Bedlingtonshire Going Green?

[Adam Hogg]

Biomass to go ahead at Battleship Wharf.

http://www.thejourna...station-5317453

[Symptoms]

Where's all the biomass going to come from? Monster ships with their gigantic belching diesel engines hauling the stuff all the way from South America. Stuff that's been grown on cleared virgin rainforests. Burn coal I say!!!!!

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

These are not my words but the words of the Local Government Association:-

Benefits and potential impacts of biomass

Community benefits

Biomass can be taken from many sources in the UK indefinitely and, where well managed, contribute to security of energy supply.

If used in an anaerobic digestion plant, it is eligible for Feed-in Tariffs (FITs).

UK sourced biomass and processing can create local business, job opportunities and support the rural economy.

By using biomass for energy generation, it doesn't go to landfill and therefore avoids the landfill tax.

In comparison with other renewable energy technologies, woodlands, forestry and agriculture are generally perceived to be an environmentally and socially attractive amenity. They provide opportunities for recreation and leisure activities.

Impacts on the community of using biomass

Growth of energy crops could potentially compete for land with food cropping as demand for biomass increases.

Biomass users may be locked in long-term supply contracts with a single supplier making it difficult to get competitive pricing in the future.

Other impacts are similar to those covered in the District Heating and Combined Heat and Power pages.

Environmental benefits

Establishing local production networks and usage lowers the financial and environmental transport costs. There is no region in the UK that cannot be a producer of biomass, although some have greater potential for productivity than others.

Many biomass fuels generate low levels of such atmospheric pollutants as sulphur dioxide and CO2. Modern biomass combustion systems are highly sophisticated, offering combustion efficiency and emission levels comparable with the best fossil fuel boilers.

Use of biomass (including agricultural and domestic waste arisings) for energy, diverts these materials from landfill.

Impacts on the environment of using biomass

There is the potential for biomass to be taken from unsustainable, non-certified, forest sources.

There are some negative impacts of forest management and farming of biomass crops on ecosystems and habitats. Therefore, an environmental impact assessment for forestry and cropping is required. Furthermore the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) has developed guidance for siting biomass crops to reduce impacts on birds.

Transporting biomass has noise and emissions implications.

There are air quality implications depending on the type of biomass used.

There are high levels of water use for biomass cropping which can be problematic in areas where access to water is limited.

Useful links: where to find out more

Guidance for councils on biomass and air quality - on the Local Government Regulation website

http://www.lacors.gov.uk/lacors/ContentDetails.aspx?authCode=694885&id=21912

[Malcolm Robinson]

As daft as it seems the fuel, wooden pellets, for this biomass will be coming from CANADA?????????

Where is one of the largest forest in Europe?

At their open day they did say there would be £100K PA for community benefit, I do hope someone got RES to write that down!

[Symptoms]

Some local farmers near to me have grubbed-out their apple orchards and planted willow sticks to serve the biomass market ... this is for domestic (household) pellet hot water/cenral heating boilers. It's really bizarre driving on country roads that intersect these plantations - tall, swaying single stems 10' high ... it seems like you're driving across a Russian wilderness, then it ends and you're into rolling arable and ancient wooded land. It would make a great backdrop for those bleak, subtitled black & white films from Scandinavia. Anyway, I don't think there's enough scope for the domestic and the power-generation markets to be supplied 'locally', so most of it's going to be imported. Bonkers, truely bonkers!!!! Burn coal I keep saying!

Edited July 27, 2013 by Symptoms

[threegee]

Yup, let's burn more "cheap" imported coal and release carbon that's been stored for millennia. Then we can build a carbon sequestration plants that use oodles of energy to stuff as much as we can of it it back underground. Pointless I know, but think about all those pointless jobs in the construction industries and the operation of the plants.

This may go just some way to offsetting all the jobs we will lose/have already lost, by our overpriced electricity and our "carbon taxes". So ignore the resulting balance of payments deficit and futility of it all, there's still mega opportunities for political sound-bites - electioneering on the back of being "the greenest" party/government/country in the world. All those windmills, and huge public subsidies for them, are wearing rather thin now; also any more and on a calm night the lights will go out, with someone having to face the music for being so dumb not to see that they were an unsightly and costly mistake. As Gerry has recently discovered, they screw up the market for investment in reliable 24/7/365 energy providers, and make them even more disinclined to invest in reliable power generation.

[Symptoms]

GGG , I'm not sure if you're being insincere with that first paragraph or not. There seems to me to be only two sorts of "reliable 24/7/365 energy providers" who's fuel supply is strategically secure long-term and can provide the most, if not all, of the UK needs ... nukes and coal. Renewables, however worthy, will only ever play a small role by comparison. Of course, the two big tricks that continues to be missed is for folks to use less and ensure that all dwellings are properly insulated. The current home insulation schemes aren't really addressing the problem as the uptake is poor.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

As daft as it seems the fuel, wooden pellets, for this biomass will be coming from CANADA?????????

