Thursday:
I am DELIGHTED to hear Mr Clogg's latest plans for ENERGY INDEPENDENCE.
He was off to visit a wind farm to see how it can be done and he pledged an Apollo Project for renewable energy: kind of appropriate to mention the Sun God when Solar Power has got to be up there in the mix!
Regular readers will know that it is the sort of thing I blather on about ALL THE TIME. That is because I think that apart from being jolly sensible in itself, it is a good way to sell the benefits of GREEN ENERGY to those people who are sceptical about the environment but can see the ECONOMIC advantage in not getting clobbered by the energy companies. Basically, Conservatories.
Listening to Mr Clogg on the The Today Programme show, I thought that he was very good EXCEPT for the one question that he ducked, which was about cars.
Now, fair enough, he was on there to talk about plans for generating electrical energy from renewable sources, and it really was a case of the interviewer either totally missing the point or DELIBERATELY missing the point, but actually you CAN answer this one as well.
The first and most obvious thing to say is "One step at a time, Sarah. First we want to deal with securing our domestic power generation in a way that is sustainable and independent."
But you can go further than that. When SERIOUS car companies like MERCEDES are saying that they will phase out producing petrol cars by as soon as 2015 then you CAN say: "but the next step is to look at moving to clean fuel for cars, with technology making advances in areas like hydrogen fuel cells and electric vehicles."
Now, I know that using electric power for cars means we will need a lot MORE electricity than just what we use at the moment. But the thing is we have GOT the capacity – great big open spaces called "The North Sea" and "The Atlantic Ocean" – that is perfect for wind power and wave power.
Green IS going to be the technology for the next generation (assuming that civilisation doesn't accidentally end because the oil runs out too soon or because Prince Vlad and the Monkey-in-Chief get into a "Whose Missiles are Bigger" contest!), and the Germans are already forging ahead.
We need to get into the game if we're to have a bright future.
Showing posts with label Energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Energy. Show all posts
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Day 2770: A Nuclear Non
Friday:
Well, it’s not EVERY day that you get to see the Government’s energy policy AND environment policy both implode before breakfast.
We ARE going to need extra generating capacity if we’re to avoid the lights going out; we’ll need it NOT to be more fossil-fuel-based plants if we are to meet our Kyoto targets. But really, the whole idea that we could flog off British (Radioactive) Energy to the French and get them to build us the infrastructure on the cheap is just TYPICAL of this Government, particularly Mr Frown and his ENRON-ACCOUNTING PPP (or Pay Pounds Perpetually) schemes.
Ironically, the deal also failed because in their keenness to do GOOD deal for EDF, the Labour Government forgot that selling to France at below the market rate also toasted the private sector who said that the deal was off unless they got a fair price – including for the taxpayer!
But do we REALLY want to be handing over control of YET ANOTHER energy industry to another country? From moving to a position where the country could supply its own energy needs, through coal and North Sea oil and gas, we have allowed ourselves to drift into a state where we are at the WHIM of foreign corporations and governments and WILDLY fluctuating international prices.
We already have HUGE increases in the cost of energy, hitting the poorest hardest – and worse, it’s disproportionately harder because of the way they are excluded from cheaper deals like Direct Debit payment!
The Government should be taking RESPONSIBILITY for guaranteeing future supply.
And now, it would appear, that the Government has abrogated its duty AGAIN, and wants not only to inflict atomic power plants on us, but to inflict atomic power plants on us that are under the control of FRANCE!
If you WANT new generating capacity – and we do – just go and BUILD IT. For personal preference, I would rather build a dozen windmill farms, but if you MUST make atomic power stations then just MAKE them rather than insisting on doing something stupid and then trying to get some other fellow to do it for you. On the cheap.
Well, it’s not EVERY day that you get to see the Government’s energy policy AND environment policy both implode before breakfast.
We ARE going to need extra generating capacity if we’re to avoid the lights going out; we’ll need it NOT to be more fossil-fuel-based plants if we are to meet our Kyoto targets. But really, the whole idea that we could flog off British (Radioactive) Energy to the French and get them to build us the infrastructure on the cheap is just TYPICAL of this Government, particularly Mr Frown and his ENRON-ACCOUNTING PPP (or Pay Pounds Perpetually) schemes.
Ironically, the deal also failed because in their keenness to do GOOD deal for EDF, the Labour Government forgot that selling to France at below the market rate also toasted the private sector who said that the deal was off unless they got a fair price – including for the taxpayer!
But do we REALLY want to be handing over control of YET ANOTHER energy industry to another country? From moving to a position where the country could supply its own energy needs, through coal and North Sea oil and gas, we have allowed ourselves to drift into a state where we are at the WHIM of foreign corporations and governments and WILDLY fluctuating international prices.
We already have HUGE increases in the cost of energy, hitting the poorest hardest – and worse, it’s disproportionately harder because of the way they are excluded from cheaper deals like Direct Debit payment!
The Government should be taking RESPONSIBILITY for guaranteeing future supply.
And now, it would appear, that the Government has abrogated its duty AGAIN, and wants not only to inflict atomic power plants on us, but to inflict atomic power plants on us that are under the control of FRANCE!
If you WANT new generating capacity – and we do – just go and BUILD IT. For personal preference, I would rather build a dozen windmill farms, but if you MUST make atomic power stations then just MAKE them rather than insisting on doing something stupid and then trying to get some other fellow to do it for you. On the cheap.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Day 2698: Oil Shock Shock: Highest Price Ever… Until Next Time!
Wednesday:
You do realise that oil is just going to keep getting more expensive, don't you?
That's not necessarily to say that EVERY price change will be an increase, and at the moment the price is being driven up as much by a BUBBLE as demand: all those futures traders who think that buying oil is a one way bet… because they were SOOO right about mortgages being a one way bet, weren't they!
Bit with the emergence of CHINA and INDIA as nascent economic superpowers, there are more and more people wanting the stuff and only a FINITE supply. I mean there's a LOT of oil down there at the moment but it's going to be all used up EVENTUALLY.
