2007-12-19 : North Energy in Washington DC

North Energy was invited to be part of the UK team of experts contributing to the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) Task Force on Greenhouse Gas Methodologies for Transport Biofuels. The role of this Task Force is to consider the feasibility of developing a harmonised Greenhouse Gas (GHG) measurement methodology and to develop proposals for how the work might be undertaken.

In May 2006, the Secretariat of the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) was launched at the 14th Session of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development. Located at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters in Rome and supported by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, the Secretariat mandate is to facilitate a global political forum to promote bioenergy and to encourage the production, marketing and use of green fuels, with particular focus on developing countries.

A major area of controversy, regarding biofuels, is their potential to reduce the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from the transport sector. The majority of studies suggest that most biofuels do offer the potential for net reductions in GHG emissions, when produced in a sustainable way, compared to the petroleum fuel that they replace. However, there remains some ambiguity and uncertainty in how different biofuel GHG analyses are conducted, making it difficult to make reliable comparisons of biofuels.

In late September 2007, North Energy was invited by DEFRA to be part of the UK team of experts contributing to a Task Force to consider the feasibility of developing a harmonised GHG measurement methodology and to develop proposals for how the work might be undertaken. Anna Evans, from the North Energy Sheffield Office, went to the meeting in Washington DC on 9 and 10 October that was attended by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, UNEP, the UN Foundation, the International Council on Clean Transportation, University of California Berkeley, Iowa State University, and the GBEP Secretariat. Presentations were given by the participants on their current approaches and there was found to be considerable agreement regarding both methodologies and the issues that needed further clarification.

Of particular concern were whether and how to take account of indirect land-use change in calculating biofuel GHG impacts and how to deal with co-products.

Over the coming year, North Energy will continue to be involved in the Task Force and its work in defining a set of recommended parameters, based on accepted methods and protocols, to be considered when conducting a GHG analysis for transport biofuels and to produce a good practice guidance document for policy makers.

2007-12-13 : North Energy in China

In September 2007, Jane Hunter and Vicki Shaw from North Energy attended the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) Solar World Congress and Exhibition in Beijing, China. The Congress was attended by over 2000 delegates, many of whom presented papers/posters or had trade stands at the exhibition. The team from North Energy worked hard to make their presence felt. At the Congress, Vicki presented a paper on Sustainable Energy Development for Rural China and Jane organised and set up an exhibition of our work and capabilities. The team also met with potential project partners to develop a new sustainable energy development training package for rural communities in China.

The ISES Solar World Congress 2007 and exhibition presented the ideal opportunity for North Energy to make its mark in the sustainable energy sector in China. Having worked previously in China with other European Union and Chinese institutions, alongside local villagers in rural locations, current North Energy staff who were formerly based in the Resources Research Unit (RRU) at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), are familiar with working with Chinese officials and villagers in assessing local energy demand and suggesting energy efficiency improvements and opportunities to utilise local renewable energy sources.

Vicki presented a paper on Sustainable Energy Development for Rural China which summarised North Energy's previous work in China. Vicki presented her paper alongside speakers from Australia, Spain and France. The seminar was well attended by conference delegates and after her presentation Vicki had a lot of questions to answer! Delegates also offered useful suggestions for future work in China and sources of potential funding.

Jane organised a trade stand which was a great way of presenting our skills as a sustainable energy consultancy from the UK and provided us with the opportunity to share our experiences of working in this sector with other people from across the globe. Although North Energy's exhibition was a modest affair when compared with fellow exhibitors who had solar thermal and photovoltaic panels on display, it did attract a lot of attention. Congress delegates were interested in hearing about the services North Energy offers as well as making contact for future work.

As well as presenting a paper and manning an exhibition stand, Jane and Vicki also found time to go to the Opening and Closing ceremonies, attend a wide variety of presentations and seminars, view the many poster presentations and network to strengthen existing contacts whilst making new ones. As part of the conference programme, the ISES had organised events in the evenings including banquets and a special performance by the Peking Opera.

