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  • Extinction Rebellion Bristol: July 15, 2019 - July 19, 2019
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #90 on: July 17, 2019, 21:22:11 »

Meanwhile, on the topic of flights, I've just heard someone praising the taking of a 13-hour flight to Dubai for a day trip as "normal".

"Yeah, it’s normal. And I really – everybody says that to me, it’s too far. It’s not. I just think you get on a plane, do a night flight, you get a 13-hour flight, you’ll end up sleeping on the plane hopefully for six or seven hours. And then you get to Dubai, you can spend a day there, get back on a plane, you’re in England. It isn’t as bad as people think it is."
By "not as bad as people think it is" he's referring to comfort issues.
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TonyK
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« Reply #91 on: July 17, 2019, 22:52:25 »

And the end of gas boilers and cookers in new homes I hadn't heard of. When did/does that come in?

Having looked it up again, I was wrong about gas hobs, but gas boilers will not be able to be installed in new-build houses from 2025, according to the BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) report of an announcement by the Chancellor. Like all such announcements which are made as a positive step in the tortoise-like dash to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, it was immediately denounced by Greenpeace for not doing anything about aircraft, and not stopping the production of fossil-fuelled cars in 2030, rather than 2040. No pleasing some folk. That sort would, if you gave them a cheque for £1,000,000, ask for the bus fare to the bank and complain about the inconvenience of having to go there.

It does, however, raise some questions about the home of the future, needing about double the electricity supply of today's home with gas boiler and petrol car. Presumably, the electricity supply to new houses will be 3-phase AC, with a suitable local grid to supply them? And there must be a "magic leccy tree" for the supplies.

Meanwhile, on the topic of flights, I've just heard someone praising the taking of a 13-hour flight to Dubai for a day trip as "normal".

"Yeah, it’s normal. And I really – everybody says that to me, it’s too far. It’s not. I just think you get on a plane, do a night flight, you get a 13-hour flight, you’ll end up sleeping on the plane hopefully for six or seven hours. And then you get to Dubai, you can spend a day there, get back on a plane, you’re in England. It isn’t as bad as people think it is."
By "not as bad as people think it is" he's referring to comfort issues.

Much as I enjoy flying, the 6-hour schlep to the UAE isn't my idea of fun, even if it was my first ride on an A380. Having spent two days in Dubai, one of which was mainly recovering from the journey, I don't think I would recommend it for a day trip.
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« Reply #92 on: July 17, 2019, 23:54:43 »

It does, however, raise some questions about the home of the future, needing about double the electricity supply of today's home with gas boiler and petrol car. Presumably, the electricity supply to new houses will be 3-phase AC, with a suitable local grid to supply them? And there must be a "magic leccy tree" for the supplies.

Did you see that last week the (independent official) Committee on Climate Change gave the government a poke in the midriff with a pointed report? Its message was not unlike XR (Crossrail)'s, but perhaps more relevant - that the government has made good progress on having policies and targets, but not so much progress on having progress:
Quote
During the last year, the Government has introduced some new policies to reduce emissions, but their impact will be only incremental. Overall, actions to date have fallen short of what is needed for the previous targets and well short of those required for the net-zero target:
Policy implementation in the last year. Last year, the Committee set out 25 headline policy actions for the year ahead. Twelve months later, only one has been delivered in full. Ten of the required actions have not shown even partial progress.
Underlying progress. The Committee also monitor indicators of underlying progress such as improvements to insulation of buildings and the market share of electric vehicles. Only seven out of 24 of these were on track in 2018. Outside the power and industry sectors, only two indicators were on track. This is a continuation of recent experience - over the course of the second carbon budget (2013-2017), only six of 21 indicators were on track.
Projected progress. The Government's own projections demonstrate that its policies and plans are insufficient to meet the fourth or fifth carbon budgets (covering 2023-2027 and 2028-2032). This policy gap has widened in the last year as

As to electricity, their view appears to be that the decarbonisation of homes and home-based vehicles is going to be hard, while uprating the distribution network to match is a relative doddle. The standard house supply has for some time been 100A, allowing 25 kW peaks, though most homes never use half of that and the wire along the road and the substations are sized for an average of less still.