Obviously it's not JUST the Chinese fault; it's not like we in the West haven't been guzzling the stuff like it's custard. And the rapid growth of low cost air travel has seen a huge demand for aviation fuel.
Of course, Great Britain gets hit harder by this because, apparently having learnedall about oil shocks in the nineteen-seventies, we STILL rely on importing most of our food and energy. As crazy ideas go, this is pretty tops.
Watching the "Supersizers" on the telly the other night, we learned how during World War Part II, when all our supplies were getting sunk, we had nothing to eat but Woolton Pie, which is basically boiled potatoes baked in a potato crust garnished with potatoes. Civil War was only averted by the defeat of Mr Hitler.
But this is where we are heading once again if we don't get our thinking caps on and come up with a solution to the oil running out.
I'm sure you'll never get BORED of me telling you about WINDMILLS and HYDROGEN, but just for VARIETY I'll try a different tack: LASERS.
Fusion energy is either the great white hope of the world or a great white elephant. Either way, I LOVE IT!
Fusion is the way that the SUN makes energy out of Hydrogen by smashing atoms of H together until they turn into He, Helium. And because 2 H's are a little bit heavier than one He and E, as old Albert said, = mc2 then you get ENERGY as a bonus.
(Because "E" means "Energy" and "= mc2" means energy is proportional to heaviness. Or in other words you can turn a bit of weight into a bit – or quite a LOT – of energy.)
In olden days (the nineteen-eighties) people thought that you had to use a lot of magnets and a torus which is a sort of doughnut. You take all the jam out of the doughnut and put in the fuel then spin it round very, very fast and it gets so hot that it turns into a star-in-a-bottle.
Now there is a new and modern method.
You take a blob of fuel and fire a super-duper LASER at it to heat it up to the temperature of the Sun and start the fusion going that way.
Yes, that IS what Doctor Octopus does in "Spider-man 2"; why are you all backing slowly away?
You do realise that oil is just going to keep getting more expensive, don't you?
That's not necessarily to say that EVERY price change will be an increase, and at the moment the price is being driven up as much by a BUBBLE as demand: all those futures traders who think that buying oil is a one way bet… because they were SOOO right about mortgages being a one way bet, weren't they!
Bit with the emergence of CHINA and INDIA as nascent economic superpowers, there are more and more people wanting the stuff and only a FINITE supply. I mean there's a LOT of oil down there at the moment but it's going to be all used up EVENTUALLY.
Obviously it's not JUST the Chinese fault; it's not like we in the West haven't been guzzling the stuff like it's custard. And the rapid growth of low cost air travel has seen a huge demand for aviation fuel.
Of course, Great Britain gets hit harder by this because, apparently having learned
Watching the "Supersizers" on the telly the other night, we learned how during World War Part II, when all our supplies were getting sunk, we had nothing to eat but Woolton Pie, which is basically boiled potatoes baked in a potato crust garnished with potatoes. Civil War was only averted by the defeat of Mr Hitler.
But this is where we are heading once again if we don't get our thinking caps on and come up with a solution to the oil running out.
I'm sure you'll never get BORED of me telling you about WINDMILLS and HYDROGEN, but just for VARIETY I'll try a different tack: LASERS.
Fusion energy is either the great white hope of the world or a great white elephant. Either way, I LOVE IT!
Fusion is the way that the SUN makes energy out of Hydrogen by smashing atoms of H together until they turn into He, Helium. And because 2 H's are a little bit heavier than one He and E, as old Albert said, = mc2 then you get ENERGY as a bonus.
(Because "E" means "Energy" and "= mc2" means energy is proportional to heaviness. Or in other words you can turn a bit of weight into a bit – or quite a LOT – of energy.)
In olden days (the nineteen-eighties) people thought that you had to use a lot of magnets and a torus which is a sort of doughnut. You take all the jam out of the doughnut and put in the fuel then spin it round very, very fast and it gets so hot that it turns into a star-in-a-bottle.
Now there is a new and modern method.
You take a blob of fuel and fire a super-duper LASER at it to heat it up to the temperature of the Sun and start the fusion going that way.
Yes, that IS what Doctor Octopus does in "Spider-man 2"; why are you all backing slowly away?
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Day 2565: Nuke Labour New Danger
Thursday:
The bright hope of the sixties that turned into a frightening nightmare relic of enormous expenses overruns and imminent danger of meltdown: it can only mean… fuchsia-finished old fraud, Mr Peter Vain!
Oh no, sorry it's the return of Nuclear Power.
What MOST turns me off the Nuclear Industry – yes, even MORE than the thought of becoming a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK toy! – is the way that their ADVOCATES cannot seem to control their TELLING of FIBS.
A typical one is the "you cannot rely on renewables – the wind doesn’t blow all the time" meme that they trot out.
It seems so SELF-EVIDENT, doesn't it? Sometimes the wind is blowing and sometimes it is not. And yet, it would really be ASTONISHINGLY UNLIKELY if the wind stopped EVERYWHERE at once. It is a case of making sure that you have windmill farms in SEVERAL places so that there are always some catching the breeze.
Though of course, there are parts of the country where the wind RARELY falls, particularly out at sea – funnily enough this is how SAILING SHIPS work and we seem to have found THOSE fairly reliable over the centuries.
Even MORE outrageous was the suggestion one of their mealy mouthed apologists offered on News 24: "oh well, Tidal Barrage only works twice a day".
Er, NO. It works as the tide goes in and then goes into reverse and works AGAIN as the tide goes out. ALL the way in and ALL the way out. And then all the way in and all the way out AGAIN (twice a day, you see).
A little learning is a DANGEROUS THING, said the Sainted Oscar, and you can see why: you think you know a LITTLE about something and then RADIOACTIVE MAN and chums come along and FOOL YOU!
