive responses by May 24, expand its evidence base and produce a range of policy proposals around the beginning of next year.

New service to help with the Green Deal & the Renewable Heat Incentive

In 2012, the Green Deal & the Renewable Heat Incentive kick in.

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All businesses already are, and all homes will be, eligible to have energy-efficiency makeovers free of charge.

They will be repaid by the value of the energy saving.

They can also install renewable energy and get paid for the heat and power they generate.

This independent site aims to help ensure no-one is ripped off and everyone gets the best green deal.

Green Deal Advice offers free information, cheap downloads, books and consultancy.

Renovate your property to high energy-efficiency standards with the help of government support, to cut heating and cooling bills.

Add renewable energy to your home or business, like underfloor heating fed by a heat pump, solar PV, solar water or biomass heating.

Enjoy greater comfort at no or low cost by super-insulating & draughtproofing your home, then adding renewable energy for heating and cooling.

Get independent advice on the most cost-effective ways to use the Green Deal, Feed-in Tariff & Renewable Heat Incentive schemes.

Visit Green Deal Advice now.

Fuel poor targeted by renewable heat trials

Social housing tenants across the country are to receive £4m in the start of a trial that will help prepare for next year's Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

The exercise involves installing sustainable heating systems such as biomass boilers, solar water heating panels, heat pumps (ground source, air-to-water and water-to-water), in solid walled properties managed by 24 social housing providers across Britain.

These types of properties are harder to heat and insulate than more modern, cavity-walled dwellings and are typically inhabited by those classified as living in fuel poverty.

The social landlords comprise the first winners to be announced under the £15m Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) scheme competition, which was launched in August.

Participants will each receive up to £175,000 in the form of the following support for each technology:
Solar thermal hot water: £300
Air source heat pump: £850
Ground source or water source heat pump: £1250
Biomass boiler: £950.

Most of the winners are in the south west; a total of 558. Scotland, which is of course a much colder part of the UK, gets just over 400 schemes, the south east about 370, the east of England 310, Wales 290, with London getting the lowest number, because it has proportionately fewer solid walled properties: 32.

Air source heat pumps will receive the most support; they are very easy to install. Solar thermal comes close second, followed by ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers, which are the heating source of choice north of the border.

Air source heat pumps are controversial since some experience has shown that poor installation and management can lead to minuscule or dubious fuel or carbon savings.

One householder has complained to BRE that his MCS-approved air source heat pump achieved savings of only 200 watts over a 24 hour period, because of the number of motors it uses.

The results of the monitoring are expected to clarify this, together with the cost-effectiveness of ground source heat pumps, which is reduced if a trench has to be specially dug for the installation.

They are more cost- and carbon-effective if a hole in the ground is already available due to other construction activity.

One of the conditions for taking part in the scheme is that, once installed, participants permit the measures to be monitored to gauge their effectiveness, to better design the full roll-out of the domestic RHI that is expected next autumn.

Currently half of the UK’s carbon emissions come from the energy used to generate heating in buildings.

The Government estimates that the total of the measures under the RHPP and the RHI (domestic and non-domestic) are going to save the equivalent of the power supplied and carbon emitted by two new gas power stations up to 2020; that is, an average of 4.4 million tonnes of carbon per year.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker commented that the scheme "directly targets many of the people who could struggle to pay their heating bills in the winter. It will encourage an increase in the number of new heating technologies in social housing and help people deal with expensive fuel costs.”

Karen Lawrence, director of delivery for the Energy Saving Trust, said she was well aware of a great appetite for green technologies among social landlords, to "help tenants heat their homes more cheaply and efficiently".

"We also know councils and housing associations have become increasingly proactive and knowledgeable in the field of sustainability – and this was reflected in the standard of the bids for funding that were received," she added.

“Both this and the householder strand of the RHPP will also be great learning opportunities," she said. "Real data on performance in people’s homes is absolutely key in successfully boosting the market for renewable heat technologies.”

No doubt the Government also hopes it will help them avoid the costly and damaging mistakes associated with the mis-setting of the feed-in tariff levels for PV.

The vouchers are being issued on a first come first served basis. The scheme is still open to applicants, who can apply here or by phoning Energy Saving Trust on 0800 512 012.

RHI for businesses and organisations

Meanwhile, the non-domestic RHI will start at the end of this month.

It was originally scheduled to commence at the end of September, but required state aid approval. This has now been granted, subject to a small change in one tariff.

Businesses and organisations will be able to install sustainable heating systems and receive a favourable tariff for each unit of heating produced, over twenty years, in the same way that the feed-in tariff works for electricity.

