Ameresco And Envision Energy To Deploy 624MWh UK BESS For Atlantic Green
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
These three paragraphs describe the project.
Developer-operator Atlantic Green has enlisted system integrator Ameresco and clean energy manufacturer Envision Energy for a 300MW/624MWh BESS project in the UK.
The Cellarhead battery energy storage system (BESS) project will be connected to National Grid’s Cellarhead substation in the West Midlands and have a maximum energy capacity of 624MWh. Construction is expected to begin this year, with final connection to the grid slated for the end of 2026.
The deal between the parties is worth £196.5 million (US$250 million). Ameresco will build the project via an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and operation & maintenance (O&M) agreement while Envision Energy will supply the BESS units.
Note.
- It is another battery, that can provide full power for two hours.
- It is another battery, that is located near to one of National Grid’s substations.
As batteries seem to be made by different companies, it looks to me, that National Grid are possibly checking out, which batteries are best.
Nicki Minaj Freed After Arrest At Amsterdam Airport
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC,
This is the sub-heading.
American rapper Nicki Minaj has been freed by police after being detained at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
These three paragraphs give more details.
Dutch police posted on X: “We have just released a 41-year-old American woman whom we arrested this afternoon at Schiphol on suspicion of exporting soft drugs.”
“The suspect was fined and can continue her journey.”
The artist had been due to fly to Manchester for a concert at the Co-op Live venue on Saturday evening.
Note.
- I think, she has been very lucky.
- She has been very disrespectable to her fans.
- As someone, who lost his son, partly because he smoked both cannabis and tobacco, I find her behaviour disgusting.
Let’s hope the Border Force send her back to Amsterdam, so that she realises the consequences of her stupid behaviour.
UK Unveils GBP 50 Million Fund To Boost Offshore Wind Supply Chain
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Crown Estate has initiated a Supply Chain Accelerator to stimulate early-stage investment in the UK offshore wind supply chain.
These are the first three paragraphs.
The accelerator is a new GBP 50 million (approximately EUR 58.7 million) fund created to accelerate and de-risk the early-stage development of projects linked to offshore wind.
An initial GBP 10 million round of funding is now open for Expressions of Interest for businesses looking to establish UK projects that could support the development of a new UK supply chain capability for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
The application process opens formally in mid-June and closes at the end of July. The final announcement will be made in October 2024.
This sounds like a very good idea.
This is the next paragraph.
Earlier this year, the Crown Estate published research, the Celtic Sea Blueprint, which predicted that 5,300 jobs and a GBP 4.1 billion economic boost could be generated through deploying the first floating offshore wind capacity, that will result from the current leasing Round 5 process, under which leases for up to 4.5 GW of generation capacity will be awarded in the waters off South Wales and South-West England.
It looks to me, that the £100 million could help prime the pumps to do the following for South Wales and South-West England.
- Create 5,300 jobs
- Create a £ 4.1 billion economic boost.
- Develop up to 4.5 GW of generation capacity.
If we assume the following.
- 4.5 GW of generation capacity.
- Capacity factor of 50 %.
- Strike price of £ 35/MWh.
- A year has 8,760 hours.
We can say the following.
- Average hourly generation is 2,250 MWh
- Average yearly generation is 19,710 GWh or 19,710,000 MWh
This would be a yearly income of £ 689, 850 million.
Crown Estate To Spend £1.5bn On New Laboratories
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
These three paragraphs introduce the Crown Estate’s plan.
The Crown Estate is to spend £1.5 billion over the next decade building more laboratories nationwide and will start by redeveloping the old Debenhams store in Oxford city centre.
The King’s property company, which looks after the royal family’s £16 billion historic land portfolio, will invest £125 million to buy the former department store and will turn it into laboratory space.
The building has been empty for omore than three years, having closed down in early 2021 after Debenhams collapsed during the pandemic. The Crown has bought a long leasehold of the store from DTZ Investors, the freeholder, which is keeping the street-level retail units. Subject to planning, construction is expected to start at the site next year, with the labs expected to be fully operational in 2027 or 2028.
This looks very much like a smaller version of British Land’s plan for the Euston Tower, which I wrote about in British Land Unveils Plans To Transform London’s Euston Tower Into A Life Sciences And Innovation Hub.
These are my thoughts.