They want you to believe that Nuclear has a TRACK RECORD – well yes, it has a track record of promising "energy too cheap to meter" and then delivering tons of deadly toxic waste that lasts forever and oops sorry no more cash, the government will have to clean it up. How can we POSSIBLY believe promises that the private sector will properly dispose of waste that will literally last longer than humans have been on this Earth?
And while we're at it, just what IS the annual carbon footprint of safely storing this crud? Because multiply THAT by a million years and factor it into your calculations before claiming that Nuclear Power is GREEN.
Meanwhile, the government is threatening to take away MP's right to vote on their own pay.
Typical NuLabour thinking: oh, some people do not like this thing; it must be up to US to order it changed!
It seems Ms Harriet Harpy does not believe that MPs can be TRUSTED with the responsibility.
Well, maybe they CAN and maybe they CAN'T but it is the VOTERS who get to decide on their MPs performances. The MPs are there to keep charge of the government, NOT the other way around, no matter what bossy Ms Harpy might think – and yes, they are NOT very good at it, are they. But just imagine how much worse they will be if their salary depends on being compliant with her.
Well, maybe they CAN and maybe they CAN'T but it is the VOTERS who get to decide on their MPs performances. The MPs are there to keep charge of the government, NOT the other way around, no matter what bossy Ms Harpy might think – and yes, they are NOT very good at it, are they. But just imagine how much worse they will be if their salary depends on being compliant with her.
The bright hope of the sixties that turned into a frightening nightmare relic of enormous expenses overruns and imminent danger of meltdown: it can only mean… fuchsia-finished old fraud, Mr Peter Vain!
Oh no, sorry it's the return of Nuclear Power.
What MOST turns me off the Nuclear Industry – yes, even MORE than the thought of becoming a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK toy! – is the way that their ADVOCATES cannot seem to control their TELLING of FIBS.
A typical one is the "you cannot rely on renewables – the wind doesn’t blow all the time" meme that they trot out.
It seems so SELF-EVIDENT, doesn't it? Sometimes the wind is blowing and sometimes it is not. And yet, it would really be ASTONISHINGLY UNLIKELY if the wind stopped EVERYWHERE at once. It is a case of making sure that you have windmill farms in SEVERAL places so that there are always some catching the breeze.
Though of course, there are parts of the country where the wind RARELY falls, particularly out at sea – funnily enough this is how SAILING SHIPS work and we seem to have found THOSE fairly reliable over the centuries.
Even MORE outrageous was the suggestion one of their mealy mouthed apologists offered on News 24: "oh well, Tidal Barrage only works twice a day".
Er, NO. It works as the tide goes in and then goes into reverse and works AGAIN as the tide goes out. ALL the way in and ALL the way out. And then all the way in and all the way out AGAIN (twice a day, you see).
A little learning is a DANGEROUS THING, said the Sainted Oscar, and you can see why: you think you know a LITTLE about something and then RADIOACTIVE MAN and chums come along and FOOL YOU!
They want you to believe that Nuclear has a TRACK RECORD – well yes, it has a track record of promising "energy too cheap to meter" and then delivering tons of deadly toxic waste that lasts forever and oops sorry no more cash, the government will have to clean it up. How can we POSSIBLY believe promises that the private sector will properly dispose of waste that will literally last longer than humans have been on this Earth?
And while we're at it, just what IS the annual carbon footprint of safely storing this crud? Because multiply THAT by a million years and factor it into your calculations before claiming that Nuclear Power is GREEN.
Meanwhile, the government is threatening to take away MP's right to vote on their own pay.
Typical NuLabour thinking: oh, some people do not like this thing; it must be up to US to order it changed!
It seems Ms Harriet Harpy does not believe that MPs can be TRUSTED with the responsibility.
Well, maybe they CAN and maybe they CAN'T but it is the VOTERS who get to decide on their MPs performances. The MPs are there to keep charge of the government, NOT the other way around, no matter what bossy Ms Harpy might think – and yes, they are NOT very good at it, are they. But just imagine how much worse they will be if their salary depends on being compliant with her.
Well, maybe they CAN and maybe they CAN'T but it is the VOTERS who get to decide on their MPs performances. The MPs are there to keep charge of the government, NOT the other way around, no matter what bossy Ms Harpy might think – and yes, they are NOT very good at it, are they. But just imagine how much worse they will be if their salary depends on being compliant with her.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Day 2558: Old King Coal
Wednesday:
Conservatory controlled Medway Council in Kent have voted in favour of a new COAL POWERED electricity station.
Coal is BAD because it produces the GREENHOUSE GAS Carbon Dioxide when burned. But things are a little more complicated than just "Coal: Bad".
The electric company, E.On, are promising that they will be REPLACING an existing coal station with a new, more efficient, less polluting one. Which sounds good, doesn't it? And, they say, they will be using the very latest in "Carbon Capture technology" further to reduce the climate change impact. So that is nice, isn't it?
Or is it?
Simply comparing the – hypothetical – better carbon emissions from the new plant to the old one sounds good, but it is not really the very best way of planning. For starters, you should do a PROPER calculation of the Carbon Footprint that involves adding in all the Carbon Dioxide that will be released by the process of BUILDING the new power station (and presumably demolishing the old one), add up the emissions over the plant's expected working life and then see if they are any better than keeping as you are.
But, more importantly, you should ask yourself: what are the ALTERNATIVES? The new coal plant MAY WELL be better than the old one, but is it cleaner than a nice WINDMILL FARM?
And how much do the promised "better emissions" rely upon as yet unproven carbon capture and storage processes?
I would also like to know where this proposed coal is to come from. Believe it or not, despite having billions of tonnes of coal reserves underneath our island, Great Britain nowadays IMPORTS the vast majority of the coal that we use for generating power. This, it seems to me, adds a whole load of extra carbon footprints to the TRAIL of GUILT! What is more, the coal that we import is often more SULPHUROUS than the stuff we dig up at home, meaning that it is worse for making ACID RAIN and other non-greenhouse pollution.
