Member Article

Do you generate your own 'green' energy?

It could be your ’green’ legacy?

It’s energy efficient too!

It will also improve the bottom line in your business as well as vastly improving your green credentials by generating your own green energy, on site.

You have spent years building your business, battling against rising costs and an ever changing landscape of public perception……then along comes a bloody revolution!

No…not a proper a blood and guts one, with euphemistic ‘cake’ quotes and ‘guillotines’ (although it may have felt that way after the last couple of weeks in the UK) but a necessary and wholly beneficial one….The Renewable Energy Revolution.

And part of this Renewable Energy Revolution is the generation, on site, of heat and electricity.

I suppose technically there has a been a renewable energy revolution going on for a few years now. But now it has really stepped up a gear with the introduction of biomass/CHP technology.

Since the introduction of the Feed in Tariff and subsequently the Renewable Heat Incentive amongst others, it has highlighted to many businesses just how much they are paying for their energy and a number of them have installed renewable energy generation technologies to reduce their current energy costs. But there are far more that haven’t!

Why haven’t more businesses installed renewable energy generation technologies?

It could be that the implications/technicalities of installing such technologies from the current options available - biomass, solar, air and ground source heat pumps, CHP - are not fully understood by the business owners. Questions such as “Do all these technologies generate energy for my business 24/7?”, “Which is the best renewable energy generation technology for my business?”, may well be asked. After all, these are the people that will be ‘signing the cheque’ for the technology, so they need to understand exactly what they are buying into.

According to one leading industry player, in 2011, biomass/CHP technology was the 10th most popular energy saving option. With monitoring and targeting systems as the most popular energy saving options for businesses. But that was in 2011 and a lot of technological leaps have been made since then.

However, according to The Carbon Trust in one of their ‘Insight’ publications of March 2014, authored by James Dunlop, Technology Manager; ’LED lighting has fast become one of the top sustainability measures taken by businesses and the public sector. Heavily-incentivised renewables may be attracting the attention from policy makers, investors and those keen to make a ‘green’ statement’.

OK, LED’s are not a renewable energy generation technology. They are an extremely effective energy saving solution though. But is shows that businesses are addressing their energy consumption.

James Dunlop then goes on to state; ‘What is surprising is that although many companies have already grasped the opportunity, uptake is still far from universal. So with commercial cases this strong why aren’t we seeing ubiquitous uptake of this game-changing technology?

Lack of awareness is a major factor. The inertia around replacing systems which may be providing an adequate function is another - many businesses have the attitude that ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.’ But we find that a key barrier to action is the difficulty end users (often with limited technical expertise) face when seeking a supplier or partner to provide a solution’.

Now, some of the latter points raised in James Dunlop’s article about LED’s (of which the above extracts are taken) are certainly pertinent today and in relation to, the ‘What’s in the box’ technology, and other renewable energy generation technologies.

But let’s take the final point James makes: ‘A key barrier to action’.

If a business such as a hotel, care home, leisure centre, manufacturing plant, school or academy, who all have high heat and electricity requirements, could work with the manufacturer, the system designers and installers of the biomass/CHP renewable energy generation technology from day one, it would certainly help address the difficulty the end users have when seeking a supplier or partner to provide a renewable energy generation technology, wouldn’t it?

And taken that renewable energy generation technology attracts tariff payments from both the RHI and ROCs for accredited installations - for the smaller pellet fired units that could be £40k + PA*, and for the larger wood chip fired units that could be £70k + PA* - the end users will also have access to third party professional advice on acquisition options - CAPEX, ESco (Free to Fit), Lease, Shared Ownership or outright purchase - to ensure that the optimum ROI is achieved. In essence, a total solution.

Other businesses are already working on their ‘green’ legacy: http://www.hrmedia.org.uk/news/2014/aug/siv-goes-green-to-cut-energy-costs

So, will you have a ‘green’ legacy?

If you would like to find out more about or explore the possibility of installing the world’s smallest biomass/chp renewable energy generation technology at your business, then please feel free to contact me. prsl@me.com

Unfortunately, this technology will not be suitable for all businesses.

*RHI and ROC tariffs are subject to an accredited installation undertake by the approved installer.

Extracts courtesy of The CarbonTrust and the full article can be viewed here:

http://www.carbontrust.com/news/2014/03/led-revolution-puts-lighting-top-of-the-energy-efficiency-agenda

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Philip Smith-Lawrence .