This is expected to provide a huge boost to the heating industry.

The new rates are as follows:

Small biomass <200 kW: 7.6p/kWh (Tier 1) or 1.9p/kWh (Tier 2)
Medium biomass <1000 kW: 4.7p/kWh (Tier 1) or 1.9p/kWh (Tier 2)
Large biomass >1000 kW: 1p/kWh
Small ground-source heat pumps <100 kW: 4.3p/kWh
Large ground-source heat pumps >100 kW: 3p/kWh
Solar thermal <200 kW: 8.5p/kWh
Biomethane and biogas <200 kW: 6.5p/kWh.

It is political will that prevents the dawning of the long-predicted solar age

Here is an intriguing question for anyone interested in tackling climate change: who said this, and when?

"Eventually industry will no longer find in Europe the resources to satisfy its prodigious expansion... Coal will undoubtedly be used up. What will industry do then?"

Well, it was a man named Augustin Bernard Mouchot, speaking in Paris after he had successfully demonstrated an early industrial application of solar thermal energy - as long ago as 1880.

Two years earlier, this pioneer of solar energy had demonstrated the use of solar power for cooling, by making a block of ice. He employed a parabolic dish that focussed the sun's rays onto an 80-litre boiler and made the ice by use of what is now a standard compressor-evaporator process.

His audience at the Paris Exhibition of 1878 must have been astounded. But so are people today when I tell them that it is perfectly possible to cool homes using solar energy; it just seems counter-intuitive.

This month, the American southern state of Texas has been sweltering under record-breaking high temperatures and its electricity supply system has almost collapsed due to the demands of the state's air conditioners working overtime.

Yet of course, because it is so hot it has abundant solar power. If only the state were using this to keep cool they would not need to burn so much oil and close schools!

It's almost as if the potential of solar cooling is being deliberately kept secret. And this is despite the efforts of the International Energy Agency to propagate the information with best practice case studies and R&D.

The solar age is undoubtedly coming – it's just having a very slow dawn. The fact that after 130 years we're still amazed by Mouchot's demonstration is testimony to the fact that solar power's cause has been continually frustrated by the aggressive marketing of cheap fossil energy.

I cover all of this topic and much more in my latest book, which is published this week, The Earthscan Expert Guide to Solar Technology for Power, Heating, and Cooling.

In writing it, I have discovered many more astonishing facts about just how long some solar technologies have been around... and how different the twentieth century would have been if we had been forced to rely on solar and other renewable sources of power instead of fossil fuels; if we hadn't been cursed - as well as blessed - with nature's bequest of such huge quantities of oil, gas and coal.

If, in fact, peak oil had been reached in 1890.

Because from the time of the First World War - which was partly fought over access by European nations to the newly discovered oilfields of Iraq, a country that was itself created as a result of that war - through Israel's Six Day War and the recent Iraq wars, not to mention hundreds of other conflicts, access to fossil fuels has been the cause of millions of casualties.

Yet fossil fuels' apparent relative cheapness and high energy density have made them seem more favourable and convenient than solar and other renewable sources of energy, and held back their development.

This topic is documented, at least from an American perspective, in Alexis Madrigal's excellent book Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology.

But with growing awareness of the impact of climate change, the negative impacts of fossil fuels on a global scale have become increasingly apparent.

Frank Schuman, who designed the world's first solar power station - used in Egypt in 1913 - dreamt of a completely solar powered world. It was theoretically possible then, as indeed it is today.

Nowadays, the phrase “energy security" is being used by those who want to see sustainable sources of clean energy replace dirty fossil fuels.

This is because the sun, wind, tidal and other renewable sources of energy are available abundantly, everywhere on the planet, with no need for conflict over their use.

Humanity - or its leaders - are now faced with a clear choice: whether to stick with the status quo and vested interests; or whether to accelerate the deployment, research and development into solar and other renewable, sustainable technologies and practices.

My new book makes the case for the latter, looking at all the available solar technologies in a way that is hopefully easy to understand and inspiring to read.

Many people think only of solar electric modules when considering solar energy. But the sun's heat and light can be deployed to generate power in many more ways, such as passive solar architecture, water heating and solar thermal electricity generation for a great many applications.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the technologies included among 'solar power' from the point of view of their end use:

• Heating and cooling space: passive solar design, urban planning, passive stack ventilation, phase change materials, unglazed transpired collectors, solar-powered chillers and coolers
  Lighting: glazing, special glass coatings; sun pipes


• Heating water: solar water heating systems; evacuated tubes; swimming pool heating; active solar cooling; applications for large buildings and districts
  Cooking, food drying, desalination and water treatment


• Electricity: thermoelectric devices, photovoltaic modules, system design, process heat, concentrating solar power


• Transport: solar vehicles, hydrogen production.