Of course, there are PRACTICALITIES involved here. A coal-fired station may well be QUICKER to build and CLOSER to where it is needed (though not THAT much closer than the Thames Array in the estuary that the Kingsnorth station will overlook). The company has an obligation to maintain the supply of electricity and at a reasonable cost. At the moment the financial incentive is on CHEAPER power, with the environment as at best a concern for the PR office. That is why there should be a proper CARBON TAX to rebalance the decision in favour of the most environmentally friendly option.
Anyway, "greening up" our fossil fuel based power generation can only be, at best, a STOP GAP solution while we get on a build a Hydrogen Economy. Even if it wasn't halfway to roasting the planet, coal – like gas and oil – is a FINITE resource that will run out. Sticking the CO2 back at the bottom of the sea is NOT going to magically replenish the oil reserves! The possibility of mopping up the CO2 by artificially triggering ALGAL BLOOMS (like the one that took place in the Silurian Period!) may do more HARM than good! It may even be "blooming stupid".
We need to think about LONG TERM SUSTAINABILITY as well as SHORT TERM PROFITS.
This would be Britain's first new coal powered station in thirty years. I think that this needs a LOT more thought.
Conservatory controlled Medway Council in Kent have voted in favour of a new COAL POWERED electricity station.
Coal is BAD because it produces the GREENHOUSE GAS Carbon Dioxide when burned. But things are a little more complicated than just "Coal: Bad".
The electric company, E.On, are promising that they will be REPLACING an existing coal station with a new, more efficient, less polluting one. Which sounds good, doesn't it? And, they say, they will be using the very latest in "Carbon Capture technology" further to reduce the climate change impact. So that is nice, isn't it?
Or is it?
Simply comparing the – hypothetical – better carbon emissions from the new plant to the old one sounds good, but it is not really the very best way of planning. For starters, you should do a PROPER calculation of the Carbon Footprint that involves adding in all the Carbon Dioxide that will be released by the process of BUILDING the new power station (and presumably demolishing the old one), add up the emissions over the plant's expected working life and then see if they are any better than keeping as you are.
But, more importantly, you should ask yourself: what are the ALTERNATIVES? The new coal plant MAY WELL be better than the old one, but is it cleaner than a nice WINDMILL FARM?
And how much do the promised "better emissions" rely upon as yet unproven carbon capture and storage processes?
I would also like to know where this proposed coal is to come from. Believe it or not, despite having billions of tonnes of coal reserves underneath our island, Great Britain nowadays IMPORTS the vast majority of the coal that we use for generating power. This, it seems to me, adds a whole load of extra carbon footprints to the TRAIL of GUILT! What is more, the coal that we import is often more SULPHUROUS than the stuff we dig up at home, meaning that it is worse for making ACID RAIN and other non-greenhouse pollution.
Of course, there are PRACTICALITIES involved here. A coal-fired station may well be QUICKER to build and CLOSER to where it is needed (though not THAT much closer than the Thames Array in the estuary that the Kingsnorth station will overlook). The company has an obligation to maintain the supply of electricity and at a reasonable cost. At the moment the financial incentive is on CHEAPER power, with the environment as at best a concern for the PR office. That is why there should be a proper CARBON TAX to rebalance the decision in favour of the most environmentally friendly option.
Anyway, "greening up" our fossil fuel based power generation can only be, at best, a STOP GAP solution while we get on a build a Hydrogen Economy. Even if it wasn't halfway to roasting the planet, coal – like gas and oil – is a FINITE resource that will run out. Sticking the CO2 back at the bottom of the sea is NOT going to magically replenish the oil reserves! The possibility of mopping up the CO2 by artificially triggering ALGAL BLOOMS (like the one that took place in the Silurian Period!) may do more HARM than good! It may even be "blooming stupid".
We need to think about LONG TERM SUSTAINABILITY as well as SHORT TERM PROFITS.
This would be Britain's first new coal powered station in thirty years. I think that this needs a LOT more thought.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Day 2534: Coast
Sunday:
Excellent News! The Government has agreed to the building of thousands of new windmill farms to really make use of the offshore winds.
People say: "but this will change our coast FOREVER!"
Yes, true – but the alternative is to allow GLOBAL WARMING to melt the icecaps, raise the sea level by twenty metres and change the coast forever ANYWAY!
Excellent News! The Government has agreed to the building of thousands of new windmill farms to really make use of the offshore winds.
People say: "but this will change our coast FOREVER!"
Yes, true – but the alternative is to allow GLOBAL WARMING to melt the icecaps, raise the sea level by twenty metres and change the coast forever ANYWAY!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Day 2353: Waving Not Drowning
Monday:
Okay, Daddy Richard CHEATED this week and skipped two of my diaries! This was very BAD.
On the other fluffy foot, I WAS very keen to tell you about Lord Blairimort’s speech, er, tomorrow.
I will make him use his TIMEY-WIMEY powers to fix thislater earlier!
Meanwhile, here is a nice story about green energy and some swinging wavey things.
Okay, Daddy Richard CHEATED this week and skipped two of my diaries! This was very BAD.
On the other fluffy foot, I WAS very keen to tell you about Lord Blairimort’s speech, er, tomorrow.
I will make him use his TIMEY-WIMEY powers to fix this
Meanwhile, here is a nice story about green energy and some swinging wavey things.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Day 2248: MILLENNIUM'S MANIFESTO: Green Power – It's The Future
Monday:
Mr Tristan asks – with some justification – that I make sure that my plan is for PROPER green power, not just power stations painted green!
He is RIGHT.
We should stop being all DOOM MONGERS too. We do not want people to be put off!
The ability to take advantage of naturally renewed sources of energy shouldn't be a burden heaped upon us by the fear of climate change, but the most exciting new opportunity in a hundred years!
We should seize this opportunity right now to get a head start on THE industry of the new millennium.
We need to have a plan that will lead the world and transform the way we make our power.
