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Renewables Consultancy
 Renewable Energy Technologies
What is
renewable energy?
The United
Kingdom currently relies heavily on coal, oil,
and natural gas for its energy. Fossil fuels are non-renewable, that is, they
draw on finite resources that will eventually dwindle, becoming too expensive or
too environmentally damaging to retrieve. In contrast, renewable energy
resources-such as wind and solar energy-are constantly replenished and will
never run out.
Most renewable energy comes either directly or indirectly from the
sun. Sunlight, or solar energy, can be used directly
for heating and lighting homes and other buildings, for generating electricity,
and for hot water heating, solar cooling, and a variety of commercial and
industrial uses.
The sun's heat also drives the winds, whose energy, is captured
with wind turbines. Then, the winds and the sun's heat cause water to evaporate.
When this water vapor turns into rain or snow and flows downhill into rivers or
streams, its energy can be captured using hydroelectric power.
Along with the rain and snow, sunlight causes plants to grow. The
organic matter that makes up those plants is known as biomass. Biomass can be used to
produce electricity, transportation fuels, or chemicals. The use of biomass for
any of these purposes is called bioenergy.
Hydrogen also can be found in many
organic compounds, as well as water. It's the most abundant element on the
Earth. But it doesn't occur naturally as a gas. It's always combined with other
elements, such as with oxygen to make water. Once separated from another
element, hydrogen can be burned as a fuel or converted into electricity.
Not all renewable energy resources come from the sun. Geothermal energy taps the Earth's
internal heat for a variety of uses, including electric power production, and
the heating and cooling of buildings. And the energy of the ocean's tides comes
from the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun upon the Earth.
In fact, ocean energy comes from a number of
sources. In addition to tidal energy, there's the energy of the ocean's waves,
which are driven by both the tides and the winds. The sun also warms the surface
of the ocean more than the ocean depths, creating a temperature difference that
can be used as an energy source. All these forms of ocean energy can be used to
produce electricity.
Micro CHP (micro Combined Heat & Power) is the
simultaneous production of heat and electricity in individual homes.
Effectively the micro CHP unit replaces the gas central heating boiler and
provides heat and hot water as usual, but additionally provides the majority of
the home's electricity needs. Although individual units produce, by
definition, relatively small amounts of electricity, the significance of micro
CHP lies in the potentially huge numbers of systems which may ultimately be
installed in the millions of homes in the UK and other
European countries where natural gas is currently the dominant heating
fuel. It is anticipated that, ultimately, micro CHP may provide 20% or so
of the UK's electricity generating capacity,
more than is currently obtained from nuclear power.
Please contact Parlec Energy for
consultation, advice and grant potential.
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