Regional distribution of photovoltaic deployment in the UK and its determinants: A spatial econometric approach

Photovoltaic (PV) panels offer significant potential for contributing to the UK's energy policy goals relating to decarbonisation of the energy system, security of supply and affordability. The substantive drop in the cost of panels since 2007, coupled with the introduction of the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Scheme in 2010, has resulted in a rapid increase in installation of PV panels in the UK, from 26.5MWp in 2009 to over 5GW by the end of 2014. Yet there has been no comprehensive analysis of the determinants of PV deployment in the UK. This paper addresses this gap by employing spatial econometrics methods to a recently available data set at a fine geographical detail. Following a traditional regression analysis, a general to specific approach has been adopted where spatial variations in the relationships have been examined utilising the spatial Durbin model using the cross-sectional data relating to the UK NUTS level 3 data. Empirical results indicate that demand for electricity, population density, pollution levels, education level of households and housing types are among the factors that affect PV uptake in a region. Moreover Lagrange Multiplier test results indicate that the spatial Durbin model may be properly applied to describe the PV uptake relationship in the UK as there are significant regional spillover effects

UK Renewable Heat Policy: Lessons from Renewable Electricity Policy

7th BIEE Academic Conference, Oxford, UK, 24-25 September 2008Introduction: Figures presented by the UK’s Department for Trade and Industry in 2007 suggest demand for heat energy accounts for almost half of all UK energy consumption, and for 79% of nontransport related energy consumption (DTI, 2007). This translates to around 47% of UK CO2 emissions, making heating a major contributor to the UK’s climate change emissions. Despite this, there has been little attention paid to the more sustainable supply of heat and on policy relating to renewable energy sources of heat (RES-H). Heat from renewables sources accounted for only 0.6% of UK heat demand in 2006 and this fraction has been in decline for over a decade (BERR, 2008a). Recently emerging discussion seems centred around the associated costs and contribution of a target in the range of 11-14% of total UK heat demand to be met by 2020 (BERR, 2008b; BERR, 2008c). The UK, in common with the large majority of other nations which have developed renewable energy policy, has tended to focus, often exclusively, on electrical generation. While there may be a number of explanations for this, a switch to more sustainable sources of heat offers many of the same advantages with regard to reduced environmental impact, increased security of supply and all he other benefits that go with renewable electrical generation. This paper considers the particular needs of RES-H technologies in terms of the policy instruments which might best suit their growth. It considers what lessons might be learned from the policy experience with renewable energy sources of electricity (RES-E) whilst also emphasising the key differences which have the potential to undermine the application of instruments from one category to the other. The diverse needs of different RES-H technologies are considered, with particular attention to the often conflicting nature of their requirements for support. Critical assessment of the problems of transferring mechanisms wholesale from employment in support of RES-E to efforts to support RES-H is carried out

National Innovation, Industrial Policy and Renewable Energy Technology

'Government Intervention in Energy Markets' BIEE conference, Oxford, UK, 25–26 September 2003This paper notes that different nation’s approaches to innovation and industrial policy impact on the range of renewable energy policy options available, the choices that are made and the aims that underlie them. It considers those policies which have been most successful in stimulating installed wind energy capacity and industrial growth in wind turbine manufacturing in Denmark, Germany and Spain with a view to the instruments employed and the context of their employ, that is, within more coordinated economies. This is compared with the greater constraints on nations with more liberal economies, specifically the UK, and the less impressive results achieved therein. The range, flexibility and impacts of central support mechanisms and of additional policy instruments operating alongside them are also considered with a view to achieving the full range of RE policy goals

