On Monday morning the hot water in the Baldwin household wasn’t. I had a cold shower before work and can tell you that the experience wasn’t pleasurable – I hopped around in shock and muttered expletives as I struggled to wash the soap from my hair and body.
To compound matters, yesterday afternoon Mrs Baldwin called me at work to advise that the heating had failed too.
So not a great start to the week - but not the end of the world either. British Gas will spend some time fixing the mechanicals tomorrow afternoon.
Coincidently, today saw me supply meter readings to EDF so that the energy company can issue its next bill and probably tell me that I need to increase by direct debit yet again because energy is getting so bloody expensive these days.
I have to say that I hold EDF in very low esteem and the only reason that I haven’t switched suppliers is because last time the, supposedly easy U-Switch, process was so damn miserable that I can’t face it again. British Gas and EDF between them were f**king useless.
Do I sound bitter? That would be because I am!
Power generation is not a topic that fills me with joy. In fact my last post/rant was about the woes of nuclear power. EDF is an exponent of nuclear power and it’s another reason to dislike my energy supplier.
So being on a bit of a downer, I was pleased to read an article on the BBC News website this lunchtime about energy generation that filled me with enthusiasm.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31506073
The piece is about the heat pumps in Drammen, Norway that generate enough hot water from the extremely cold water of the local fjord to cater for 85% of the city’s requirements. According to the BBC, the heat pumps, installed and operated by a British firm called Star Renewable Energy (SRE) work like this:
The results are seriously impressive and I can’t help but think that EDF and others should abandon nuclear and embrace this kind of technology instead – it’s safer, cleaner, cheaper and the cold water isn’t about to run out (unlike the hot in the Baldwin household). A no brainer surely?
The article states there are some barriers to widespread adoption in the UK but they can’t be impossible for our politicians to resolve. And if they could be resolved, the potential for the Glasgow based SRE to lead the way instead of the Chinese (EDF’s financial backers for Hinckley Point & Sizewell) could warm the whole nation as well as its water.
Maybe our energy bills would even start going down for a change.
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To compound matters, yesterday afternoon Mrs Baldwin called me at work to advise that the heating had failed too.
So not a great start to the week - but not the end of the world either. British Gas will spend some time fixing the mechanicals tomorrow afternoon.
Coincidently, today saw me supply meter readings to EDF so that the energy company can issue its next bill and probably tell me that I need to increase by direct debit yet again because energy is getting so bloody expensive these days.
I have to say that I hold EDF in very low esteem and the only reason that I haven’t switched suppliers is because last time the, supposedly easy U-Switch, process was so damn miserable that I can’t face it again. British Gas and EDF between them were f**king useless.
Do I sound bitter? That would be because I am!
Power generation is not a topic that fills me with joy. In fact my last post/rant was about the woes of nuclear power. EDF is an exponent of nuclear power and it’s another reason to dislike my energy supplier.
So being on a bit of a downer, I was pleased to read an article on the BBC News website this lunchtime about energy generation that filled me with enthusiasm.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31506073
The piece is about the heat pumps in Drammen, Norway that generate enough hot water from the extremely cold water of the local fjord to cater for 85% of the city’s requirements. According to the BBC, the heat pumps, installed and operated by a British firm called Star Renewable Energy (SRE) work like this:
- Water from the fjord at 8C is used to heat liquid ammonia at four times atmospheric pressure (4 bar), until it boils at 2C and evaporates
- By increasing the pressure to 50 bar, the evaporated gas is heated to 120C
- The gas is then used to heat the water in the heating system from 60C to 90C (the water goes out of the plant at 90C and comes back in at 60C)
- Once the heat has transferred to the water, the ammonia gas changes back into a liquid state
- The process begins again
The results are seriously impressive and I can’t help but think that EDF and others should abandon nuclear and embrace this kind of technology instead – it’s safer, cleaner, cheaper and the cold water isn’t about to run out (unlike the hot in the Baldwin household). A no brainer surely?
The article states there are some barriers to widespread adoption in the UK but they can’t be impossible for our politicians to resolve. And if they could be resolved, the potential for the Glasgow based SRE to lead the way instead of the Chinese (EDF’s financial backers for Hinckley Point & Sizewell) could warm the whole nation as well as its water.
Maybe our energy bills would even start going down for a change.
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