Helping Start-Ups
I have been involved with perhaps half a dozen start-up ventures. Two were very successful and the others generally scraped along or just failed.
One common theme, was the lack of small convenient premises, where perhaps up to a dozen people could work.
- I don’t know Oxford well, but I would assume that the Debenhams site, is good for public transport and cycle parking.
- I also hope there’s a good real ale pub nearby, for some productive group thinking!
If this venture from Crown Estate helps start-ups to get over the first difficult hurdle, then it will be a development to be welcomed.
Location, Location, Location
It has been said, that the three most important things in property development are location, location and location.
This 3D Google Map shows the approximate location of the Debenhams building.
Note.
- The red arrow indicates a pub called the Wig and Pen , which is on the opposite side of George Street to the Debenhams building.
- The railway with its excellent connections runs North-South down the Western edge of the map.
- I estimate that walking distance to the station is about 500-600 metres.
I shall be going to Oxford in the next couple of days to take some pictures of the building and the walk.
We Can’t Have Too Many Laboratories
The British and the sort of people we attract to these isles seem to be born innovators and inventors.
My father’s male line is Jewish and my paternal great-great-great-grandfather had to leave his home city of Königsberg in East Prussia for the sole reasons he was eighteen, male and Jewish. As both Königsberg and London, were on the trading routes of the Hanseatic League, he probably just got on a ship. As he was a trained tailor, he set up in business in Bexley.
My mother’s male line is Huguenot and somewhere in the past, one of her ancestors left France for England. My grandfather was an engraver, which is a common Huguenot craft. Intriguingly, my mother had very French brown eyes.
Why did my ancestors come here?
It was probably a choice between escape to the UK or die!
This Wikipedia entry, which us entitled History of the Jews in Königsberg, gives a lot of detail.
Note.
- My ancestor left Königsberg around 1800.
- He probably brought my coeliac disease with him.
- In 1942, many of the Jews remaining in Königsberg were sent to the Nazi concentration camps.
- About 2,000 Jews remain in Königsberg, which is now Kaliningrad in Russia.
I am an atheist, but some years ago, I did a computing job for a devout Orthodox Jewish oncologist and he felt my personal philosophy was very much similar to his.
This Wikipedia entry, which is entitled Huguenots, gives a brief history of the Huguenots.
Whatever you’re attitude to immigration, you can’t deny these facts.
- Immigration increases the population.
- As the population increases, we’re going to need more innovation to maintain a good standard of living.
- Just as we need more places to house immigrants, we also need more places, where they can work.
- Immigration brings in those with all types of morals, sexualities and intelligences.
- Like the Jews and Huguenots of over two centuries ago, some emigrants will dream of using their skills and intelligence to start a successful business.
- It is likely, that some immigrants, who came here to study, might also want to stay on and seek employment here, using the skills they’ve learned and acquired. Some may even start successful businesses.
I also wonder, if immigration is difficult, does this mean, that the intelligent and resourceful are likely to be successful migrants. I heard this theory from a Chinese lady, who started her immigration to the UK, by swimming from mainland China to Hong Kong.
I feel, that unless we are prepared to ban immigration completely, not allow students to come here and study and be prepared to accept our current standard of living for the future, then we will need more laboratories and suitable places for entrepreneurs to start new businesses.
Conclusion
The Crown Estate appears to be getting more entrepreneurial.
In UK Unveils GBP 50 Million Fund To Boost Offshore Wind Supply Chain, I describe how they6 are using funds to accelerate the building of wind farms in theCetic Sea.
Has the King changed the boss or the rules?
Or have they employed a world-class mathematical modeller?
It is my experience, that modelling financial systems, can bring surprising results.
Reform UK leader Richard Tice To Stand In Boston And Skegness
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC,
This is the sub-heading.
The leader of Reform UK has announced he is to stand as a candidate in Boston and Skegness at the general election.
Anr this is the first paragraph.
Richard Tice announced his intention to stand in the Lincolnshire constituency on social media on Thursday morning.
This article on The Times is entitled What are Reform UK’s Policies — And How Is The Party Polling?
The article has these two paragraphs on energy, decarbonisation and net-zero.
Energy and net zero is another major area of focus. Tice has referred to net zero as “net stupid” and wants to accelerate the granting of oil and gas licences in the North Sea.
