One of Europe's largest exhibitions and conferences to focus solely on energy procurement, management and efficiency, took place at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham on the 8th and 9th September. The Energy Event 2010 included an exhibition area featuring the products and services of over 110 companies and organisations — plus Energy Insight, a full seminar programme devised by key independent organisations in the market such as ESTA, MEUC, CIBSE and Water Technology List.
This year’s event also aimed to be as energy-efficient as possible. Since 2009, a five-year agreement has been in place between carbon management specialist Carbon Clear and Western Business Exhibitions regarding The Energy Event. Under the terms of the agreement, Carbon Clear will act as official carbon management and offset partner and will measure and offset the carbon footprint of The Energy Event.
This involves gathering information about the gas and electricity consumption, visitor travel, how the waste is handled etc. Carbon Clear will then offset the footprint using high-quality carbon offsets. According to Carbon Clear’s Cameron Wilson, one of the major ambitions of this partnership is to help to reduce the total carbon footprint of the event.
“The most significant contributor to the carbon footprint last year was visitor travel,” says Wilson. “We have online information which will help educate the visitor about how they can reduce their overall effect in 2010.” Alongside this online information, Carbon Clear will also be working with The Energy Event’s organisers, Western Business Exhibitions, to help them implement initiatives which will reduce the total carbon emissions even further.
This partnership is evidence that the events industry is becoming increasingly ‘carbon aware’, with the timing being particularly appropriate, as Carbon Clear is just about to launch an online carbon footprint calculator specifically tailored for the events industry. Using the online calculator, event organisers can get a rough estimate of their carbon footprint.
With the current recession affecting most sectors, one view is that environmental matters have had to take something of a back seat as the focus on core business intensifies. However, Wilson counters: “Carbon emissions are generated by use of energy and resource consumption which are cost centres to your business.
“Simply by identifying and implementing ways of cutting carbon, businesses can be driving efficiencies and cost savings. Do it well, and your business will almost certainly retain and win new business. Similarly, when carbon offsetting appears as a line on the profit and loss account it becomes a cost which needs to be driven down. With the Finance Director engaged, carbon reductions tend to follow.”
Seminar and conference programme
Energy Insight, the headline conference that took place on each day of The Energy Event, brought together leading experts and commentators in the fields of economics, climate change, energy policy and security, nuclear industry, demand management and carbon reduction. Jeremy Nicholson, Director of the Energy Intensive Users’ Group, took the chair on both days.
Wednesday’s theme was The Energy Retail Agenda — understanding energy policy, combating volatility and creating market opportunities.
Sessions included: Concerns over security of supply — a burden of the times or not as bad as everyone makes out?, when Chris Train, National Grid's Director of Network Operations, looked at how energy generation and storage capacity across the UK has changed over the last decade and what the medium-term might hold looking forward to 2020.
Achieving a successful energy procurement strategy across UK and Europe: David Medori, Procurement Specialist with the Home Retail Group asked: “What tools and support does the energy procurement professional of the 21st Century need?”
The Climate Change Agenda was Thursday’s theme, with a key note speech from Shell UK Chairman and Energy Institute President James Smith on Stepping up to the Energy Challenge.
And there were sessions from Encore International MD Mark Dickinson on Implementing initiatives: costs and benefits of carbon reduction programmes; from Emma Wild, Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Change, at the CBI, asking Can climate policy compliance provide indirect benefits?; plus a case study that looked at integrating a climate policy into an overall business energy strategy.
Over the two days there were also seminars by Energy Insight, ESTA/CIBSE, and the Major Energy Users Council (MEUC).
Exhibitor News
With the products and services of over 110 exhibitors on show, there was plenty to see at The Energy Event. And many of the new products on show were competing for recognition in the first Energy Event Awards, held at the Hilton Metropole (NEC) on September 8th. There were six categories: Consumer Supplier of the Year, Best Renewable Energy Project of the Year, Best Energy Reduction Project of the Year, Best Consumer Gas Price of the Year, Best Consumer Electricity Price of the Year, and Outstanding Contribution to Industry Award.
