Robert Kyriakides’ opinion piece in February’s issue of BSj appears to be a well researched article relating to the use of biomass boilers. Whether it is being taken up by many developers and local authorities to comply with the Merton Rule is a moot point.

The idea of putting forward solar thermal as a technology to be considered before biomass is a bit silly since it contributes less than 10% toward the provision of hot water for consumption. The only way solar thermal can be better used is to include a rather large thermal store to collect the energy in the summer for use in space heating in the winter.

At present a better technology to include in the list at the end of his piece, along with geothermal and wind energy, is solar electric, particularly as there is a 50% grant available for its use in homes and schools for example.

Means of producing renewable electricity will for many years be the better option as it is two to three times more expensive than gas for example, so an array of photovoltaic cells on houses and schools gives a much better and quicker return on investment than solar thermal.

Keith J Moss IEng ACIBSE

Source

Building Sustainable Design