Additionally, the team were able to meet with existing colleagues to develop a new sustainable energy development training package for rural communities in China. Following the conference, Jane and Vicki met with Liu Yonggong, Professor and Managing Director for the College of Humanities and Development and Centre for Integrated Agricultural Development at China Agricultural University in Beijing. The meeting was a great success as we discussed and took forward our new work package proposal. Following our meeting, Liu Yonggong kindly invited Jane, Vicki and her partner Jeff out for an evening meal. We all enjoyed a lovely evening, exploring the differences and similarities between our two cultures and sharing wonderful Chinese cuisine.

Whilst in Beijing, the team took advantage of their stay and visited a number of tourist hot spots including the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. After saying goodbye to Jane at Beijing International Airport, Vicki and Jeff stayed in China for a further five weeks. They visited a wide variety of sites including Yungang Caves and the Hanging Monastery in Northern Shanxi province, the Terracotta Warriors at Xi'an in Shaanxi province, Chengdu city and the Giant Pandas in Sichuan province and finished off with a cruise along the Yangtze River. On their return journey to Beijing, Vicki and Jeff met with Lu Hongyi, an architect with Hua Yu Design Co Ltd based in Zhengzhou, Henan province. Hongyi has worked with North Energy on other work packages and will be providing valuable Chinese architectural and building services input to our new training package proposal.

Between 2002 and 2005, the Directorate-General for Research of the European Commission funded the "Sustainable Users Concepts for China Engaging Scientific Scenarios" (SUCCESS) Project under the INCO-DEV programme. The project involved integrated and interdisciplinary work by 17 institutions (including SHU) from the European Union and China in 7 villages in 6 provinces in China. This project involved experts working alongside local people to look at how the villages could become 'sustainable.' North Energy's input into this project was to assess current energy demand and suggest energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy utilisation.

2007-08-10 : New Office

North Energy has moved office!! After sixteen years in our Morpeth office our growing team needed much more space to meet the future needs of the company. After looking at various sites in the north east, we found our ideal new offices at Bearl Farm, near to Stocksfield, west of Newcastle. In addition to the valuable new space, we are proud to say that our new buildings are heated by a biomass fired (woodchip) district heating system, and we are already in discussion about adding further renewable energy technologies.

We thank all our clients and partners who visited us over the years at Morpeth, and we hope you will continue to visit our new office on a regular basis and enjoy the rural setting and spacious meeting facilities. We look forward to seeing everyone soon.

Welcome to Bearl Farm. Here is the view on arrival, there is ample free parking on the left, and an overflow car park is being installed for those occasional extremely busy days. Our unit, number 5 faces the car park and has some very pleasant views over calming countryside for those stressful moments!

This is the central courtyard area – the picnic tables are on order for sunny coffee breaks and lunchtimes!

New meeting facilities. We can now offer a bright and airy meeting room, located behind the two sets of double red doors you see on the left. As well as inviting clients and partners to our new facilities we hope to be able to host various regional committee group meetings. Please contact Bill Lowther if you would like to discuss the possible use of our meeting room.

The new office is only fifteen minutes along the A69 from the Newcastle A1 Western Bypass. Take the Stocksfield B639 turnoff and we are half a mile along this road. Here is the view of the site as you leave the A69. As you can see we have a peaceful and relaxed setting, despite being so close to Newcastle centre. You can see a detailed map on our ‘Contact Us’ page, although if you zoom in on the satellite image you see the site prior to conversion. We look forward to seeing you soon.

2007-07-13 : New Website

Launched in September 07, the site represents the first phase of what we intend to develop as a major communications resource for our company. The initial presentation of the site provides a comprehensive understanding of our background, our service, our people and where appropriate our current projects.

We are keen to expand on this proposition and to this end have built the site around a content management system that will enable us to update and present ideas, initiatives and information, more or less instantly.

Renewable Energy is a rapidly changing industry, confronting highly topical challenges on a daily basis. We embrace our responsibilities to educate and explain, as a natural extension of our service, and intend that our site develops as a forum for informed discussion and best practise.

A client workspace, providing a password protected secure area for client access and review of projects, as they evolve, is soon to be included within the site.

Furthermore our library resource is under construction and will provide, wherever client confidentiality allows, access to our back catalogue of projects, research and reports. Our intention is to make available material which serves not only to explains our approach and the quality of our work, but also provides background and resource to aid academic research and to support and serve the renewable energy industry. Case studies of key projects, presented as a simplified synopsis, will also soon be available.

We welcome discussion, please feel free to get in touch.