Reform has said all existing carbon emissions targets should be abandoned, due to what it says is an unfair burden being placed on taxpayers and consumers.
I shall do some arithmetic to give a few pointers to the constituency he hopes to win.
The Boston and Skegness constituency is a large green energy hub, where in a few years electricity from various source will be collected for distribution to East Anglia and the South of England.
Currently, in operation, under construction or in planning, are the following sources of green electricity.
- Viking Link is a 1.4 GW interconnector between Bicker Fen in Lincolnshire and Denmark.
- EGL3 is a 2 GW interconnector between Lincolnshire and Peterhead in Scotland.
- EGL4 is a 2 GW interconnector between Lincolnshire and Westfield in Scotland.
- Lincs is a 270 MW wind farm.
- Lynn and Inner Dowsing is a 194 MW wind farm.
- Outer Dowsing is a 1500 MW wind farm.
- Triton Knoll is a 857 MW wind farm.
- Race Bank is a 573 MW wind farm.
Note.
- The three interconnectors can send electricity in both directions.
- The wind farms are in North-South order.
- There would appear to be space in the sea for more wind farms.
- The 950 MW Spalding gas-fired power station is available locally, when the wind is on strike.
- The owners of Spalding power station are rumoured to be putting a large battery alongside the power station.
The totals are as follows.
- 1.4 GW – Interconnector to Denmark
- 4 GW – Interconnector to Scotland
- 3.4 GW – Wind farms
- 1 GW – Gas-fired power station.
These total up to 9.8 GW of power.
Conclusion
Consider.
- It would appear that Richard Tice of Reform UK, has decided to stand in a constancy with one of the highest levels of green energy and energy security in the UK.
- It is also likely to be a constituency, which in the future will benefit from investment and employment, as more wind farms are developed in the North Sea.
It looks to me, that he’s a politician with very little mathematical ability.
Should All Hospital In-Patients Be Tested For Coeliac Disease?
I went to a medical lecture tonight and I came home on the tube with a cardiologist. As we chatted, the title of this post occurred to me.
Consider.
- A diagnosed coeliac on a gluten-free diet tends to have a stronger immune system.
- I am a diagnosed coeliac on a gluten-free diet.
- An undiagnosed coeliac tends to have a poor immune system.
- It would certainly mean, you got the right diet in hospital.
I also have some further more detailed thoughts.
My Son, George
NHS advice on those, who need to be tested for coeliac disease includes this sentence.
Testing is also recommended if you have a first-degree relative (parent, sibling or child) with coeliac disease.
When I was diagnosed as a coeliac in 1997, I told my three sons to get tested. None did!
A month or so before he did, George ended up in Trafford Park Hospital.
If they had tested him, would they have picked up his pancreatic cancer earlier?
Probably not, but it’s a question that must be asked.
Research From The University Of Padua
This paper on the US National Library of Medicine, which is from the University of Padua in Italy.
The University followed a group of 138 patients with coeliac disease, who had been on a gluten-free diet for at least six years, through the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Padua.
This sentence, sums up the study.
In this analysis we report a real life “snapshot” of a cohort of CeD patients during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Italy, all followed in one tertiary centre in a red area of Northern Italy. Our data show, in accordance with Emmi et al., the absolute absence of COVID-19 diagnosis in our population, although 18 subjects experienced flu-like symptoms with only one having undergone naso-pharyngeal swab.
It says that no test subject caught Covid-19, in an admittedly smallish number of patients.ost
But it reinforces my call for more research into whether if you are a diagnosed coeliac on a long-term gluten-free diet, you have an immune system, that gives you a degree of protection from the Covids.
Conditions Linked To Coeliac Disease
This page on the Coeliac UK web site is entitled Conditions Linked To Coeliac Disease, has the following subsections.
- Autoimmune Disease
- Type 1 Diabetes
- Autoimmune Thyroid Disease
- Down’s and Turner Syndrome
- Osteoporosis
- Lactose Intolerance
- Lymphoma And Small Bowel Cancer
- Autism
- Fertility
Some of the keywords are linked to other pages on the Coeliac UK web site.
Testing For Coeliac Disease
Testing for coeliac disease is not an expensive process and just involves a simple blood test, where the blood goes to the lab.
My now-retired GP reckoned in nearly all cases, the test is decisive.
