British Gas Partners With heata On Trial To Reuse Waste Heat From Data Processing
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
British Gas has partnered with sustainable cloud computing provider, heata, on an innovative trial to explore how harnessing waste heat generated by computer servers can save households money on their bills.
These two paragraphs describe heata’s system.
heata’s innovative model distributes cloud computing workloads to servers in homes. In a data centre, the heat generated during processing is a waste product, and energy-intensive cooling systems are required to stop the servers from overheating.
To overcome this, heata has created a ‘virtual data centre’ – a network of servers distributed in people’s homes. Each server is attached to the home’s hot water cylinder, and as they process data, the heat they generate is transferred into the water. This reduces the energy needed to heat water in the home, and as this is typically provided by gas boilers, it reduces the amount of gas used, lowering the carbon impact as a result. heata pays for the electricity the heata unit uses, which means the household pays less to heat their hot water.
Note.
- I would expect that future systems would also heat the house.
- I would be an ideal system for my house, as I have an unusual skin, that is better with a daily bath.
- I also wash my eyes most days with clean warm water, as they are often full of sleep.
- heata has a web site.
- heata has an about page, which describes the company and the technology.
- heata is supported by British Gas, Innovate UK and Sustainable Futures.
- Thermify is a similar system.
These three paragraphs describe the trial.
As part of a three-month trial, 10 heata units will be installed in the homes of British Gas employees, and the energy provider’s computing workloads will be processed on these units. As a result British Gas will be providing free hot water for its own employees as a byproduct of their own cloud compute.
The trial will provide feedback around performance and customer experience, as well as demonstrating the associated CO2 and energy cost savings to further co-develop customer propositions in 2025.
According to heata, the devices can provide up to 4kWh of hot water per day, with the technology expected to save households up to £340 per year when offsetting electrically heated hot water, and up to £120 when offsetting gas heated hot water.
I shall certainly think about fitting one.
North Sea Oil Group Equinor Scales Back Investment In Renewables
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Equinor, which is attempting to develop one of the largest untapped oilfields in UK waters, also raised its fossil fuel production targets
This is the first paragraph.
The Norwegian state-backed oil company that is attempting to develop one of the largest untapped oil fields in UK waters, has dramatically scaled back its investment in renewables and raised its fossil fuel production targets, becoming the latest of the world’s energy giants to row back on the push towards green power.
A quiet revolution is happening that will change our use of natural gas very much for the better.
- In Rhodesia, which is a suburb of Worksop, a 24 MW Rolls-Royce mtu diesel peaker power plant, that runs on natural gas, but is also hydrogen-ready, has been installed to boost the electricity supply. The diesel engine is fitted with carbon capture and produces food-grade CO2, which is sold for food and engineering uses.
- Most of the excellent British tomatoes and soft fruit, we have been eating this winter, is grown in greenhouses, heated by natural gas-powered combined heat and power units, where the CO2 produced is captured and fed to the plants.
- HiiROC is a start-up from Hull, who are backed by Centrica, who use a plasma process to split any hydrocarbon gas including waste gas from a chemical plant, biomethane from a sewage works or natural gas into pure hydrogen and carbon black, which is needed to manufacture tyres and other products, and also to improve soil.
- In the last few months, a HiiROC device has been installed at Brigg power station, to generate zero-carbon electricity from natural gas.
- Imagine a housing or factory estate, a farm or perhaps a large country house, that wants to decarbonise. The gas feed to the property would be fitted with a HiiROC device and all gas appliances and boilers would be converted to hydrogen.
- I also believe that houses and other premises could have their own hydrogen pumps to fill up cars, ride-on mowers and other vehicles.
- Avnos is a company from the US, that captures CO2 from the air. What makes Avnos unique is that for every ton of CO2 it captures, it captures five tons of pure water.
More ideas like these are being developed.
What is wrong in using natural gas, to generate heat and electricity, if it doesn’t emit any CO2 into the atmosphere?
I suspect, that Equinor believe there will be a market for natural gas for years, as more and more clever ways to use it and turn it into hydrogen are developed.
Sail Into The Future In Style With Super-Realistic Virtual Tour Of The New Mersey Ferry
The title of this post is the same as this page on the Liverpool Region web site.
These five bullet points act as sub-headings.
- Immersive, interactive VR tour offers stunning detail of new Mersey Ferry
- Vessel designed to reflect Mersey Ferries’ world-famous new vessel will feature event spaces, bars, bike storage and improved accessibility
- Offers world-class experience to passengers and unique, stylish venue for conferences and private events
- Built by Cammell Laird and part of £26m investment in modernising ferries
- Due to set sail in summer 2026
Good to see, that it will be a locally-built ferry.
The current ferries were there, when I first went to the city in the 1960s.
