Cost of living crisis.

[yorkie1999]

7 minutes ago, kenny said:

I'm just surprised that we think we can generate sunshine.

We're probably going to burn more fosil fuels manufacturing and creating solar panels and wind turbines and installing them than if we didn't bother in the first place...for a few hundred years.

[leicsmac]

9 minutes ago, kenny said:

I'm just surprised that we think we can generate sunshine.

Does anyone think that?

 

Rather, some folks (me included) think that we can improve the solar panel tech to the degree that it will make reasonably optimal use of the sunshine that the UK does have.

 

Of course, it's not a solution entirely by itself but it's part of the jigsaw and I don't get the seeming dismissiveness.

 

1 minute ago, yorkie1999 said:

We're probably going to burn more fosil fuels manufacturing and creating solar panels and wind turbines and installing them than if we didn't bother in the first place...for a few hundred years.

 

Solar panel and wind turbine tech over lifetime use is already superior in terms of carbon emissions to fossil fuels.

 

The only problem is intermittency, which as you have pointed out before can be addressed with improved storage tech.

[kenny]

5 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Does anyone think that?

 

Rather, some folks (me included) think that we can improve the solar panel tech to the degree that it will make reasonably optimal use of the sunshine that the UK does have.

 

Of course, it's not a solution entirely by itself but it's part of the jigsaw and I don't get the seeming dismissiveness.

 

 

Solar panel and wind turbine tech over lifetime use is already superior in terms of carbon emissions to fossil fuels.

 

The only problem is intermittency, which as you have pointed out before can be addressed with improved storage tech.

I agree with this. I just don't believe we have the sunshine resource for it to be worthwhile.

 

Its also worse in winter when we need more electricity.

 

They are good because people can see them and think they make a difference. 

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, kenny said:

I agree with this. I just don't believe we have the sunshine resource for it to be worthwhile.

 

Its also worse in winter when we need more electricity.

 

They are good because people can see them and think they make a difference. 

Well, I'm convinced enough about their being part of the solution that it's worth taking the chance on how they develop.

 

I guess only time will tell there, though.

[kenny]

3 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Well, I'm convinced enough about their being part of the solution that it's worth taking the chance on how they develop.

 

I guess only time will tell there, though.

Guess so. They are certainly the least imaginative solution.

 

I would be investing heavily into tidal and geothermal.

 

Possibly a few more subsidies towards home solar panels as it helps the grid by generating at source. Otherwise we are going to be no better off than we are now in 20 years.

[MPH]

2 hours ago, leicsmac said:

Quite right.

 

I really don't get the fatalism here.

 

well the interesting thing is, if  in light of recent events you are somewhat of the opinion that energy independence is important and yet you don’t have your own oil reserves then you produce your own energy , right?. Or even if you don’t care about that and you are more concerned  about the environment, then you  produce clean energy . So really all roads point to nations producing their own clean energy.

 

 

I have always been nervous about relying on nuclear energy. With cyber warfare being seen as an increasingly effective tool as well as espionage sabotage seemingly in full flow, I don’t think we have seen the last damaged nuclear reactor. Needless to say but a  sabotaged wind farm would be  highly inconvenient but a sabotaged nuclear  power plant and resulting reactor meltdown in the UK would be catastrophic.  I wouldn’t put it past China or Russia to try and bring a country down from the inside.

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, MPH said:

 

well the interesting thing is, if  in light of recent events you are somewhat of the opinion that energy independence is important and yet you don’t have your own oil reserves then you produce your own energy , right?. Or even if you don’t care about that and you are more concerned  about the environment, then you  produce clean energy . So really all roads point to nations producing their own clean energy.

 

 

I have always been nervous about relying on nuclear energy. With cyber warfare being seen as an increasingly effective tool as well as espionage sabotage seemingly in full flow, I don’t think we have seen the last damaged nuclear reactor. Needless to say but a  sabotaged wind farm would be  highly inconvenient but a sabotaged nuclear  power plant and resulting reactor meltdown in the UK would be catastrophic.  I wouldn’t put it past China or Russia to try and bring a country down from the inside.

Yeah, it's a reasonably logical conclusion.

 

WRT fission power, I can understand the reticence, but tech has advanced an awful lot in the last couple of decades in terms of defence against both natural and malicious events. Speaking personally I wouldn't put it past *any* major power to attempt the shenanigans you state here, however getting a reactor to meltdown Chernobyl-style is not something one can do with a keyboard and I don't think it ever was - knock offline, yes, meltdown, no. Of course, there is always the danger of more direct explosive strikes against a plant, but then more recent designs are well hardened against those too, both in terms of construction and function.

 

Yes, safety when it comes to such things needs to be the absolute priority, but I think the designs available now are safe enough to be included in future energy planning, especially as they are one of the more effective ways of getting us away from fossil fuels reasonably quickly.

