Policies Flashcards
What is best to consider when assessing energy policy proposals?
- Feasibility - technical, social acceptability.
- Economics
- Energy/carbon economics - net efficiency of process, net CO2 per unit of useful energy produced.
embodied energy in life cycle of products. - Environmental aspects - consumption of valuable resources (actual and potential)
Outline the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation and the Scottish Renewable Obligation (NFFO and SRO)
Fixed term, fixed price contracts to developers for the purchase of electricity.
Support was given to certain technologies. Planning permission was not guaranteed and was obtained through a separate process.
Outline the UK Renewable Obligation (RO)
This requires electricity suppliers to obtain a specified percentage of their output from renewable sources.
Any additional costs can be passed onto the customers as there are no subsidises.
Outline Contracts for Difference
Provide price stabilisation to low carbon plant, allowing investment at a lower cost of capital and lower cost to consumers (i.e. takes out investment risk)
What was the timeline like for the NFFO and SRO?
Initially completion rates were high. However, difficulties then arose around planning permission particularly for wind farms and incineration plants. Soon the completion rates fell below 50%.
Summarise the Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff (REFIT) scheme.
Payments made to property owners for small scale renewable electricity generation. (5MW for photovoltaic, wind and micro hyrdo and 2MW for microgeneration).
The supplier pays the generator a state rate known as the generation tarrif, and the supplier pays a further rate for each unit exported to electricity grid (export tariff).
Payments are tax exempt if most of the energy is used by the producer.
Summarise the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
A scheme applicable to households, schools, businesses etc. A fixed payment for heat generated for local use via heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal panels. This is paid by the treasury and not the energy users.
Summarise the Green Deal.
Homes carry out energy refurbishments (insulation etc) the costs of which are covered by a loan. This loan is repayed through energy bills with the additions expected to be outweighed from the money saved from energy measures. The loan is lodged against the property. The golen rule - loan repayments must not exceed the expected monetary savings as evaluated by a prescribed modelling package.
Summarise and then identify 3 shortcomings of the Kyoto protocol.
The commitment to limit or reduce the emissions of 4 greenhouse gasses. Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluroirde.
The shortcomings were that this did not address black soot or the ozone. Developing countries were excluded. Share of emissions from international air travel, shipping and importing manufactured goods was excluded. Measures were to cause economic burden with no measurable impact.
Summarise the Paris Accord 2016 and state some principal shortcomings.
The accord suggested that the global temperatures were to be kept well below 2C above pre-industrial times and endeavour to limit them to 1.5C.
To limit the amount of greenhouse gases to only the level that trees, soil and the ocean can absorb naturally.
Rich countries are to help poorer nations by providing ‘climate finance’ to adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy.
National pledges to cut emissions are voluntary and how to enforce these has been a stumbling block during talks.
Why are energy systems difficult to model?
They are complex and subject to changing influences over time. They are dynamic and vary at different rates. They are non-linear, systemic, stochastic (some aspects are random). A successful simulation program must accommodate all these issues.
