No abstract

This paper explores the photovoltaic (PV) industry in the United Kingdom (UK) as experienced by those who are working with it directly and with consideration of current standards, module efficiencies and future environmental trends. The government's consultation on the comprehensive review for solar PV tariffs, proposes a reduction of the generation tariff for PV installations in the UK of more than 50%. The introduction of the Feed-In Tariffs scheme (FITs) has rapidly increased deployment of PV technologies at small scale since its introduction in April 2010. The central principle of FIT policies is to offer guaranteed prices for fixed periods to enable greater number of investors. A financial analysis was performed on two real-life installations in Cornwall, UK to determine the impact of proposed cuts to the FIT will make to a typical domestic PV system under 4kW. The results show that a healthy Return on Investment (ROI) can still be made but that future installations should focus on off-setting electricity required from the national grid as a long term push for true sustainability rather than subsidised schemes. The profitability of future installations will have to be featured within inservice and end-of-service considerations such as the feed-in tariff, module efficiencies and the implications of costs associated with end-of-life disposal.

The Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) method allows the derivation of a model that can be used for classification of existing or new production processes for silver nanoparticles in preference-ordered classes on the basis of the principles of green chemistry.

Current global commitments to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions are resulting in increasing demand for wind energy technologies as a secure, affordable supply of energy. However, the recent expansion of wind energy generation is creating a growing waste disposal issue associated with the decommissioning of wind turbine (WT) blades in the future.Whilst the average recyclability across the components of a modern WT has been calculated to be 80% by mass, the composite WT blades present a challenge for waste management. There is currently little legislation present for the regulation of end-of-life waste management for the wind energy industry in Europe.However, a review of European waste management policy has shown that landfill bans effectively divert waste from landfill and drive towards energy recovery. This paper considers the producer responsibility scenarios for manufacturers to recycle WT blades. This will include an investigation into the current and future methods of WT blade disposal and specifically the potential of carbon fibre (CF) to add to the recyclability of blade systems.