Finding Solutions to Net Zero

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Humshaugh Net Zero commissioned d3associates and The Energy Workshop to carry out studies into various technologies in November 2020. These studies were funded by a grant from the Rural Communities Energy Fund.

The technologies and aspects of heat and electricity generation investigated were:

solar, wind, hydrogen, heat pumps, grid, smart meters, smart energy trading, anaeobic digestion

(Hydropower was initially included, but it was apparent that there was little potential in the Parish, so this was not investigated further.)

The reports look at the potential for each technology and the easily identifiable constraints applicable in the Parish, but no detailed plans were developed. They identified which technologies could make a significant contribution to reducing the carbon dioxide emissions as a result of our activities and lifestyle as revealed in the 2020 survey of the Parish.

Solar – this could make a contribution, but not a large one.

Wind – this could supply electricity to meet our transport and heat needs, if used to drive heat pumps. Under current planning guidance this would require a large number of small turbines or the use of a large turbine installed in the area but not in the Parish.

Hydrogen – the technology and infrastructure to exploit hydrogen are not available now and are not likely to be available in the medium term in rural areas such as Humshaugh. Production of hydrogen locally would be uneconomic.

Heat Pumps – air source heat pumps offer an effective and economic method of heating. Ground source and small community schemes may well be viable soon. This will undoubtedly make a serious contribution to reducing the carbon budget in the Parish.

Grid – the local electricity grid will need upgrading to handle the increased use of heat pumps and electric vehicles and for any significant new generation schemes in the next few years, and the local utility, Northern Powergrid, are aware of this

Smart Meters – there are lots of smart meters in the village. The more recently installed ones will be able to be used with the new tariffs for carbon free electricity, but unfortunately the older ones might need replacing.

Smart Energy Trading – variable pricing of electricity takes automatic advantage of low prices at certain times, possible when locally generated electricity is available, and avoids using it when it is expensive. This is in its infancy: there are pilot schemes operating around the country. It could offer lower cost of electricity to the consumer and save investment in grid infrastructure at a regional and national level.

Anaerobic Digestion – turning animal waste and vegetable matter into gas. This is not feasible in Humshaugh: the farms are too small, and the grass is used for silage. 

• About eighty properties in the Parish have roofs with aspects suitable for solar systems of about 4 kW each. 
• A 4kW south facing array would pay for itself over its lifetime at current electricity costs and save 1 tonne of CO2 a year.
• The economics of fitting solar panels now depends on the use of electricity in the building, being best when houses are occupied during the day.
• The grid connection rules currently would make siting solar arrays on barns in the Parish uneconomic, but this might change in the future.
• The general feeling before the study was that we did not want to site a solar farm, i.e., a large array of ground mounted, photovoltaic panels, on good agricultural land. There is little low grade agricultural land in the Parish, but there is one small area near Lincoln Hill which could be suitable and potentially able to accommodate a 400 kW solar farm.
• When the quarries to the north of the Parish reach the end of their life, they are not suitable for solar farms even floating ones, due to their location and, in one case, a flooding risk.

• Heat pumps are a viable option to replace fossil fuelled heating in all properties in the Parish.
• Air source heat pumps take heat from the air. Ground source heat pumps take heat from the ground either from a borehole or from a loop of pipework buried about 1.5 m down. Water source heat pumps take heat from a river or large stream.  
• Heat pumps may require larger radiators as to keep the efficiencies of the heat pump high.
• Air source heat pumps are cheaper to install but more expensive to run than ground source heat pumps. At the moment, the overall cost favours air source heat pumps for single properties. Water source heat pumps are more suitable for large heating demands, such as a hotel or a group of houses near the water.
• For the next year or so there are grants available for domestic heat pumps. The building would need to have a good energy efficiency rating, but this makes sense anyway, requiring the fitting of a high level of insulation and draught proofing.
• There may be opportunities for community heating schemes for groups of houses, but this needs further investigation.

• Wind energy has the capacity to provide all the electrical needs in Humshaugh and the likely increased demand in the future.
• The parish has limited places where a large wind turbine could be placed, even if this was acceptable to the community and the county council.
• Current planning guidance limits the size of wind turbines which could be installed in the Parish. Seventy-seven of these small turbines would be required to meet the current demand.
• One large turbine, such as are installed at Green Rig near the A68, could meet all the demand in the Parish.
• The County Council guidance only considers large turbines to be suitable near existing wind farms. 
• The community could consider investing in a large turbine near an existing wind farm as a way to meet current constraints.
  

The report discusses the merits of one large turbine over a number of smaller turbines, and the current constraints on siting. There are projections for the future electricity demand of the Parish and how this could be met. Details of the small and large turbines are given.

From a technology point of view wind energy could power heat pumps and electric vehicles to meet the electricity, heating, and transport requirements of the Parish, removing 3,400 tonnes of CO2 from the carbon budget, 62%.

This could be achieved by many small turbines or one large one. One large turbine would be more likely to be permitted in an adjacent part of the county, rather than within the Parish itself.

Lobbying Northumberland County Council to change its planning policies for wind turbines could result in larger turbines in the Parish.

