Contrary to what the terminology suggests ‘solar thermal energy’ is not a recent development and it is certainly not something that has just been invented as another answer to reduce greenhouse emissions. According to the Renewable Institute for Sustainable Research, the first solar powered engines were constructed back in the 1860s by a couple of French mathematicians. During the past 30 years a number of solar thermal plants have been built and operated around the world to produce guilt-free … read more
What will make zero net energy office buildings affordable by 2020?
A zero net energy office building is one which consumes no net energy. Its an office that uses very little energy, then has some form of renewable energy to generate all the power it requires. With current off the shelf solar technology, presuming little or no shading, its possible to get around 100 kWh of energy per year per square meter of solar panels at latitudes of around 40 degrees, more in sunny locations at lesser lattitude. For a single storey building, with a roof covered with solar … read more
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How efficient are centralised steam systems?
We have recently been working on a site with a centralised steam system. It has two natural gas fired boilers supplying steam to a number of plant rooms, with the steam used to generate domestic hot water and heating hot water amongst other things. So how efficient is this system? And are there alternatives to steam that use less energy? The short answer is that the steam system is very inefficient. It could be replaced with a decentralised system using a combination of hot water boilers and, where … read more
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