The energy sector, particularly the niche focusing on renewable energy, is critical for society. Even before prominent green technologies were supported globally, innovators in this space pushed the needle forward with their out-of-the-box thinking. Peter Prior entered this space when it was in its infancy. After graduating from secondary school, Peter experimented with farming. He was a farmhand for several months before he realized that the industry didn’t offer strong financial opportunities.
As a nature and history enthusiast, Peter felt drawn to join his father's gravel company. Although he joined because he needed income, Peter quickly improved his skills in many areas. In a short period, he was overseeing business operations, giving him experience in solving management problems. As Peter continued working for the company, he developed an interest in renewable energy sources. He supported scaling down fossil fuel use and saving these resources for future generations to avoid harming the environment. Many others realized that this shift away from the use of fossil fuels was needed, but not much action was being taken.
With a desire to make a difference, Peter began investigating new methods for efficient energy use. Some of these projects were successful, and others were learning opportunities. Throughout his struggles to find novel methods of doing things, Peter stayed optimistic. He strongly believed that ingenuity was the foundation of all sectors and that energy needed people like him to explore cost-effective solutions.
Over the years, Peter has been involved in several areas of resource recovery, including the exploitation of landfill gas for the production of electricity, the supply of wood pellets as a heat source, anaerobic digestion of food waste, and hydrogen production. The civil services intend to assist the transition from traditional fossil fuels to alternative energy production but have not been open to advice from all sources about better ways of achieving that end.
“As someone who has been involved in the renewables business pretty much from the start, I am concerned about the industry’s current development,” says Peter. “Many basic untruths are pursued often because of corporate interests, resulting from collusion between corporations and government departments. Government departments believe the big companies as they rely on them for expert knowledge, and the big companies put a lot of work into persuading civil service that the policies that suit them will provide the outcomes that are best for the population. This is a frustrating cycle of a ‘bigger is better’ mentality even though these energy solutions can cost taxpayers and consumers more money.”
Peter reflects with frustration on his experiences in the renewable energy sector, thus far. Despite the hurdles he has faced along the way, he enjoyed turning challenges into opportunities for progress and reward. Peter will continue to bring innovative solutions to renewable energy across the UK. “ Renewables could have contributed to replacing fossil fuels more effectively and at less cost to the consumer if more enlightened policies had been adopted by the government,” states Peter, “The government should start re-examining their policies now, and thereby reduce costs to consumers and taxpayers and improve U.K. energy security’.
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