[blabyboy]

17 hours ago, leicsmac said:

Yeah, it's a reasonably logical conclusion.

 

WRT fission power, I can understand the reticence, but tech has advanced an awful lot in the last couple of decades in terms of defence against both natural and malicious events. Speaking personally I wouldn't put it past *any* major power to attempt the shenanigans you state here, however getting a reactor to meltdown Chernobyl-style is not something one can do with a keyboard and I don't think it ever was - knock offline, yes, meltdown, no. Of course, there is always the danger of more direct explosive strikes against a plant, but then more recent designs are well hardened against those too, both in terms of construction and function.

 

Yes, safety when it comes to such things needs to be the absolute priority, but I think the designs available now are safe enough to be included in future energy planning, especially as they are one of the more effective ways of getting us away from fossil fuels reasonably quickly.

We have no homegrown nuclear plant engineers anymore, it will take a generation to get that back. We went from being a leader of nuclear generation in the 50s to now needing Chinese money and plans. Not easy to turn around.

 

Many of the blades and components of wind generators are made in China too, we won't be cutting away anytime soon.

[leicsmac]

25 minutes ago, blabyboy said:

We have no homegrown nuclear plant engineers anymore, it will take a generation to get that back. We went from being a leader of nuclear generation in the 50s to now needing Chinese money and plans. Not easy to turn around.

 

Many of the blades and components of wind generators are made in China too, we won't be cutting away anytime soon.

Well, hopefully in the spirit of international collaboration the UK will be able to source the minds and tech from elsewhere alongside developing their own, then.

 

What's coming really shouldn't be a matter of geopolitics, it will get to everyone. Of course, there are those who think they might be able to ride out the storm. They are (in all likelihood) wrong.

[Leicester_Loyal]

We 100% need to go green in the next few years, but asking people who barely have much money left at the end of the month to install 3k solar panels, or buy a 30k electric car, or install a new 15k boiler just isn't going to happen.

 

Probably should have spent some of the 37 billion on renewable energies rather than track and trace...

[leicsmac]

49 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

We 100% need to go green in the next few years, but asking people who barely have much money left at the end of the month to install 3k solar panels, or buy a 30k electric car, or install a new 15k boiler just isn't going to happen.

 

Probably should have spent some of the 37 billion on renewable energies rather than track and trace...

Yep. Laissez-faire isn't going to cut it here for exactly that reason.

 

Government intervention to make it appealing and affordable is a necessity.

[Legend_in_blue]

Mmmmm... aged well.

 

[weller54]

42 minutes ago, Legend_in_blue said:

Mmmmm... aged well.

 

Couldn't the government just temporarily divert the £350,000,000 a week its giving the NHS (as a benefit of Brexit) into helping with the energy crisis?.. 😎

Edited 3 April 2022 by weller54

[Dahnsouff]

Well, the plunge has been taken and we have a ASHP fitted in a couple of weeks. I am now overcome with buyers remorse...  

[Free Falling Foxes]

Yet again on the local news, they've spoken to a morbidly obese woman who complains she is struggling to feed her children.

[fuchsntf]

On 02/04/2022 at 01:38, Col city fan said:

This won’t happen of course because the world is the most hypocritical now that I’ve personally ever known it

Bollox to all this ‘community spirit’ nonsense, self preservation has become pretty much the be-all and end-all

People will say it hasn’t but it’s all talk, driven by social media 

Then why have kids & go to work....Isnt it having Hope that drives us & Feeds our aspirations...

I have seen,experienced lived & Worked where the Populus aspirations & inspirations have driven their Hope just to survive, collect food & simple Ware to

Put a Wall & Roof around them....

 

we allowed politicians & modern businessmen, break up our communities, we argue /vote in the West over These Political parties where they are so far up their

own  arses they are not in the Position to even create decent platforms for Allround education, Nor Medicine & health...Europe has become like USA, only money

Talks so only plastic selfish societies can be built...I actually naivily thought Europe with its various nations & news found freedoms, & ex-colony- new  nations in Africa,S.America,Asia would find that balance that help to forge Civilizations socially forward...

 

 After WWII we again were building & developing, we created & Believed in the Community idea....Then That tiny minority misused abused, their positions.

we looked at the failing of others for excuse & blame, & denied we were also nothing better  than a group of banana-republics ourselves..

We find solice & Security at laughing at others. We in UK created the marvellous NHS, then allowed Big-mouths to Pull it down, & Softly dismantle it, by delibrately

over-administrating it..Then tell us its not working...Just so moneymakers could take a large  piece of the action...that patients, who are customers are being Left with nothing viable..Schools who cant educate, NHS- Medical platforms who cant  give the basic routine Health care or routines.I

 

 But spite the Putins & just has bad Our Own leaders...& Too powerful businessmen..Stock-exchange who allow Stockholders to earn more from the Business

than the qualified, or grafting workers who help, develope, create what the Business sells...So called experts that bring down successful businesses.

