Search found 1989 matches

by Biospace
28 Mar 2024, 12:48pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Sweage Releases Into Rivers
Replies: 3
Views: 58

Re: Sweage Releases Into Rivers

Yes, I bookmarked it earlier - a very useful, revealing tool and so depressing. Big business is acting as it wishes, beyond the control of Government.
by Biospace
28 Mar 2024, 12:46pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: How's your weather?
Replies: 1939
Views: 93956

Re: How's your weather?

I see in the paper there is some snow in Devon, presumably only on the higher land? For the first time this year it feels really warm here in the centre of Britain, the early Spring has been grey, cold and damp to the east of the Pennines.
by Biospace
26 Mar 2024, 4:40pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109838

Re: BEVs

the snail wrote: 28 Nov 2023, 8:29am
Biospace wrote: 26 Nov 2023, 5:06pm It appears that electric vehicle prices could continue to fall, with the advent of 'gigacasting' just around the corner and battery prices falling faster than expected - suggested to be by 40% from 2022 to 2025.

Will this mean a glut of cheap older BEVs or could the lack of repairability help push up second hand prices as cars which would once have received new structural sections after a crash be consigned to the crusher?

https://insideevs.com/news/671943/toyota-giga-casting/
https://electrek.co/2023/11/20/electric ... wn-faster/
I'm not sure if evs are any less repairable than other vehicles. The gigacastings from Tesla can be welded or replaced for £800, and you could probably pay that for a wing mirror these days. Like insurance it's probably unfamiliarity and lack of skilled people that is the problem at the moment.
UpWrong wrote: 19 Mar 2024, 10:37pm ...
The gap with BEVs has narrowed. It's being pointed out that there is near price equvialence between a Dacia Spring BEV and a Hyundai i10 ICE.
...
Jdsk wrote: 20 Mar 2024, 9:42am The latest on costs from Gartner: "Gartner Outlines a New Phase for Electric Vehicles":
https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/pre ... c-vehicles
Carlton green wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 7:39am
UpWrong wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 12:32pm Yes, I think that and the consequential insurance costs are now the main issues preventing me going down the BEV route.
...
One could be excused from thinking that BEV’s were toys for the wealthy and the business expenses driver. Why are these cars so expensive to insure? In part because they are so expensive to repair, so subject to non-repairability, so heavy (heavy cars do a lot of damage) and so powerful.

Cheaper new BEVs for those buying a new car, but will high insurance costs put many off whether buying new or used?

This means BEVs will reach ICE cost parity much faster than initially expected, but at the same time, it will make some repairs of BEVs considerably costlier” - from "Gartner Outlines a New Phase for Electric Vehicles"
by Biospace
26 Mar 2024, 2:10pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: War on Our Doorstep: How do we respond?
Replies: 1875
Views: 83014

Re: War on Our Doorstep: How do we respond?

Carlton green wrote: 24 Mar 2024, 8:35pm What goes through Putin’s mind is anyone’s guess and I think that few people have any idea of his aims and tactics. One thing for sure is that he and his advisors are not to be underestimated and we almost certainly are doing just that.

I read that a missile from Russia to Ukraine went via Polish air space. That didn’t happen by accident and there are several messages in that action …
I would expect Putin to wish to protect Russian interests as he always has, although the invasion of Ukraine was a desperate misjudgement, more likely to do as much or more harm to Russia as it's causing to the rest of Europe.

I'm not convinced we're underestimating Putin, we're aware of his 'small man syndrome', his disdain for recent Western inconsistencies and of Russia's nuclear potential. We also know Russia's GDP is smaller than that of Texas, although the Russian economy is presently doing far better than we had hoped.

Do you really know for sure that this missile was ordered to fly over Poland, presumably the same as happened this December? Two Poles were killed a little over a year ago by a missile which went off course, somewhat recklessly Ukraine tried to pass it off as a Russian one.

UpWrong wrote: 24 Mar 2024, 7:57pm So the US warns the Kremlin of an imminent Islamist attack on a public gathering such as a theatre, and the Kremlin tells them to stop interfering. Islamist terror attack happens, Putin is silent for 24 hrs and then points the finger at the Ukranians. The man is despicable and pathetic.

The more interviews I hear with Russian defectors the more I hear them say the only way to deal with Putin is tell him that if he wants war then that is what he'll get. We need to stop backing off.
If Britain had invaded another nation and subsequently one of their allies, their single largest financial and military supporter, offered Britain intelligence concerning a terrorist threat then to what extent would we trust this? I'd hope we'd treat it seriously but with caveats that it could be intended to be a distraction to our goals.

Clearly Russia's intel isn't what that of the US, UK and our closest allies is, but its budget is likely a fraction. Their terrible mis-judgement of this information which was clearly offered sincerely is but one awful consequence of war, yet the number of dead rises into the hundreds of thousands.