Current State of Heating and Cooling Markets in United Kingdom

The RES-H Policy project: The project "Policy development for improving RES-H/C penetration in European Member States (RES-H Policy)" aims at assisting Member State governments in pre-paring for the implementation of the forthcoming Directive on Renewables as far as aspects related to renewable heating and cooling (RES-H/C) are concerned. Member States are supported in setting up national sector specific 2020/2030 RES-H/C targets. Moreover the project initiates participatory National Policy Processes in which selected policy options to support RES-H/C are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed. Based on this assessment the project develops tailor made policy options and recommenda-tions as to how to best design a support framework for increased RES-H/C penetration in national heating and cooling markets. The target countries/regions of the project comprise Austria, Greece, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland and UK – countries that represent a variety in regard of the framework conditions for RES-H/C. On the European level the projects assesses op-tions for coordinating and harmonising national policy approaches. This results in common design criteria for a general EU framework for RES-H/The report represents a key output of the RES-H Policy project, an EU FP7 funded research project aiming to assist EU Member States in selecting support options for increased renewable heat. The body of literature in this field is very narrow, particularly given the much less advanced state of renewable heat policy and the significance of heat in developed countries, where it accounts for 40-50% of national energy use. A revised version has been submitted to Energy Policy journal.A report prepared as part of the IEE project "Policy development for improving RES-H/C penetration in European Member States (RES-H Policy)"The purpose of this report is to present an overall picture of the situation in the heating and cooling sectors of the United Kingdom. The report summarizes the policy and regulatory framework of the UK heating and cooling markets and gives the available statistics on the penetration rate of the different RES-H/C technologies, as well as the RES potentials for heating and cooling purposes.European Commission through the IEE programm

A Review of Four European Regulatory Systems and their Impact on the Deployment of Distributed Generation

This report performs a comparative review of the regulatory regimes for four EU Member States, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK with specific regard for how regulation impacts on distributed generation in each of these countries. It addresses both the positive and negative aspects of policy and the impacts each factor has on the potential for increasing and decreasing barriers to the greater use of distributed generation in each Member State, and of how different policies might tie together to produce a regulatory design which can aid the achievement of energy systems which are more sustainable.European Commission under the 5th RTD Framework Programm

Plans for the first balloon flight of the gamma-ray polarimeter experiment (GRAPE)

We have developed a design for a hard X-ray polarimeter operating in the energy range from 50 to 500 keV. This modular design, known as GRAPE (Gamma-Ray Polarimeter Experiment), has been successfully demonstrated in the lab using partially polarized gamma-ray sources and using fully polarized photon beams at Argonne National Laboratory. In June of 2007, a GRAPE engineering model, consisting of a single detector module, was flown on a high altitude balloon flight to further demonstrate the design and to collect background data. We are currently preparing a much larger balloon payload for a flight in the fall of 2011. Using a large (16-element) array of detector modules, this payload is being designed to search for polarization from known point sources of radiation, namely the Crab and Cygnus X-1. This first flight will not only provide a scientific demonstration of the GRAPE design (by measuring polarization from the Crab nebula), it will also lay the foundation for subsequent long duration balloon flights that will be designed for studying polarization from gamma-ray bursts and solar flares. Here we shall present data from calibration of the first flight module detectors, review the latest payload design and update the predicted polarization sensitivity for both the initial continental US balloon flight and the subsequent long-duration balloon flights

GRAPE: a balloon-borne gamma-ray polarimeter

The Gamma-RAy Polarimeter Experiment (GRAPE) is a concept for an astronomical hard X-ray Compton polarimeter operating in the 50 - 500 keV energy band. The instrument has been optimized for wide-field polarization measurements of transient outbursts from energetic astrophysical objects such as gamma-ray bursts and solar flares. The GRAPE instrument is composed of identical modules, each of which consists of an array of scintillator elements read out by a multi-anode photomultiplier tube (MAPMT). Incident photons Compton scatter in plastic scintillator elements and are subsequently absorbed in inorganic scintillator elements; a net polarization signal is revealed by a characteristic asymmetry in the azimuthal scattering angles. We have constructed a prototype GRAPE module that has been calibrated at a polarized hard X-ray beam and flown on an engineering balloon test flight. A full-scale scientific balloon payload, consisting of up to 36 modules, is currently under development. The first flight, a one-day flight scheduled for 2011, will verify the expected scientific performance with a pointed observation of the Crab Nebula. We will then propose long-duration balloon flights to observe gamma-ray bursts and solar flares