This means both direct government investment in some of the really big projects, and also using the tax system to give people incentives to go green. Yes, that means skewing the market a bit – tilting the table towards our favoured outcome.
People can get too excited about things like CARBON CAPTURE – which is one way of painting our current power stations green – but that is really just burying the problem. Literally. It is a very typical solution – hide the problem somewhere a long way away and hope it disappears. Like building taller chimneys for clean air or dumping sewage further out at sea for clean beaches, it is a problem that will come back to haunt us in the end.
Instead, the twenty-first century is when it all has to change – the industrial revolution was the CARBON revolution, the age of power from coal and oil. We have to leave the carbon economy behind now, and start a new revolution, a HYDROGEN revolution, generating power no longer from finite resources but from elemental powers of the wind and the sun.
People's main complaints about wind power are that the wind doesn't always blow when you want the power; the machinery is expensive and not as efficient as comparable conventional power stations; and they are an ugly blight on the landscape.
In the first place, the wind is not nearly so unpredictable as people suggest, particularly at sea, and anyway the answer is obvious: storage.
Storage: 1 large scale - Hydroelectric
As for the aesthetic argument… Anyone who has seen a field of majestic wind turbines turning on the horizon must realise that they are far more attractive than the alternative. No, I don't mean a nuclear power station, hideous dangerous concrete cubes though they are, I mean huddling around a candle in the dark because President Putin is in a bad mood with us this week and has turned the gas taps off.
But there are large parts of the Earth where that isn't true, particularly Saharan regions of North Africa, and – especially if global warming carries on – much of Southern Europe.
Looking to create partnerships for investment in those countries where sunlight is abundant should be a top priority, enabling them to turn unproductive land into a valuable "cash crop" of electricity.
Work and trade have always been the Liberal answer to poverty around the world – and it works! Access to the markets of the European Union has transformed the likes of Spain and Greece not just into vibrant modern economies but also free, open, democratic societies, and is already having the same effects in Poland and the Baltic.
A fair trade means both sides benefit, and means that we have an investment in supporting each other. Rather than seeking to barricade out the people of Africa, we should be giving them the opportunity to make their own countries as rich and free as we are in Europe. Africa should be the richest continent in the world, not the poorest.
And diversifying our suppliers of energy has got to be good for security too – if one breaks down, then not only do we have a back-up but hopefully they can help each other too. And strengthening the ties of trade and support between different countries helps with another sort of security too.
Entrenched poverty is a breeding ground for the terrorists who plague our world; limited resources make it easy for dictatorships to control those resources. We can give people the opportunities to get themselves out of poverty, rather than relying on our handouts forever. It is the "give a man a fish/teach a man to fish" principle on a larger scale.
We should not forget all of the things that we can do personally and locally, from low-energy light bulbs to recycling to improving cycle paths.
Now go and put some GREEN ACTION on a Focus Leaflet!
Mr Tristan asks – with some justification – that I make sure that my plan is for PROPER green power, not just power stations painted green!
He is RIGHT.
We should stop being all DOOM MONGERS too. We do not want people to be put off!
The ability to take advantage of naturally renewed sources of energy shouldn't be a burden heaped upon us by the fear of climate change, but the most exciting new opportunity in a hundred years!
We should seize this opportunity right now to get a head start on THE industry of the new millennium.
We need to have a plan that will lead the world and transform the way we make our power.
This means both direct government investment in some of the really big projects, and also using the tax system to give people incentives to go green. Yes, that means skewing the market a bit – tilting the table towards our favoured outcome.
People can get too excited about things like CARBON CAPTURE – which is one way of painting our current power stations green – but that is really just burying the problem. Literally. It is a very typical solution – hide the problem somewhere a long way away and hope it disappears. Like building taller chimneys for clean air or dumping sewage further out at sea for clean beaches, it is a problem that will come back to haunt us in the end.
Instead, the twenty-first century is when it all has to change – the industrial revolution was the CARBON revolution, the age of power from coal and oil. We have to leave the carbon economy behind now, and start a new revolution, a HYDROGEN revolution, generating power no longer from finite resources but from elemental powers of the wind and the sun.
WIND POWER
Britain is exceptionally lucky in that we are amply provided with open windy landscapes and seas well able to support extensive wind farming. Why should we even be thinking about buying in gas from Russia or nuclear power from France when we have it within our grasp to generate limitless free clean green electricity?People's main complaints about wind power are that the wind doesn't always blow when you want the power; the machinery is expensive and not as efficient as comparable conventional power stations; and they are an ugly blight on the landscape.
In the first place, the wind is not nearly so unpredictable as people suggest, particularly at sea, and anyway the answer is obvious: storage.
Storage: 1 large scale - Hydroelectric
- Use off-peak electricity to pump water up to higher reservoirs where it can quickly be released to drive turbines to create extra power for additional demand at peak times, like Dinowig Power Station, Llanberis, Wales.
These are huge scale projects, requiring government investment, but the rewards in jobs and energy security will last for lifetimes. There are plenty of mountains in Wales and Scotland where additional energy reservoirs could be built, with the additional benefit of seeing the government invest in the regions.
- Use platforms floating out at sea, no longer to mine for oil but to gather wind energy and use it to split sea water into oxygen and hydrogen.
Liquid Hydrogen is no more dangerous than the petrol that we use at the moment, and when used in a hydrogen fuel cell (or even just burnt) gives off clean water as the only by-product. (It doesn't even use up extra oxygen, because you released an equivalent amount of oxygen when you made the hydrogen in the first place!)
Hydrogen powered cars already exist and even if they are not yet as efficient or convenient as conventional petrol driven ones it can only be a matter of time and investment. We need to make hydrogen refuelling available with the convenience of petrol refuelling so that people who want to buy hydrogen cars will have that choice. Once we have overcome the "barrier to entry" of the hydrogen car it will compete with the petrol car and then the market will drive the industry to produce better more efficient models.
And remember, if we are making OUR OWN Hydrogen in the North Sea, then we aren't paying a fortune for our petrol to some barely post mediaeval Middle Eastern dictatorship in the middle of the Monkey-in-Chief's war zone.
