On 6/15/2024 at 10:56 PM, StephenFord said:

time I will be spoiling my vote (a legitimate form of protest) with a message against net zero

 

On 6/15/2024 at 11:33 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I may well be joining you. 

Not really on this topic, but as we've already mentioned it here.........

My reasons go a lot wider than just the net zero issue - I just don't see my views being reflected by any of the choices on offer.

I'm now finding that every time I speak to, email, or otherwise communicate with a friend, they're saying the same. Like me, they just don't want to be dismissed as either too idle to vote or too dumb to put an X in a box. Very frustrating!

Just for fun, I've emailed Electoral Services at my Council, explaining my position, and asked for any advice. I'll see what, if anything, they say!😀

 

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Just for fun, I've emailed Electoral Services at my Council, explaining my position, and asked for any advice. I'll see what, if anything, they say!😀

 

Well, just got back a very prompt and courteous reply which, as I expected, confirms that in the absence of an official "none of the above" option, just endorsing the ballot paper accordingly counts as "spoiled". 

We'll have to pursue this with whoever wins the election (unless no-one votes at all......😀)

 

In America, many people vote a split ballot. An ala’ cart sort of “I’ll have a little bit of this party and some other party for those seats”. Situation. I haven’t voted a split ballot in any national elections ever. I have mixed it up on state and local election ballots many times.

I wish I could boast that I felt good about the choices on offer most of the time. But, seems like there is a tremendous inertia in government that propels it to take on more authority at the same time it seeks less responsibility! Never has government overseen and controlled so many aspects of my life and work and yet it is just getting worse and more expensive! 
I must admit that I have become one of the advocates for just shutting down many government agencies and functions. When education no longer educates, then I say end it. I believe that is what will happen in America. The institution’s that have failed won’t be rebuilt and can’t be redeemed. The federal and state agencies that are not working effectively are in fact dying and will be binned.

On discussing the awful weather we're having now in Northern Ireland in the middle of 'summer', my friend just sent me this. That's the problem about predictions - they're so difficult to be accurate, especially about the future LOL Of course, the hole in the ozone layer, and acid rain were meant to kill us too. I am looking forward to just a tiny bit of global warming though, I have an unused deckchair in my shed I'd like to dust off 😂

https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/24/china_and_the_eu_agree/

52 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/24/china_and_the_eu_agree/

That will soon go flat 🤣

American interest in electric vehicles short circuits for first time in four years
29 comment bubble on white
Funny what happens if you take Tesla out of the numbers, though

https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/28/us_ev_survey/

What a week! We've had Sadiq Khan announce that EVs will no longer be exempt from the London ULEZ/congestion charge - well, never saw that coming! 🤣

Then today we have Ed Milliband announced by our new PM as the government guy in charge of Energy/Net Zero... (“If we win, we will seize the moment,” he said. “There is not a minute to waste in the drive for 2030 clean power and in the drive for climate action. The world is off track, Britain is off track and we intend to change that direction.”)

Yep, the Green Party's plan is unfolding nicely...👍

They have a problem with personal vehicles. They just used the petrol and diesel vehicles as the kick off issue to ban all vehicles, except for the ones they use, of course. Oh, and the vehicles that they will choose to use will be combustion engine vehicles. Can anyone smell the hypocrisy yet?

Another funny one - I'm sure I've heard the son of a toolmaker stating he will abolish the House of Lords. And yet among his first actions.....    

https://inews.co.uk/news/james-timpson-patrick-vallance-labour-cabinet-election-3155463

That's why he's called Mr flip flop. 

23 minutes ago, iantt said:

That's why he's called Mr flip flop. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/91154662/the-worlds-first-hydrogen-fueled-ferry-service-just-started-running-in-san-francisco

32 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

https://www.fastcompany.com/91154662/the-worlds-first-hydrogen-fueled-ferry-service-just-started-running-in-san-francisco

I just found out today that Toyota are supplying a fleet of cars for use in the Paris Olympics - with a hydrogen powertrain. Some folk seem to be quite unhappy LOL

https://www.hydrogeninsight.com/transport/the-use-of-toyotas-hydrogen-car-as-official-vehicle-at-paris-olympics-will-damage-reputation-of-2024-games/2-1-1675080

 

You gotta hand it to Ed Milliband,one of the most dangerous appointees of our new government. He has just given permission for a 3000 acre solar farm, which just happens to be on agricultural land.

https://news.sky.com/story/government-approves-three-new-solar-farms-that-could-power-400-000-homes-13177195

For the Sunnica project, it is said Mr Miliband believes the need for decarbonised power "outweighs the effectively permanent loss of food production".

mmm... so as well as destroying energy, he's trying to starve us as well, it's going to be an exciting few years!