The potential of these technologies is completely clear and proven, and many more exciting ones are in development. The scientific case for the likelihood with business-as-usual of a runaway greenhouse effect has been conclusively established.

What is still lacking is the political will to implement solar technologies on a wide scale, in the face of continuing lobbying by fossil fuel companies to determine energy policy in many places - like Texas - to the detriment of its wider economy and the comfort of its inhabitants, and against simple common sense.

The Earthscan Expert Guide to Solar Technology for Power, Heating, and Cooling is aimed at a professional audience, and can be bought here.

£15m renewable heat trial scheme gives grants to off-gas-grid householders

A ‘Renewable Heat Premium Payment’ scheme has been announced by DECC that makes available £15m of support for up to 25,000 renewable heat installations in homes, with a review to take place as the £10m limit is approached.

It will target the 4 million or so households in Great Britain not heated by mains gas, who have to rely on heating such as coal, oil and electric fires, which tend to be more expensive and emit more carbon emissions.

It is open to householders in England, Scotland and Wales, who will be able to apply for grants of up to £1,250 to install systems such as biomass boilers, air and ground source heat pumps and solar thermal panels from 1st August 2011. It will operate on a first-come-first-served basis, and will close on 31st March 2012.

Part of the purpose of the scheme is to obtain further information on the behaviour of the technologies prior to the full commencement of the Renewable Heat Initiative (RHI). Therefore installations will be monitored and any metering equipment will be provided free of charge.

Participants will be required to complete surveys and provide feedback on their experiences.

“Today starts a new era in home heating," announced Climate Change Minister Greg Barker, “because we’re making it more economical for people to go green by providing discounts off the cost of eco heaters. This should be great news for people who are reliant on expensive oil or electric heating as the Premium Payment scheme is really aimed at them.

“Getting money off an eco heater will not just cut carbon emissions, it will also help create a market in developing, selling and installing kit like solar thermal panels or heat pumps.”

The Premium Payment scheme is to be administered by the Energy Saving Trust, which has set up an information line, 0800 512 012 and a website.

Dwellings will have to have in place basic energy efficiency measures before householders can apply. The following technologies are eligible:

• Ground Source Heat Pumps - £1250 grant (for homes without mains gas heating)
• Biomass boilers - £950 grant (for homes without mains gas heating)
• Air source heat pumps - £850 grant (for homes without mains gas heating)
• Solar thermal hot water panels - £300 grant (available to all households regardless of the type of heating system used).

£3m of the £15m will be set aside for registered social landlords to improve their housing stock.

DECC will announce details of how to apply for these funds at a later date.

The Renewable Heat Incentive

The Renewable Heat Incentive is split into two tranches. The first, for industry, business and communities will be open for applications on 30th September, subject to State Aids Approval. The tariffs will be paid for 20 years to eligible technologies that have been installed since 15th July 2009 with payments made for each kWh of renewable heat produced.

Households will be able to apply a year later. The Government has confirmed that renewable heat installations installed in homes since 15th July 2009 could receive the Renewable Heat Incentive once it comes in, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.

They have also confirmed that this could include those who receive support under the RHPP scheme. The Government has not yet published its proposals for how the RHI will work in the domestic sector, including eligibility criteria.

Solar industry in danger of provoking green backlash

"Cowboy" solar PV companies are undermining consumer confidence in the technology by mis-selling, and the industry is failing to police itself in a competent manner.

The sting operation by consumer magazine Which? and evidence from the small scale renewable industry's own self-regulating bodies shows that consumers are not adequately protected from bad practice.

The sting operation in which mystery shoppers got solar PV installers to estimate for a domestic system funded by Feed-in Tariffs found that three quarters of solar PV companies overestimated how much energy the PV modules would produce, and most underestimated how long it would take for the system to pay for itself.

One company overestimated profit by £4,275 over 25 years and underestimated the payback time by three years, compared to their expert’s calculations.

Seven out of the 12 salespeople even recommended installing solar PV panels on a shaded part of the roof. Eight companies didn’t question customers about how much energy they used.

Hard-sell approaches were being used: one company, Green Sun, gave the customer 24 hours to make a decision. Another, Skyline Solar, said their discounts were on a 'first come first served' basis.