As for the aesthetic argument… Anyone who has seen a field of majestic wind turbines turning on the horizon must realise that they are far more attractive than the alternative. No, I don't mean a nuclear power station, hideous dangerous concrete cubes though they are, I mean huddling around a candle in the dark because President Putin is in a bad mood with us this week and has turned the gas taps off.
SUN POWER
While modern solar cells are so much more efficient that it makes investment in micro-generation a serious possibility for houses up and down the country, we have to admit we just don't get enough sunshine in Britain to make large scale solar generation worthwhile.But there are large parts of the Earth where that isn't true, particularly Saharan regions of North Africa, and – especially if global warming carries on – much of Southern Europe.
Looking to create partnerships for investment in those countries where sunlight is abundant should be a top priority, enabling them to turn unproductive land into a valuable "cash crop" of electricity.
Work and trade have always been the Liberal answer to poverty around the world – and it works! Access to the markets of the European Union has transformed the likes of Spain and Greece not just into vibrant modern economies but also free, open, democratic societies, and is already having the same effects in Poland and the Baltic.
A fair trade means both sides benefit, and means that we have an investment in supporting each other. Rather than seeking to barricade out the people of Africa, we should be giving them the opportunity to make their own countries as rich and free as we are in Europe. Africa should be the richest continent in the world, not the poorest.
And diversifying our suppliers of energy has got to be good for security too – if one breaks down, then not only do we have a back-up but hopefully they can help each other too. And strengthening the ties of trade and support between different countries helps with another sort of security too.
Entrenched poverty is a breeding ground for the terrorists who plague our world; limited resources make it easy for dictatorships to control those resources. We can give people the opportunities to get themselves out of poverty, rather than relying on our handouts forever. It is the "give a man a fish/teach a man to fish" principle on a larger scale.
PEDAL POWER
These should be by no means the limit of our green policies. These are "big ticket" items, eye-catching initiatives to get people excited and get people thinking, they are "what is a Liberal Democrat Government for" answers.We should not forget all of the things that we can do personally and locally, from low-energy light bulbs to recycling to improving cycle paths.
Now go and put some GREEN ACTION on a Focus Leaflet!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Day 2237: "Something has gone clearly and radically wrong"
Thursday:
Not, it has to be said, entirely the BEST words to hear when you are discussing ATOMIC REACTORS!
The people from GREENSLEEVES have been to Court in order to call Lord Blairimort to account. Obviously, Lord Blairimort was found GUILTY.
This goes back to last year when Lord Blairimort announced a FULL CONSULTATION into whether we should build new nuclear powered terrorist targets all over the country or whether there might be something a bit cleaner, greener, safer and cheaper that we could do instead.
"Right… we're going to have these power stations. You lot… talk amongst yourselves," said Lord Blairimort, speaking at the start of the consultation. "I'm a busy man. Important haircut, radioactive glint in the eyes, melanoma cast to the skin."
Funnily enough, the judge thought that maybe… just maybe… Lord Blairimort DIDN'T ENTIRELY MEAN IT when he said it would be a proper discussion.
The judge has discovered that the government – you will be SHOCKED – did not give FULL information to the people on the consultation! In fact, they were asked to choose between:
A: pure atomic energy from this lovely shiny completely 100% safe, guaranteed by Lord Blairimort's personal word of honour, sparkling (no, that IS safe) nuclear reactor
Or
B: methane from this cow farting in a tent
Fortunately, our LISTENING PM has ENTIRELY taken on board the judge's criticism.
"Look…" he said, "I told you… last time. We're having these power stations… now you can go and do it all again… but you might as well… go whistle."
Good news for all those people voting on Lord Blairimort's CLICKBOX then!
Of course, things have moved along a little bit since last year: it is not only the atomic reactors that are in danger of MELTDOWN! It ought to be clear to the soon to be ex-Prime Minister that he will have a harder time railroading this through a second time with Mr Frown waiting in the wings and probably a good bit less keen on starting his own Premiership with RADIATION on his hands.
"My… ahhh… decision to… ahhh… axe Lord Blairimort's… ahhh… plan is entirely… ahhh… entirely down to the… ahhh… ex-pensive, imm-prudent and indeed… ahhh… ex-horbitant nature of these… ahhh… atomic deathtraps and… ahhh… nothing to do with… ahhh… kneeing him personally in the… ahhh…" as he might say.
Fortunately, there is BETTER NEWS to be had from the world of POWER, with the announcement that the plan to build one-hundred and eighty one GIANT WINDMILLS on the Isle of Lewis has been given the go-ahead.
(And a larger ALCOHOL powered power station will be built on the nearby Isle of Morse! Sorry!)
These 181 wind turbines should be able to generate up to 543 MWe of electricity – or 375,000 houses worth of electricity.
In comparison, a single modern nuclear power station produces between 600 and 1200 MWe – 400,000 to 800,000 houses worth.
Ah ha, say the sceptics, but the wind does not blow all the time! True, but neither do you have to turn it off in a hurry to avoid the CHINA SYNDROME. You may not have noticed this, but we actually get quite a LOT of wind in this country – especially in north Scotland – and it almost never ever stops blowing EVERYWHERE in the country at once. And – handily – it blows MORE in winter, when it is cold and people turn on their electric blankets more.
I am a big fan of windmills!
I know they are not to everybody's tastes. Some people prefer the gentle blue glow of a large concrete cube as it merrily IRRADIATES the local children, but I think that windmills look very LOVELY turning majestically against the horizon. Thonking the occasional passing seagull out of the sky.
Okay, SORRY, yes they do kill a few birds – but only about one or two a year per windmill. More than ten MILLION birds a year get killed by flying into someone's CAR – windmills don't do for NEARLY so many; we are hardly likely to build FIVE MILLION windmills, now are we?
(Not least because that would be enough to power the ENTIRE COUNTRY more than a HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY times over!)
