Micro Generation - An Introduction
Micro-Generation- An Introduction
The UK has set targets to source 10% of its electricity from renewables by 2010 and 15% by 2015 with an aspiration to reach 20% by 2020. Other governments have also been setting similar targets, although at the time of writing I haven’t researched any specific details.
The UK Government has said that it believes that micro-generation, which has been defined as under 50kW for electricity, has the potential to make an important contribution to these targets.
Of course in addition to helping governments meet their targets, the micro-generation of power provides a number of secondary benefits such as:
- Reduced CO2 emissions
- Increased robustness of national grids
- Generation of power where it is going to be used, which will eliminate wastage due to transmission losses
- Reduced energy costs for individuals. The return on investment is at present is over the medium to long term.
- Visibility of the uptake and use of the micro-generation of power
Government support is present in that grants are available to support the installation of home generators, some details of which are mentioned here. At the local government level there is the potential for driving the uptake of micro-generation of power by changing the requirements for new housing developments. Local government can also support installations by clarifying the planning laws. However although the application of the above is being applied it is very variable, and nowhere is it as advanced as it perhaps should be.
However education and businesses seem to be the main focus of government at present. The onus therefore is on the individual to move things forward.
If micro-generation is to become widespread the value to the individual needs to be clear and this will be the subject of a later full article.
The required technologies certainly exist with a significant number of companies manufacturing small wind power turbines in the UK alone. This of course increases dramatically if you expand your search outside of the UK. There are a number of different technical approaches being developed for micro generation and these will also be the subject of a full article.
If you feel this article has been useful, or is perhaps missing some key information please let me know by commenting below.
Written by ashleys on May 3rd, 2006 with
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