The Language of Energy Renewables
Bioenergy and renewable heat technologies: These include microgeneration heat technologies such as ground and air-source heat pumps and solar water heating, heat from biomass at various scales and Combined Heat and Power and heat from waste
Biofuels: are fossil fuel substitutes that can be made from a range organic materials including oil seeds, wheat and sugar and are typically blended with conventional petrol and diesel
Biodiesel: a diesel substitute, is generally produced from oily crops such as rapeseed, sunflower or palm oil, or from recovered cooking oil.
Bioethanol: a petrol substitute is generally produced from starchy feedstocks such as wheat, sugar beet or sugar cane
Biomethane: a gas produced from the biological breakdown organic material and can be used as a renewable alternative to natural gas, either as a transport fuel or for electricity generation or heating.
Biofuel Sustainability: means that the biofuels are produced in ways that do not damage the environment or create social conflict. Biofuel sustainability is a complex issue and considerations including changing land use and food security have to be carefully assessed.
Combined Heat and Power: CHP technology is a carbon efficient process that captures and uses the waste heat produced during electricity generation. It can be used whenever electricity is generated through combustion of a fuel, including all types of biomass and biogas electricity generation.
Distributed energy: is the local supply of electricity and heat which is generated on or near the site where it is used
Heat and Microgeneration: Renewable microgeneration heat technologies include solar thermal water heaters and ground and air source heat pumps, particularly relevant to contributing to achieving zero carbon buildings and renewable heat solutions
Energy crops: are grown specifically for use as fuel. The types of energy crop for the generation of heat and heat and electricity include fast growing species allowing short rotation coppice (continuously harvested every three to four years) or depending on the tree species, coppiced over longer periods; grasses such as Miscanthus which can be harvested annually and agricultural residues such as straw.
Woody biomass: is obtained from woodland or arboricultural management such as coppicing or as part of a continuous programme of forest replanting and management. Material can also be obtained as a by product of wood processing, such as off cuts, bark or sawdust from timber production.
Waste biomass: In landfill waste food produces climate-damaging methane. There are several different energy recovery routes available for food and residual wastes: anaerobic digestion can be used to generate biogas from food and other biogas in mixed residual waste: the same waste can be burned with energy recovery from the biomass and non biomass fractions: mixed waster can be turned into a fuel with a biomass content, are often burned in processes involving Combined Heat and Power to maximise the useful energy recovered.
Renewable electricity generation: currently five main types: biomass, wind (onshore and offshore), hydro, wave and tidal, and solar……4.5% or 5GW of UK capacity in 2006.
Renewable combined heat and power: CHP technology is a carbon efficient process that captures and uses the waste heat produced during electricity generation.It can be used whenever electricity is generated through combustion of a fuel, including all types of biomass and biogas electricity generation
Renewable distributed energy: related mainly to the built environment and includes building integrated renewable microgeneration technologies providing heat and electricity, and larger on-site or near-site renewable electricity technologies
Tidal range generation: uses the difference in water height between low and high tide by impounding in barrages or lagoons, volumes of water at high tide, which is then released through turbines at low tide levels
Tidal stream generation: harnesses the energy in fast flowing tidal currents
Wave generation: converts the energy contained in the movement of the waves into electricity
