The future of solar power?

Improved 3D printing can ‘revolutionise’ industry

Following the news that a company has been given £2m funding to develop ‘solar glass’, technology that allows buildings to produce their own low-carbon electricity through their windows, the future of the solar industry looks even brighter thanks to the potential of 3D printing.

Printing 3D solar cells has an advantage over the standard method of PV models because they are less complex to create, weight less and do not need direct overhead sunlight to absorb the UV energy. Studies have also shown that 3D cells can be 20% more efficient than standard flat solar panels, according to researchers at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

With 3D printing, solar panels like this would just be one way of using solar cells

(Image source - Wired.co.uk)

Another benefit of 3D solar cells is cost. It has been estimated that production of 3D cells would be 50% cheaper than traditional panels because it would eliminate inefficiencies associated with wasting materials. Also, as 3D printing can take place anywhere, shipping costs will be reduced considerably. 

On top of this, 3D printing of solar cell is not limited to one form. Solar cells can be added to things ranging from glass, paper and even fabric, meaning that solar cells creating by 3D printing can be used in more advanced ways compared to traditional methods of creating solar panels.

With the potential of 3D printing starting to gain momentum within technology circles, it seems that solar power, something that has stuttered somewhat in recent years, could finally have a way of becoming a major player in the renewable energy industry.

EU’s emissions trading scheme ‘back on track’

Reforms aim to 'reiterate support' for scheme

The European Union’s system for helping countries reduce their carbon emissions is back on track despite criticism from Conservative MPs and business lobbyists.

The emission trading scheme (ETS) has been reformed to make it more effective and will be debated in the European Parliament sometime in April. However, there has been criticism from Conservative MEPs, two of whom defied David Cameron and voted against the reforms. There has been speculation that the reforms could end up being ‘watered down’ by the time they make it to the parliament vote.

The EST in its current form has failed due to low permit prices

(Image source - ABC)

In their current form, the reforms will hold back some of the EST carbon trading permits until 2019 in an attempt to stop the over-supply of permits and raise the cost of carbon emissions. The original scheme was designed to reduce the carbon emissions of countries by making them buy permits to allow them to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, with the view that the cost of permits would make countries want to lower their emissions and invest in renewable energy technologies. However, the scheme has been seen as a failure because of the low cost of these permits, along with the fact that many of them were given away for free. 

The reforms would introduce a system of ‘backloading’, which would hold back permits from auction for several years. Rob Elsworth, policy officer at the campaign group Sandbag, said: "The road to structural reform of the ETS starts with backloading. Today's vote puts us firmly on that road. What's more it reiterates support for the EU's flagship climate policy, the ETS. Abandoning it at this point would have left the EU with an even more politically charged debate around alternatives."

Government home energy ‘dithering’ could damage UK housing industry

Plans were supposed to be launched in April but have been delayed until the autumn

Experts have warned that delays to schemes to make new homes in the UK more energy efficient could damage the housing industry in the long run.

A timetable was drawn up to make sure all new homes were ‘zero-carbon’ by 2016, with an ‘uplift’ to current energy efficient was due to be introduced in April. However, those proposals have been delayed until the autumn, leaving workers in the construction industry in the dark over new housing projects. Many companies fear that money used to purchase new equipment and training will be wasted if the government doesn’t confirm its intentions and stick to its home energy efficiency targets.

Housing experts fear Government delays in home energy proposals are damaging the industry

(Image source - Telegraph)

Andrew Warren, director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy said companies and investors were growing increasingly concerned about the silence from government. "Companies have been going to the City to get investment, to enable them to meet the targets, do the training they need and create jobs, and they were doing so based on the timetable set out. If it doesn't happen on time, companies are vulnerable," he said. "This is the real world and I'm getting bored of explaining this to ministers. Business will waste time and money unless government delivers."

This lack of clarity and silence from the Government over the 2016 target, despite still official being dedicated to achieving it, is preventing the construction of new homes, as well as putting off new potential investors in the UK housing industry. A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said the government's timetable had always been to publish the regulations in spring and introduce them in the autumn, but industry experts said the original timetable had been an April introduction.

Obama left with climate headache following another Keystone protest

White House protest led by celebrity environmental campaigners

The fierce debate over the development of an oil pipeline in America has escalated following the arrest of 50 protesters who had handcuffed themselves to the gates of the White House.

The group, which was made up of environmentalists and celebrities including Kill Bill actress Daryl Hannah, staged their demonstration outside the building to directly call on President Barack Obama to oppose the development of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry crude oil from tar sands in Canada to refineries in Texas. 

Daryl Hannah has been very vocal about her views regarding climate change

(Image source - New York Times)

Climate campaigners have made their feelings known to Obama for some time, with the President still apparently undecided on the issue. Many politicians believe the pipeline will be beneficial to the country in terms of creating energy and jobs, but campaigners believe the President should be investing more money into renewable energy schemes, sticking to the promises he made to tackle climate change following his re-election.

