The Truth About Green Energy - This May Shock Some

Quote from Canny Lad

can hydrogen be made less combustible?

I have no wish to drive a 4 wheeled hindenberg.🤣

Whilst acknowledging the laughy face,

..it's actually a fairly common question, often asked seriously.

It's relatively no less safe than carrying around a tankful of highly flammable petroleum. Petrol tanks do not spontaneously combust, and almost always withstand even serious crashes (except in the movies/tv where they always explode, because slack jawed yokels like explosions!). You can bet the car safety quango will be all over hydrogen cell cars to make sure they are at least as safe.

Indeed an engineering professor I knew said that the early days of steam power took scores of lives, because heating up a container to high pressure is incredibly dangerous.... but we used that tech to power the industrial revolutions in factories, trains and steamships. With experience we found ways to make it safe.

Further reading:

- Anyone seen reference to gas-bag cars during the war? (They converted Jones's Van in Dad's Army to gas). Their weakness was leaks rather than explosions.

- The Hindenberg did not spontaneously combust (or any other loony theories). The Mythbusters did an entire episode investigating it, and turns out the unsafe part was not the hydrogen...

I understand what your saying, i was being (unusually for me 😜) sarcastic.

As a traffic cop I dealt with a head on combined speeds of about 120mph a Citroën and a fiesta. Both drivers walked away, some minor injuries. The citroenbdriver a woman of mid ferries early 50s had some airbag light skin burning to her face, she stated she was gonna sue citroen for that. I said something without thinking like are you for real. Of course she bit, hard until I explained that I had pulled corpses out of a car that crashed at 50/60 mph and she has just walked away from 120mph.

She had no idea that the airbag fills at the pressure it does and with hot air, but better a red face than no face. She went rather pale at that.

So yes I understand, but it was still a reasonable question.

When I was a kid my dad used to clean out his fish tank by using alength of plastic tubing to remove the water.

He used to suck the end and then the water would keep flowing out.

Now if that could be done to sea water with a turbine on the end and the water returning to the sea wouldn't that create an cheap source of renewable energy?

My point is there are options out there like our tides that could be utilised for the purpose of producing electricity.

Quote from Stew 65

My point is there are options out there like our tides that could be utilised for the purpose of producing electricity

The tides seems an obvious one but no one seems to be able to produce a machine that works very well

There was a plan to build a lagoon in Swansea bay but the government decided it was a poor investment

Seems to me that the obvious ones are often overlooked or government less inclined to action.

Why has EVERY new build not been made to incorporate solar panels?

Why isn't every new build fully insulated?

Why aren't heat pumps installed in new builds as standard?

The costs, BULLSHIT, if you can afford the house you'll buy it, stop stupid gimmicks make them fit for purpose.

Those new builds should be built facing the optimum direction for maximum exposure to the sun too.

There was even talk a few years back to make pavements create electricity by utilising piezo technology.

That hasn't happened!

Politicians prefer to spend taxpayers money on wasteful projects and subsidising the HoP canteen.

Quote from Stew 65

Those new builds should be built facing the optimum direction for maximum exposure to the sun too.

There was even talk a few years back to make pavements create electricity by utilising piezo technology.

That hasn't happened!

Politicians prefer to spend taxpayers money on wasteful projects and subsidising the HoP canteen.

We could also harness the hot air from forumbox

Quote from Truebrit

We could also harness the hot air from forumbox

Your large contribution would make a big difference.

Tidal is a topic direct from my University module on Energy Resources.

Tidal energy is viable, and is in use in some places around the world, but it is only viable where the conditions are just right.

You need the right shape of estuary (no kidding), a HIGH range of tides (diff between max and min) and preferably in a place with low frequency of violent storms.

One of those places is the Severn Estuary.

UK Govt has known since the 70s that is would be a good investment, but what puts them all off is that the initial investment runs to billions and the returns would not be seen for >5 years, so none of them want to spend that much then have the next govt benefit from it.

Not 100% green, because concrete manufacture is a huge CO2 producer and we'd need a LOT of concrete to build a sturdy wall miles long.

Once built, although the energy is 'free' the maintenance costs are huge.

Such a build has huge problems with local opposition - nimbys, and with huge irony, the GREENS always put up huge opposition claiming it would change the wetlands and coastal environments. Yes, despite the HUGE savings in CO2 and toxins, and lessening the need for Nuclear, which they regard as the ultimate evil, they'd rather 'protect' waterfowl from having to move a mile along the coast and a few rare slugs than actually help save the planet and give Britain far higher energy diversity and independence from price increases by russian gas or middle eastern oil.

I've cracked it.

All prisoners to do at least 4 hours a day on an exercise bike attached to dynamos.

Quote from Tarragon

Such a build has huge problems with local opposition - nimbys, and with huge irony, the GREENS always put up huge opposition claiming it would change the wetlands and coastal environments. Yes, despite the HUGE savings in CO2 and toxins, and lessening the need for Nuclear, which they regard as the ultimate evil, they'd rather 'protect' waterfowl from having to move a mile along the coast and a few rare slugs than actually help save the planet and give Britain far higher energy diversity and independence from price increases by russian gas or middle eastern oil.

I don’t think you understand the green movement’s true objectives.

Quote from Armitage Shanks

I don’t think you understand the green movement’s true objectives.

Yr welcome to explain it to us.

I don't doubt they like all movements are a broad church - some are more political and some more environmental, but in this article I refer to the ones that just love to attempt to block any and all development by objecting about habitats.

Quote from Tarragon

Yr welcome to explain it to us.

I don't doubt they like all movements are a broad church - some are more political and some more environmental, but in this article I refer to the ones that just love to attempt to block any and all development by objecting about habitats.

You’re not wrong in what you say or what the article says. I was referring in particular to the exasperation you were expressing that the Greens were the ones ultimately objecting to the attempts to transition from one energy source to a less polluting energy source citing the environmental impact of the new scheme. They are right and wrong insofar as the new scheme is less polluting once installed and commissioned but they don’t like the price that has to be paid the achieve it so they find themselves stuck in this very unhelpful place of objecting to the present and objecting to the future. In short they will object to whatever is proposed because they are an absolutist organisation.

Of course it's not the Greens that stopped the Severn Barrier, it was the cost. It was (in equivalent terms) so huge it made HS2 (all branches) look cheap. But as we saw with HS2 the objections and blocking delay projects which drives up costs.

The U-turn the political greens have done on nuclear power is quite astonishing (someone finally bashed some sense into them??)

It's always 'we need homes' 'we need green energy' 'we need higher pay' but when it comes to the things that will achieve that, it's 'not in my area' and/or 'not in natural habitats'.

Luckily as engineers, it was our job to test viability, and leave the costing and zoning etc.etc. to the hundreds of thousands of overpaid civil servants.

Quote from Tarragon

Luckily as engineers, it was our job to test viability, and leave the costing and zoning etc.etc. to the hundreds of thousands of overpaid civil servants.

I have always been fascinated by the way costs escalate so much on government projects. It seems to me that a great deal of the cost has literally nothing to do with getting the job done.

No, these days, people in the construction industry need intensive equality and diversity training, advanced safety training, interpersonal skills, historical slavery awareness, the environmental needs of newts…….

It’s bureaucracy gone mad in this country and there’s no performance management.