Ten out of twelve companies failed to mention that the inverter would need to be replaced at a cost of around £1000 every ten years.

And half the companies tested, such as Anglian Home Improvements, sent sales people to make a technical assessment to provide the quote.

Unsupervised selling appeared to be the main cause of the mis-selling problem.

Which? advises consumers needing impartial advice to check the Energy Saving Trust website.

The consumer rights body is also calling for installation quotes never to be given on the basis of sales visits alone, always to include a site specific estimate and clear information on the life expectancy of equipment and cost of replacements, and the full cost (including scaffolding) of installation.

Which? did another operation last year on solar water heating companies and found similar levels of poor selling.

The importance of location

The Government’s building assessment rules, the Standard Assessment of Performance (SAP), are used to work out a PV system's energy output by installers. Yet Which? criticises this practice because they do not take into account the location of the property, which can seriously effect the output of the modules.

It therefore suggests revising MCS rules on energy performance prediction.

“It seems extraordinary that the Government’s rules require companies to ignore whether you live in Cornwall or Scotland when working out how long it’ll take to pay for the solar panels," said Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director.

In fact the only place in the country which gets enough sunshine to make the modules work financially without a subsidy is Cornwall.

However, SAP and EIR ratings are supposed to be unaffected by geographical location in order to make it possible to compare buildings throughout the UK.

Yet, given that a large part of a building's performance is based on solar gain - the amount of heat from the sun captured by the building - this is bound to depend on the building's specific location. Therefore there is a strong case for changing SAP requirements to provide a more accurate overall picture of the building's performance.

To determine a PV system's output, rather than relying on a SAP rating, which is laborious to undertake, it is easier to use the latitude of the location together with the amount of shading the site receives throughout the year.

The failure of industry self-regulation

The industry is supposedly already self-policed, firstly by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), and secondly by the REAL Assurance Scheme Code, set up by the Renewable Energy Association - a case of the industry policing itself. This is a consumer code for suppliers of renewable and low carbon micro heat and power generators to domestic consumers.

Consumers can only obtain Feed-in Tariffs for systems installed by members of the MCS.

Which? wants MCS and REAL to better monitor and enforce rules, remove rogue traders from the MCS scheme and publish results of enforcement action on an annual basis.

The efficacy of such confidence-boosting measures is crucial because unless the public has confidence in these schemes then there will never be the mass roll-out of energy-saving measures which the Government is hoping for in the future under the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Green Deal.

"We take the allegations in this report very seriously, and they will be thoroughly investigated," Gideon Richards, Interim CEO of the MCS and MCS Steering Group Chair said in response to the Which? report. He has set up a meeting with their investigators to discuss their findings.

The REAL Code is backed by the Office of Fair Trading as part of its self-regulation initiative, the Consumer Codes Approval Scheme, and supposedly specifically bans false or misleading information.

Virginia Graham, Chief Executive of the REAL Assurance Scheme, commented, "It is particularly disappointing to see one of the companies offering a discount to consumers for signing on the day and another offering a discount in return for providing monitoring information. These practices are expressly outlawed in the Consumer Code and we will be referring these two companies to the Non-compliance Panel."

It took a consumer watchdog to do what both of these bodies are supposed to do themselves, but neither did.

A staggering 2,791 companies are now registered with the REAL code to install solar PV.

For this reason, "we have to work hard to ensure 100% compliance with the Code," says the REAL website.

Many of the requirements demanded by Which? are already in the REAL Code. Its self-auditing questionnaire for its members includes the question, 'Are the company’s procedures for calculating its performance estimates, financial savings and payback time correct?'.

REAL claims to employ mystery shoppers to inspect one in ten of its members each year, but on questioning could provide no substantive evidence of how effective this is.

REAL does log customer complaints, which can be lodged and viewed on its website, but without the naming and shaming of specific members.

They received 75 complaints last year and have had 70 so far this year. 48% of this year's complaints are about PV installations, 14% about solar thermal (down from 27% last year) and heat pumps are receiving 35% of complaints - three fifths of which are for ground source and two fifths for air source.

For solar PV, half the complaints are about high pressure sales techniques and a quarter about a delay in refunding a deposit. Other reasons for complaints include making exaggerated payback claims, and falsely claiming to be MCS certified.

Last year there was a similar Which? report on mis-selling by solar heating companies. And 40 websites of such companies were reported for making exaggerated or misleading claims about the financial or environmental performance of solar water heating systems.

