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Can I turn my theory into reality? Fossil fuel free, 100% off grid, but modcons


TitaniumSquirrel

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3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I bit on Gardening world about how we can do our bit and a question of what sort of trees to set, The reply was ones that make a lot of wood and younger trees would take up more carbon that older ones. No idea if its right, the person who asked though that maybe an evergreen would be better as leaves all year

It's right, young trees are growing vigorously and so absorb more carbon, once they have reached maturity they sort of tick over and carbon needs are reduced, obviously all that carbon is now locked up in the timber of a mature tree, it just isn't laying down as much new wood.

The conifer thing, nahh I don't see it tbh, conifers tend to be vigorous so fast carbon sink maybe but again once mature the carbon uptake is reduced.  The fact it's evergreen means nothing, they still lose needles just keep the newest ones on the tree

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20 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

This is my opinion too. Nuclear is the only answer be it fission or fusion. Abundant leccy for near zero CO2 emission.

 

It will take the lights going out for yer average geezer on that apocryphal omnibus to vote for it though. Probably a generation or perhaps two before politicians get desperate enough pull the levers to actually do anything, then another generation for the nuclear to actually get built and come on line.  

They are building 10 mini reactors (Rolls Royce) first to be up and running by 2030 I believe 

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1 minute ago, tree monkey said:

A good earner for the Arb world, please plant more. :)

actually very good hedges, they just need maintenance 

Don't I know it! I had a long one in Scotland as a wind break, it also stopped the council trying to steal anymore of my garden! It was hard work keeping it under control but very effective at stopping the wind 

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16 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Yes. This reminds me of solar. There is about 1,000 acres of prime agricultural land near me covered in solar panels. Such a pity that keeping warm competes with getting fed. 

I think it would be possible to use the land underneath the panels for something.  Even if it were say chickens less damaging gasses from them.

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16 hours ago, nicknorman said:

It can be. But I don’t think people eat enough fish and chips to run the country’s narrowboat fleet, never mind it’s fleet of cars, lorries and planes. If the demand for HVO takes off, there will be a lot of commercial pressure to grow stuff that is the raw fodder, such as the dreaded palm oil. That is when primary jungle gets slashed and burnt.

You've not been to our local chippy of a lunchtime then? 😂

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1 minute ago, tree monkey said:

Always find the chippy with the biggest queue 

Normally correct but it went very wrong on a visit to Stratford the other month, the chips had like a thin batter on them very strange and none of us enjoyed them 

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9 minutes ago, Jerra said:

I think it would be possible to use the land underneath the panels for something.  Even if it were say chickens less damaging gasses from them.

Sheep are popular under our local solar farm.

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10 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Sheep are popular under our local solar farm.

The problem with sheep is that being ruminants there will be the "greenhouse gasses" to consider.  Energy provision is linked to what we can do about climate change, so increasing the numbers of sheep when people are being urged to eat less meat may not be the best idea.

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10 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Every solar farm I have seen has sheep to keep the grass down 

 

 

My Sister & BIL farm in Sussex, they have leased some of their land to a German company who have installed 40,000 solar panels and it is giving them a return way, way higher than actually farming the land. In addition they have leased to same land to a sheep farmer so they are  getting paid twice for the same bit of land, and, the ger,an company are happy as it reduces the amount they have to spend on ground maintenace.

 

Win-Win-Win

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1 minute ago, Jerra said:

The problem with sheep is that being ruminants there will be the "greenhouse gasses" to consider.  Energy provision is linked to what we can do about climate change, so increasing the numbers of sheep when people are being urged to eat less meat may not be the best idea.

But the wool is better than man made stuff

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1 minute ago, peterboat said:

But the wool is better than man made stuff

And if you're going to eat meat, sheep feeding on grass that would otherwise have to be cut is far better ecologically than intensively-famed livestock fed on things like cattle cake and pig feed which have an ecological cost of their own...

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5 minutes ago, peterboat said:

But the wool is better than man made stuff

True but does the increased threat to the climate outweigh the advantages of having wool.   Also the really fine staple long wool breeds aren't reared much in the UK so there wouldn't be that much advantage.

Just now, MtB said:

 

I agree. I have learned to avoid the chippies that are open but empty. 

 

But paradoxically I also tend to avoid those with long queues! 

Our local chippie, which has long queues, has solved the problem if you care to use it.  Order on line for a given time slot and turn up to pick it up walking right past the queue.

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2 minutes ago, Jerra said:

True but does the increased threat to the climate outweigh the advantages of having wool.   Also the really fine staple long wool breeds aren't reared much in the UK so there wouldn't be that much advantage.

 

But low grade wool is great for insulation if it isn't just discarded.

 

For sensible land use, carparks can be roofed with solar panels.  This will make even more sense with more electric car chargers being installed.  It should also reduce the heat island effect of tarmac in sunny weather.

 

The cars are undercover when it's raining, in the shade when it's sunny and parked inside a power station.  What's not to like?

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1 hour ago, tree monkey said:

This I see as the real issue, not the process more the scale, we seem incapable of keeping it local and small scale, I know I mention Drax a lot but that's the classic example, we as a country could never provide sufficient biomass for that scale, it either should never have been built or used as some sort of back up, never as a long term producer 

UK has ‘real problems’ with burning wood for electricity, admits Zac Goldsmith (msn.com)

41 minutes ago, Jerra said:

I think it would be possible to use the land underneath the panels for something.  Even if it were say chickens less damaging gasses from them.

Sheep

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3 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

But low grade wool is great for insulation if it isn't just discarded.

 

For sensible land use, carparks can be roofed with solar panels.  This will make even more sense with more electric car chargers being installed.  It should also reduce the heat island effect of tarmac in sunny weather.

 

The cars are undercover when it's raining, in the shade when it's sunny and parked inside a power station.  What's not to like?

I have seen a charging station covered in solar, Tesla also makes them as a stand alone with battery bank for rural areas with high sunlight 

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13 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

But low grade wool is great for insulation if it isn't just discarded.

 

For sensible land use, carparks can be roofed with solar panels.  This will make even more sense with more electric car chargers being installed.  It should also reduce the heat island effect of tarmac in sunny weather.

 

The cars are undercover when it's raining, in the shade when it's sunny and parked inside a power station.  What's not to like?

image.png.6c3087b0e4e869b70dfd3af595fcd888.png

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1 hour ago, Jerra said:

I think it would be possible to use the land underneath the panels for something.  Even if it were say chickens less damaging gasses from them.

Bentley auto factory runs on solar, it forms a roof over the car parking area.

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