Click here to take a tour on the new vessel.
Ministers Will Relax Rules To Build Small Nuclear Reactors
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Britain’s five nuclear power stations, which generate about 6GW in total, powering 13 million homes, are all nearing the end of their lives
These first three paragraphs indicate the reasons why, the government wants to relax the rules.
Ministers are preparing to relax planning rules to make it easier to build mini nuclear power plants in more parts of the country in order to hit green energy targets and boost the industry.
They are also examining whether it is possible to streamline the process for approving the safety of new nuclear power plants as a way to reduce construction delays.
At present rules state that only the government may designate sites for potential nuclear power stations, of which there are eight, severely limiting where they can be built.
The article includes a vote and surprisingly to me, the vote embedded in the article, shows 92 % in favour of relaxing the rules and only 8 % against.
I must admit these figures surprise me, as I’d have thought more would have been against.
Certain Words Frighten The Public
It is because nuclear is one of those words, that I felt that the vote in favour would have been much lower.
Regular readers of this blog will know, that in the 1960s,, I worked for ICI doing itinerant computing and instrumentation tasks, in my first job after leaving Liverpool University with a degree in Control Engineering.
I can now classify the experience as a superb apprenticeship, where I learned a lot that has been useful to me in later life.
For a time, I was working on nuclear magnefic resonance or NMR scans. ICI Mond Division in Runcorn had one of the best installations for analysing chemicals using this technique, which is described in this Wikipedia entry, which starts with these sentences.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a frequency characteristic of the magnetic field at the nucleus. This process occurs near resonance, when the oscillation frequency matches the intrinsic frequency of the nuclei, which depends on the strength of the static magnetic field, the chemical environment, and the magnetic properties of the isotope involved; in practical applications with static magnetic fields up to ca. 20 tesla, the frequency is similar to VHF and UHF television broadcasts (60–1000 MHz).
One day, the Senior Scientist, who ran the machine came in to work and announced that the property of nuclear magnetic resonance would be replacing X-rays, as the technology had just been used to give a three-dimensional image of something like the tail of a mouse.
Now fifty-five years later, many if not most of us have had MRi scans.
The Wikipedia entry for Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRi, explains, what happened to the dreaded N-word.
MRI was originally called NMRI (nuclear magnetic resonance imaging), but “nuclear” was dropped to avoid negative associations.
Perhaps, it would be easier to build nuclear power stations, if the level of science teaching in the UK was better.
The Three Paragraphs In Detail
Earlier, I copied three paragraphs from The Times, into this post.
I shall now look at each in detail.
Paragraph 1
Ministers are preparing to relax planning rules to make it easier to build mini nuclear power plants in more parts of the country in order to hit green energy targets and boost the industry.
I was in Suffolk, when the planning of Sizewell B was undertaken.
There appeared to be little strong opposition, but the general feeling was what there was from second home owners, who were worried that the value of their holiday home would decline.
Employment and commerce created by Sizewell B was certainly good for the area in lots of ways.
At the time, my late wife; C was practicing as a family barrister in chambers in Ipswich. She believed that the building of Sizewell B had had a good effect on the area, as it had injected work and money, which had created the finance to allow a couple to end a marriage, that had long since died. She stated a couple of times, that Sizewell B was good for her practice.
Paragraph 2
They are also examining whether it is possible to streamline the process for approving the safety of new nuclear power plants as a way to reduce construction delays.
My worry about streamlining the process for approving safety, is that we approve nuclear power stations so rarely, do we have the qualified personnel to replace elapsed time with people. I would suggest that we don’t.
But we could have.
- We have some excellent universities, where Nuclear Engineering can be studied.
- How many personnel leave the Royal Navy each year, who could be trained as nuclear safety inspectors?
- If say Rolls-Royce and/or Hitachi are building several small modular nuclear reactors a year in the UK, then nuclear engineering will become fashionable, as electronics was for my generation of engineers and it will attract the brightest students.
Perhaps an established university, with access to the needed skills should be funded to set up a Nuclear Safety Institute
Paragraph 3
At present rules state that only the government may designate sites for potential nuclear power stations, of which there are eight, severely limiting where they can be built.
I can envisage new small modular nuclear reactors being built in the UK, where there is a need for lots of electricity to support developments like.
- Offshore wind farms
- Data centres
- Green steelmaking
- Metal refining
- Hydrogen production.
Rolls-Royce have said that their small reactors will be around 470 MW, so I could imagine power stations of this size being placed on disused coal-fired power station sites to boost power in an area. I have already suggested building some on Drax in The Future Of Drax Power Station.
In some locations, the choice could be between a small modular nuclear reactor and some form of energy storage.
Powering Germany
But there is one controversial area, where we can take advantage.