Where is one of the largest forest in Europe?

At their open day they did say there would be £100K PA for community benefit, I do hope someone got RES to write that down!

You will have to tell us which european country you are thinking of. From the list in wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_forest_area UK is about 11th in europe.

Would something of this size really benefit Cambois? North Blyth (and I could be totally wrong on this - I have never lived there or researched it) does not appear to have any spare land to develop community facilities and additional housing to allow that area to grow with any industry that could be developed there. Cambois on the other hand always appears to me to be neglected. There must be reasons why an area with so much unused land never appears to get developed. I believe it is now the case that places like Bedlington & Cramlington will not allow developers to build any more new housing estates. All new housing has to built on existing sites, like knock down an old school and build a new housing estate on it. Cambois just seems to have so much land that no one wants to build on. Is it that developers don't think anyone knew would want to move to this seaside town or is it the County Councils restricting building in Cambois?

[Malcolm Robinson]

Banks actually has a project in for 350 new houses in Cambois.

[Malcolm Robinson]

You will have to tell us which european country you are thinking of. From the list in wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia...._by_forest_area UK is about 11th in europe.

I was thinking more along these lines Eggy.......

http://www.countryfile.com/days-out/kielder-water-and-forest-park

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Banks actually has a project in for 350 new houses in Cambois.

Thank you Malcolm, I think that's good, hope they get accepted. Not that I want to see Cambois crowded, just a little bit larger population that would encourage more businesses.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

I was thinking more along these lines Eggy.......

http://www.countryfi...and-forest-park

Even better, I think. When I was working we used to search 65 million computer records in 2 hours(or less) every day, but 470,000 cubic meters of timber harvested annually is difficult for my brain to imagine. Would not know where to start to calculate how much extra would be required to run one of these biomass plants.

[threegee]

GGG , I'm not sure if you're being insincere with that first paragraph or not...

Insincere, moi?! I was just being my usual antithetical self - confuses me at times too.

Actually, it all depends on whether you buy into the CO² thing. I sort of don't, but the connection with dark satanic mills leads to a compelling feeling of wanting to see significant reductions. I'm much more bothered by plastic waste in the environment though; it's an even bigger problem, but not one that's become profitable to any scare lobby group just yet.

Energy: I hear the "we'll just use less" thing lots of times in Italy. It's generally from folks whose extended country pile is lit so's it registers well with NASA cameras, who keep their fruit trees and vast veggie patches well watered throughout the year, and who have aircon going in all rooms. They actually mean everyone else - the people who don't really need it - must use less! Affluence, like effluents, is a global problem!

[Malcolm Robinson]

Actually, it all depends on whether you buy into the CO² thing. I sort of don't, but the connection with dark satanic mills leads to a compelling feeling of wanting to see significant reductions. I'm much more bothered by plastic waste in the environment though; it's an even bigger problem, but not one that's become profitable to any scare lobby group just yet.

Take a look at this.........its disgusting!

[Eileen]

OMG horrendous, what have we done.

[keith lockey]

I saw the one on the Great Pacific Trash Vortex some time ago. It's quite appaling the amount of plastic that is still floating about and polluting the seas. But will we learn!!!! No chance.

[Adam Hogg]

Take a look at this.........its disgusting!

The Video does not seem to inform people of the fact of the large US Airbase on Midway Island where do you think all the rubbish goes from the base on a ship back to the US for disposal, no most likely dumped somewhere on the island away from the base, put on a ship and dumped at sea or burnt.

[mercuryg]

Adam, If I'm right, the Naval Airbase was decommissioned a number of years ago.

[Malcolm Robinson]

"As part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, the Navy facility on Midway has been operationally closed since September 10, 1993, although the Navy assumed responsibility for cleaning up environmental contamination at Naval Air Facility Midway Island."

[Malcolm Robinson]

"Midway was designated an overlay National Wildlife Refuge on April 22, 1988 while still under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy.

From August 1996, the general public could visit the atoll through study ecotours.[17] This program ended in 2002,[18] but another visitor program was approved and began operating in March 2008.[8][19] This program operated through 2012, but was suspended for 2013 due to budget cuts.[20]

On October 31, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13022, which transferred the jurisdiction and control of the atoll to the United States Department of the Interior. The FWS assumed management of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The last contingent of Navy personnel left Midway on June 30, 1997 after an ambitious environmental cleanup program was completed."

[Malcolm Robinson]

Clean coal..........................

http://tscg.biz/saintblog/2013/02/osu-create-clean-coal-energy-source-without-burning-coal.html

[Symptoms]

Looks a bit like the 'town gas' process of old ... maybe the solid lumps left at the end could be called 'coke'.