At least twelve of these forty solar heating websites were claiming to be run by supposedly REAL Code compliant companies – who displayed the REAL Code logo on their website.

REAL's Consumer Guide urges consumers to use well-established companies and obtain multiple quotes.

Solarcentury, for example, has been in operation since 1999. Its CEO, Derry Newman, attempted to reassure the public by saying, "Currently our network consists of 25 companies, those we consider the highest quality solar installers in the country. Many have been established and working with us for a number of years, otherwise they have all undergone an audit to establish the robustness of their business operations from accounting through to install.”

Barry Johnston, Managing Director of Solar Twin Ltd., also called for revising the MCS rules on energy performance prediction in order to improve the quality of solar PV installations, as well as for solar thermal.

Both companies are calling for the rogue traders to be punished or disqualified so that the rest of the industry does not suffer. "The last thing we want is a backlash," said Newman.

Renewable heat incentive rewards solar water heating but will increase air pollution

Chris Huhne has finally announced much-awaited details of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

It covers such technologies as solar water heating, using wood, wood pellets and woodchips, air and ground source heat pumps, energy from waste, on-site biogas, deep geothermal and injection of biomethane into the grid.

36% of the UK’s overall energy is used for heat, creating 175 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year.

The industry had originally hoped that the scheme would start at the same time as the Feed-In Tariffs for renewable electricity a year ago, then it was expected this April, but now payments won't be be available to households until October 2012.

The scheme has become a victim of government cuts and will be smaller in size than originally thought and introduced in phases.

Importantly, because of criticism of the potential impact on fuel bills, the RHI will not be funded by an RHI levy but from general Government spending.

As a result, it will be introduced in two phases. In phase 1, more than a quarter of the first year's budget, around £15 million, is to be guaranteed up to 25,000 household installations through a premium payment scheme.

Phase 1 will focus on people living off the gas grid, who typically spend more on their heating and whose fuels, like coal, have a higher carbon content.

Participants will then provide feedback on how the scheme works to help design the second phase.

In this phase, coinciding with the introduction of the Green Deal, the scheme will expand so that by 2020 there will be an estimated 13,000 installations in industry, 110,000 in the commercial and public sector supply 25% of this sector is demand, and creating 150,000 jobs.

Carbon savings and air pollution

It is hoped that the scheme will help deliver 44 million tonnes of carbon dioxide savings by 2020, though 8 million of these are already accounted for by the European Emissions Trading Scheme. Those emissions within the emissions trading scheme will cost £35/tCO2 and those outside the scheme a further £12 per tonne.

However, there are concerns about the impact on air quality of a lot of new biomass combustion, particularly from particulates such as PM10. The final RHI proposals could lead to 28TWh of biomass burned. and assessment by Defra of the proposals shows that this could lead to up to £2.6 billion of potential lifetime social cost.

This is a staggering amount.

The Tariffs

The highest tariffs will be paid to solar thermal water heating (8.5p/kWh) small biomass schemes (7.6p/kWh or 1.9p/kWh - see below why), and biomethane (6.5p/kWh). Small ground source heat pump schemes will receive 4.3p/kWh, and large schemes 3p/kWh.

Municipal solid waste schemes including Combined Heat and Power (CHP) will receive 4.7p/kWh or 1.9p/kWh, depending on which tier they are in, and large biomass schemes 2.6p/kWh.

Solar water heating was by far the most popular renewable energy technology under the previous renewable energy subsidy schemes like Clear Skies. It works very well in the UK and can supply between 40 and 50% of domestic hot water requirements, so it is good that it receives the most support.

Because of doubts about their efficiency air source heat pumps will not be eligible at the start of the RHI. Nor will heat pumps that deliver the heat to air as opposed to water. Some will consider this unfair, but it is to do with the difficulty of metering this kind of heat.

Heat meters will need to be installed at the point of generation and, where appropriate, at the point of usage in order to claim payments.

Bioliquids also will not be eligible from the start because of the complexity of the market and their uses in transport etc. They can also have a high energy density.

RHI support will only be available if the installation in question has not received (and will not receive) any other public funding.

The tariffs will be paid for 20 years to the eligible technologies that have been installed since July 15, 2009 with payments for each kilowatt of renewable heat produced.

Payments, which will be administered by Ofgem, are to be claimed by, and paid to, the owner of the heat installation or the producer.

These payments will be fixed for the lifetime of the scheme, once a measure is installed, adjusted in line with inflation. But the levels of support available for new entrants as time goes on may decrease.

