CHPs deliver clean, low-carbon thermal and electrical energy, and were carefully sized to match the building’s electricity and hot water usage.
We need to figure out how to make highly productive, manufactured products, in highly automated environments.Ultimately, this would create the opportunity to move away from electricity generation, which is tethered to a transmission system and the electricity market, towards a commodities based system, focused around the production of a product which can be stored, transported and exported to global markets.
This is how we can free up siting opportunities, and enable very scalable, offshore siting to really come into its own.. We should also be looking to appropropriate some of the existing petrochemical supply chain, adopting its relevant skills, and the existing oil and gas infrastructure, and moving these elements into a better space.We’ll make the adoption of new, clean fuels much more likely if we create drop-in, substitute fuels that can be produced at a comparable cost, with the same performance, as the fuels we use today, and then distribute them through the existing supply chain infrastructure.. Reducing risk as we decarbonise.In other words, we want clean energy solutions which won’t require big behavioural changes, or huge investment in associated infrastructure.
That’s how we’ll reduce risk, because such fuels won’t require the sequencing of a whole load of investments in order to make the product really work.As with the desired shift to Modern Methods of Construction in the design and construction industry, we need to address the cultural blockers to the change, and lower the barrier to entry so that it becomes both the right thing to do, and an easy thing to do.. We want the transition to cleaner technologies and fuel sources to become an irresistible, straightforward decision for investors, which means making them more profitable, and working with the grain of human behaviour.
In the case of repowering coal power plants, the existing workforce is likely to be very interested in the prospect of another sixty years of highly profitable plant operation, but without the pollution and emissions.
Similarly, rather than trying to guilt people into not flying, we need to make the necessary changes so that we can all enjoy guilt-free air travel.Sustainable construction increases the lifespan of buildings through flexible and adaptable design.
When designing new or refurbished buildings we must plan for the unexpected.Buildings need to be able to adapt for future uses and by designing this in from the start we will use fewer materials in the future..
The façade has a shorter life expectancy than the rest of a building due to the nature of the materials used, exposure to the elements and the impact of UV light.To prolong the life of the building, the façade should be replaceable without affecting the structure of the building.. Each component of the façade should be replaceable individually, to allow panels to be swapped in or out to respond to changes in building use.