Here we look at some of the exhibits and services on show at The Enegy Event exhibition.
Software to aid CRC compliance
New CRC Software from TEAM can be used as a stand-alone system or fully integrated with TEAM Sigma, the established monitoring and targeting software. It guides the user through the different stages of CRC, enabling organisations to easily and quickly produce Footprint and Annual Reports required for compliance. The software takes the hard work out of consolidating and quality checking data, whilst a central database maintains all records for a company's CRC Evidence Pack. Sophisticated forecasting tools help users manage the risk and help determine how many Carbon Allowances need to be purchased to cover the emissions in the coming year. Live demonstrations will be held on the TEAM stand. www.teamenergy.com.
Carbon Zero air compressors
With its continuing commitment to helping businesses keep energy and production costs down, a major feature of the Atlas Copco Compressors stand was its Carbon Zero range of air compressors equipped with advanced heat recovery systems capable of recovering 100 per cent of electrical energy input. Other energy-efficient solutions on show included the redesigned, small footprint GA 5-15 VSD compressor range, the latest additions to the FD family of refrigerant dryers, plus details of free health check air audits.
Atlas Copco's Carbon Zero innovation provides effective heat transfer within specific design conditions so that a considerable proportion of electrical power input can be recovered in the form of hot water at 90°C. The breakthrough has been made possible by a combination of technological advances in high efficiency components, heat exchangers, compressor elements and integrated VSD drives. www.atlascopco.co.uk
Liquidating your assets
As organisations do all they can to free up capital, The Energy Consortium (TEC) is seeing growing interest in its water analysis and reconciliation audit. One of TEC’s goals is to identify new ways that its members can achieve savings in areas where costs have been traditionally perceived as fixed.
“Many people see charges for utilities such as water as untouchable, either because they were set through national contracts or lack competition, but this is simply not the case,” says Alan Brooks, TEC’s director of operations.
Water projects can not only return cash to organisations but can also highlight strengths and weaknesses in internal systems. Members pay nothing up-front, and there’s no minimum fee or clauses to pay for savings that never materialise. Members can reject unsuitable recommendations and do not have to pay for work until after they’ve received a benefit. energyconsortium.org.uk
Cutting costs by voltage optimisation
The significant savings being made in both the public and private sector through the use of voltage optimisation was being demonstrated by powerPerfector. An early advocate of the company's VPO technology, with units installed on 23 sites, the Land Registry's Energy Manager Martin Illingworth reports: "Whilst powerPerfector has enabled us to reduce our electricity costs by 12 per cent, the most significant benefit comes from protecting our electronic infrastructure and assets. Land Registry holds the world's largest property data base and guarantees ownership of £1300 billion of property — data is our business and data protection is critcal to our efficient operation."
And Illingworth added that since the first pP units were installed six years ago, "we still have not required any maintenance of the equipment and all sites continue to demonstrate the significant reduction in electricity consumption, CO2 and financial cost that it did in the first year". www.powerperfector.com.
Energy monitoring from Radio-Tech
Wireless telemetry specialist Radio-Tech was showing its energy management and environmental monitoring systems. Its 'economise' system enables companies to monitor consumption of electricity, gas and water, allowing reductions in consumption to be made. Special transmitters stationed at strategic points measure a building’s energy consumption and transmit that information to Radio-Tech’s data hub, the RT:Wi5. The hub then sends the data to either Radio-Tech’s or third-party software, allowing companies to devise a monitoring and targeting plan that could potentially save thousands of pounds.
