Next energy drinks gathering at the Newton Abbot taphouse is on 9th July 16:30.
Thank you to all those who sent the following in.

1. When/where is it best to charge my EV?
2. What did NESO say when we asked them about the greenwashing of low-tariff electricity?
3. Is cheaper electricity a better approach to decarbonise the economy than more renewables?
4. Electricity price link to gas will be broken, is this enough?
5. Open homes in Teignbridge, would you like to be involved this autumn?
6. How to decarbonise an economy based on GDP growth?

1- Best can mean many things, in our context it means least ghg emissions. You can find out what the best sources of low-carbon electricity here. Most of us end up charging our EV’s from the grid, at least during winter months.

The question then is, at what grid Carbon Intensity (CI) are emissions from a typical battery electric vehicle (BEV) lower than an equivalent internal combustion engine vehicle (ICE). What is the breakeven point?
Assume a typical BEV fuel consumption is 3 miles/kWh
Assume a typical ICE fuel consumption is 50 miles/gallon
You can use conversion factors that give consumption-based CO2e emissions in the CFT. Equivalence means vehicles travelling the same distance using the same amount of energy.

This only covers the running emissions, there are also the manufacturing/maintenance emissions amortised over the life of the vehicle (~100k miles). BEV typically have higher embodied emissions but lower maintenance emissions. We can assume this adds a similar amount to the running emissions for both BEV and ICE vehicles, so in this case does not impact the breakeven point.

Send me your answer, then repeat the calculation for your vehicle’s fuel consumption. Compare these with the CI for the SouthWest to work out the best time to charge your EV or when to replace your existing ICE. Note that you’ll need to add 20% for other ghg emissions and a further 25% for cradle-to-grave emissions (scope-3) as the portal gives territorial-based CO2 emissions.

Here is a useful video suggested at the meeting, it covers battery degradation in 2^ndhand EVs (you can skip the annoying ads!).

2- NESO have responded to a question ACT raised about greenwashing some time-of-day tariffs. They have invited us to ask more specific questions about what messaging they provide to network operators and suppliers and whether they can justify these. We have done this, hopefully we’ll get a reply within 20 days.

Here is what their initial reply was:
“We recognise that carbon intensity can vary significantly by region and time of day, and that in some regions – including the South West – these patterns can differ from the national average. NESO publishes both national and regional carbon intensity data to support transparency and informed use of electricity system information.

Your message raises a number of broader points about how DFS [encouraging time-of-day shifting] is described, how carbon intensity data is used by other organisations, and whether there is evidence to quantify greenhouse gas emissions impacts. These matters involve a mix of operational practice, interpretation of published data, and wider energy market communications, some of which sit outside NESO’s direct remit. For example, how suppliers or network companies market tariff periods or use carbon intensity data is not determined by NESO.”

3- The argument put buy by BBC article and several others, suggests all that’s need to decarbonise is to make electricity cheaper than other sources of energy. This would create a much more rapid shift to Electric Vehicles and Heat Pumps.  While this sounds plausible, evidenced by other examples where cost strongly influences behaviour, it misses out some key caveats.

One of these is the availability of low-carbon electricity. Because the UK has been successful in rapidly decarbonising electricity, it’s still only at around 50% low-carbon sources. Also, the rate it is able to decarbonise is slowing, despite the target of near 100% low-carbon by 2035. Not surprising, given the challenge of increasing low-carbon generation and transporting/distributing. When ACT looked at the numbers, it was clear that the electricity grid would need to grow by ~4 fold to achieve the 2035 target. That would require a herculean ‘war’ effort, not yet evident in government/Ofgem plans or those of the DNOs.

Another aspect not considered is the spike in short-term emissions to replace all that transport and heating technology. This would come at exactly the wrong time, just when we need to drastically reduce our emissions to avoid the looming overflow of our Carbon Budget, triggering an irreversible tipping point.

We really need to consider other approaches, not just cost-driven. We need to make informed decisions which decarbonise at the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to remain within our Carbon Budgets. They exist, but we need to create the head-space to learn and implement them.

4- The government’s announcement included a number of initiatives to decouple electricity from gas prices, including:

• Actions to move renewables off RO contracts:
  • Increase in the windfall profits levy from 45% to 55%
  • Offering RO generators an optional CFD contract.
• A number of other measures to support carbon reduction including;
  • Increase in BUS from £7500 to £9000 for houses heated by Oil or LPG.
  • Faster upgrades for social housing.
  • Help with solar panels on school roofs.
  • Plans to make it easier for EVs, Heat Pumps and Solar for cases where this is currently difficult.
  • More UK Heat Pump manufacture.

This seems to fall short of cutting the link with gas prices directly. It could instead have legislated to change procurement mechanism/pricing of low-carbon electricity generation from gas generation by giving the former priority and/or lower taxation.

The King’s speech gave a few more hints at change, but with not enough detail at this stage to determine how bold and effective such legislation will be.

• Energy Independence Bill
• Nuclear regulation bill
• Electricity Generator Levy bill

5- ACT has teamed up with the Devon-wide Open Eco Homes scheme supported by Energy Saving Devon.
If you are interested in opening your home/workplace to others in Teignbridge, please contact me.

The focus is on actions you’ve taken to reduce your emissions or improve your natural environment. We’re looking to showcase a range of interventions such as allocating a wilding patch in your garden, replacing windows or a deep retrofit of your home.

It’s your experience that most important to share with others, how you came about making the decision, how you worked out wat to do and how you measured the improvement.

Any help with current organising/administering the event for weekends between 12^th September and 11^th October would also be much appreciated.

6- In our discussions of the above topics, a related question came up. How can those in positions of power/control overcome the deeply engrained economic system and its reliance on cheap fossil based energy. What pathway/solutions do they need to decarbonise economies across the globe in just a few years before we’ve used up the remainder of the global Carbon Budget. Here are a few pointers, suggest your own for a discussion at our next meeting in 8 weeks (9^th July):

• Electrification Ladder
• The World After Cheap Oil
• Books like Growth: A Reckoning by Daniel Susskind