Policy Recommendations for Renewable Heating and Cooling in the United Kingdom

A Working Document prepared as part of the IEE project "Policy development for improving RES-H/C penetration in European Member States (RES-H Policy)"The RES-H Policy project: The project "Policy development for improving RES-H/C penetration in European Member States (RES-H Policy)" aims at assisting Member State governments in preparing for the implementation of the forthcoming Directive on Renewables as far as aspects related to renewable heating and cooling (RES-H/C) are concerned. Member States are supported in setting up national sector specific 2020/2030 RES-H/C targets. Moreover the project initiates participatory National Policy Processes in which selected policy options to support RES-H/C are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed. Based on this assessment the project develops tailor made policy options and recommendations as to how to best design a support framework for increased RES-H/C penetration in national heating and cooling markets. The target countries/regions of the project comprise Austria, Greece, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland and UK – countries that represent a variety in regard of the framework conditions for RES-H/C. On the European level the projects assesses options for coordinating and harmonising national policy approaches. This results in common design criteria for a general EU framework for RES-H/C policies and an overview of costs and benefits of different harmonised strategies.This Working Document summarises policy recommendations to improve the policy framework for RES-H/C in the United Kingdom. A policy set has been proposed based on the different elements of the policy analysis that has been conducted throughout this project. The document describes the proposed policy instruments and a strategy how to best implement it in the light of the specific national context. It analysis the interaction of the proposed policy set with the existing policy framework (e.g. for the building sector) and provides a proposal for monitoring and evaluating the policy impact on the development of RES-H/C. The report represents a key output of the RES-H Policy project, an EU FP7 funded research project aiming to assist EU Member States in selecting support options for increased renewable heat. It draws on modelling carried out by the Vienna University of Technology and The Dutch Energy Research Centre (ECN) as well as qualitative assessment by the authors. The body of literature in this field is very narrow, particularly given the much less advanced state of renewable heat policy and the significance of heat in developed countries, where it accounts for 40-50% of national energy use.European Commission through the IEE programm

Simulations of a monolithic lanthanum bromide gamma-ray detector

We have been working on the development of a detector design for a large area coded aperture imaging system operating in the 10-600 keV energy range. The detector design is based on an array of Lanthanum Bromide (LaBr3) scintillators, each directly coupled to a Hamamatsu 64-channel multi-anode photomultiplier tube (MAPMT). This paper focuses on the development of the GEANT4-based simulations as an aid in the optimization of the detector design. The simulations have been validated by comparisons with various laboratory data sets. We will summarize the current status and latest findings from this study

Innovative network pricing to support the transition to a smart grid in a low-carbon economy

This paper outlines how current distribution network pricing can be revised to enable transition to a smart grid in a low-carbon economy. Using insights from expert interviews, it highlights multiple trade-offs between innovative pricing approaches and regulatory principles which might be resolved by a political decision on how the costs should be recovered or socialised. It then identifies four essentials for a successful implementation of a new mechanism: (i) Closer collaboration between TSO and DNO/DSO concerning local dispatch to improve system efficiency. (ii) Installation of smart meters to collect data providing information about the actual contribution to the grid utilisation of each customer. (iii) Intensified cooperation between supplier and DNO/DSO to pass-through the price signal on the electricity bill. (iv) A legislative framework to facilitate data sharing and data management and communication among network stakeholders – essentially a relaxation of current privacy legislation as an enabler for new approaches to network management, and potentially to reduce costs to the consumer. This suggests the focus for future network pricing should be on services and functions provided by the grid rather than on the commodity power itself