News archive - Week ending 7th March 2008

Less Red Tape for Domestic Renewable Energy Schemes

Changes proposed by the Scottish Government mean that householders wishing to install energy generating equipment, including solar panels, will no longer require planning permission. It is hoped the new rules will make it easier and cheaper for householders to make use of solar power, wind turbines, and other micro-renewables.

A ten-week consultation has been launched on the proposed planning reforms. Currently, most householders wishing to install solar panels, heat pumps or wind turbines on existing buildings must apply to the local planning authority for consent. The proposals allow for permission to be granted automatically under Permitted Development rights, provided that strict criteria are met.

Energy Minister, Stewart Stevenson said, "Everyone has a part to play and the Scottish Government is providing strong leadership by reforming the planning system to encourage greater use of microgeneration equipment. This signals Scotland's serious intent to lead the global effort to tackle climate change. The cost and time required to get planning consent can often be a disincentive to householders seeking to install microgeneration technologies. We are seeking to strike the right balance between planning considerations and the wider environmental benefits of reducing carbon emissions.?

Views Sought on Draft Energy Management Systems Standard

A draft European Standard for Energy Management Systems has just been released by CEN, the European Standards Body, and BSI. It is designed to help larger organisations implement documented and effective energy management procedures that should lead to lower energy consumption. The National Energy Foundation is seeking the views of those likely to be affected, in particular members of the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme that it manages on behalf of the Carbon Trust. The latest date for the receipt of comments is 31st May 2008. The draft European Standard known as prEN16001 (Energy management systems) works on the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach.

The NEF has identified the following issues to be addressed but stresses that these are not exclusive.

? The draft standard describes how to document and review the process of managing energy, along the lines of ISO9001 or ISO14001 not how to manage energy. Would it have been better to define what activities and processes energy managers should be expected to implement?
? The draft standard is focused on energy, not carbon (or CO2); should it have concentrated on carbon management?

? An organisation can comply with the Standard even if it has no method of assessing whether its energy consumption is reasonable or not. There is an intention to address benchmarking at some future point, but should this have been included in the initial draft standard?

? Until 2003, the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme process referred to compliance with the "Standards for Managing Energy". These have since been withdrawn. It would appear logical for accreditation to refer to the new Energy Management Standard, once formally released, but in the light of its focus on systems rather than actual actions, is this appropriate?

Biomass Plant Opened

Opening the new biomass facility of Norbord?s chipboard and MDF production facility at Cowie in Central Scotland, Minister of State for Energy Malcolm Wicks said it represented ?a good example of what biomass should look like in the future?.
The biomass facility generates 5MW of heat, saving £12,000 per week in gas costs, with a further 5MW available for steam generation for the plant boiler. A 28-month payback has been calculated on the £2.5m investment. Overall Norbord has achieved a 45% reduction in fossil fuel use in the past five years via energy efficiency measures and capital investment in renewables. The addition of the biomass plant will lead to further improvement in these figures. Gas is now required to meet only around 5% of the site?s fuel demands.
The biomass plant will consume bark and wood residue from the manufacturing process; no virgin wood is used.