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Energy Assessment: GBF "Carbon Club" on imeasure or carbon account

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      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    Indeed: I buy 100%/premium green from Ecotricity really like buying an absolution; reduction of consumption is the main thrust of my efforts, but the 100% tariff is at least doing the best I can with the residue that I have to import.

    Rgds

    Damon
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    We have seven members of the GBF Carbon Club on imeasure - which is too few to be really interesting. And a lot fewer than the number of regular posters here. Given that loads of GBFers must be reading their meters on a regular basis just for fun, why not join imeasure and record your readings there. You can be anonymous (or come up with an outlandish username) so no one will know it is you!

    http://www.imeasure.org.uk

    It is very user friendly, even if it doesn't give you absolution for your microgen.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Those people that have microgen or a different CO2 content for their electricity could create a second account with adjusted figures. Total Use minus Microgeneration or lower the energy figures in proportion to the CO2 content for their country.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Doesn't work when you export up to 6 times what you consume in a week. imeasure simply doesn't believe the negative numbers.

    Rgds

    Damon
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010 edited
     
    Good point Damon. Can you run some flex to my house :bigsmile:

    Bit on negative numbers on the radio at the moment
    • CommentAuthorevan
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    I'd do this, but I suspect the 20+ units a night used for transport purposes would skew my numbers a bit.
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010 edited
     
    Yeah, but.... "imeasure is about the opportunities to reduce demand for energy in the home rather than relying on supply-side carbon emission reductions"

    I get that microgenerators want the recognition for their investment/effort - but you won't get it from imeasure, because that's not really what it's there for. GBF is good for applause though.

    And recalling recent controversial discussion of the 800m2 renewable-powered greenhouse, I do see why they don't want to go down that route (i.e. use as much as you like, as long as you have your own private supply). DamonHD's point in that thread, which was that reducing demand was still important, because it meant that more of the energy surplus could be exported to the grid, holds true here. If you allow people to record themselves as net negative energy users it reduces the incentive to reduce energy demand - or gives people the impression that the most important thing to do is get into microgeneration. Which would probably be the wrong message.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Interesting point.

    Makes me feel slightly uncomfortable as I am of course recording my import meter readings at imeasure which ignores in-house consumption direct from the PV. And would my karma be different if I happened to install a battery system and with NO change in generation or consumption would have zero imports for 9 months of the year?

    Rgds

    Damon
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Where is that cat and the bag it was in :devil:
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    I can't say about karma, but imeasure is clearly an imperfect tool for measuring what is going on energy-wise for the small minority of poeple who have significant privately-generated supply. In the "spirit" of the thing, you should probably be figuring out how many kWh you use, rather than import. But that's a bigger ask.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Mr Schrödinger please come to reception...

    Rgds

    Damon
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010 edited
     
    I can do it, and I do do it monthly, but its an extra weekly five-meter shuffle to do it for imeasure's schedule.

    I suppose all imeasure can simply be seen as the CO2 cost of imported energy, per person.

    But yes, the model they are using probably doesn't quite work for us. Maybe that's why we get an artificially good score.

    Rgds

    Damon
  13.  
    Luckily my electricy and heating is supplied by nuclear so I dont have to worry about such things
    My energy consuption goes through the roof in the winter but Im still more sustainable than anyone burning wood or gas, its great.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    The French grid seems to have a lot of its load following done by GB coal generation by the looks of things over recent days, so maybe you do have to worry!

    Rgds

    Damon
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    I suppose the utility of imeasure is more for personal accounting, than clubs (even though the club was my idea...). I'll be really interested to see what effect our changes have.

    Slight downside is that all the changes will come at once (or over a period of 4-5 months) while I have builders on site, so I won't be able to see clearly the effect of insulation separate from solar (being tempted towards PV over thermal through DamonHD's constant campaigning!).
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Not to mention the coming of peak uranium, and externalised costs of "radioactivity capture".
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Glad to see that my PV marketing efforts are working! B^>

    I'm off to an Oxford college tomorrow to try to persuade them... B^> B^>

    Rgds

    Damon
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010 edited
     
    Posted By: JTGreenpeak uranium, and externalised costs of "radioactivity capture".