Not sure what you mean by "We need to stop backing off"?
by Biospace
24 Mar 2024, 5:28pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 103
Views: 2924

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

Psamathe wrote: 24 Mar 2024, 5:09pm I often wonder about the possibility of Gov. setting typical person in basic accommodation needs <x> kW per day to heat, cook, light, <y> litres of water to drink, cook, wash, etc., etc.. So those basic amounts are free on utility bills, people only paying when the consumed amounts exceed the "basic" per person allowances. Probably lots of issues with the details (but Gov pays highly qualified people lots of money to sort details). Idea being that people don't have to struggle for at least some of the basic necessities.

Ian
I've often considered this also and don't see why it shouldn't be possible.

Energy should be charged for progressively, depending on the number of occupants in a property, with the most basic needs covered by those consuming excessive quantities of energy heating swimming pools, with enormous houses and so on. Having cheaper unit charges the more you use is clearly a nonsense.
by Biospace
24 Mar 2024, 5:21pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?
Replies: 151
Views: 8952

Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

pwa wrote: 23 Mar 2024, 6:11am
Biospace wrote: 22 Mar 2024, 1:50pm ...
I can't help but feel carpets and stoves in the same room/same floor aren't the best bedfellows. Or is it possible they trap particulates until vacuumed, which would otherwise remain in circulation?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... od-burning
That article is all over the place and raises more questions than it answers. But regarding Irish homes burning wood and coal, I have been in a few Irish homes that have been definitely affected by smoke from open fires or faulty stoves and flues.
...
You can allow fumes into your home if you burn wood, but it isn't compulsory or inevitable that you do it to a significant degree.
Yes, I agree. The pollution from wood burning stoves has grown as energy bills have increased, it hasn't helped that they've been promoted as an environmentally friendly way of heating the home - which it is for some, less so for others.

I've witnessed someone in a modern home with typical minimal ventilation, but with the obligatory vent installed with the stove allowing an icy blast directly into their living room. The stove was running with the vents open ("we like to see flames") so very possibly resulting in a net cooling of the centrally heated house.

I fear this is an all too common scenario, with food wrappers and contaminated wood adding to the problem, I hear of more situations in which people are complaining to EH about smoke nuisance aggravating asthma and other conditions. If they don't fall out of fashion for those who see them as a lifestyle accessory, with ever greater population densities there is likely to be legislation mooted.
by Biospace
24 Mar 2024, 4:53pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 103
Views: 2924

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

Psamathe wrote: 24 Mar 2024, 4:38pm Different rates reflect the distinction between necessary expenditure and optional expenditure. People on lower income scales often spend all (or more than all) of their income on essentials (accommodation, food, travel to work, etc.). People on higher imcomes have more money to spend on non-essentials eg pub, theatre/cinema, overseas holidays, etc.

Different tax rates reflect that people on higher incomes have more money after the basic essentials.

To me "pain" associated with moving to single invome tax rates would be endured by those already struggling whilst the better off become even better off.

UK (and other wester countries) seem very good at pushing the "pain" on those least able to cope whilst the better off get ever wealthier. Adjustments (like minimum wage, etc.) would need to be put in place before income tax rates adjusted as well as safeguards to stop senior management awarding themselves ever higher incomes whilst squeezing those lower down the income scale. It would never happen in our political. Senior management regard themselves as profit generating and regard those on lower incomes as a cost to be reduced.

Ian
I agree with much of this, but with very high energy and housing prices, differential levels of taxation are hardly functioning as intended. Taxation of both personal income and consumption are very high in the UK.

A substantial reduction of the cost of land and energy alone would result in a much fairer society.
by Biospace
24 Mar 2024, 4:37pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 103
Views: 2924

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

rjb wrote: 24 Mar 2024, 1:33pm Shirley the fairest tax regime would be to have one rate applied to all income. Having higher rates just increases salaries to try and make up the shortfall, so perpetuating escalating salaries. Scrapping personnel allowances would simplify the tax regime so everyone would know how much they owe.
It would mean a few years of pain until the new system stabilised. Less room for tax avoidance. Better transparency.
Any takers.
I'll get my lid on in anticipation of the incoming flack. :shock:
rjb wrote: 24 Mar 2024, 3:29pm I didnt say it was going to happen overnight but at least Lizz Trust started the ball rolling. My idea is sensible and fair. Look at the overall picture. We are discussing taxation not income here. Will take some progressive planning, but it should reduce those eye watering salaries which take oppressive amounts of taxation into account when remuneration is calculated making more available for those further down the scale.
How can it be fair for someone to be taxed at 20% whilst others are taxed at 40%. Equality for everyone. :D
The Baltic States emerged from the Soviet system crippled, unable to provide much money for vital services. Nobody had an education in how to run an economy based on market principles, so they self-educated and realised it's impossible to tax your way out of poverty. They plumped for a single flat rate of income tax, which has been hugely effective.