Rewards linked to energy conservation

Following criticism that there might be no requirement that the building in question has an efficient fabric, by being introduced with the Green Deal, homes must be insulated to reduce demand, as with earlier schemes, such as the Low Carbon Building Programme, because everyone knows is more cost efficient to save energy than to generate it.

There has been a worry about what happens when some smart meters enter into the market. When buildings are metered on a half hourly basis energy the incentive will be to run your equipment as much as possible because the more your meter ticks over, the more money you make.

This has to some extent been met by introducing a two-tier tariff system for biomass boilers to reduce incentive to over-generate. Upon reaching a prescribed level of heat generation, the tariff drops to a lower tier 2 tariff. For solar thermal, once the equipment is installed, the amount of heat generated is not controlled by the owner.

The RHI has been a long time coming. There are many in the industry raring to get installing, and there is a huge potential market. But most will have to wait a good while yet before they can take advantage of the scheme.

Renewable energy grant scheme abruptly halted

The new Government's self-professed green credentials have come under question as a key grant scheme to put renewable heating into buildings has been stopped, to save a mere £3 million.

As of 6am on Monday, May 24th, the Government stopped taking fresh applications for grants for renewable heat systems. These were available under phase 2e of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP).

The previous government’s intent was for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to take over from the LCBP. However there is now a gap of ten months before this goes live on April 1st 2011.

The LCPB's website says that "demand for grants has been unprecedented" and "we had very little unallocated funding remaining". It has therefore "been decided that by closing the programme now, these unallocated funds will contribute towards DECC’s overall savings".

The Solar Trade Association (STA) called it a "a retrogressive step" given "the relatively small budget required to support the LCBP".

DECC's cuts

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said it had to make the cut to as its part of the £6bn cuts announced by George Osbourne and the Treasury. DECC is contributing £85m to this total.

About half this figure will come from efficiencies and other savings across our central spending and that of DECC's quangos. The other half comes from cutting or slowing down planned expenditure.

Effect on the industry

The declared "unprecedented demand" indicates a healthy sector and the public's desire to install microgeneration. Many social housing providers had significant plans to install renewable technologies such as heat pumps this year under the scheme.

These and other projects will now most likely be put on hold until the RHI comes in, although its exact form has yet to be confirmed.

Therefore the STA believes the ten month gap will cause a loss of jobs in the industry just at the moment the country wants to build capacity to install hundreds of thousands of renewable heating systems each year.

They called on the Government to find a small extra element in its budget to support the LCBP until the launch of the new incentive.

Howard Johns, Chairman of the STA said “This is very bad news for the solar industry, and a very disappointing move from the new coalition who are aiming to be the greenest Government ever. Once again been undermined for short term gain. At this point we have no idea what the RHI will look like and whether we will get it at all - effectively leaving our sector in limbo, and jobs at risk.”

Scott McLean, marketing director of Ownergy, commented: "The same happened to LCBP grants for renewable electricity installations ahead of the Feed-In Tariffs going live. We don't see it as any indication that the Renewable Heat Incentive is under threat."

The Low Carbon Buildings Programme

The LCBP grant programme has provided approximately 20,000 grants for the capital and installation costs of Microgeneration equipment of which, to date 11,000 have been for thermal technology (33% by value, 58% by number of installations). These have produced lifetime carbon savings of 300,000 tonnes of CO2.

Feed-In-Tariff for renewable electricity, introduced on 1 April 2010, mean that LCBP is no longer required for electrical microgeneration.

Renewable domestic heating

On a domestic level, the Government has committed to support domestic micro-CHP with £2,300* cash support. But this does not apply to district level heating schemes.

This article looks at both ideas, carbon impacts and support in the UK.

District heating

District heating is more carbon-efficient than heating individual homes where the density of accommodation is high enough. The example in Southampton is often cited.

The idea was part of last year's DECC Heat and Energy Saving Strategy Consultation. It did suggest support for these schemes.

The conclusions were published in August 2009. We're still waiting to see what the Government decides to do.... and will probably wait for some time as there is an election on.

District heating is recommended to the Government by this month's report from the Green Building Council. This says:

1. Public sector buildings should be required, where available and viable, to connect to existing or planned community heat networks, to provide an ‘anchor load’ of demand, and large businesses should be encouraged to do the same.

2. The ‘allowable solutions’ mechanism should be used as a way of providing additional ring fenced capital to support the delivery of heat infrastructure. Government has said that developers will be able to invest in so-called 'allowable solutions' in order to meet the required standard when constructing new zero carbon buildings.

It says nothing about existing non-public buildings though.

