Energy Matters Global and Domestic

[Hell Razor5543]

We need to get CitroJim on a generator bike. He really enjoys cycling, is very fit, and would be able to provide enough energy to keep the Forum up and running!

[myglaren]

I had a go at pedaling a dynamo-bike that was used as a life support systems back-up in a smallish German bunker once. It was used to power the relatively small air filtration and circulation system and some emergency lighting. You had to keep the needle in the green section whilst pedaling. You had a tough choice - die of a heart attack from pedaling the damned thing, or die of asphyxiation from no fesh air.

Reminiscent of the scene in Soylent Green. Edward G Robinson pedaling away to make light to read by.

No video unfortunately.

[bobins]

It wasn't Germany - but they did have emergency hand powered filters, it was Switzerland....... or at least one of them was, it all blurs into one these days

Swiss pedal power - own work

[bobins]

So you survived...did you cheat?

I did the sensible thing and gave someone else the opportunity to try it out

[NewcastleFalcon]

'Indeed you can't but you don't have to buy it, you just have to survive without it like we did before the industrial revolution, or collect your own from the sun and wind around your house!!' A new age of invention and innovation is born whereby everyone finds a way to live and get around to meet there NEEDS. We sacrifice leisure travel and activities for the benefit of the planet and its population in the end!!

Necessity is the mother of invention nice bit of thinking there Mick, and everyone individually will look to reduce their demand in the first instance. Scottish power have already received a couple of hammer blows from chez Falcon.

Bye Bye tumble drier, and Computer free Sunday! and a growing switch stuff off obsession.

REgards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Bye Bye tumble drier, and Computer free Sunday! and a growing switch stuff off obsession.

REgards Neil

Aah!! That explains the noted abscence of words of wisdom from the Falcon yesterday. I was just hoping all was well!!

[bobins]

First step - computer free Sundays
Next step - no more visits to coffee & cake shops ???

[NewcastleFalcon]

Bye Bye tumble drier, and Computer free Sunday! and a growing switch stuff off obsession.

REgards Neil

Aah!! That explains the noted absence of words of wisdom from the Falcon yesterday. I was just hoping all was well!!

Thanks Mick, I enjoyed the computer free day, obviously tongue in cheek for any energy saving benefit.
As for the next steps of Chez Falcon v Scottish Power, maybe a bit more off grid activity ineeds to be planned. In gibbo "on your walk" fashion I spotted these today on the first step of their recycling journey. Looks like they could be headed for landfill unless the skip company have a recycling route for mixed waste skips, and sort the recyclable stuff out, or take it somewhere that does. The panels probably still work or at least did before they were placed in the skip.

In a skip and obviously just waste for builders installing a new roof.

REgards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Our first efforts a week ago consisted of a candle lit evening on the patio (alright in the garden!) with music from a battery radio! This week we thought we'd get the monopoly out!!

[Rp0thejester]

Candles... Try these, solar powered lightbulbs for the garden, 99p each from Home Bargains.

[Gibbo2286]

I bought one of the Home Bargains lanterns that stick into the ground it stopped working after just a week, must bring it in and see if it can be fixed.

[bobins]

There was a bit on the lunchtime Radio 4 news about how the French, Italian and German governments are dealing with the energy crisis:

The Economist bureau chief - France reports : the french Govt. have limited electricity price increases to 4% with the state owned energy company EDF (and the state as well) taking the hit on profits. Gas plays less of a role in France than it does here, but prices have been frozen.

Rome correspondent for 'Politico Europe' reports : 16billion Euro aid package for families and businesses, energy companies being taxed on their 'excess' profits i.e. a 'windfall tax'. The average family used to pay around 1000 Euro a year for energy, this will increase to 1700 Euro a year. The Italian government has been leading an international push for a cap on gas prices and the EU Commission has said they'll get back to them on that in October.

BBC Berlin correspondent : 4 person household used to pay around 2000 Euro per annum for gas only, but for many it's now at 3000 Euro a year. They have a 'levy' which will change in October but hasn't been decided yet - same as our 'price cap', and it's expected that the gas only bill for households may reach 4000 Euros a year. The government has scrapped a 'Green Energy Tax' on bills, will make a one-off payment of 300 Euros for every worker, is raising the income tax threshold, and for households in receipt of benefits there'll be a heating supplement worth around 500 Euros for a family of 4. On top of the cost of energy issue, they are also looking at an availability of gas issue looming.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0019z4q
Starts from about 7 minutes in. There's also an informative piece in the same article from Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

[bobins]

Bit on the BBC website today about what can happen when energy problems all join hands and march together

Climate change: Drought highlights dangers for electricity supplies

Edited lowlights:

"The ongoing drought in the UK and Europe is putting electricity generation under pressure, say experts.
Electricity from hydropower - which uses water to generate power - has dropped by 20% overall.
And nuclear facilities, which are cooled using river water, have been restricted.

Hydropower is an important source of energy for Europe, but the lack of water in rivers and reservoirs is now significantly reducing the ability of facilities to produce electricity.
Italy gets around 1/5 of its power from hydro, but that's fallen by around 40% in the past 12 months.
It's a similar story in Spain, where the amount of electricity generated is down 44%, according to data from energy researchers Rystad Energy.

Norway is also experiencing challenges with hydro-electricity. It warned that it may not be able to continue to export energy to countries like the UK unless its reservoirs were refilled.

The exceptionally hot weather is also hitting nuclear power production, especially in France. Around half of the 56 reactors in the fleet are offline, with several affected by a systemic issue with corrosion.
Those reactors that are working are often cooled with water from rivers that are now running low, while temperatures are running high.

Analysts say this is putting additional pressure on the UK system - at a time when the very warm weather is hitting production from gas and nuclear facilities.
It's more difficult to cool the plants in the warmer weather, explains Kathryn Porter, an energy consultant with Watt-Logic.
"Solar panels also experience quite a significant drop off above 25C. Everything just works less well when it's hot," she adds.

The stresses in the UK system were evident this week when the National Grid triggered a capacity market notice, a technical step indicating that the safe margins for operating the grid were reduced."

More : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62524551

[NewcastleFalcon]

Not too cheery!

Had me bringing to mind the reassuring "We wont make a drama out of a crisis" adverts from the 1980's, except now there is nothing the journos like better than doing the opposite.

Would be nice if anyone anywhere, or indeed someone somewhere, had even a tiny notion of what needs to be done, including those at this what3words location, which sums up nicely the current approach.

hours/pure/hoping

Small irrelevant reminder of those adverts. Only 20 Seconds and it does have a yellow AlfaSud in it.



Regards Neil

[bobins]

Yes and no on the doom-mongering for me. Whilst I fully agree that journos are there to sell copy, they are actually writing about a reality here. Like it or not, too many people are wanting too much electricity at a time when it's highlighting weaknesses in the supply sector. I'm not sure when we'll ever get to the stage where energy generation right across Europe and the UK is consistently rock steady and something not to be concerned about. The more capacity they build, the more the population grows to suck it all up, and the more that increasing population wants more electricity to satiate their 'better' lifestyles.