Another Ban on the way?

[Phil Pascoe]

I doubt that doctors in the 1800 could tell the difference between TB and Lung Cancer.

Yet the tide goes in and out regardless.

But tidal systems are phenomenally expensive to install and maintain, that's why there are only a couple of large ones in operation. There are also lulls in output at high and low tides so still need an alternative.

 

[Katomi woodsmith]

Wood burning and other waste
Years ago I was on a welding job, the fatory has some sort of electrostatic system that took pollutants out of the smoke/whatever
We now have fans that use heat to power then on wood burning stoves.
Maybe it’s time for someone who know how and what to combine technology both old and new

 

[selectortone]

Wood stoves suit some circumstances and situations, but not all.

I'm surprised to see you advocating wood stoves. Burning wood just doesn't seem very environmentally friendly to me. I asked Google "Is burning wood polluting?" and got pages and pages saying it is bad for the environment and bad for your health.

 

[Sideways]

I'd maybe have a little sympathy for the environmental sustainability of wood burners (in any setting, but especially domestic) if the fuel had to be grown first instead of burnt first and trusting promises to be kept for 10 ? 20 ? 50 ? years afterwards to ensure it's replaced.
If it doesn't get replaced, it can't possibly be environmentally sustainable. Ask the world's forests.

 

[artie]

It's good to talk, I know, but all this because 100 doctors supposedly expressed an opinion to the government.
It's just clickbait.
It's not so long since people were being paid to burn wood pellets whether needed or not. The more you burned, the more you got paid.

No talk of pollution.

 

[Jacob]

I'm surprised to see you advocating wood stoves. Burning wood just doesn't seem very environmentally friendly to me. I asked Google "Is burning wood polluting?" and got pages and pages saying it is bad for the environment and bad for your health.

I know I know!
But they say not good in urban environment but OK where population thinner.
Also there are ways of running it cleaner - dry wood essential and faster burn i.e. hotter, no slow "log burning" but faster burn with small stuff.
Good insulated flue needed for good draw and faster start up.
Pricey, but cheap to buy and install compared to heat pumps etc. Heat pumps also means electricity dependent, and technically complexity means maintenance needed and unreliable.
Can be run on waste wood - saw dust, offcuts etc. i.e carbon zero (it's already out there and might as well go up your chimney rather than landfill)
Sustainable source? Should be nowadays so have to check as far as poss. Local suppliers OK as there is a lot of new and maintained growth all over the place.
Can be cooked on if it has a flat top.
When the climate change **** hits the fan we may find ourselves off the grid for periods of time and all other heat sources not available.
So I've talked myself into it!

 

[Jacob]

I'd maybe have a little sympathy for the environmental sustainability of wood burners (in any setting, but especially domestic) if the fuel had to be grown first instead of burnt first and trusting promises to be kept for 10 ? 20 ? 50 ? years afterwards to ensure it's replaced.
If it doesn't get replaced, it can't possibly be environmentally sustainable. Ask the world's forests.

Most deforestation is down to farming, especially meat https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail...-almost-90-percent-of-global-deforestation/en
European timber supplies are nearly all "sustained" - no virgin forest, all planted. It's been that way for 100s of years!

 

[Jacob]

I'd maybe have a little sympathy for the environmental sustainability of wood burners (in any setting, but especially domestic) if the fuel had to be grown first instead of burnt first and trusting promises to be kept for 10 ? 20 ? 50 ? years afterwards to ensure it's replaced.
If it doesn't get replaced, it can't possibly be environmentally sustainable. Ask the world's forests.

People don't cut a tree and then pop off and plant another one. Sustainable forestry is all farmed with virtually zero virgin forest involved.

 

[Amplidyne]

There are ~30m vehicles in the UK. By the time gas turbines are decommissioned most will be replaced by EVs each of which will have a capacity of averagely 60kwh.

If all were fully charged and vehicle to grid (V2G) capable, they would provide 1800gW - enough to power the UK for for 60 hours at 30gW per hour.

I know this is glass half full stuff - but assuming just 25% of the potential would be 15 hours.

I expect gas turbines to be decommissioned as they age over the next 20-30 years, and nuclear capacity is planned to provide 24GW by 2050 (pigs might fly!!)

Statistical analysis of weather and demand can estimate the probability of a power deficit in adverse conditions. Extremes which fall outside a probable worst case will need a contingency plan to selectively and sensibly load shed.

The alternative is costly - maintaining a power supply under the most improbable circumstances. A balance needs to be struck - as is the case with gas at the moment where storage covers only ~7.5 days during winter. A failure in gas supply network would leave UK without power within 2 weeks.

