Energy wasted by outdated systems - the future of microgeneration
20 July 2005
A Greenpeace report is stating the case for Britain's homes and workplaces to become mini-power stations generating huge amounts of electricity and improving on the current system of outdated power stations.
Power stations lose a huge amount of energy as they are far from our cities - meaning power is lost transporting the energy long distances through power lines, and they discard an enormous amount of heat through chimneys.
The report, Decentralising Power: An Energy Revolution For The 21st Century, argues that a decentralised energy system would see buildings playing host to devices such as solar panels, small wind turbines and combined heat and power boilers, which generate electricity as well as providing heat and hot water.
Combined heat and power microgeneration systems are perhaps the most innovative and likely to become popular in urban areas. They are available now for domestic and commercial use. A microgenerator installed instead of a boiler for domestic use produces household heating from an engine, rather than a simple boiler. Excess power generated above that needed within the house is exported to the local grid through the existing domestic power supply cable, and is metered and paid for by the power company. The extra cost of this type of domestic heating system above a conventional boiler is normally repaid over a 3 to 5 year period.
The electricity created would be used directly by the house or workplace, and the surplus would be fed into a local network. This electricity would then be locally distributed, avoiding the significant loss that occurs when electricity is transported long distances.
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