Renewable Energy

Wind Turbines For Domestic Agricultural & Commercial Use

Your own wind turbine could allow you to:

• Reduce your own energy bills;
• Receive an income via FIT’s for energy produced see below; and
• Receive additional income for the energy you export to the grid.
• Making projects commercially viable with a reduced pay-back period.

Turbines can be of various sizes and output capacity with productivity varying with turbine height and wind speed.

Of interest to the Agricultural Sector is the fact that the Telecoms industry is trying to restructure its network provision by various network consolidation exercises meaning that some mast sites become surplus to requirements. Whilst this will mean a loss of income to the Landowner (note the terms of the telecoms agreement should be thoroughly checked to ensure that this course of action is available to the network operator) all may not be lost as the site could provide you with an alternative income source – perhaps a small wind turbine as by the very nature the site should be ideal in that it will exposed and have a power supply.

If you require advice on large or small scale wind energy production inc grants available, planning and installation please contact your local McCartneys office from where they can direct you to the relevant people within our organisation. As always there is no substitute for professional informative advice.

Biomass

Biomass is derived from living or recently living material (usually derived from plants but this can equally be from animal of vegetable ingredients) used as a substitute for fossil fuels thus reducing the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Common materials used for biomass include wood and wood waste, specialist energy crops such as miscanthus and short rotation coppice, food waste and agricultural residues such as straw, poultry litter and slurry.

A system can be installed to produce either heat or energy or a combined heat and power (CPH) system can be used to provide simultaneous production. The two main ways of using biomass are

• Combustion using stoves or boilers. The heat produced can be used to heat buildings and hot water systems, and
• Anaerobic digestion where bacteria breaks down the organic material to produce;
• biogas which is then burnt to produce heat or electricity;
• solid digestate similar to compost which can also be used as a fuel, and liquid that can be used as fertiliser.

Investing in biomass is a long-term commitment and we can talk you through the latest legislation and options available. Benefits include securing a long-term regular income and increased biodiversity.

We will let you know what the changes to grandfathering of biomass under the Renewables Obligation for England and Wales mean for you and which system is right for your set up and location.

The UK is now the sixth largest user of biomass for electricity worldwide.

Solar Energy

Solar energy production can be divided into 2 categories, namely;

• Solar Thermal Hot Water systems, and
• Solar Photovoltaic systems.

Solar photovoltaic production uses energy from the sun to generate electricity. requiring daylight to work, not direct sunlight – a common misapprehension.

Photovoltaic cells are usually sited on south facing roofs or walls and contain layers of semi-conductive material. When in day light the semi-conductive material creates an electric current which is then used by the property or alternatively sold to the National Grid.

Solar thermal hot water systems have been utilised for many years in warmer climates uses the suns energy to heat water. The system can be used along side your existing water heating system and can also have a larger application for example heating swimming pools.

In a domestic situation solar hot water systems can provide approximately a third of the hot water needs while saving money and reducing CO2 emissions.

The system has three main components:

• Solar panels fitted usually to your roof to collect the suns heat,
• Heat transfer system which uses the collected heat to warm the water, and
• Hot water cylinder to store the heated water for later use.

Heat Pumps

Heat pumps can be divided into two main types, namely:

• Ground Source Heat Pumps, and
• Air source Heat Pumps.

Ground source heat pumps transfer heat from the ground into a building providing space heating and in some cases domestic hot water. Typical statistics indicate that for every unit of electricity used to run the system, 3-4 units of heat are produced.

There are three main elements to a ground source heat pump:

• A ground loop which is a length of pipe (vertical or horizontal) laid in the ground within which a mixture of water and antifreeze is pumped which absorbs the surrounding heat;
• heat pump which removes the captured heat from the ground loop delivering it to the heat distribution system, and
• The heat distribution system, consisting of under floor heating or radiators for space heating and in some cases water storage for hot water.

Air source heat pumps work by absorbing external heat to warm internal accommodation.

There are two types of air-source heating systems available, namely:

• Air-to-air systems that provide internal warm air ducted through the building, and
• Air-to-water systems providing the heating to a building through radiators or an under floor system.