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

For the Sunnica project, it is said Mr Miliband believes the need for decarbonised power "outweighs the effectively permanent loss of food production".

I'm supportive of solar panels in the right places (why aren't they compulsory on the roof of new builds for example) but to reduce food production is plain daft. Still, what do you expect from someone who can't eat a bacon sandwich. 

Maybe that's the plan - if there's no land to breed pigs, there won't be any bacon, so he can't be embarrassed in future!😀

Don't blame me, I didn't vote labour. 🤣🤣

5 hours ago, iantt said:

Don't blame me, I didn't vote labour. 🤣🤣

You and almost 80% of those eligible to vote, apparently. And there will have been a few spoilt papers (see a few posts back!😀)

32 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

You and almost 80% of those eligible to vote, apparently. And there will have been a few spoilt papers (see a few posts back!😀)

Indeed, lowest turnout for 23 years. Voters definitely didn't want the Conservatives back in, but there was certainly no stampede for Labour either. You really gotta wonder at our voting system, where Reform got over 4 Million votes and returned 5 MPs, and LibDems got  72 MPs with just over 3 Million votes...

Does anyone else see the irony of a party calling themselves “labor”having policies that are not just anti worker but anti human!

On 7/14/2024 at 8:54 AM, StephenFord said:

You gotta hand it to Ed Milliband,one of the most dangerous appointees of our new government. He has just given permission for a 3000 acre solar farm, which just happens to be on agricultural land.

https://news.sky.com/story/government-approves-three-new-solar-farms-that-could-power-400-000-homes-13177195

For the Sunnica project, it is said Mr Miliband believes the need for decarbonised power "outweighs the effectively permanent loss of food production".

mmm... so as well as destroying energy, he's trying to starve us as well, it's going to be an exciting few years!

I must find the news piece  about some crops growing better in the shade and needing less water, so they are growing them under solar panels, probably more relevant in sun parched lands, but still.

Most of the "agricultural" land round me they grow grass to turn into silage, it will grow under solar panels, but will be a bit hard to harvest I guess.

Getting easier to find a charger, all the time

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/15/electric-vehicle-ev-chargers-uk-installations

16 minutes ago, Mark-UK said:

Getting easier to find a charger, all the time

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/15/electric-vehicle-ev-chargers-uk-installations

Interesting to note that the article states about 65,000 public charging stations. The number of petrol/diesel pumps is thought to be about 50,000, though obviously you only need a fossil fuel one for about 5 minutes. Whereas a charger station takes considerably longer.

Governments own stats show that about 30% of all car owners will rely on them as they will have no 'home' facility to charge their battery car. There are currently 37 Million car owners in the UK, so roughly 11 Million will be reliant on public chargers.

Still a long way off, but hard to argue that if you build more every week, the total number will increase.

There is an obvious storm a-brewin in the cost of electric from doing it as part of your domestic electric supply, as opposed to using a public facility. I await the outcome with interest...

The situation with charger availability in the US isn’t just total numbers of them, it’s also that many of them are broken at any given time and the people who are directed via gps are not aware that there might be two out of five chargers unavailable for use by anyone! Also there is that little issue of fast charging becomes unavailable if more than two chargers are being used for fast charging. So the people who get to the chargers first are the ones who get faster charging. Everyone else gets to use the slow rate because the chargers are not capable of delivering the high rate to all of the chargers.

The electric utilities companies were smart to make sure that these chargers were not going to be able to put a tremendous drain on the system that sometimes has it’s capabilities of staying functional during periods of high demand tested to its limits.

Interesting article in the Telegraph about how the whole EV industry is really struggling right now. Yes, I have a biased personal opinion, but the Telegraph isn't really given to hysterical opinions and is quite detailed...

Heads should roll over the electric car fiasco

Heads should roll over the electric car fiasco.pdf