Energy chat, the future of car propulsion

[StephenFord]

Heard a really good segment this morning on TalkRadio where the chair of the Public Accounts Committee was being interviewed about their recent inquiry on 'the challenge of switching to zero emissions cars by 2030'. Not least, how the government plans to replace the £28 Billion/year revenue currently raised by fuel duty. (Those that think that electricity will be 'free' are deluding themselves).

Anyway, if you are a nerd, you can dip into it here - I would recommend NOT reading it all (probably bad for your health LOL), but it does make interesting scanning...

https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/1841/default/

[Wino]

Perhaps these Plug in Hybrids might have the same effect as "LPG"  ( That's LPG not LGBT @TomsFocus 😆) did and quietly disappears in a few yrs. 

[StephenFord]

3 minutes ago, Wino said:

Perhaps these Plug in Hybrids might have the same effect as "LPG"  ( That's LPG not LGBT @TomsFocus 😆) did and quietly disappears in a few yrs. 

My last car was LPG, I loved it, but was always terrified that the government would realise you could buy fuel for 50p/liter, and then raise the tax on it LOL

[TomsFocus]

 

55 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

My last car was LPG, I loved it, but was always terrified that the government would realise you could buy fuel for 50p/liter, and then raise the tax on it LOL

Considering the amount of guys that seem to openly admit to running red diesel in NI, I doubt LPG is a concern!  

I don't really know why LPG never took off.  Back in my 306 days a local forum member had a GTi6 converted.  Roughly the same MPG but about half the price in fuel!  Must admit I always felt it was a bit less 'safe' while stored than petrol...unfounded of course, but maybe others had the same concerns.

[TomsFocus]

On the topic of gas boilers, I saw a small article yesterday suggesting they could be banned from sale in 2025, seemed to include oil boilers as well.  I'm all for environmental changes but not sure that's long enough to sort alternatives personally. 

[Wino]

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

On the topic of gas boilers, I saw a small article yesterday suggesting they could be banned from sale in 2025, seemed to include oil boilers as well.  I'm all for environmental changes but not sure that's long enough to sort alternatives personally. 

I don't think there's any thought long term wise with a lot of these so called environmental changes. If everyone in the UK switched over to electric there wouldnt be enough for the National Grid to supply everyone especially in the winter months so I can't see how it's remotely possible tbh. It's just another half hearted idea that makes it look like the Government is trying to change things to the wider audience but with no practical ideas or solutions to go with it.

[StephenFord]

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

On the topic of gas boilers, I saw a small article yesterday suggesting they could be banned from sale in 2025, seemed to include oil boilers as well.  I'm all for environmental changes but not sure that's long enough to sort alternatives personally. 

My oil boiler is now 29 years old, kept going with lots of tender loving care, I wish it pumped out black smoke just to annoy people, but there's no visible sign of it in use at all LOL

[pcaouolte]

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

My oil boiler is now 29 years old, kept going with lots of tender loving care, I wish it pumped out black smoke just to annoy people, but there's no visible sign of it in use at all LOL

Does it work in the winter? When we had one the oil tended to turn to jelly in the line from the tank to the boiler in cold weather and the boiler would cut out. 🙄. Environmentally friendly because most of the winter it didn't use any oil at all.

[StephenFord]

17 minutes ago, pcaouolte said:

Does it work in the winter? When we had one the oil tended to turn to jelly in the line from the tank to the boiler in cold weather and the boiler would cut out. 🙄. Environmentally friendly because most of the winter it didn't use any oil at all.

LOL, of course it works in winter!! Would be an odd heating system if it didn't work in winter 🤣 In Northern Ireland, oil in the most popular fuel for home heating as for decades, gas wasn't even available due to obvious reasons (being blown up!)

[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

My oil boiler is now 29 years old, kept going with lots of tender loving care

They do seem to need that.  I suppose the lack of maintenance required is the one benefit of storage heaters.

I'll have to ask my Great Aunt how old her oil boiler is, I'm fairly sure it's still original from the early 70s!  I know it's obsolete now and the youngsters don't know how to service it.  

[Wino]

We had our old boiler replaced along with the majority of the radiators that used to pop and bang when it fired up about 2yrs ago. 

