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Biomass: the heat is on – column in CIBSE journal

An opinion piece I co-wrote with Sofie Pelsmakers (author of The Environmental Design Pocketbook) appears in the February 2013 issue of the CIBSE Journal.

We look at the carbon footprint from biomass burning (high, even according to DECC) and point out the unintended consequences of well-intentioned planning requirements for ‘renewables’ and ‘sustainability’ –  that lead to biomass plant eating up the budget, efficiency being sidelined, and CO2 emissions being high instead of low.

Read the article here: Biomass – the heat is on

Sofie and I also wrote a longer version for the AECB ‘Soapbox’ column – here:

Biomass heat: facing the carbon reality

Electricity Demand Reduction – response to DECC

DECC recently ran a consultation on electricity demand reduction (closed January 31st, 2013). I worked with David Olivier and other AECB members to help to compile the AECB’s response, which can be read/downloaded here -with kind permission of the AECB.

Electricity Demand Reduction – AECB response to DECC

The response drew in particular on AECB’s report Less is More, which also informed the short article on energy efficiency I posted on this site earlier.

Biomass on the DECC website

DECC ran a blog in November defending the subsidies for burning woody biomass. The comments (including my own) were pretty overwhelmingly against what DECC had to say.

DECC ran a blog in November defending the subsidies for burning woody biomass. The comments (including my own) were pretty overwhelmingly against what DECC had to say. You can read the blog and the comments here: http://blog.decc.gov.uk/2012/11/22/using-wood-for-bioenergy/