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eco building in spain

eco building in spain

Old Dec 22nd 2011, 1:00 am
  #31  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by Dick Dasterdly
The UK is said to have the best climate in Europe to utilise wind power,so it would be foolish not to make the best of it.
The biggest offshore windfarm in Europe is also planned if not well under way.
Much more expensive to build than on land, but maybe that will keep some of the tree huggers happy, though personally I don't think they look so bad myself.
Possibly I'm slightly biased having four of the more recent monsters planted on my patch.
I find it really relaxing and satisfying to watch them gently turning, just like seeing some kind hearted soul dropping a constant stream of coins into my money box.
Do your homework Dick, they don't work for the majority of the time and when they do the output is low. Waste of some of my tax money.
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Old Dec 24th 2011, 5:16 pm
  #32  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by tex_ritter
No wind has not stopped the UK spending billions on wind farms that simply don't work...I hate the bloody things; Small ones on a house I can live with, folleys that just blot the landscape pee me off.
tend to agree. the goverment wont listen to the insulate then generate advocates. i wonder if thats because wind generators production/instal are shared by a small No of mega companies? payback period... not in our time!
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Old Dec 24th 2011, 11:15 pm
  #33  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by peterni
tend to agree. the goverment wont listen to the insulate then generate advocates. i wonder if thats because wind generators production/instal are shared by a small No of mega companies? payback period... not in our time!
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Remove ALL public funding and see how many get built. I really hate to say it but nuclear is the only way for the UK
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Old Dec 25th 2011, 7:13 pm
  #34  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by tex_ritter
Remove ALL public funding and see how many get built. I really hate to say it but nuclear is the only way for the UK
it may not need to be [nuclear] if serious money was spent on properly insulating the existing housing stock { and commercial also, our own workshop is a case in point, landlord has too many hurdles to get any, meagre, grant} . The UK is now going the MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) route; remains to be seen what the uptake is. wouldn't it be brilliant if sunny spain did it!
i reckon any true answer is too radical for current governments to handle anyway.
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Old Dec 25th 2011, 7:24 pm
  #35  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by tex_ritter
Do your homework Dick, they don't work for the majority of the time and when they do the output is low. Waste of some of my tax money.
I don't think that is true, according to this link they generate electricity for around 75% of the time and are rated at around 35% of their peak capacity.

The key issue is a decent geographical spread, so when it is still in Sussex it is windy in Northumberland - this gives an averaging effect.

Storage of windy power via pumped storage to capture any excess.

It is currently more expensive than hydrocarbon due to the non-inclusion of externalities such as CO2 pollution. It is around a similar cost to nuclear, but nuclear has a lot of future costs that are government insured. We also have to wonder how long nuclear fuel will be available - just another finite resource to compete for.

http://www.bwea.com/pdf/briefings/in...tency-2005.pdf
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Old Dec 27th 2011, 5:56 am
  #36  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

You still need excess power generated by other means to cover the down time of wind turbines so sorry, they ain't working.

While we sit around doing nothing we should be building nuclear power stations. As consumers of cheap electronics we use masses of power in the average house these days. Go and compare a house from the 60's where you had a few light bulbs, one telly, maybe a fridge and compare to the stuff most of us take for granted these days, the gap in power consumption is massive. Will Joe Public cut back? No, TV's are so cheap you can have one in each bedroom, PC's, laptops and smart phones in many houses and often left on at the same time. I don't know the answer. My main UK house dates from 1803, thick stone walls, I've insulated, double glazed etc but its still a power drain if I'm honest.

Maybe its time for the UK to look at new housing stock on a massive scale (no idea where the funding will come from), look to places like Norway and Sweden for ideas for the new homes.
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Old Dec 30th 2011, 3:23 pm
  #37  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by tex_ritter
You still need excess power generated by other means to cover the down time of wind turbines so sorry, they ain't working.

While we sit around doing nothing we should be building nuclear power stations. As consumers of cheap electronics we use masses of power in the average house these days. Go and compare a house from the 60's where you had a few light bulbs, one telly, maybe a fridge and compare to the stuff most of us take for granted these days, the gap in power consumption is massive. Will Joe Public cut back? No, TV's are so cheap you can have one in each bedroom, PC's, laptops and smart phones in many houses and often left on at the same time. I don't know the answer. My main UK house dates from 1803, thick stone walls, I've insulated, double glazed etc but its still a power drain if I'm honest.

Maybe its time for the UK to look at new housing stock on a massive scale (no idea where the funding will come from), look to places like Norway and Sweden for ideas for the new homes.
As I said before, a wide geographical dispersement combined with pumped-hydro storage (using "spare" wind power to pump water into resevoirs and then later using this water to turn turbines when we need more power - we have 2 of these in the UK already) negates the intermittency issue.

Wind turbines not turning is not an issue in a well designed system.

Nuclear Power is both more carbon intensive than most people think, has a limited supply of fuel that many countries will be vying for and has the issues of decommissioning and spent fuel storage - both of which often end-up costing the tax payer a lot more.

I agree regarding energy efficiency (and water efficiency for that matter) - we should be mandating the higher standards and not just having the power rating scheme. We should also incentivise home insulation by tax-breaks.
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Old Dec 30th 2011, 6:26 pm
  #38  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by Cape Blue
As I said before, a wide geographical dispersement combined with pumped-hydro storage (using "spare" wind power to pump water into resevoirs and then later using this water to turn turbines when we need more power - we have 2 of these in the UK already) negates the intermittency issue.

Wind turbines not turning is not an issue in a well designed system.

Nuclear Power is both more carbon intensive than most people think, has a limited supply of fuel that many countries will be vying for and has the issues of decommissioning and spent fuel storage - both of which often end-up costing the tax payer a lot more.