For nations like ours where wealth has been accrued for centuries and networks of privilege and power are so deeply woven in to society and agencies, I'm not convinced this would work since so much British money is locked up and not working for its living, yet provides enough income for its owners to sit back and do very little.

A country doesn't pay its bills through the artificially increased land and property values Governments have promoted for decades, yet they are more regressive and harmful than many forms of taxation. A service sector can only grow so far without affecting stability and wealth adversely, so it should be clear what's needed.

The thing is, an over-complex taxation system provides for many, many jobs in legal and financial services. Yet another reason it's so unlikely to be reset to something sensible.

al_yrpal wrote: 24 Mar 2024, 3:07pm The only thing that will turn us around economically is successful private business. Such businesses are lead by hard working, driven entrepreneurs. These folk must be incentivised. Heavy taxation out of line with world norms incentivises them to take their ideas and businesses abroad elsewhere.

Al
This century, I've observed successive governments more concerned with the fortune of large business rather than small and medium sized ones which keep an economy running at so many levels. It's not only disposable income which is considered when people choose where to live and work - a healthy and happy population at large is also highly desirable.
by Biospace
24 Mar 2024, 3:38pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Heat in the home
Replies: 2297
Views: 134327

Re: Heat in the home

Jdsk wrote: 24 Mar 2024, 10:32am The Melpitz study:
...
Jonathan
Discussed in the "Air Pollution..." thread viewtopic.php?t=142926&start=135

axel_knutt wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 6:52pm ...
Thermal diffusivity is absolutely fundamental
...
What you can see is that the thermal resistance and heat capacity of the brickwork combine to create a low-pass filter
...
..people are more sensitive to radiant heat, and that asymmetric radiation causes thermal discomfort
...
An excessively warm ceiling is the most uncomfortable, followed by a cool wall
...
Thanks for a particularly informative post with so much to consider; our comfort is hugely reliant on radiant heat/lack of. We tend to consider only air temperatures, since that's all we usually measure.

I've been in some houses where the single largest thermal mass has felt to be a large granite worktop, with well-insulated, lightweight walls no longer forming a heat battery to gently warm a house after a sunny day when the air is still cold. We're building more air-tight and better insulated homes but comfort and air quality need to be considered also.

The comment about warm ceilings reminded me of how it took me a good couple of months to adjust to warm floors, at first a stone floor sitting at 25C felt very wrong and slightly 'dirty' after a lifetime of cold floors in midwinter, made tolerable with rugs and wood stoves. The 'problem' with a thermally highly efficient house is that it needs almost no heating, so having grown to appreciate warm floors it's rare they actually feel to be unless it's unusually cold outside.

I still miss a central point of heat, so will be building a outdoor oven which will save on electricity and should be particularly enjoyed on cool Spring and Autumn evenings, possibly even when it's dry and bright in winter. If there's 'rocket stove' technology used for its core, there will be a minimum of particulates and pollution and the flue gases should be capable of warming a solid bench.
by Biospace
22 Mar 2024, 5:33pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Tourer for gentle off-roading?
Replies: 145
Views: 6693

Re: Tourer for gentle off-roading?

djnotts wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 6:32pm
jimlews wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 6:16pm The OPs requirements shout 90s mountain bike, to me.
...
+1. Mid-90s mtbs are the best do everything bikes!
...
I'd agree with the mid-90s MTB sentiments but really good ones aren't so easy to find now at 'sensible' money. Finding something like a CInder Cone or Bear Valley SE with little use - rather than a fairly worn example cleaned to the nines to give the impression it's barely used - would give many years of enjoyable riding, with suitable additions to/replacement of the bars for a comfortable posture.

Having only only ridden bicycles similar to Galaxies before returning to cycling in the 2010s I was a little concerned with the American-sized 26" wheels but in reality they're fine when fitted with wider tyres (and so a decent rolling circumference). The quality of the componentry and the sweet steel frames on these 'mountain bikes' impressed me, but it's the more than the sum of its parts quality of my own which keeps it as the most used in the stable.
by Biospace
22 Mar 2024, 1:50pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?
Replies: 151
Views: 8952

Re: Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

More gloom from the Guardian with respect to wood stoves.

Something I note is that the quality of installations, stove design and maintenance, the way they're used, local air behaviour and the amount of chimney draw can all affect internal air quality. I've been in some very smoky-smelling, dusty homes with stoves and others which have been felt far cleaner than those without any wood burning.

I'm not convinced with the article's scientific approach, "As a group, people with central heating also had an increased risk. This was thought to be due to the large number of Irish homes with central heating who also used open fires for secondary heating" - was there clear evidence it was mostly the Irish who were at increased risk with CH?