• Northern Powergrid is in charge of the local electricity grid. The grid operates at twenty thousand volts and this is changed to 240 volts at various transformers located close to dwellings. Most houses have connections which can draw a current of up to 60 amps from the 240 volts supply, giving a maximum power of about 13 kilowatts.
• Typically whoever requires a new or upgraded connection will pay for all or some of any network infrastructure upgrades needed.
•  An electric vehicle charger or a heat pump can be installed without first applying for a connection and without a connection charge if the maximum current is 
•  Most of the Parish is supplied with single phase electricity. New generation from solar or wind, which could supply more than a large dwelling or one of the new high power vehicle chargers, would require a three-phase supply. Converting transformers to provide a three-phase supply or to increase capacity would need a replacement transformer, and possibly a new cable or overhead line replacement. This would need to be included in the cost of any significant 
• Small domestic renewable generation (less than 13 amps, or 3.68kW) can be installed without applying for a connection beforehand and without a charge. For example, a typical new roof-mounted PV solar installation will be within this limit.
• Any new renewable generation connections large enough to make a significant contribution to the parish’s carbon footprint are likely to need network upgrades, for which the owner of the generator would pay.

Northern Powergrid have agreed to install some monitoring equipment on the ground-mounted transformers in the village and to make the information available to HNZ. 

The report contains technical details which would help anyone considering new generation on their property or putting in a large new load like a big heat pump.

 There is also a map of the twenty thousand volt distribution network in the village showing the single and three phase lines.

• Hydrogen as a fuel is unlikely to be of use in Humshaugh in the near future.
• Production in the Parish using power from local generators is not economic.
• If hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles becomes available, it will be sold in larger centres such as Hexham. But no distribution network exists as yet.
• The lack of a distribution network mean that it is unlikely to make an impact on heating by 2030.
• The immediate focus for producing hydrogen from green sources will be to mix it into the national gas grid and use it as a feedstock for the chemical industry, in addition to transport.

The report contains interesting background information on hydrogen technology and the current economics of hydrogen production.  There is discussion of the production of Green Hydrogen and Blue Hydrogen.

 For people living in Humshaugh there is no infrastructure to allow the use of hydrogen as a green vehicle fuel now and it is not likely in the immediate future.

Heating fuel is cheaper than transport fuel so it is also unlikely hydrogen will provide an alternative by 2030.

Hydrogen will not contribute to cutting our CO2 budget by 2030.

• Anaerobic digestion is the production of gas from wet slurries of animal waste and vegetable matter. The gas can then be used to run generators to produce electricity and heat.
• The farms in Humshaugh do not produce the volume of animal waste needed and the grass is needed for silage. They could possibly join with others but transporting the material may cost too much.
• Small AD plants just to supply a farmhouse with heat are uneconomic.
• The Codlaw AD and combined heat and power plant at Hexham, is located beside a substation and uses specifically grown grass and maize as its feedstock and benefits from a good feed-in tariff for its electricity output. This tariff is no longer available.

The report contains more details of the anaerobic digestion process and the equipment needed to build a system. It gives indications of sizes of plant and the costs involved, which may be of interest to farmers.

Unfortunately, there is little scope for this form of generation in the Parish.

• 35% of dwellings in Humshaugh have smart meters fitted.
• There are two types of smart meters, SMETS1 fitted up to about 2018 and SMETS2 fitted after that. SMETS2 are more advanced and needed to take advantage of the new smart tariffs being offered by electricity suppliers.
• SMETS1 are in general tied to the original electricity supplier and can become dumb when the supplier is changed. This does not happen with the SMETS2 type.
• SMETS2 meters have serial numbers which start with 19M or 20M etc. They also have a block at the top labelled EDMI.
• Even the SMETS2 meters are not that smart and new advanced tariffs will need access to the internet to access advanced features.
• Detailed control and interaction with local generation may require more advanced meters to be fitted.

The report explains how smart meters work, the differences SMETS1 and SMETS2 meters and the failings of both. It describes more advanced meters that are available. 

Smart meters of type SMETS2 could allow consumers to take advantage of new tariffs. Some of these give lower electricity prices by allowing the grid to operate more efficiently and save CO2 at a national level.

• Smart electricity trading involves variable pricing of electricity. Electricity could be used when it is cheap and usage deferred when it is expensive, all automatically. Batteries in cars could be discharged into the grid if the generation prices is high and recharged when the demand price is low, levelling the demand on the regional or national grid, saving CO2.
• Companies called aggregators will offer good tariffs to facilitate this. These companies are just starting to develop schemes and are running pilot projects at the moment.
• Small solar and wind generating systems will also benefit from these variable tariff schemes and may make more money that the simple payment options on offer now. 
• Humshaugh is too small a community to run its own scheme as to be economic large numbers of dwellings need to be grouped together to help smooth the load on the national or regional grid.
•  It may be that those interested who live in the Parish could participate in a trial.
• Expect exciting developments in this service in the next few years.

The report describes some of the schemes which have and ae being trialled and how they work. Other areas such as Cumbria have community schemes in operation.

This is a developing area with exciting possibilities to help level out the peaks and troughs in electricity demand at a regional and national level. The benefit locally is that prices should be lower for those who can exploit flexibility in their electricity demands and it may make generation schemes more economic and result in more deployment. It is too early to estimate the benefit it terms of saving CO2.