Tag Archives: carbon
Straw houses go onto UK general sales market
Houses made of straw are on sale on the open market for the first time in the UK after becoming eligible for standard mortgages. Until now the eco-homes have been the preserve of bespoke building projects and financed through specialist lenders but now a row of seven straw houses in Bristol have now become the first to secure building certification which makes them eligible for a standard mortgage. The two and three bedroom properties will each use more than seven tonnes of straw and reduce heating costs by 90% compared to the average brick house, according to Professor Pete Walker from the University of Bath who led a project to develop and test the construction method. They homes are due to be completed in April and are on sale priced between £220,000 and £240,000. ‘I think there's a lot of misconception about using straw, especially about fire resistance. As a construction material straw is a low cost and widely available product that offers real potential for ultra low carbon housing throughout the UK,’ said Walker. ‘Building with straw could be a critical point in our trajectory towards a low carbon future. The great thing about the houses is that they are affordable and in addition the energy costs will be extremely low, under £100 a year,’ he explained. The houses are currently undergoing a 10 week construction programme by developers Connolly and Callaghan in Shirehampton, Bristol. Each wall is the same thickness as a normal bale of straw, framed in timber and encased in wooden boards. In addition compressed straw board will line the walls throughout the house as a replacement for plaster board and once built, the terraced houses will be clad in brick so they will be indistinguishable from the other properties in the street. The only hint of their remarkable construction method will be a 'truth window' in each property where a section of straw wall will be visible through a window. Although these are not the first houses in the UK to be built using straw bales, they are the first to be built for any buyer on the open market. The straw design has received BM Trada's Q mark certification, meaning developers and house buyers can now insure and secure mortgages against the homes. ‘First and foremost the work has demonstrated that straw bales create safe, durable and affordable houses. They make contributions to reducing fuel poverty and make significant contributions to reducing energy bills of building occupants,’ Walker pointed out. He added that there are also wider benefits. ‘Buildings contribute around 50% of the carbon emissions in this country. Producing lower… Continue reading
Panel Discusses Wood Biomass Sustainability, Coming Regulations
By Tim Portz | October 30, 2013 Nigel Burdett, head of environment at Drax Power, addresses the audience at the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association’s 3rd Annual Exporting Pellets conference. Tim Portz. . . Nigel Burdett, head of environment at Drax Power, kicked off a panel discussion at the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association’s 3rd annual Exporting Pellets Conference, by commenting on the role of sustainability in the transition from coal to wood pellets. “We need to be sustainable in order to capture the subsidy and make the business work,” he said. The panel focused on the sustainable attributes of renewable power produced via wood pellet combustion. The subsidies Burdett spoke of are Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) issued by the U.K. Office of Gas and Electricity Markets. These ROCs are financial instruments that power generators can sell on the open market, boosting the economics of generating renewable energy. In September, the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change confirmed that biomass would play a significant role in the march toward the de-carbonization of the U.K. energy sector, but that biomass burned by its power generators must come from sustainable sources if those generators expect to receive ROCs. While final rulemaking has yet to be established by the DECC, power generators in the U.K., pellet suppliers in the North America and elsewhere, and the loggers and landowners that supply biomass to pellet facilities are all preparing for the coming legislation. They are also offering their perspective to policymakers on what they feel are realistic, yet adequately stringent, requirements. At the same time, a larger, more expansive effort is underway to frame up for the general public the vital role that biomass-derived power can, and should, play in driving geologic carbon out of the world’s energy mix. Geologic carbon, the carbon found in fossil fuels and sequestered there for millions of years, is released into the atmosphere when it is combusted for energy. Bob Malmsheimer, professor at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, urged attendees to recognize the inherent differences between geologic carbon and biogenic carbon saying, “When we make products and energy from biogenic carbon instead of geologic carbon, we’ve done something positive for climate change.” Recognizing that the public is continually presented with different studies and models, he continued by stating, “While the timing aspect is debated, the long term benefit is not debatable.” Echoing Malmsheimer’s comments, and