The protest came the day after Obama made his state of the union speech and, whilst the Keystone XL pipeline wasn’t mentioned during that speech, it has become one of the most contentious issues in America, with climate campaigners seeing it as a defining symbol of Obama’s pledge of deal with climate change. ‘The Keystone pipeline project is the purest test of whether the president is serious about doing something about climate change or not’, Bill McKibben told the few hundred protesters outside the White House. McKibben is the founder of the 350.org group, who have led the protests over the pipeline.

What started as a small protest led by a few students has turned into a mainstream movement within environmental circles. The issue has become a major headache for the President, who it seems will be judged no matter what his final decision over the Keystone XL pipeline will be.

'Solar glass' lets buildings generate own power

New invention adds solar cells to glass panels that can produce low-carbon electricity

An energy company has been given a £2m funding boost after developing a form of glass that can absorb solar energy.

A University  of Oxford spin-off, Oxford Photovoltaics, believe the funding will help them take the remarkable product to the commercial market. The ‘solar glass’ works by adding a very thin layer of transparent, solid-state solar cells to glass, which can then turn up to 12% of solar energy into low-carbon electricity. This means that a new building can use this glass for all of their windows and run a large portion of the building’s electricity needs from it. 

The 'solar glass' can be dyed with numerous colours, giving building designs countless design options

(Image source - The Guardian)

This is why Kevin Arthur, the company’s founder and CEO, believes the product can be a commercial success. ‘What we say here is rather than attach photovoltaics to the building, why not make the building the photovoltaics? If you decide to build a building out of glass, then you've already decided to pay for the glass. If you add this, you're adding a very small extra cost, no more than 10%’.

Glass panels for buildings usually cost about £600 to £1000 per square metre, and adding the solar glass would only cost about £60 to £100 extra. This would only be a small additional cost, as the glass would then generate electricity for the new building. The company is mostly targeting customers creating new buildings throughout 2013, but can also retrofit existing buildings with their technology.

Can Scotland reach their energy targets if they gain independence?

Target of 100% renewable energy may fail without UK help

If Scotland votes to become independent it may result in plans to become totally reliable on renewable energy being scrapped.

This warning comes from academics from four UK universities, who believe that the country won’t be able to fund Alex Salmond’s ambitious plans for 100% of Scotland’s electricity to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2020 if they break away from the UK. Scotland would have to spend billions to fund projects such as offshore wind farms and tidal devices on their own, as they would lose all financial support from the UK government. 

Alex Salmond's plans for a 100% renewable-powered Scotland may have to be put on hold

(Image source - Telegraph)

Academics from universities in Cardiff, Birmingham, Robert Gordan and Queens in Belfast, who worked on the report, titled ‘Delivering Renewable Energy Under Devolution’, believe that this increased cost will result in the target either being postponed to a later date or being scrapped completely. ‘Gaining greater control over energy policy is likely to be an inferior option as far as getting renewables funded is concerned, in comparison with the prospect of achieving a scheme organised by Westminster in which the costs are shared across the UK’, states their report, to be published this week in the journal Political Quarterly. ‘This is because, in practice, funding a significant expansion of Scottish-based off-shore renewables under independence would lead to considerable increases in Scottish electricity prices, something that a Scottish government would find hard to sustain politically’.

For Scotland to meet their energy target requirements, they would have to replace the amount of energy generated from fossil fuels and nuclear power, which is currently 50% of the country’s total energy output. They will also have to deal with the higher costs of developing off-shore wind farms in Scotland, as seas are rougher and deeper, making it harder to build, as well as the fact that off-shore wind farms in England and Wales are cheaper and already more advanced. Also, Scotland will likely lose business from the UK, as the UK will be unlikely to continue to support Scotland’s renewable energy projects with subsidies if they gain independence, as there are cheaper energy alternatives in Ireland.

Sellafield faces prosecution for dumping radioactive waste

Group claim computer error resulted was cause

Nuclear energy company Sellafield has pleaded guilty to charges of dumping radioactive waste in a landfill.

In April 2010, the group disposed of four bags containing contaminated materials including tissues and clothing in the Lillyhall landfill site in Workington, Cumbria, when they should have been sent to the low level waste repository at Drigg. Sellafield Ltd claim this error occurred due to a computer fault, which accidently labelled the bags as general waste. All four bags were retrieved as soon as the error was discovered and disposed of correctly, and no contamination was discovered in the landfill afterwards.

Sellafield Ltd blames the error on a new computer monitor

(Image source - The Guardian)

Ian Parker, nuclear regulation manager for the Environment Agency, said, ‘Our overriding aim in regulating the nuclear industry is to protect people and the environment from the release of radioactive wastes into the environment. We have carried out a thorough investigation in partnership with the Office for Nuclear Regulation and have already required Sellafield Ltd to take action to ensure this does not happen again’.

Sellafield will discover its fate on 8th March, when sentencing will take place at Carlisle Crown Court.