- The Germans are very short of electricity because of their reliance on coal and Russian gas that needs to be replaced.
- The 1.4 GW NeuConnect interconnector is being built by European and Japanese money between the Isle of Grain and Wilhelmshaven.
- The AquaVentus hydrogen system could be extended to Humberside to link with UK hydrogen production and storage.
- A couple of small modular nuclear reactors could be built on Humberside to back up hydrogen production, when the wind isn’t blowing.
But Rolls-Royce and other companies have been putting small nuclear reactors close to the sea bed safely for decades, so why no design an offshore reactor that can be placed at a safe distance offshore?
We would need to solve the Putin and friends problem first, but I can see the UK exporting a lot of electricity and hydrogen produced by nuclear energy.
Ørsted’s Earnings from Operational Offshore Wind Farms Up 20 Pct
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Ørsted has reported 2024 earnings from its operational offshore wind farms of DKK 23.8 billion (approximately EUR 3.2 billion), up by 20 per cent compared to 2023.
And this is the introductory paragraph.
The global offshore wind developer said on 6 February the increase was mainly due to the ramp-up of generation at Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind project in Taiwan, South Fork in the US, and Gode Wind 3 in Germany, as well as higher wind speeds, higher pricing of the inflation-indexed CfDs and green certificates. The increase in 2024 was dampened by lower availability, according to the company.
I don’t think Trummkopf would get those sort of returns, if he invested any of his own money in his plan for the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Although my American friend ; Jack and his family enjoyed themselves in the Lebanon in the 1960s, when he lectured at the American University of Beirut.
On the other hand this article in The Times is entitled Trump’s Gaza Plan Watered Down Amid Backlash From Allies.
Show Me The Way To Motspur Park
A few days ago, I saw on a web site, that Motspur Park station had been made step-free.
I tried to go yesterday, but I made a big mistake – I started from Moorgate station and intended to use the Waterloo and City Line to get to Waterloo station, from where I could get a direct train.
But after taking forever to walk between the Northern and Waterloo and City Line at Bank station, I arrived at Waterloo station, too late to get to Motspur Park station before dark.
Today, I looked up Transport for London’s Journey Planner and it told me to do the following.
- Walk to Newington Green Road, which is rather a long walk for my 77-year-old legs.
- Get a 341 bus to Manor House Station.
- Get a Piccadilly Line train to Finsbury Park station.
- Get a Victoria Line train to Vauxall station. This is a cross-platform interchange.
- Walk to Vauxall National Rail station.
- Get a South Western Railway train to Motspur Park station.
Note.
- Normally, I would use a variation of this route and take a 141 bus from the corner of my road to Manor House station.
- But due to road works, the 141 is not stopping near my house, so I have no easy way to get to Manor House station.
- But in some ways to start a journey to the South-West, by going North to Manor House station is a bit silly.
- This detour is caused because neither the Victoria or Piccadilly Lines have an exchange station with the Lizzie Line.
If the 141 bus were running, I’d take that to Moorgate, then take Lizzie to Bond Street and the Jubilee Line to Waterloo for a train to Motspur Park.
I would have taken this route yesterday from Moorgate, but I was advised otherwise by a station guy at Moorgate.
In the end today, I took a bus to King’s Cross and got the Victoria Line from there.
I took these pictures of the elderly Class 455 train en route.
Although at forty, it was still in good condition.
I took these pictures of the new bridge at Motspur Park station.
Note.
- The two-button lift controls. Would they be faster if single-button?
- I am surprised that solar roofs weren’t fitted as at Denmark Hill station.
- The station must be the only station in London with an island platform and three lifts. See Picture 6.
- PPicture 6 also clearly shows a ticket machine on the platform, which serves both entrances.
It certainly looks to be a comprehensive job well done.
The Future Of Drax Power Station
Drax power station is not liked by a lot of environmentalists.
I have been thinking about the future of the power station and the public company that owns it.
Drax power station has a nameplate capacity of around 2.5 GW running on biomass.
It also will be the Southern end of EGL2, which will be an undersea electricity 2 GW superhighway distributing Scottish wind power from Peterhead in Scotland. So the dreaded biomass hated by certain groups will be relegated from the Premier League of electricity generation and replaced by Scottish wind.
As reported in various publications, Drax has signed a deal in the US, so that the biomass can be used for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
To my mind, the Drax site could be an ideal one for one or more small modular nuclear reactors.
- The large Drax site has been producing electricity for 52 years.
- In 1986, the site produced nearly 4 GW of electricity.
- I would suspect that the substations on the site could be enlarged to distribute 4 GW of electricity.
- EGL2 will bring in 2 GW of Scottish wind-generated electricity.
- The site has excellent rail connections.
- The site has twelve cooling towers and is encircled by the River Ouse.