diving deeper into an explanation of the science as well as many of the reasons for widespread confusion about the issue, was Martin Junginger, assistant professor at the Copernicus Institute for Sustainability Development at the University of Utrecht. Junginger pointed out that many of the studies that industry critics use to question the sustainability of woody biomass are flawed because they investigate the carbon cycle at a stand level, as opposed to looking at the carbon cycle in the context of a broader forest ecosystem. “Scientists have realized that looking at the landscape of level is the most appropriate,” said Junginger. He explained that if 1 acre of land is converted into biomass feedstocks and burned, there is carbon released into the atmosphere certainly, but that the overall forest system was taking up more carbon as a whole than was being released during the combustion of a percentage of that biomass during energy generation. The panel concluded the discussion by driving home the point that the worst-case scenario for global forests were declining markets for forest products, including woody biomass for pellet production. Repeating an argument that is continually being made by the largest forest owner associations in North America, including the National Alliance of Forest Owners and the Forest Landowners Association, the panel argued that strong markets for all grades and types of forests was the best way to stave off the largest threat to forests, emerging higher economic values for forested acres, including redevelopment. Recognizing that proving the sustainable nature of their supply chains will be a vital aspect of Drax’s business, Burdett underscored the importance of preparing for the coming feedstock tracking requirements saying, “We are going to see a great deal of data being required of suppliers,” and stressing that non-compliance ultimately would cost Drax the most. “We have canceled contracts because adequate data was not available,” he added. Continue reading
Increased Farm Buyer Scrutiny Likely
22 Oct, 2013 JOHN KERIN THE Abbott government’s plan to increase scrutiny of foreign farm purchases looks set to pass the Senate despite a simmering internal Coalition row over Chinese investment. The Greens and Democratic Labour Party senator John Madigan have backed the Coalition’s plan to lower the threshold which triggers scrutiny of foreign farmland purchases by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). This gives the Coalition the numbers it needs to pass the legislation through the Senate. The Greens and Senator Madigan both want a lower threshold than the $15 million outlined by Prime Minister Tony Abbott in his pre-election foreign investment policy. Labor has so far indicated it does not support lowering the threshold. Liberals and Nationals are divided over increasing the threshold to $1 billion for China in an effort to clinch a free trade agreement. Mr Abbott says he wants to sign a free-trade deal with all three North Asian powers, China, Japan and South Korea, within 12 months. Government sources suggest the government would be better off passing the legislation before a new Senate, where views on foreign investment are much more uncertain, is sworn in on July 1 next year. Mr Abbott released a foreign investment policy ahead of the election which said the threshold of $248 million which triggers a review by the Foreign Investment Review Board would be reduced to $15 million. The policy included plans to establish a national register to keep track of foreign-owned land holdings. The policy was reaffirmed by Mr Abbott and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce during the election campaign. The policy has largely been driven as part of a response to growing community anxiety over perceived high levels of foreign land ownership in Australia. Treasurer Joe Hockey indicated the Abbott government could increase the investment threshold to $1 billion if China was prepared to enter in to a free-trade deal with Australia. Key Nationals, including Mr Joyce, and New South Wales Senator John Williams, are staunchly opposed to doing a special deal for China. They argue profits will be lost to Beijing, rather than supporting local Australian communities. Senator Madigan said on Monday that “any investment in Australian farmland should be vetted”. “You can buy a pretty big plot of highly productive rich arable land in parts of Australia for $15 million,” he said.Alarm bells He said given at least 11.3 per cent of farmland was foreign-owned, “it should be ringing alarm bells for those in government and in opposition”. “We should not be selling out the farm to suit vested interests,” he said. Greens Leader Christine Milne said her party favoured lowering the FIRB trigger to $5 million and a tough national interest test. “We shouldn’t sell any land and water to a wholly owned government subsidiary at all and in relation to corporate purchases there should be a threshold of no more than $5 million,” she said. Senator Milne said countries were buying up productive land around the world to ensure they had a source of food when climate change-induced food shortages inevitably occurred. “It is no longer about trade, but survival,” she said. Senator Milne said the Greens would propose their own foreign investment bill when parliament resumed in November. Continue reading
