Burgess COMMENTARY
This is a start ... there are hundreds of other terms that have emerged and serve little more than to make the sustainability agenda less accessible to the mainstream of society.

In due course, we shall prepare a comprehensive glossary of terms related to everything that TrueValueMetrics considers to be of importance for state, progress and performance of our society and its ecosystem
Peter Burgess

PARITY, PAYBACKS AND PV: A GUIDE TO ECO JARGON

... MATT CHITTOCK'S 20 MUST-KNOW TERMS FOR RENEWABLES NEWBIES. Renewable energy is now a big part of the economy in its own right. The UK low carbon sector was last year worth £107 billion.

But it is also still relatively new, and comes with a whole language of its own: one you might want to learn, especially before investing in it. 'LIKE FEEDING YOUR CHILD WHEATGERM INSTEAD OF MCDONALDS'

Air-source heat pumps. Bringing heat from the outside in. These absorb heat from the air and use it to heat radiators, underfloor heating systems, or warm air convectors inside your home. It is important that your home is well-insulated and draught-proofed if they are to be effective.

Anaerobic Digestion. Turns waste into something useful by starving it of oxygen. A commercially-used method for producing energy from organic matter like food scraps, garden rubbish and low grade paper.

When organic waste is sent to landfill it creates harmful greenhouse gases. However, when composted in an oxygen-free environment it releases biogas, which can be used to generate heat and electricity.

Technically possible for an organisation to become 'zero waste' through use of AD. Supermarkets and microbreweries are natural candidates. Our Grandparents would be proud.

Biomass energy. Biomass (not to be confused with biogas, above) energy is what is created when living (or recently living) organic matter like straw or wood – or even poultry litter - is burnt or fermented. It currently accounts for 85 per cent of the UK's renewable energy supply.

Climate Change Levy. A tax charged on energy use for industry, commerce and the public sector in the UK. Companies can claim up to a 65 per cent discount on the tax by meeting government targets for energy efficiency – including by investing in renewable energy. This provides a strong incentive for companies to invest in reducing their carbon emissions or contribute to a wider reduction.

Digestate. A by-product of the anaerobic digestion process, alongside biogas. This residue, which can be solid or liquid, is used as a nutrient-rich soil fertiliser – one of the reasons that the AD process is often popular in agricultural communities across the world.

Feed-in Tariffs (FITs). Like feeding your children wheatgerm instead of McDonalds, only refers to feeding 'good' renewable energy into the grid instead of 'bad' fossil fuel-produced energy.

Controversial because it is the mechanism by which ordinary households are forcibly charged for renewable energy production, via their energy provider, even if they don't use it.

The scheme is designed to kickstart renewable energy production in the UK. Projects generating renewable energy are paid FITs for the power they create.

Tariffs are index-linked and rise with inflation. They were highest when the market was nascent and the technology most expensive, but are reviewed and reduce down on a quarterly basis, in line with new installation levels.

The idea is that as the industry gets to scale, costs come down and less subsidy is needed. The FIT is paid by the energy companies, which pass it on to their consumers. It costs the average household about £25 a year.

Geothermal energy. Literally getting into hot water, traditional geothermal systems exploit naturally-occurring underground reservoirs of steam by tapping into them and running the steam through a turbine to generate electricity; reservoirs of hot water can also be developed in the same way by first vaporising the water, creating an effect a bit like the hot springs you see in David Attenborough documentaries.

Grid parity. When renewable energy does a Manchester City and reaches a level playing field, it is, more accurately, the moment when renewable energy sources can generate electricity at a cost that is the same or less than the cost of buying electricity from the grid that is being generated by fossil fuel resources. It's generally considered that a widespread shift to renewable energy will take place once these forms of energy generation reach grid parity, without subsidy.

Ground-source heat pumps. Systems which amplify natural warmth found just below the earth's surface and use it to heat buildings. The heat is harnessed by either underground pipes or a series of boreholes, and can be reversed to operate as an energy-efficient cooling system.

Hydroelectricity. The power generated by harnessing the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. ‘Hydro'electricity is the most widespread renewable energy source in the world today, accounting for 16 per cent of global electricity production, although the construction of dams for hydro-power is often controversial. Small-scale hydro is a growing sector, with incentives available for those who want to generate electricity from rivers or streams on their properties. They even have special routes back up the river for fish.

Kilowatts (kW) and Kilowatt hours (kWh). Kilowatts are the standard measure of electrical power normally used to rate the effectiveness of renewable energy sources. Whereas Kilowatt hours is the volume of energy used, e.g. The Energy Saving Trust estimates an average three-bedroom house uses over 3,000 kWhrs a year – around the annual power generated by a 4 kW solar system.

Megawatts (MW or MWh). A megawatt is the equivalent of a million watts of power. According to The Energy Saving Trust leaving electrical appliances on standby uses the equivalent power of two and a half 700 MW power stations annually.

Micro-generation Certification Scheme (MCS). The MCS is a standard of assurance, set up by Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), for governing the installation of often small-scale renewable energy systems used by homes, workplaces and communities. The scheme guarantees the quality of the installation process as well as the equipment itself and unless your installation is registered by an MCS approved installer, you won't get the feed in tariff.

Payback period. The length of time before an investment (such as renewable energy) recovers its initial cost. This can be complicated to work out for renewable power – since calculations have to include fluctuating energy prices and the cost savings for businesses and households of generating sustainable power. It is a reasonably simple way of looking at return on investment.

PV solar systems. Renewable energy systems that use photovoltaic (PV) cells to convert sunlight into power. Each cell is made from material that conducts electricity when light shines on it. Thankfully for the cloud-covered UK, they can still generate some electricity on a cloudy day, but the more sun shines, and the closer to South they face, the more power is created.

Renewable energy. A catch-all term that covers energy generated from any source that is replenished by nature such as wind, water, sun, tides or biomass. Often referred to as ‘green', ‘clean' or ‘sustainable' energy, the Government has committed to sourcing 35-40 per cent of the UK's electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Scotland has already hit 35 per cent and is now aiming for 50 per cent.

Retrofitting. Not kitting your house in G-Plan furniture, but retrospectively making improvements to existing homes and offices to boost energy efficiency, from improving loft insulation to adding solar panels. Nearly half (45 per cent) of the UK's carbon emissions are generated by buildings. And of course there are many more existing buildings that there are new builds.

Solar water heating. (aka Solar Thermal) A way to use naturally occurring thermal energy from the sun to heat water. This is achieved by passing water through a system which soaks up solar energy. Like platform shoes or prawn cocktail, it has been around since the 70s.. When working properly, a solar water heating system can supply up to 60 per cent of a building's hot water.

The Renewables Obligation. A Government initiative launched in 2002 obliging electricity suppliers to source a specified proportion of their energy from renewable sources. The target proportion rises each year and suppliers are fined if they fail to meet the Government's target. Those fines are then paid to those suppliers that did meet targets, so there is a double incentive. Renewables Obligations Certificates can be claimed by anyone who installs renewable energy, as an alternative to FITs, and sold to the highest bidder.