Neither is district heating part of the current renewable heat consultation. This scheme, which is due to start in April 2011, will subsidise a rapid increase in the number of homes and offices heated by woodfuel, biogas, solar thermal, heat pumps and waste-to-energy technologies. The deadline for responses to this consultation is Monday 26 April so do have your say.

District heating systems are ideal if a whole street, area or block of flats is to be renovated. Economies of scale make this form of heat and power delivery the cheapest on a per-household basis, and by far the most carbon-efficient, if low carbon fuel sources are specified.

A district heating scheme in Southampton, England, serves many residential developments from gas-fired CHP and geothermal energy, saving 11,000 tonnes of carbon a year and benefiting residents with a service price 5 per cent less than the market rate.

Systems are most efficient when servicing both homes and businesses or premises used during the day, as the two heat loads throughout a 24 hour period suit the continuous running required of a large plant.

District CHP plants may utilize fuel sources from waste to biomass, as well as geothermal where it is available. They work best where buildings are close together. A not-for-profit energy service company is usually formed to manage the system.

Micro-CHP

Micro-CHP – combined heat and power – is a nascent technology of small units for individual homes, typically the size of a fridge. They run on natural gas to produce up to about 10kW of power.

The current crop of models are based on the Stirling engine, Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) or internal combustion engine. The first two have high thermal efficiency and output but low electrical efficiency (10 per cent) – and this is a sticking point.

Electricity output is around 1.1kW, enough to maintain back-up power in the event of a power cut or boil a kettle. A 1kWe (1kW electrical power) model from Honda called Ecowill has sold well in Japan.

A 2007 trial by the UK’s Carbon Trust concluded that micro-CHP can cut electricity bills and overall CO2 emissions by 15–20 per cent when they’re the lead boiler in larger contexts like care homes, district schemes, apartment blocks and leisure centres.

The best individual home for them therefore is a medium-to-large, moderately well-insulated one, maybe with solid walls, solid floors and no loft space that is harder to insulate well and has a relatively large heat demand.

Here, micro-CHP units can potentially deliver carbon savings of 5–10 per cent – fewer than a condensing boiler, since capacity is likely to be best matched to demand, for both heat and power.

Payback can be as little as five years. But they offer limited benefits for smaller and newer dwellings.

The key to success is matching the thermal output to the building’s pattern of use so that they operate not intermittently but for many hours at a time, making the value of electricity generated pay for the marginal investment in as little as three years in a typical family home.

It therefore works best with a buffer storage tank to save the surplus heat for later.

Grid connection for electricity export is going to be crucial to micro-CHP’s widespread acceptance. On average, half of all electricity generated by a typical 1kWe micro-CHP device is exported to the grid as it’s not needed at the time.

Reliability is also a key issue – service agreements will be essential. So homeowners shouldn’t yet trade in their condensing boilers, which have about the same overall heating efficiency – 90 per cent – without also producing electricity, but they might keep an eye on developments.

Superinsulated homes will have to wait until the next generation of machines, based on fuel cells. These generally come in two types – proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).

They have a heat to power ratio that is approximately equal so for example they could produce 5kW of heat and 5kW of electricity.

Support for micro-CHP

Under the Feed-in Tarriff scheme, from the 1st April 2010, microCHP units with a capacity below 2kW will receive 10p per kW hour generated, for a period of ten years. This tariff is available for the first 30,000 microCHP installations. A review will take place when 12,000 units have been installed.

However the Government has not followed through on commitments made in the Energy Act to support miniCHP units of up to 50 kW capacity.

* - based on 10p generation tariff and assuming a 3p pence export rate. Assuming annual generation of 2000 kWh and 50% export. Assuming import electricity price of 14p kWh-1. The total income paid to a generator over a 10 year FiT period would be £2,300 over full period of 10 years. Annual figure therefore of £230.

The Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme is the first phase of the Government’s Clean Energy Cashback programme - see the Energy Saving Trust website for details.

What is the most carbon efficient heating?

An independent survey conducted by the UK Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes which looked at the carbon impact of different domestic heating and hot water systems in both houses and flats concluded that the following performed best, all other things being equal (figures in kgCO2/m2/yr):
• community heating and CHP, fuelled wholly or mainly by biomass - 4.15
• community heating without CHP fuelled wholly or mainly by biomass - 7.11
• wood burning boilers - 10.02
• wood burning boilers with solar water heating panels - 10.09
• ground source heat pumps with low temperature heat distribution/emitters (e.g. underfloor heating) - 20.83
• solar water heating panels in conjunction with gas boiler systems - 21.98

Source: Heating Strategy Group of the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes, January 2008

Get your hot ROCS off!