I am particularly CHARMED that the two other complaints raised against wind farms are
It is even said that offshore windfarms might interfere with the nation's RADAR DEFENCE! Well, yes… if you assume that there IS an enemy capable of mounting an air attack on us any more AND that they are mad enough to fly their aircraft THROUGH a field of windmills! (see complaint 2 above!)
On the other fluffy foot, wind power is CLEAN, ABUNDANT, RELIABLE and AFFORDABLE. And it works! Oh, it also creates lots of new jobs (not just in construction) and at the end of their life they can be quickly and easily taken to pieces again. And they are popular – people LOVE windmills.
Saving the world can be FUN!
Still, if you don't think THAT is going to work, there will always be some other POTTY scheme along in a minute. Like THIS plan, clearly inspired by too much KATE BUSH, to float ocean going CLOUD MAKING YACHTS.
You couldn't make this stuff up, you know.
Not, it has to be said, entirely the BEST words to hear when you are discussing ATOMIC REACTORS!
The people from GREENSLEEVES have been to Court in order to call Lord Blairimort to account. Obviously, Lord Blairimort was found GUILTY.
This goes back to last year when Lord Blairimort announced a FULL CONSULTATION into whether we should build new nuclear powered terrorist targets all over the country or whether there might be something a bit cleaner, greener, safer and cheaper that we could do instead.
"Right… we're going to have these power stations. You lot… talk amongst yourselves," said Lord Blairimort, speaking at the start of the consultation. "I'm a busy man. Important haircut, radioactive glint in the eyes, melanoma cast to the skin."
Funnily enough, the judge thought that maybe… just maybe… Lord Blairimort DIDN'T ENTIRELY MEAN IT when he said it would be a proper discussion.
The judge has discovered that the government – you will be SHOCKED – did not give FULL information to the people on the consultation! In fact, they were asked to choose between:
A: pure atomic energy from this lovely shiny completely 100% safe, guaranteed by Lord Blairimort's personal word of honour, sparkling (no, that IS safe) nuclear reactor
Or
B: methane from this cow farting in a tent
Fortunately, our LISTENING PM has ENTIRELY taken on board the judge's criticism.
"Look…" he said, "I told you… last time. We're having these power stations… now you can go and do it all again… but you might as well… go whistle."
Good news for all those people voting on Lord Blairimort's CLICKBOX then!
Of course, things have moved along a little bit since last year: it is not only the atomic reactors that are in danger of MELTDOWN! It ought to be clear to the soon to be ex-Prime Minister that he will have a harder time railroading this through a second time with Mr Frown waiting in the wings and probably a good bit less keen on starting his own Premiership with RADIATION on his hands.
"My… ahhh… decision to… ahhh… axe Lord Blairimort's… ahhh… plan is entirely… ahhh… entirely down to the… ahhh… ex-pensive, imm-prudent and indeed… ahhh… ex-horbitant nature of these… ahhh… atomic deathtraps and… ahhh… nothing to do with… ahhh… kneeing him personally in the… ahhh…" as he might say.
Fortunately, there is BETTER NEWS to be had from the world of POWER, with the announcement that the plan to build one-hundred and eighty one GIANT WINDMILLS on the Isle of Lewis has been given the go-ahead.
(And a larger ALCOHOL powered power station will be built on the nearby Isle of Morse! Sorry!)
These 181 wind turbines should be able to generate up to 543 MWe of electricity – or 375,000 houses worth of electricity.
In comparison, a single modern nuclear power station produces between 600 and 1200 MWe – 400,000 to 800,000 houses worth.
Ah ha, say the sceptics, but the wind does not blow all the time! True, but neither do you have to turn it off in a hurry to avoid the CHINA SYNDROME. You may not have noticed this, but we actually get quite a LOT of wind in this country – especially in north Scotland – and it almost never ever stops blowing EVERYWHERE in the country at once. And – handily – it blows MORE in winter, when it is cold and people turn on their electric blankets more.
I am a big fan of windmills!
I know they are not to everybody's tastes. Some people prefer the gentle blue glow of a large concrete cube as it merrily IRRADIATES the local children, but I think that windmills look very LOVELY turning majestically against the horizon. Thonking the occasional passing seagull out of the sky.
Okay, SORRY, yes they do kill a few birds – but only about one or two a year per windmill. More than ten MILLION birds a year get killed by flying into someone's CAR – windmills don't do for NEARLY so many; we are hardly likely to build FIVE MILLION windmills, now are we?
(Not least because that would be enough to power the ENTIRE COUNTRY more than a HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY times over!)
I am particularly CHARMED that the two other complaints raised against wind farms are
- The whirring sound can cause noise pollution
- They get in the way of low-level aircraft training
It is even said that offshore windfarms might interfere with the nation's RADAR DEFENCE! Well, yes… if you assume that there IS an enemy capable of mounting an air attack on us any more AND that they are mad enough to fly their aircraft THROUGH a field of windmills! (see complaint 2 above!)
On the other fluffy foot, wind power is CLEAN, ABUNDANT, RELIABLE and AFFORDABLE. And it works! Oh, it also creates lots of new jobs (not just in construction) and at the end of their life they can be quickly and easily taken to pieces again. And they are popular – people LOVE windmills.
Saving the world can be FUN!
Still, if you don't think THAT is going to work, there will always be some other POTTY scheme along in a minute. Like THIS plan, clearly inspired by too much KATE BUSH, to float ocean going CLOUD MAKING YACHTS.
You couldn't make this stuff up, you know.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Day 1963: Green Action
Friday:
Daddy Alex has been full of helpful advice this week with several articles about how to "Vote Gold, Go Green"
(LOOK! Even I'M recycling! I've used some of Mr Balloon's old rubbish!)
