Interesting conversation on here. I am similarly sceptical on heat pumps. But the question of where we buy electricity from is a good one. If a large swathe of consumers switch so that their money goes to renewable suppliers instead of fossil fuel it might help push investment in that direction - something we desperately need to do. Am inspired to go and look into this...
- Thread starter TheSpid
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Flyfisher said:
I've designed and built some of the most energy efficient houses ever constructed in the UK, and I can support this paradox with an even clearer example. One house I did was calculated to cost £30 to £50 per year to heat to 21C. I dropped in on the owners once in the middle of winter to find them wandering around in shorts and tee shirts, and the thermostat showing 26 degrees, thus completely undermining what I had tried to achieve. Later buildings I have tried hard to design in such a way that they couldn't be heated past about 22 or 23 degrees, but that really isn't easy.
Yes I get that it is all the same electricity coming down the cable - the National Grid clearly doesn't have a separate supply system for electricity from renewables. The point is that at the moment we as a country seem to be doing very little to invest in renewables, while plunging headlong into fracking. The export tariff for new solar installations is being cut from March. Grants for hybrid cars have been cut (announced this week). Madness. If the government doesn't seem to care then apart from voting Green the only thing we have left is consumer power. If 80% of consumers said I want my electricity from renewables then something good might happen...
Wren said:
Have you looked up the figures? We're on track to have 30% of our electricity generated by renewables by 2020 as required. There are many billions being spent on massive off shore windfarms which are being built on schedule and on budget, and the cost is coming down all the time. There were a few days last year when not a single watt of electricity was generated by coal. You need to work on something better than "seem".
Wren said:
Madness? Really?
Hybrid cars are petrol engined vehicles that are no more efficient overall than the most energy efficient petrol engined cars. Why should one petrol engined car that does 60mpg overall be subsidised when another which does 70mpg isn't? If you really were green you would be advocating for the end of petrol driven vehicles, not arguing for sustaining them by subsidising their continuance in hybrid vehicles.
Flyfisher
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Also, mpg is only a broad indicator of a vehicle’s ‘green’ credentials. The much-derided ‘mum in a 4x4’ doing 3000 miles per year taking her children to school might well be a ‘greener’ motorist than Mr Salesman in his hybrid rep-mobile doing 50,000 miles a years wearing out our motorways. Actual consumption is what really matters and is why I’ve never really understood why car ‘road tax’ is not just lumped in with fuel taxes - the more you consume, the more you pay. Similarly the taxes on buying a new car; large-engined cars are not a reliable guide to their environmental footprint, unlike actual fuel consumption.
Abi Cott
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Flyfisher said:
Interesting question. Ive just bought a small, fairly fuel efficient, diesel. SX4. Previously I was very happy with a very fuel efficient petrol (rover 25 1.6) however given my new location the four wheel drive option is an essential not a luxury. I bent the steering rod arm on the Rover last year. I live in an predominantly urban location, I drive on predominantly urban roads, but because of my location I really do need a 4x4 in winter. Should I be paying a supplement because mum's in Chelsea think they look cool in a 4x4?
Abi Cott
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To clarify. Several of my "predominantly urban roads" have a 1:14 gradient. Including 3 on my way to work. In fact 1:14 is considered normal around here. I'm seriously considering winter tyres as well, but that would reduce my fuel efficiency even further.
Paying a premium on something I need for practical reasons, because numpties in London think it looks pretty, is an issue
Paying a premium on something I need for practical reasons, because numpties in London think it looks pretty, is an issue
Greg.Hobson
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Abi Cott said:
I too live in W. Yorks.
Round my bit, they run buses up a 1 in 7, single track and they take no prisoners. 1:14? Easy . . . . . :lol:
Abi Cott
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Fun isn't it 
I have a rule that if the buses aren't running then neither am I.
I have a rule that if the buses aren't running then neither am I.
Flyfisher
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Abi Cott said:
Part of the issue, I think, is that the UK is so London-centric when it comes to public policy thinking. Thus, a large proportion of ‘influencers’ can hardly see the point of personal vehicles at all and think we should simply just use public transport more often. Yeah, right - that may be fine for city dwellers with good public transport but is laughably impossible for those living in rural areas.
Abi Cott
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Abi Cott said:
Correction.
It's not 1:14 It's 14%, I'm not sure what that translates as but I know it's interesting in bad weather.
Flyfisher
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I’ve never liked those ‘%’ signs for hills - they just don’t seem as intuitive to me compared to ‘1 in 7’ (which is a ‘14%’ gradient).
Type in 'the name of your road' and 'gradient' into google and if it is good steep climb you will probably get a result back from veloviewer.com with pretty pictures and all the statistics - avg/max gradient, elevation gain/change etc. You can even get a 3D print of the route....
Or go to ridewithgps, draw along any road in western Europe and you'll get a profile instantly, as well as a gradient mapping.
wobs
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Wren said:
I see the towers from across Hull at the factory:
https://www.ynfpublishers.com/2016/04/siemens-receives-major-order-for-102-wind-turbines-for-offshore-wind-power-plant
Its a big investment, and will be offshore.