It was the original old free standing boiler from when the house was first built back in the mid 70's

[mjt]

I had heard there were plans afoot to ban fossil fuel boilers so I'm glad I decided to have our gas boiler replaced a couple of years ago. The old Potterton had given sterling service for nearly 30 years and I'd repaired the controller when it began to fail to light up (a new controller would have cost ~£150 and I fixed it by replacing a few dried-out electrolytic capacitors for about £2). The plastic on the case was starting to bio-degrade and I'd glued it all back together. I eventually decided it was time for a more efficient condensing type. The new one is a Bosch (Worcester) but I don't know if that would be compatible with hydrogen. Anyway it should see us out until we kick the bucket or have to move to sheltered accommodation.

[Mark-UK]

On a NEW build, after the initial costs, heating should be virtual free, solar panels to run the heat exchange (no radiators at all but a heated air set-up) and provide electric for house ( there are now house batteries to store solar power), just not sure if they would also provide enough electric to charge the EV car over night.

We need to stop thinking its just rip out the gas combie and replace with electric heaters and start to think much more of a whole house green energy solution..

[TomsFocus]

10 minutes ago, Mark-UK said:

On a NEW build, after the initial costs, heating should be virtual free, solar panels to run the heat exchange (no radiators at all but a heated air set-up) and provide electric for house ( there are now house batteries to store solar power), just not sure if they would also provide enough electric to charge the EV car over night.

We need to stop thinking its just rip out the gas combie and replace with electric heaters and start to think much more of a whole house green energy solution..

Did you see the eco house on Ade Adepitans programme a few weeks ago?  Wasn't in the UK, may have been Sweden, was somewhere without much sun anyway.  It was totally self sufficient for energy...but they had a huge hydrogen 'battery' in the garage which looked like the most unsafe thing to have next to a house!  All the ideas were there though, and the guy was convinced it'd only be a few years before the tech became cheap enough to use widely.

[mjt]

For anyone interested this week's edition of Inside Science (BBC Radio 4) featured a couple of items relevant to this discussion. The first, which starts at 13:07 in, reports on a company that's been set up to manufacture synthetic fuels from captured CO2. The second, which follows on at 35:08, discusses the use of geothermal energy from abandoned mines for home heating (and possibly also cooling).

[iantt]

i listened to that on way home yesterday. heat from coal mines ok as long as the water in mines isnt to deep down.  

synthetic fuels seem a long way off. 

[Alex.S]

Radio 4 ? This really is an OAP thread! Start on radio 3 I’ll be finding a new forum! 

[mjt]

6 hours ago, iantt said:

synthetic fuels seem a long way off

Yeah, doubt I'll live to see it Still, some good arguments in favour of it in terms of energy density, total carbon neutrality and a future for internal combustion. I wonder if they could make synthetic coal for heritage railways.

6 hours ago, Alex.S said:

Radio 4 ? This really is an OAP thread! Start on radio 3 I’ll be finding a new forum!

I guess that means you're someone who gets their fake news solely through social media . . . . .

[iantt]

Some of us are getting on towards being oap. Older and wiser apparently. 

[mjt]

2 hours ago, iantt said:

Some of us are getting on towards being oap

I've gone past it

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, mjt said:

I've gone past it

Yeah, lots of us oldies on here!😀 

[iantt]

Old enough that when I was an apprentice, I learnt my trade on Austin 1100/1300, Morris minors, Austin mini,maxi, princess,Allegro,marina mgb etc etc  and older stuff. 

And now I'm expected to know about modules, canbus high, mid,low linbus,dpf,gpf,hybrids, plug in hybrids, adblue etc etc. 

[Guy Heaton]

I dunno.  Changing leaf springs on a Marina was sod of a job 😂

[StephenFord]

9 hours ago, iantt said:

Old enough that when I was an apprentice, I learnt my trade on Austin 1100/1300, Morris minors,

My mum had a Morris Minor, I loved the side pillar indicators on that car, however, one of the wheels literally fell off, apparently a common fault LOL

[iantt]

28 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

My mum had a Morris Minor, I loved the side pillar indicators on that car, however, one of the wheels literally fell off, apparently a common fault LOL

Wheels used to fall off Allegro's too.