    This peak business worries me as the latest figures for artic oil kind of show, 1/4 of the worlds resources, but not sure if that is a 1/4 what is left or a quarter of everything we have ever had. Thorium (I think) is a replacement. I was under the impression that the nuclear industry was paying for clean up, well after the most recent bail out, only way they get a contract to run an installation.
    If we split the UK up into regions can I claim that most of my electrical energy comes from Gas and Nuclear?
  19.  
    France is an exporter of nuclear, if anything with have too much. Certainly dont import any, coal or otherwise.

    How much wood can the UK grow? Not enough to heat everyones houses and still grow enough food.
    Peak wood exists also. How much fossil fuel energy is required to maintain, harvest and transport all that wood/bio fuel?
  20.  
    anyway, you cant change the goal posts... my electric is nuclear, not gas, coal or wood, therefore the greenest. the electric is cheap And I dont even need to upgrade the energy performance of my house, win win.
  21.  
    Green Nuclear , what ever next !
    • CommentAuthorevan
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Wood grows on trees, bot. Uranium doesn't. ;)
    • CommentAuthorbrig001
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Are you sure France don't import electricity? http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/utilities/article6626811.ece

    Admittedly that was during a very hot summer, and hopefully they have that sorted now.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    They way I understand it they are constantly importing and exporting with their neighbours. It is one of the problems with nuclear, you cannot just turn then down and up again (The Russians know a bit about this). What is really the issue here though is the amount of CO2/kWh. But only if we think that reducing CO2 is the more important bit rather than all the issues.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2010
     
    Yesterday, bdp, IIRC, there was a lot more coal generation than I expected at one point and shipping 1.5GW out to France across the channel.

    That will have been making up for the inability for most of France's generation stock to load-follow.

    And indeed France relies heavily on its interconnects for load following and for picking up the slack if any of the nukes are down due to industrial action or hot weather, etc, etc, as I understand things.

    I'm not against nukes, but it's barely more dispatchable than wind and solar: too much is as bad as too little.

    Rgds

    Damon
    • CommentAuthorjamesingram
    • CommentTimeSep 24th 2010 edited
     
    Going of topic . http://www.noneedfornuclear.org.uk/

    Back on topic
    Is seems fair to say all current forms of energy generation have some negative effect.
    So to strive to use this energy efficiently is clearly beneficial .

    No matter your supply type , reduction in demand will benefit all.
    So I think we can all use imeasure to help with this goal .

    Looking at the details posted by people, most seem to have done all the simple stuff
    and to reduce consumption much further would require more ambitious renovations,
    changes in life style or like Damon investing in mircogen.

    (JTgreen hope your planning to top that loft insulation up before xmas ),:bigsmile:
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 24th 2010
     
    Need to get proper loft access first! I'm working on it, depends on builder availability to put the loft hatch in a safe place (existing access is directly under the eaves and above the stair well - so getting safely in and out is a bit of a challenge at the moment). Have not even verified the 80mm - that's what appears to be around the existing access, but whether it extends through the whole loft space and what condition I'm unsure.
    • CommentAuthorbrig001
    • CommentTimeSep 24th 2010
     
    You might have already seen this about bits of loft insulation missing: http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=5873 Gives a bit of incentive to get to those hard to reach places.
    Good luck with it.
    Brian.
    • CommentAuthorGBP-Keith
    • CommentTimeSep 27th 2010
     
    I have joined but it looks a bit hamstrung when it comes to offgrid homes with no meter reading. Also there does not seem to be any way of adding wood fueled heating.
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 27th 2010
     
    How do you monitor energy use in an offgrid home? They have an "other" category for main fuel for heating - what happens if you select it? If you can't put down how much wood fuel you are using, perhaps it is worth getting in touch with the imeasure folks and ask them why not?

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