Three phase has not generally been seen as necessary for domestic supplies here, though my brother's house in Edinburgh (which had once had a big electric heating system) had one when he bought it. It would not be hard to move to it, especially if new supply wires and fancier switchgear are needed in any case. In France, any supply with a contracted maximum of 12 kW or more has usually been provided as three-phase.
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broadgage
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« Reply #93 on: July 18, 2019, 00:49:24 »

The proposed ban on gas boilers in new homes should not lead to much extra electricity demand. It is not proposed that a typical gas boiler with an output of over 20Kw should be replaced with a similar loading of electric heating.
The idea is to require that the new home be so well insulated that no heating is needed in moderately cold weather, and only a few Kw in severe cold.
Heat recovery from ventilation will help also.

This will lead to a de-facto ban on gas cooking for two reasons, firstly the economics of supplying gas only for cooking are very doubtful. Secondly the health and safety industry have been trying to ban gas cooking for years, and will regard this as the ideal opportunity to demand extra safety measures that will render gas cooking unaffordable to all but a few rich diehards.

I suspect that three phase electricity supply to homes will become the norm, but primarily for electric vehicle charging and not for heating.
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A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
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« Reply #94 on: July 18, 2019, 07:42:11 »

Day3. First inkling of disruption on my journey into City Centre was when my bus detoured down the Muller Road intersection and proceeded along Stapleton Road to Easton Way and then around the Lawrence Hill roundabout to Old Market and Cabot Circus BUT only added about 5 minutes to journey time.

Two exit lanes from M32 blocked by a police van and not by a pink bathtub as reported in the press, the bathtub was in an intersection between Newfoundland Way and Bond Street South.

Later for my journey out to Emersons Green First had positioned a guy at the Cabot Circus stop to advise pax that the only service from the stop was the m1 service all other services were diverting and to use the Lewins Mead stop to which I responded that I would get the m1 to UWE and change there for Emersons and I advised a disabled man who arrived at the stop for EG as well but the plonker said he would be better off going to the Lewin Mead stop even though I pointed out to the disabled chap the interchange points at Begbrook, Stoke Lane, UWE Campus and UWE Gardens on the timetable display. As the First bloke had a First HV waistcoat on he took that advice. Within minutes a m1 arrived and I and 2 other passengers boarded, journey to UWE was unimpeded and waited less than 5 minutes for a m3 to EG. Return journey to City Centre diverted via Easton Way from M32 via Lawrence Hill and Old Market with no delay and by the time we got to Bond Street South / Newfoundland Way intersection bathtub had gone, most protesters had dispersed for the evening peak and journey home on Y1 uneventful.

I am firmly of the opinion that much of Bristols congestion problems arise from the City Councils sheer incompetence in painting a few metres of double yellow lines on arterial roads out of the city. I have posted before on this forum that highways with a 28 foot kerb to kerb carriageway has 6 foot wide spaces marked out for parking both sides of the road leaving just 16 foot for two 8 foot 6 inch buses to pass. Even the proverbial village idiot can work out that 17 will not go into 16 once but the highly paid so called highway engineers are incapable of working that one out. Councillors are not much better either, they are only in the game for the £11,000 plus pa allowances which they get for so called travel within the city, I can get a First Bus West of England monthly season ticket for £80 a month (less if you buy a yearly one) but many of the councillors are OAP's themselves and have their Diamond Travelcard. I tell you, if I were PM I would scrap these councillors allowances but allow claims for reasonable out of pocket expenses, That would sort out those who GENUINELY want to serve the community they live in from those who are in the game for the easy money.
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ellendune
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« Reply #95 on: July 18, 2019, 08:15:13 »

I suspect that three phase electricity supply to homes will become the norm, but primarily for electric vehicle charging and not for heating.

Three phase would significantly increase health and safety risks of poor electrical practices as while the (single) phase live to neutral voltage on a domestic supply is 230V, the phase to phase is 400V!
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #96 on: July 18, 2019, 09:22:34 »

My father-in-law had three phase (actually I think it was two-phase) by the simple means of asking the guys connecting his newly built house to provide it. But it was only in the shed where he did welding not in the house itself, and he was an electrician and knew what he was doing.

Moving back to gas heating etc, whatever happens in new build houses is rather peripheral as they're a very small part of the UK (United Kingdom) housing stock.
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TonyK
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« Reply #97 on: July 18, 2019, 09:32:08 »

The idea is to require that the new home be so well insulated that no heating is needed in moderately cold weather, and only a few Kw in severe cold.