Daddy Richard, on the other fluffy foot – or to give him his FULL title Beelzedaddy Richard – has been invoking the powers of the pumpkin of darkness and generally bringing on the APOCALYPSE! Yes, he’s been driving around like some kind of crazy person in PENFOLD, who is Daddy's HUGELOVELY er VERY, VERY BAD 4x4 TANK! And no doubt trying to squash pretty flowers and cover small children in horrid fumes, to boot!
However, I have now pointed out to him that my flat is right next to the RIVER THAMES, so if Daddy is going to go around melting the ICE CAP then we will all be UNDER WATER, and unlike James Bond, Daddy cannot turn his car into a SUBMARINE.
Properly ASHAMED, Daddy has agreed to do something about it.
We have been downstairs to look at Penfold's milometer and it says that he has driven 22,943 miles which equals 36,923 kilometres (which is not so VERY much when you think that that is over the last seven years).
We checked out Penfold's carbon emissions from this website and learned that they are 265 g/km.
(Penfold is a Vauxhall Frontera, Sport RS, manual, petrol, 3 door estate, if you want to check.)
We have to admit that this is FAIRLY AWFUL. The government's current target for car emissions from company cars (which Daddy has to know because it is to do with TAX) is only 140 g/km. A top of the range Toyota Prius has emissions of 104 g/km.
36,923 kilometres TIMES 265 g/km EQUALS 9.785 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
And so Daddy went to this other website and has bought a Carbon Offset of 9.8 tonnes.
We looked quite closely at the website and decided to go for this one rather than a tree planting project because apparently tree planting is only a temporary solution as the carbon gets released again eventually. We are not sure about this and might buy some trees anyway.
If anyone knows of BETTER carbon offset programs then please let me know!
Also, if people are feeling HELPFUL, does anyone have any advice on which is the most ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY electricity company to switch to? Daddy Richard is quite tempted by the people from Ecotricity, but that is because he likes WINDMILLS. Does anyone know who the best green supplier might be?
I am a bit SURPRISED that people are not more excited about the opportunities that GREENING the energy supply will bring. In SCOTLAND, for example, there is a LOT of wind and plenty of access to sea water. Particularly on the ISLANDS. It would be a good idea to use the WIND ENERGY to separate the sea water into Oxygen and Hydrogen and then sell the Hydrogen for FUEL in new CARS.
(Daddy has tried looking at HYBRID motor cars, but they look horrid, so I hope that Hydrogen cars come in quickly and look NICE.)
If we look to the future, this hydrogen industry could replace the oil industry when the oil under the North Sea runs out!
I think that in making our own clean fuel from a limitless source we have a better answer than importing other countries' oil or gas or toxic, radioactive uranium that is going to run out sooner or later anyway.
I do not want Lord Blairimort building new nuclear power stations. I do not think he would be very good at it – everything ELSE he puts together ends up falling apart! – and he might put the Minister for Magical Accidents in charge!
And I particularly do not want him building a new nuclear power station if it is going to be where Mr Simon suggests in his book!
I do not think GLOWING is a good look for me!
Daddy Alex has been full of helpful advice this week with several articles about how to "Vote Gold, Go Green"
(LOOK! Even I'M recycling! I've used some of Mr Balloon's old rubbish!)
Daddy Richard, on the other fluffy foot – or to give him his FULL title Beelzedaddy Richard – has been invoking the powers of the pumpkin of darkness and generally bringing on the APOCALYPSE! Yes, he’s been driving around like some kind of crazy person in PENFOLD, who is Daddy's HUGE
However, I have now pointed out to him that my flat is right next to the RIVER THAMES, so if Daddy is going to go around melting the ICE CAP then we will all be UNDER WATER, and unlike James Bond, Daddy cannot turn his car into a SUBMARINE.
Properly ASHAMED, Daddy has agreed to do something about it.
We have been downstairs to look at Penfold's milometer and it says that he has driven 22,943 miles which equals 36,923 kilometres (which is not so VERY much when you think that that is over the last seven years).
We checked out Penfold's carbon emissions from this website and learned that they are 265 g/km.
(Penfold is a Vauxhall Frontera, Sport RS, manual, petrol, 3 door estate, if you want to check.)
We have to admit that this is FAIRLY AWFUL. The government's current target for car emissions from company cars (which Daddy has to know because it is to do with TAX) is only 140 g/km. A top of the range Toyota Prius has emissions of 104 g/km.
36,923 kilometres TIMES 265 g/km EQUALS 9.785 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
And so Daddy went to this other website and has bought a Carbon Offset of 9.8 tonnes.
We looked quite closely at the website and decided to go for this one rather than a tree planting project because apparently tree planting is only a temporary solution as the carbon gets released again eventually. We are not sure about this and might buy some trees anyway.
If anyone knows of BETTER carbon offset programs then please let me know!
Also, if people are feeling HELPFUL, does anyone have any advice on which is the most ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY electricity company to switch to? Daddy Richard is quite tempted by the people from Ecotricity, but that is because he likes WINDMILLS. Does anyone know who the best green supplier might be?
I am a bit SURPRISED that people are not more excited about the opportunities that GREENING the energy supply will bring. In SCOTLAND, for example, there is a LOT of wind and plenty of access to sea water. Particularly on the ISLANDS. It would be a good idea to use the WIND ENERGY to separate the sea water into Oxygen and Hydrogen and then sell the Hydrogen for FUEL in new CARS.
(Daddy has tried looking at HYBRID motor cars, but they look horrid, so I hope that Hydrogen cars come in quickly and look NICE.)
If we look to the future, this hydrogen industry could replace the oil industry when the oil under the North Sea runs out!
I think that in making our own clean fuel from a limitless source we have a better answer than importing other countries' oil or gas or toxic, radioactive uranium that is going to run out sooner or later anyway.
I do not want Lord Blairimort building new nuclear power stations. I do not think he would be very good at it – everything ELSE he puts together ends up falling apart! – and he might put the Minister for Magical Accidents in charge!
And I particularly do not want him building a new nuclear power station if it is going to be where Mr Simon suggests in his book!
I do not think GLOWING is a good look for me!
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