TheBiscuits

Nukes and renewables, mostly wind and solar in the UK. Hopefully a tidal barrage or two which would be expensive but make a great boating lake. If the scrap price gets high enough, I'll weigh in my pipes and switch to plastic ...

Yep, that was the whole rationale behind the Budget decision - until it gets more expensive nobody had any great incentive to go "greener" with plant. Expect to see 20' shipping containers full of batteries being swapped out on building sites ...

He can always use a pick and shovel if he doesn't like the electric digger!

It's the little people's fault. I know for sure that BobBiscuits is using a lot more power than he did when he just lay in a basket gurgling quietly. Tom and Bex have a slightly bigger version onboard, so if they are only up 20% of planned they are doing well ...

They didn't fight at all. They essentially just said "Meh, whatever" and didn't do anything they were supposed to. Then they got a few snippy letters and finally a ruling that they had to do it anyway. The new impetus isn't much to do with boats, it just the marine use thing ties in with the Budget decision to stop nearly everyone except farmers using any red diesel at all. I suspect that red diesel will disappear from most garages that sell it currently as there won't be the (legal) demand for it anymore and anyone who is still entitled to use red will have to get it delivered to their premises in bulk.

Surely running 3 hours a day should give you enough for 150Ah if 2 hours is enough for 100Ah? So add half again to the bank, and spend the alternator upgrade money on fuel in winter. Use solar the rest of the year and the diesel costs average out. Have you only got one alternator? If not, can you upgrade the little one keeping the same drive pulley?

No. Electricity generation will not be allowed to use red diesel anymore, but some specific businesses will be able to claim back the duty on white diesel. Backup generation will only be allowed to run on duty paid white. 3.16 To ensure that businesses using red diesel to generate electricity for supply through a licensed supplier can continue to reclaim the fuel duty, less any carbon price support payment due, once they have to use white diesel, the government proposes to amend the qualifying fuel definition accordingly

It never has before ...

You'd need to work the Rochdale locks faster than I can if you've got a 20mph 2 wheeled 'oss tied to the boat. Tell 'em it's a triathlon variant - cycle to pull the boat, run to do the locks and if they sulk they'll be swimming

By golly you've solved it! Install unpowered Travelator / conveyor belts along the towpath with an alternator in the end rollers, then let the lycra louts pedal as fast as they want ...

With a big diesel generator?

Yes, that's how they usually work. I would suggest keeping your fuel receipts on the boat so you can provide the evidence before they seize it rather than waiting until it's been removed.

From the consultation document: (my emphasis) Note the "sufficient evidence" part in 5.21 - that pretty much is diesel receipts! Ensuring compliance: red diesel users 5.16 While the use of red diesel by users that have lost their entitlement will be illegal from 1 April 2022, the government realises that marker residue may still be detected in the fuel tanks of their vehicles and machinery, even after they have switched to using white diesel. 5.17 The government does not propose to mandate that users of red diesel have to flush out the tanks of their vehicles or machinery as this can be expensive. This approach also avoids damage to the environment that could arise from the unsupervised and unsafe disposal of red diesel. 5.19 Users of vehicles and machinery that will lose their entitlement to use red diesel have until April 2022 to prepare before these changes take effect. The government therefore expects these users to ensure that they do not purchase red diesel for use from 1 April 2022 and run down their existing stocks of red diesel before that date (subject to determining whether any uses of red diesel should be treated differently following a review of the responses provided to Q12 on very infrequent purchases of red diesel). 5.20 In cases where HMRC compliance officers find that vehicles and machinery that have lost their entitlement still have some red diesel marker in their fuel supplies, these vehicles and machinery, as well as the fuel, would be liable to be seized. It is HMRC policy to take action if they consider that red diesel is being used illegally and an offence has been committed. However, the user of the vehicle or machinery would be able to appeal the liability if they believe they are still entitled to use red diesel. 5.21 The government proposes that HMRC’s compliance officers would, as now, consider the particular circumstances of each case. If users are able to satisfy compliance officers, with sufficient evidence if requested, that the detected red diesel marker relates only to fuel legitimately put into the fuel supply of the vehicle or machinery prior to 1 April 2022 (i.e. that the vehicle or machinery has not been fuelled with red diesel after the law changed), then the government proposes that the vehicle or machinery would be restored to the owner at no cost, subject to conditions that will be set out in published guidance, and other enforcement action would not be taken. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/899174/Consultation_on_reforms_to_the_tax_treatment_of_red_diesel_and_other_rebated_fuels.pdf

Thanks for the explanation. I though you'd found a loophole in the new RCD regulations that allowed you to get one single engine certified for a new build boat, but it appears you haven't. It's going to be a bit tricky though - your boatbuilder has to certify a full RCD when they sell you the boat, and they can't with a non-certified engine installed. If you choose to buy the boat engineless then install your engine, you are making a "Major Craft Conversion" so would be obliged to get a post construction assessment done - and that is your responsibility legally. This may help - or not! https://www.rya.org.uk/knowledge-advice/legal/buying-a-boat/Pages/recreational-craft-directive.aspx

Yeah, maybe. I read it that he wants a survey, and assumed that the surveyor will also do a BSS inspection as part of a survey - he doesn't own the boat yet. I'd get the current owner to move the boat to the boatyard at his risk!

That seems expensive to get a prepurchase survey ...

We got a gobful from a chap who has a house on the offside near Lancaster a couple of months ago. He yelled at me that he's lived there for thirty years and gets very cross at boats mooring opposite his house - at one of the very few places boats can get in to the side on the Lancaster. He didn't take well to my observation that the canal had been there for 200 years before he bought the house ...

Can you expand on this please? I thought the engine needed official type certification, not just adding emission control systems. If you are saying you can tweak an old engine to get it up to RCD standards, there are going to be a lot of happy brass polishers out there!

They can't. So you'll pay the same rate as you do for the electric water heating they are mandating. Just don't expect it to be the same price as it is now! Realistically, it will go on VED in the future - you'll pay a much higher "road tax" when there are less ICE vehicles around - it won't remain free or cheap for EVs once they pass a certain percentage of vehicles on the road.

I'm like "Stick it to the man with free electric, isn't it."

Range extender battery trailers for hire ... The battery belongs to the hire firm, so as long as it's good for your one journey you don't care about the state of the battery long term. Only needed for journeys longer than your car's normal range.

They were celebrating their 500,000th battery swap earlier this year. Most of which are automated swaps in a special unit. Drive in, robot arm removes battery, arm inserts new one, drive out. ADD: Three minutes to swap one apparently: https://newatlas.com/automotive/nio-power-500000-battery-swaps-ev/

When I helped @Duck-n-Dive on the link earlier this year, one of the other boats in the convoy didn't think they could manage it, so arranged a tow with the tug at Tarleton. They were the last boat of eight out of the sea lock on Savick Brook and the third boat into Tarleton Lock, a long way ahead of the next pair. Admittedly that's a diesel tug, but being towed by a bigger more powerful boat on more difficult sections might be one way to work it.

As long as PVC cable isn't in contact with the polystyrene there isn't an electrical issue - just check that all cables are in conduit or sleeved in non-pvc hose. There are other concerns about fumes if the boat is on fire, but I reckon if the boat is burning enough to ignite the polystyrene behind the panelling you shouldn't still be on it! For insulation value, it's about the same as 10 year old sprayfoam so unless you are looking at boats fitted out after 2010 don't worry about it.