My own current residence is under 18 months old, and is a one-off rather than on a Barrett or similar estate. Every light bulb is LED, the incandescent item being my wife occasionally. The hob is induction.  Downstairs has underfloor heating in four separate zones. There are bi-fold doors facing south which even on the coldest day allow sunlight to warm up the room, to the point where I have had to check that the heating hasn't come on. It's the future.
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #98 on: July 18, 2019, 10:06:24 »

What's the induction hob like to cook on? Don't you need special pots and pans, or am I thinking of some other sort?
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TonyK
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« Reply #99 on: July 18, 2019, 10:38:33 »

What's the induction hob like to cook on? Don't you need special pots and pans, or am I thinking of some other sort?

It won't work with any pots to which a magnet will not stuck, so copper and aluminium and some steels are out, but they are hardly special these days. I was a devotee of gas before, but find induction just as easy to use, and a darn sight easier to keep clean.
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« Reply #100 on: July 18, 2019, 10:47:55 »

After my move, I switched to an induction hob too.

I concur about ease of use and ease of keeping clean.
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« Reply #101 on: July 18, 2019, 10:50:42 »

....

Councillors are not much better either, they are only in the game for the £11,000 plus pa allowances which they get for so called travel within the city, I can get a First Bus West of England monthly season ticket for £80 a month (less if you buy a yearly one) but many of the councillors are OAP's themselves and have their Diamond Travelcard. I tell you, if I were PM I would scrap these councillors allowances but allow claims for reasonable out of pocket expenses, That would sort out those who GENUINELY want to serve the community they live in from those who are in the game for the easy money.

You open up a massive question - so how do you get sufficient people who
* "genuinely want to serve the community they live in"
* know enough and are bright enough to be useful
* can afford the uncompensated/unpaid time
* are robust enough to stand up to the pressures
* believe in what the community believes in and will further community causes (rather than their own)

Motivation - knowledge - availability - strength - policy

Both Lisa and I have given deep consideration to becoming local councillors at a local level here in Wiltshire, and I have sufficient confidence in both of us that if we put our minds to it and made a goal of it we could do so.  Doing such requires a degree of compromise. One local councillor here stated to me he's not naturally a member of the Conservative party, but took the pragmatic decision to join so that he could stand with their ticket which - though we hear about where things differ - is 90% the same ticket as other parties or independents would have.

Adding the compromise, the need to leave time to earn a living (and to sleep!), the need to be very robust indeed to pressures, we have both decided it's really not for us.  It sounds to me like the £11k is a sort of distorted salary / income - and perhaps that does make the difference for some good people, but (yes) also perhaps for those who are more interested in the money (and power and kudos) than in being an effective councillor for the people who elect them.
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #102 on: July 18, 2019, 11:06:08 »

What's the induction hob like to cook on? Don't you need special pots and pans, or am I thinking of some other sort?

It won't work with any pots to which a magnet will not stuck, so copper and aluminium and some steels are out, but they are hardly special these days. I was a devotee of gas before, but find induction just as easy to use, and a darn sight easier to keep clean.
Thanks. No plans to change our gas hob in the foreseeable but nothing lasts for ever!
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broadgage
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« Reply #103 on: July 18, 2019, 11:35:15 »

After my move, I switched to an induction hob too.

I concur about ease of use and ease of keeping clean.

Portable single induction cooking rings are also available, they work from a 13 amp socket and are very useful as a supplement to existing facilities, and also for use in a caravan or boat where space and power availability are limited.
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A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
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« Reply #104 on: July 18, 2019, 11:59:22 »

Some aggro last night, apparently.
Quote
Mr Salt continued: "I tried to do it nicely and it didn't work. So when I went back to collect Lynne after her shift, I ripped down the banner and moved the signs."

He laughed as he recalled: "They were shouting, 'Call the police, call the police.' I told them it wasn't a legal road closure.

"I will repeat it the next time I drive Lynne to work. I am quite willing to get arrested. I am open about it."
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/extinction-rebellion-bristol-protest-traffic-3104325

He's wrong in fact: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/streets-travel/current-roadworks-and-road-closures

The question of access for the disabled has perhaps not been thought through (though if she can't work a quarter of a mile, I'm surprised she can manage a cleaning job).
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