Renewable electricity supplier Good Energy has launched HotROCs, the UK's first Renewable Heat Incentive.

It intends to pay domestic solar heat generators for the heat energy they produce.

Over 450 businesses and homes have also signed up to its HomeGen scheme, which pays 10p for every unit of renewable electricity generated - including the units they use at home.

> www.good-energy.co.uk

Concentrated Solar Power could power Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Harnessing the sun's energy on just 6,000km² of desert in North Africa would supply energy equivalent to the entire oil production of the Middle East of nine billion barrels a year, according to the German Aerospace Centre.

It believes that solar thermal power plants could supply 68% of North Africa's as well as all of Europe's electricity by 2050.

One company that agrees is Flabeg, a German manufacturer of parabolic trough mirrors.

Its new mirror can concentrate 92% of the sun's rays onto an absorber tube with a diameter of 70mm or less.

It expects to sell these to CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) stations in Spain and North Africa and is already supplying 210,000 to the 50 megawatt solar thermal power plant, Andasol II, in Spain, the biggest in Europe.

Europe's first commercially operating solar thermal tower plant went into operation in April in Sevilla, Spain, generating 11 MW.

The German Aerospace Center has built an experimental solar thermal tower power plant in Julich, Germany, to be commissioned in 2008.

A European Commission-funded research programme report published in September also argued that CSP is "clean energy that can help the EU to meet its 20% target for renewable energies and its broader energy goals."

CSP technologies could make a "significant contribution to developing a more sustainable energy system" especially in southern Europe and North Africa.

Under FP5 and FP6 (5th and 6th EU Research Framework Programmes), the EU contributed €25 million to research projects to develop CSP technologies.

Solar research will be promoted within the FP7 that runs until 2013 with €50 billion in four main components.

> Report explaining the progress of numerous demonstration projects

Nuclear vs solar water heating and carbon impacts

New nuclear build is carbon lighter than fossil fuels but not as light as some renewables.

All renewables have a carbon impact, but it varies enormously from technology to technology. For example, much electricity is used for water heating. Solar water heating has negligible carbon emssions associated and can provide 30-50% of hot water over a year, depending on the location and orientation.

Electricity is used for space heating, and so is gas. Again, with new buildings, passive solar designs and high efficiency can reduce to almost zero the amount of fuel required. Heat pumps can triple the value of the energy input.

Figures from the LCBP show solar water heating was by far the renewable energy installation of choice for householders obtaining this grant. At the end of May, the figures showed that since it launched in April 2006 the LCBP has directly funded 2175 installations on homes, including 1467 (over two thirds) solar thermal heating systems, 313 (14%) solar PV projects and 242 (11%) mini-turbines.

That proves its popularity and effectiveness. The Energy Act should make it mandatory that all new buildings install this technology, and set retrofit targets. But as far as I can see it doesn't even mention this technology.

Space and water heating counts for 83% of domestic energy use (BNDH12, quoted in EST's Rise of the Machine, page 14) and about the same for office use. Together, offices and homes account for around 35% of UK energy use. Ie, 28% of total UK energy use.

Providing 40% of this by passive solar, solar water heating, heat pumps, domestic CHP, and woodchip/pellet boilers, would account for a significant proportion of the amount of power requirement as that required to compensate for the loss of old nuclear power stations.

It would have almost as great an impact in a shorter time scale and far cheaper but with little environmental impact than building new nuclear power stations, as well as creating more, sustainable jobs.

The above forms my answer to question two of the government's nuclear consultation

Solar water heating is tops with the Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Solar thermal heating for hot water is clearly by far the most popular form of domestic renewable energy, proving that it works technically and economically.

That is clear from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP)'s project successes: since it launched in April 2006 the LCBP has directly funded 2175 installations on homes, including 1467 (over two thirds) solar thermal heating systems, 313 (14%) solar PV projects and 242 (11%) mini-turbines.

In other words solar water heating is six times more popular than micro-wind. Deservedly.

The application process for the grants has been streamlined and it reopened to bids for the remaining £11.9m of grant money two days ago.

There's now no monthly cap, a £2,500 maximum limit on grants per household, a requirement for advance planning permission required and a re-designed form.

No doubt this will run out in a few weeks - then what?

The Low Carbon Kid says: if solar water heating is so popular why has it been left out of the Energy White Paper?

> Apply for a Low Carbon Buildings Programme grant here