UK Breakthrough Could Slash Emissions From Cement
The title of this post. is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Scientists say they’ve found a way to recycle cement from demolished concrete buildings.
These five paragraphs outline, why cement is such an environmental problem.
Cement is the modern world’s most common construction material, but it is also a huge source of planet-warming gas emissions.
That is because of the chemical reactions when you heat limestone to high temperatures by burning fossil fuels.
Recycling cement would massively reduce its carbon footprint. Researchers say that if they switched to electric-powered furnaces, and used renewable energy like wind and solar rather than fossil fuels, that could mean no greenhouse gases would be released at all.
And that would be a big deal. Cement forms the foundation of the modern economy, both literally and metaphorically.
It is what binds the sand and aggregate in concrete together, and concrete is the most widely used material on the planet after water.
If cement was a country, it would be the third biggest source of emissions after China and the US, responsible for 7.5% of human-made CO2.
This article shows how by applying chemical magic to two effectively unrelated processes; the recycling of steel and the recycling of concrete to make new cement, very high rewards are possible.
Cambridge University are calling their new product electric cement.
As large amounts of electricity are used in an arc furnace, to produce the two products
These paragraphs outline the innovative Cambridge process.
Cement is made by heating limestone to up 1600 Celsius in giant kilns powered by fossil fuels.
Those emissions are just the start. The heat is used to drive carbon dioxide from the limestone, leaving a residue of cement.
Add both these sources of pollution together and it is estimated that about a tonne of carbon dioxide is produced for every tonne of cement.
The team of scientists,, has found a neat way to sidestep those emissions.
It exploits the fact that you can reactivate used cement by exposing it to high temperatures again.
The chemistry is well-established, and it has been done at scale in cement kilns.
The breakthrough is to prove it can be done by piggybacking on the heat generated by another heavy industry – steel recycling.
When you recycle steel, you add chemicals that float on the surface of the molten metal to prevent it reacting with the air and creating impurities. This is known as slag.
The Cambridge team spotted the composition of used cement is almost exactly the same as the slag used in electric arc furnaces.
They have been trialling the process at a small-scale electric arc furnace at the Materials Processing Institute in Middlesbrough.
These are my thoughts.
The Only Inputs Are Steel Scrap, Green Electricity And Used Cement
Consider.
- We probably need to increase the percentage of steel scrap we collect.
- Gigawatts of green electricity in a few years, will be available in those places like Port of Ardersier, Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Teesside, where large amounts of steel will be needed.
- I can envisage large steel users having their own hybrid electric cement/electric arc furnace plants.
- Used cement would be collected and brought to the plants.
- Years ago, I used to live next door to an old World War II airfield. The farmer who owned the airfield, told me, that the concrete was his pension, as when he needed money, he called a company, who crushed it up for aggregate.
I can see a whole new integrated industry being created.
Conclusion
This could be one of the best inventions since sliced bread.
An Early General Election
One thing that worries me about an early election, is it gives Putin less time to plan and execute his dirty work.
So he might do something a lot more extreme!
So make sure your cybersecurity is up to date!
First US Hydrogen-Fueled Ferry Okayed For Commercial Operation
The title of this post, is the same as this of this article on OffshoreEnergy.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
US-based shipping company SWITCH Maritime has received approval from the U.S. Coast Guard for its hydrogen-powered ferry Sea Change to enter commercial operations.
This is the first paragraph.
As informed, the company was presented with the signed Certificate of Inspection (COI) by Captain Taylor Q. Lam, the U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco commander and Captain of the Port, for its flagship hydrogen ferry.
This paragraph gives more details of the ferry.
Built and launched at All American Marine shipyard in Bellingham, Washington, Sea Change is a 75-passenger catamaran ferry featuring an integrated hydrogen power system from Zero Emission Industries (ZEI), with 360kW of fuel cells from Cummins and 600kW of electric motor propulsion from BAE Systems.
As the electric motor propulsion is 600 kW and there are only 360 kW of hydrogen fuel cells, I suspect there is a battery in there somewhere.
The Orkney Islands have their own hydrogen ferry project called HySeasIII.
The Orkney ferry uses 600 kW of Ballard fuel cells.
There is no news this year about what is happening to the Orkney project.
The Anonymous Widower 