Additionally, has anyone quantified particulates in homes with dogs vs none?

I can't help but feel carpets and stoves in the same room/same floor aren't the best bedfellows. Or is it possible they trap particulates until vacuumed, which would otherwise remain in circulation?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... od-burning
by Biospace
21 Mar 2024, 7:44pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109838

Re: BEVs

Plenty has been made of Nissan's announcement to abandonment their app for older Leafs with complaints from owners who are concerned they won't be able to control certain features remotely. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68426263

However, these early BEVs lack much of the connectivity and reliance on software compared with newer BEVs, with today's cars moving ever closer towards an era of SDV (Software Defined Vehicles) and reliance on OTA (over the air) updates, so presumably increasing amounts of functionality will cease to be supported as aging hardware is no longer supported by software.

As a 2015 Android phone is obsolete mostly on account of the software it is permitted to run, so a 2024 BEV may be 'retired' by its manufacturers, unless 'jailbroken'. Which could yet be made illegal for vehicles, given the safety critical implications.

Abilities such as communication with public charging networks or updates to the latest safety firmware will at some point become impossible, something today's generation brought up on mobile phones may accept far more passively than I would. For big business and Government, is this their utopia with citizens locked in to a system which relies on everyone owning/using objects which are still supported by current software?

Maybe nobody would be so candid to admit to this, with the insurance companies being the ones to effect the obsolescence as they do with more complex/modern aircraft (note Spitfires still fly, Vulcans don't) and in another 20 years the original Nissan Leaf will have found its time?
by Biospace
21 Mar 2024, 6:59pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109838

Re: BEVs

Carlton green wrote: 21 Mar 2024, 6:24pm H’mm, can’t argue with that eBay listing of sold goods but I’m not sure that I’d buy an electric car off of eBay.

The small battery (24Kwh) Leafs are the earlier ones and even if the batteries are in really good condition - which I think unlikely - they have limited range which constrains what they might be used for. A pal of mine has one and it’s really only any use for short journeys near to home … a lot of folk would find them impractical and hence the prices. If battery replacement and enhancement was available for sensible money then they’d sell much better (IMHO).

I checked on Cazoo what Leafs were available under £10k and a Gen 1 with a 30 KWh battery is about £7.5k, there was nothing for £5k.
https://www.cazoo.co.uk/cars/nissan/lea ... price-desc
Yes, you pay for the protection a car trader offers and more on top to have a car delivered to your door from the other end of the country.

It would be interesting to compare the water-tightness of a Cazoo warranty for an older EV with that of a third party provider. I've read the motor trade treats EV batteries as consumable items and how far you expect to travel on battery power is open to so many variables - and therefore the ability for warranty providers to explore ways to wriggle out.

A cheap BEV would surely be seen as nothing more than a local run about with no expectation to travel more than 40 miles on a charge. For most people, a very large proportion of their trips are incredibly short ones, which is where cars with engines make least sense and BEVs make most sense - low speed, cold starts, multiple stopping and starting, many junctions and so on.

There is a certain irony that a BEV used for what it's best at is available so inexpensively, given the very high prices for those capable of driving almost half the length of Britain.
by Biospace
21 Mar 2024, 6:01pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109838

Re: BEVs

UpWrong wrote: 19 Mar 2024, 10:37pm ...
Those with a £5K budget won't be looking at electric for some while to come.
Sorry to pick you up on just one point, but there were loads of Leafs being offered around £5k in 2018 by NIssan dealers and there are plenty under £5k today. Public perceptions hadn't been adjusted sufficiently in 2018, there was a good supply of second hand cars which were returned from the various forms of contract hire or leasing or whatever it's called. Many were like new, I very nearly bought one.

Here is a selection which sold recently, https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... Complete=1
by Biospace
20 Mar 2024, 7:03pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2135
Views: 109838

Re: BEVs

Nearholmer wrote: 19 Mar 2024, 10:56pm
highlights just how relatively inefficient many BEVs in current production are
Perhaps more that they are big, than that they are particularly inefficient, although to push efficiency a long way they either need to travel pretty slowly, or be far more aerodynamic than many designs are, enclosed wheel arches, that sort of thing.

The BEV that put stars in my eyes at the concept stage was the new VW minibus (Buzz?), which I somehow imagined would be about the size of the traditional VW camper of 50+ years ago. When I met one in the flesh for the first time I was astounded by how huge it is! 50+ years ago it would have been considered big enough to be a lorry.
Yes, modern cars are so often larger than we would expect yet seem to have grown relatively little on the inside.

I was considering mass as much as anything, a heavy car is always going to struggle to be efficient, unless it has a very slippery body and never turns off a perfectly level motorway on which it maintains an unvarying speed.

Profits are perhaps more carefully worked out today than ever, there's no profit in producing something to be lightweight unless it's for something relatively exclusive.