Meanwhile, Radio-Tech’s wireless environmental monitoring system measures energy efficiency and building performance and is specifically designed to meet standards specified by the Energy Savings Trust (EST). Sensors positioned throughout a property measure variables such as temperature, humidity, CO2, electricity, gas and water consumption. This data is transmitted to a central hub at five minute intervals which is collected by Radio-Tech or client hosted servers for analysis. www.radio-tech.co.uk
Scope for increasing boiler efficiency
Range of ThermaScope high-temperature furnace/kiln and boiler cameras from Thermoteknix can help improve efficiency, increase combustion control and reduce pollution. ThermaScope SLK is a high-performance radiometric temperature imaging system whch displays bright, clear video images within high-temperature processes and measures the temperatures at every point in the ThermaScope field of view.
ThermaScope processor software gives the process engineer or operator advanced analysis tools with control interface signals for advanced closed loop control. High temperature boiler, kiln, furnace or oven operating conditions are continuously monitored by the ThermaScope SLK. Abnormal conditions such as over or under temperature, poor temperature distribution or irregular flame shape is instantly shown. These can be alarmed and interpreted by the operator or process engineer with user-friendly analysis tools and temperature displays. thermoteknix.com
Enhanced power analysis
Newly enhanced power analyser from Carlo Gavazzi was being launched in response to demand for a higher performance analyser that provides accurate and precise measurements and analysis, whilst remaining compact and simple to install. With its enhanced intelligence, the new WM40-96 delivers high accuracy measurements including current, voltage, power, energy and harmonics — with precise parametric analysis, control, data stamping and retransmission. It is all packaged in a compact plug-and–play modular format that simplifies installation and streamlines inventory management.
Other highlights on the Carlo Gavazzi stand included the newly announced Eos-Array Lite, a modular control and management solution to boost performance, efficiency and return on investment in small to large solar and photovoltaic installations, and the extensive family of MID-certified energy meters. www.carlogavazzi.co.uk
Identifying energy losses by infrared camera
Infrared is the perfect technology for spotting and stopping energy loss. And i/r camera manufacturer FLIR was focusing on making its infrared cameras smarter. As well as improving hardware performance, FLIR is committed to the parallel development of software and communication technology. The result, as FLIR was aiming to demonstrate at the Energy Event, is a range of solutions that allow inspections to be conducted quicker, easier and with greater intelligence than ever before.
One important software development for is FLIR’s BuildIR, which visualises and quantifies building related problems such as structural and insulation defects, thermal bridges and moisture ingress. This dedicated software provides access to ten professional pre-designed report templates for easy and comprehensive report creation. It also introduces an energy cost comparison report that allows the easy calculation of the achievable cost savings when the identified structural problems are fixed.
FLIR is also using Bluetooth wireless technology to bring greater intelligence to the infrared environment. The company's Meterlink is an industry first that allows EXTECH clamp meters and moisture meters to transfer data to a FLIR camera, to allow their readings to be embedded on an infrared image. www.flir.com
Cutting a dash for energy savings
Visitors to the t-mac stand were able to test t-mac's metering technology through an interactive touchscreen system, which showcases how easily the system could work for their organisation, demonstrating the array of other custom-designed energy dashboards, including its latest product to be unveiled at the event, the energy showcasing dashboard. This new dashboard not only displays mains and sub metering data and energy generated from renewable sources but it also displays the weather! By using an anemometer, the dashboard charts wind speed and pressure which is displayed alongside the other data. Combined, this provides the user with a fully updated forecast of activity inside and outside the building which can affect energy consumption.
In addition, t-mac was demonstrating its WiST (Wireless Sensor Technology), a novel approach to quick and simple equipment installation. Visitors witnessed first-hand the flexibility of this new technology and learned how using WiST can reduce time and cost as well as tick every organisation’s environmentally-friendly box. t-mac's Lisa Wilkinson explained: “Even through the difficult times many businesses have faced recently, energy management and complying with ‘green’ legislation is still as important as ever. It is still firmly on the business agenda and has crossed the boundaries into even more sectors, with more companies looking for energy management solutions." www.t-mac.co.uk
