The main benefit of the refurbishment of the urban fabric is a substantial saving in embodied carbon, but a new building can benefit from lower carbon emissions in operation.. Bryden Wood has carried out a detailed WLCA analysis of a light-tough refurbishment, full refurbishment and new construction for a commercial building based on benchmark from LETI and RIBA in order to understand which option is less carbon intensive after 60 years.
This makes sense as over.investing in larger scale, when the potential returns are low.
would be hugely detrimental.. May be the middle ground is more representative of the real situation.that companies face,.though in reality there is a mix.
This graph paints the picture that scale has.The model does not consider that smaller scale can be made more efficient through step changes in automation which are already being developed.
it does not account for the fact that making a larger number of repeat units itself leverages economies of scale and the unit price for small scale could well reduce over time.
This is the dream of new nuclear, where the aim is that smaller multiple units will deliver both a time and cost improvement..But in a way that is not the point either; because if you aren’t 100% sure you can realise this renewables-only portfolio, then as time is so short, failing to look into energy portfolios that include nuclear would be both unwise and irresponsible.
We won’t have time for a second chance at getting this right..The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that a considerable proportion of our energy production should come from nuclear; and that the nuclear energy capability needs to be increased significantly (up to sixfold) if we are to curb global warming sufficiently to avoid the worst scenarios.. 7.
Given the scale and urgency of the decarbonisation challenge, we need to look carefully at the evidence about the impact and likelihood of the undesirable elements of nuclear power, and the evidence around the effects of continuing to rely on fossil fuels (more specifically the future of coal).We should not simply pit nuclear against renewables; nuclear and renewable energy technologies will have to work alongside each other.
(Editor: Portable Baby Monitors)