I agree regarding energy efficiency (and water efficiency for that matter) - we should be mandating the higher standards and not just having the power rating scheme. We should also incentivise home insulation by tax-breaks.
Where you propose making the reservoirs ? Lots of talk about carbon foot print etc but how about the land lost to pamper to the shortcomings of wind power? There is a lot of nonsense talked about spent fuel storage, tends to get blown out of proportion to the reality and while the fuel source is finite there is enough for decades to come by which time other consumption issues will be addressed and hopefully fusion power will be a reality.

Thankfully the government are cutting back on solar panel subsidies in the UK which at best give mediocre performance and at worse are of little value to the punter but does line the pockets of 'green energy' companies.

In years to come the early part of this century will be seen as a folly pampering to tree huggers/save the birds et al brigades and governments incapable of making what some see as tough decisions to solve the immediate energy crisis.

Peter who started this thread is in with a flying chance of cutting back on his energy needs and I love that, but we should be looking country wide.
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Old Dec 30th 2011, 7:26 pm
  #39  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by tex_ritter
Where you propose making the reservoirs ? Lots of talk about carbon foot print etc but how about the land lost to pamper to the shortcomings of wind power? There is a lot of nonsense talked about spent fuel storage, tends to get blown out of proportion to the reality and while the fuel source is finite there is enough for decades to come by which time other consumption issues will be addressed and hopefully fusion power will be a reality.

Thankfully the government are cutting back on solar panel subsidies in the UK which at best give mediocre performance and at worse are of little value to the punter but does line the pockets of 'green energy' companies.

In years to come the early part of this century will be seen as a folly pampering to tree huggers/save the birds et al brigades and governments incapable of making what some see as tough decisions to solve the immediate energy crisis.

Peter who started this thread is in with a flying chance of cutting back on his energy needs and I love that, but we should be looking country wide.
sorry guys. the discussion , although very interesting is not about ecobuilding in spain or even windfarms in spain. cannot really contribute as no plans for wind power on my plot either cause not enough puff. i started a thread on hot water solar panels [ so as to not be confused with PV panel thread] so a new thread on wind power is quite ok with me....
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Old Dec 31st 2011, 12:33 am
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Sorry chap, my fault.
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Old Jan 20th 2012, 6:00 pm
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by peterni
hola everyone
guess who is a newbie. can i start a thread about eco building and related issues as i have started a reform of cortico with minimal concrete. Am using hemcrete, SIPs, insulation with cellulose & hemp, solar water thermalstor, engineered joists etc.
Spain seems a long way behind UK in ecobuilding so having to import some stuff; need to know like minded expats or spaniards who have or intend to go this route to find well priced spanish sources and bounce ideas around.
located near cuevas del almanzora. not big @ 260m2 single storey
anyone out there?
Hi Peter, we are about to embark on an Eco build. I can see that the Spanish are getting into this in a big way and I am going to try to make contact with some straw bale house builders here in Alicante. Also very interested in the earthships concept.

If you like we can email each other?

Sam
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Old Jan 20th 2012, 6:01 pm
  #42  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by Sam Orange
Hi Peter, we are about to embark on an Eco build. I can see that the Spanish are getting into this in a big way and I am going to try to make contact with some straw bale house builders here in Alicante. Also very interested in the earthships concept.

If you like we can email each other?

Sam
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Old Jan 22nd 2012, 4:36 pm
  #43  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

hi sam. been offline for a spell. good sense to keep in touch as i have been researching various resources and can even ship hard to find stuff from UK.
you are probably better serviced around alicante for ecoproducts though.
Will be passing thro' ali aeropuerto on the 5th and have several hours spare before i get the bus.
use [email protected] to communicate
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Old Jan 22nd 2012, 7:11 pm
  #44  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by peterni
sorry guys. the discussion , although very interesting is not about ecobuilding in spain or even windfarms in spain. cannot really contribute as no plans for wind power on my plot either cause not enough puff. i started a thread on hot water solar panels [ so as to not be confused with PV panel thread] so a new thread on wind power is quite ok with me....
Hi Peterni don't be put off. But there aren't even many self-builders here in Spain, let alone ecobuilders. I'm a selfbuilder but not an ecobuilder though I'd like to be. I've just built a concrete box in a village (looks like a house ) I wanted to use yeso to render it but couldn't handle it myself and so we were forced to use concrete render as well. However I'll be following any ecobuild threads that go up as we're off grid for water and planning solar underfloor heating with either woodburning or pellet stove backup. Incidentally we're also growing some of our own food. And just about to start cheesemaking! We're struggling financially but have already put the underfloor tubes in on the upper floor, which is our main living area, and screeded over ready for when we can afford the next bit. Good luck with your build and don't be too put off by the lack of interest in these things you'll find on here. There are a few of us ... Just not many. People do confuse PV and hotwater systems. Since heating is important in Spain in the higher areas it's a significant use of gas or electricity. And a significant comfort factor. Plus lots of people calculate the payback time on UK outputs and on pre 'crisis' electricity and gas prices.
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Old Jan 22nd 2012, 9:12 pm
  #45  
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Default Re: eco building in spain

Originally Posted by Sam Orange
Hi Peter, we are about to embark on an Eco build. I can see that the Spanish are getting into this in a big way and I am going to try to make contact with some straw bale house builders here in Alicante. Also very interested in the earthships concept.

If you like we can email each other?

Sam
sounds like you are starting with a clean slate. we bought an old cortico/finca that had been got at by a brit but the work to get it right has grown like topsy.
consequently we are not as eco as you will be.
its quite a learning curve that has dribbled away some of the precious money.
have no idea how the 'authorities' will react for your permissions. have you tackled that one yet?
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