That we have governments who are Happy to Murder their own & neighbours on a simple whim  of discontent...

 

Its the natural Desire for our kids, that I do believe Drives the thought that gives us ...that Hope burns eternal..

If we decide or give Power to an asshole(s) that can destroy their own kind, then Nature & our own nature has decided

we are no longer worth to be charges of this planet....Without us , nature will Just carry on, on its own course.

 

[Jon the Hat]

On 02/04/2022 at 23:32, MPH said:

I have always been nervous about relying on nuclear energy. With cyber warfare being seen as an increasingly effective tool as well as espionage sabotage seemingly in full flow, I don’t think we have seen the last damaged nuclear reactor. Needless to say but a  sabotaged wind farm would be  highly inconvenient but a sabotaged nuclear  power plant and resulting reactor meltdown in the UK would be catastrophic.  I wouldn’t put it past China or Russia to try and bring a country down from the inside.

Nuclear reactors are designed not to melt down these days.  Even hacked ones.  What to do with the waste is a more important consideration in the long term.

[leicsmac]

56 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Nuclear reactors are designed not to melt down these days.  Even hacked ones.  What to do with the waste is a more important consideration in the long term.

Yep. And fast breeder reactors help out a lot with the waste issue.

[Jon the Hat]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

Yep. And fast breeder reactors help out a lot with the waste issue.

Nuclear is so clearly part of the solution.  Its good the UK pushed ahead with their plans.  Shame Germany took apart theirs to commit to Nordstream 1&2.

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, Jon the Hat said:

Nuclear is so clearly part of the solution.  Its good the UK pushed ahead with their plans.  Shame Germany took apart theirs to commit to Nordstream 1&2.

It's just unfortunate that a one in a billion freak earthquake event happened to happen near a 40 year old reactor using outdated tech and that one event made everyone lose their collective shit.

 

Because, you know, death by radiation is scarier than death by black lung, starvation, thirst etc even if the incidences of it are far lower. 

 

Of course, it *is* scary,  but the fear isn't exactly rational.

[ozleicester]

I was too young and wasnt in the UK at the time... but I seem to remember hearing stories of the change over of "Town Gas"... can anyone who was around for it explain... did the government pay for the change over costs, new appliances etc?

Surely all it takes is for the government to fund change to green energy?

[Dahnsouff]

https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-great-switch-lessons-from-when-14-million-homes-and-businesses-changed-fuel-in-less-than-a-decade/

 

Was a big job! Yes it would be worse now, 14 million homes then, 29 million now.

[foxes21]

On 09/03/2022 at 23:42, GingerrrFox said:

People won’t want to hear it but the issue is Capitalism. The whole idea of a “Trickle down economy” is bollocks, companies want to maintain profit margins and the individuals who hold vast amounts of wealth want to maintain it. Those lower down the food chain have continuously been squeezed for years now and it’s fast becoming unsustainable. 

Well there is a new system govts around the world are planning to introduce, including the UK (0).

 

Central Bank Digital Currency (1) will allow them to insert programmable smart contracts through the API into the banking systems digital wallet, to stop you from participating in activities that are deemed 'socially harmful' eg: buying too much oil. I wonder if the elite class will suffer from the same restrictions and be forced to stop flying around in their private jets . The issue here is who gets to deem what is socially harmful?

 

The World Government Summit 2022 covered the new digital financial system at their recent think tank a couple weeks ago. They seem pretty certain a new financial system is upon us (2) (3). 

 

This is the Chinese social credit score system on steroids, as they will also be able to stop people from accessing the system all together if these pre-programmed contracts aren't met. Couple it with Digital ID (4) (5) (which our govt have already invested £4.8m in, given to Deloitte) and good luck accessing public services if your digital id isn't up to date with the latest regulation.

 

It will be a rule for thee not for me system like no other and whilst we're making all these sacrifices to save the planet and track our carbon, the CEOs, billionaires, royals, politicians and most powerful amongst us will continue to pollute and do as they please. Meanwhile, we will be at the mercy of this new financial system.

 

 

 

 

References:

 

(0) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

 
 

 

 

Edited 8 April 2022 by foxes21

[The Year Of The Fox]

Just been speaking to the Baxi boiler rep in a plumbing merchants. 
 

He was telling me that the government are going to be imposing fines on boiler manufacturers who fail to sell a certain amount of ASHP by 2028.

 

Even the rep was saying they’re a load of bollocks 😂😂

[blabyboy]

On 14/04/2022 at 09:07, The Year Of The Fox said:

Just been speaking to the Baxi boiler rep in a plumbing merchants. 
 

He was telling me that the government are going to be imposing fines on boiler manufacturers who fail to sell a certain amount of ASHP by 2028.

 

Even the rep was saying they’re a load of bollocks 😂😂

A rep for a gas boiler manufacturers decrying ASHP... . Who'd a thunk it?!