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UtILItY WEEK | 31st OCtOBEr - 6th NOvEmBEr 2014 | 5 A pilot scheme that uses cooking oil to generate power and prevent sewers becoming blocked is being extended by Yorkshire Water. The water company is looking to more than double the size of the "fat vat" scheme, which has been running in Bradford since March. A total of 85 residents in the Bradford Moor area are signed up to the initiative, which asks people to collect used cooking oil in 5 litre containers rather than pour it down the drain. Since then, more than 500 litres of used cooking oil have been collected and converted into biofuel and the area, which suffered more than 80 sewer block- ages in the previous five years, has been blockage free. Yorkshire Water is now looking to expand the project to another 50 houses on nearby Byron Street. Duncan Woodhead, network protection techni- cian at Yorkshire Water, said: "The response from the local community to this trial has been excellent and people really do understand the difference they can make by changing their behaviour. "We've been delighted with the amount of liquid we've managed to collect already and are looking for- ward to offering this [service] to more people." WatEr Yorkshire Water extends 'fat vat' pilot The Department of Energy and Climate Change and Ofgem on 28 October released their annual Statutory Security of Supply Report, highlighting the changing capacity mix over the past three years. The graphic, right, shows a steady decrease in the share of coal-fired power capacity from 2012 to 2013 and 2014, while gas and nuclear generation capacity has remained relatively steady. At the same time, healthy gains have been seen in wind and biomass power capacity. For more on the UK's generation mix for this winter, see p28. Coal-fired capacity shows steady decline 2012 2013 2014 Gas Interconnector Coal Nuclear Oil> Pumped storage Wind Hydro Biomass The Scottish Royal Brackla Distillery is the latest to benefit from a £5 million funding scheme announced earlier this year by the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) and the Equitix Energy Efficiency fund. The fund will replace existing oil boilers with a biomass boiler. The distillery expects to save 5,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually, while improving energy efficiency by as much as 50 per cent. GIB chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin said: "I am delighted that we are able to help another distillery to save money and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. These projects have been structured so that the distilleries can start saving money from day one and don't need to find the capital up front." 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 23% The European Union's energy and environment policies will add an average of 23 per cent to energy bills, according to think tank Open Europe. 500,000+ More than half a million consumers every year could be missing out on compensation owed to them by their energy supplier, according to Labour Transmission-connected capacity, by generation technology, 2012, 2013, 2014 GW Source: National Grid