I'll believe it when I see it. The "the cars will power us" argument always seems like picking yourself up in two buckets to me.
You have to put in to get out.
I still reckon that one way or another, all these so called "green" technologies are more about generating subsidies for the owners than genuine "save the world" benefits. Same with EVs that we have been sold as a "solution".

I reckon at sometime we're going to be left sitting in the cold and dark. We're too reliant on other countries. A bad mistake IMHO.

 

[Billy_wizz]

Gas ovens dry food out, that's why they're uncommon in commercial kitchens.

Interesting! Given burning gas produces water I'd of expected the opposite to be true

 

[Jacob]

I'll believe it when I see it. The "the cars will power us" argument always seems like picking yourself up in two buckets to me.
You have to put in to get out.
I still reckon that one way or another, all these so called "green" technologies are more about generating subsidies for the owners than genuine "save the world" benefits. Same with EVs that we have been sold as a "solution".

I reckon at sometime we're going to be left sitting in the cold and dark. We're too reliant on other countries. A bad mistake IMHO.

It's a neat futuristic sci fi idea though. I like it! A sort of electric beehive of interconnected activity.
I reckon the days of the private car are nearly over. Dramatic scenes on Spanish streets - one of the biggest causes of climate change being swept away before our eyes!
This is the future one way or another, not necessarily quite so explicitly.
All the talk about cars is about toys for boys and saving the motor industry, not the planet. Science fiction!

 

[Amplidyne]

It's a neat futuristic sci fi idea though. I like it! A sort of electric beehive of activity.
I reckon the days of the private car are nearly over. Dramatic scenes on Spanish streets - one of the biggest causes of climate change being swept away before our eyes!
All the talk is about toys for boys and saving the motor industry, not the planet.

I like the idea, I just can't see it as a real solution. It's too neat somehow. There's a catch somewhere.
And like you, I reckon that the days of the private car are numbered.
Not in my time now, but sometime in the not far distant future.
Self driving taxis perhaps?

 

[Jacob]

......A failure in gas supply network would leave UK without power within 2 weeks.

A mains electricity failure can hit in minutes and completely disable all high-tech sustainable energy usage - heating, communications, EVs....end of civilisation as we know it, temporarily one hopes!
I least I'll be able to fry something and keep warm with my wood-stove!

 

[Spectric]

Yet the tide goes in and out regardless.

and we seem to ignore that fact tidal energy could be a huge source of power but instead we have windfarms at sea which Ok are better than on land.

The guys who recently fitted our woodburner are fully booked till 2026 and 2024 was one of there busiest years. Also it seems the manufacturers are shifting a fair few as well. They are a much cheaper option than solar panels or GSHP so you can see why people go for them.

 

[Vulcan]

Interesting! Given burning gas produces water I'd of expected the opposite to be true

Yes, that’s what I thought.

 

[Vulcan]

I'm surprised to see you advocating wood stoves. Burning wood just doesn't seem very environmentally friendly to me. I asked Google "Is burning wood polluting?" and got pages and pages saying it is bad for the environment and bad for your health.

It is.

 

[Scruples]

Wood burning is carbon neutral if from sustained sources or wood waste. Every woodworker should have one, if they aren't living in a densely populated area.
There'll be plenty of wood waste around when we enter the impending scrap-iron age!
I do think heat pumps etc are extremely high/complicated tech, and will fail early in a crisis, if not sooner.
Low-tech insulation should be top of the agenda and not vulnerable.

And the CO², abd the poluting effect of smoke?

 

[Scruples]

I'll believe it when I see it. The "the cars will power us" argument always seems like picking yourself up in two buckets to me.
You have to put in to get out.
I still reckon that one way or another, all these so called "green" technologies are more about generating subsidies for the owners than genuine "save the world" benefits. Same with EVs that we have been sold as a "solution".

I reckon at sometime we're going to be left sitting in the cold and dark. We're too reliant on other countries. A bad mistake IMHO.

The Chinese don't think so. They lead he world in Solar energy equipment and solar power.

 

[RobinBHM]

Providing that the wind is blowing or the sun is out otherwise start your generator.

Intermittency is not a valid argument against renewables .it is a trope pushed by the fossil fuel lobby.


https://medium.abundanceinvestment.com/the-myth-of-renewable-energy-intermittency-51d3c4991dff

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The Chinese don't think so. They lead he world in Solar energy equipment and solar power.

And opening new coal mines etc.