- Could all this water be used for cooling the small modular nuclear reactors.
I believe that perhaps three small modular nuclear reactors could be built on the Drax site to backup EGL2 and bring a reliable source of sustainable power to Yorkshire.
Drax is also only about forty miles from the vast hydrogen stores at Aldbrough and Rough, so if Drax needed, if could use excess electricity to create hydrogen for storage.
SSE is consulting on a 1+ GW hydrogen power station at Keadby, so perhaps Drax should have a similar hydrogen power station on its site?
Are Rolls-Royce Converting The World To Sussainable Fuels?
Rolls-Royce are certainly up to something.
- Versions of all their diesel and aero engines appear to be able to or will be able to run on hydrogen, SAF, HVO and other exotic zero or low-carbon fuels.
- They are replacing the engines on the USAF B 52s with new American-built Rolls-Royce engines, that can run on hydrogen.
- They are working with easyJet on zero-carbon engines.
- They are developing the UltraFan, which promises to be the most frugal turbofan engine ever. Will all long-distance wide-bodies end up Rolls-Royce powered?
- They have developed a frugal engine for business jets that can run on any fuel.
- Rolls-Royce have also developed a 2.5 MW electric generator based on the engine of a Super Hercules. This level of power is what you need for a railway locomotive.
- Are they building a retrofit for all the diesel-electric railway locomotives of the world, which runs on hydrogen?
Some of these developments could be moving from diesel, jet-fuel and SAF to hydrogen. Others will just reduce the amount of fuel needed.
I just can’t get the image of an iconic B 52, with RR on the side of the engines out of my mind.
But all of these developments seem to have one aim in mind. – To reduce the amount of aircraft and other large vehicles that have to run on standard jet fuel, diesel, SAF or HVO.
This will mean that long-distance air travel, which will be the most difficult to decarbonise will be able to use SAF and other exotic fuels made from renewable sources.
UK Wind Risks ‘Exponentially Rising’ Curtailment Without Energy Storage
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Recharge.
This is the sub-heading.
UK liquid battery pioneer Highview Power is working with renewable energy giant Orsted on plan to store excess power from its Hornsea offshore wind projects
This is the introductory paragraph.
The UK wind sector faces “exponentially” increasing curtailment of assets without a rapid rollout of energy storage, says the chief of liquid battery pioneer Highview Power, which is working with Orsted on a project to store excess offshore wind power.
The article also states that according to Octopus Energy, this cost could have been as high as a billion pounds last year.
In Grid Powers Up With One Of Europe’s Biggest Battery Storage Sites, I described how Ørsted were planning to build a large BESS near the Swardeston substation in Norfolk, where the Hornsea 3 wind farm will connect to the grid.
Have Ørsted decided to put a Highview Power battery on the Swardeston site, as it can be a bigger battery, as Highview Power talk about 200MW/2.5GWh capacity batteries on the projects page of the web site?
Highview also say this about co-operation with Ørsted on that page.
Highview Power and Ørsted’s joint study shows that the co-location of LAES with Ørsted’s offshore wind offers a step forward in reducing wind curtailment, and helping to move to a more flexible, resilient zero carbon grid.
The words are accompanied by pictures of a smart gas storage site, which shows four of the largest tanks, that might be used to store LNG.
In Could A Highview Power CRYOBattery Use A LNG Tank For Liquid Air Storage?, I estimated that one of the largest LNG tanks could hold about a GWh of energy.
So Highview Power’s visualisation on their project page would be a 4 GWh battery.
.
ZeroAvia Receives FAA G-1 For 600kW Electric Propulsion System
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from ZeroAvia.
This is the sub-heading.
Issue paper confirms basis of certification and provides clear pathway to certification of the company’s first commercial product
These are two introductory paragraphs.
ZeroAvia today announced that it has reached consensus on the Certification Basis relating to its 600kW electric propulsion system (EPS) with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), having received a G-1 Issue Paper (stage 2) and formally confirmed agreement with its contents.
The G-1 represents a key milestone on the journey towards final certification of the company’s EPS with the U.S. regulator, and also on its path to certifying its first full hydrogen-electric powertrain (of which the EPS is a core system) with the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The issue paper designates the applicable airworthiness regulations specific for ZeroAvia’s EPS, allowing the company to validate its design requirements.
Zero-carbon aviation just got a little bit closer, as when it is certified, the 600 KW electric propulsion system (EPS) will be able to be retrofitted to aircraft like the Cessna Caravan.
This is a Cessna Grand Caravan, that I flew in on holiday in Kenya.
I can see a lot of zero-carbon Caravans flying around the tropics on hydrogen generated by a nifty piece of hydrogen gubbins powered by the sun.
Especially, as over three thousand have been built.
The Anonymous Widower 