Manchester Arena Attack: Families ‘Disgusted’ By Memorial Trespassing
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These are the introductory paragraphs,
Families of people killed in the Manchester Arena attack have said they were “disgusted” after a memorial site for the 22 victims was trespassed on.
The Glade of Light memorial in the city centre remains a building site and does not officially open until the new year.
Two bereaved families said they were appalled to find the security fences pulled down on Sunday.
The article also said this.
Ms Curry said she found hundreds of people were walking through the area, which is supposed to be closed to the public.
She said one man stood on a memorial stone and was abusive when challenged, another woman vomited all over the area, and groups of youths were openly smoking drugs.
I can’t understand what led to this aggressive trespass.
When, I am in certain cities, there does seem to be more low life on the streets than you habitually see in London.
I do wonder, if it is partly because of London’s transport regulations and actions as laid down by the Mayor and Transport for London.
London has an extensive CCTV network and after the London bombings of July the seventh and the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005, I’m sure it was improved.
Did the improved CCTV and the police action in the shooting the unfortunate Brazilian, deter a lot of low life from going to the centre?
Ken Livingstone or was it Boris, introduced a policy of banning alcohol on London’s transport system.
The precise details are given in this recent article on the Sun.
I have a feeling it had a positive effect, but did it mean that less drunks found their way to the centre?
In 2011, I sat next to a guy on a Manchester bus going from Piccadilly Gardens to Bury. I noticed that about a dozen youths were harassing the driver, trying to get his fare money and remarked on this to my companion.
My companion on hearing my London accent, said you don’t get that in London because of the contactless ticketing, as there is no fare money on the bus.
I was surprised at his reply and asked him to explain. It turned out he was a Trade Union Official, who looked after bus workers in Manchester. He told me his Union wanted a London-style contactless ticketing system, as it had drastically cut the number of attacks on staff in London.
Having worked with the Metropolitan Police on the analysis of data, they have also found that contactless ticketing helps in the tracing of people through London’s transport network and has solved several serious crimes.
Conclusion
I feel that terrorism and London’s reaction to it, banning of alcohol on public transport, contactless ticketing and other measures have helped keep drunks and those up to no good out of the centre.
Engineers At Network Rail Are Building A Tiny Railway Crossing For Wild Hazel Dormice To Help Protect The Endangered Species From Extinction
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway News.
This is the brief introductory paragraph.
This dormouse bridge will be the first of its kind. It will be built in summer 2022 on the Furness line in Lancashire.
Let’s hope after all this care and work, the dormice like it.
BP Plans To Turn Teesside Into First Green Hydrogen Hub
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the first paragraph.
BP plans to build Britain’s biggest “green hydrogen” facility on Teesside to produce the clean fuel for use in new hydrogen-powered lorries and other transport.
Note.
The plans appear to be ambitious starting with a £100 million investment to build a 60 MW electrolyser by 2025, which would rise to as much as 500 MW by 2030.
The electrolyser will be paired with an upwards of a billion pound one gigawatt facility called H2Teesside, that will produce blue hydrogen.
I think there could be more to this than meets the eye.
Using The Carbon Dioxide Rather than Storing It!
I followed the carbon dioxide pipe from the CF fertiliser plant on Teesside using Google maps after seeing a film about it on the BBC. It goes to the Quorn factory and a massive greenhouse. I do wonder, if BP is talking to other companies, who also have a need for large quantities of good quality carbon dioxide.
One could be an Australian company, called Mineral Carbonation International, who have developed a process to convert carbon dioxide into building products like blocks and plasterboard. MCI won a prize at COP26, so could BP be looking at integrating one of these plants into their complex on Teesside?
The Electrolysers
Will BP be purchasing their electrolysers for green hydrogen from ITM Power in Sheffield?
This press release from ITM Power is entitled 12MW Electrolyser Sale.
The customer is not named, but could this be a starter kit for BP?
Alstom’s Hydrogen Aventras
In Alstom And Eversholt Rail Sign An Agreement For The UK’s First Ever Brand-New Hydrogen Train Fleet, I came to this conclusion.
This modern hydrogen train from Alstom is what is needed.
I also felt there could be three similar trains; electric, battery-electric and hydrogen, which would help operators hedge their bets on what type of traction to use.
Teesside must be one of the more likelier places where the Hydrogen Aventras will be carrying passengers.
I wrote about this possibility in Alstom Hydrogen Aventras And Teesside.
A deal between BP and Alstom would surely be in the interest of both companies.
- Alstom would get a local hydrogen supply.
- BP would get a first sale.
- BP would get excellent publicity and a local demonstration of the possibilities of hydrogen.
It might even be possible to supply the hydrogen by pipeline.
Omicron I Can Understand, But Arwen Is Surely A Funny Name For A Storm!
This article on the Birmingham Mail is entitled Storm Arwen: What Does The Name Arwen Mean And Who Chooses Storm Names?.
It says this about Arwen.
The name Arwen is believed to be of ancient Welsh origin and means “fair” or “good”. It is most commonly a female name.
Arwen was made famous by J.R.R Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings book series, which sees the name translated to “noble maiden” in Sindarin.
I’ve never read any of Tolkein’s books or seen any of the films, but I have played real tennis several times with one of his cousins.
He is or was a man who was involved with high-vacuum scientific equipment. He had some interesting tales about selling the equipment to the Soviet Bloc. He said that he always had a few of his cousin’s books handy, as they made excellent presents to oil the wheels of Soviet bureaucracy.
I hope everybody reading this, has been untroubled by the wrath of Arwen.
I
New Private Cinema Hidden Under A London Overground Line Where Drinks, Pizza And Nachos Are Brought To Your Seat
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on MyLondon.
There has been some disquiet over the sale of railway arches by Network Rail to private equity.
Is this an example of what is going to happen?
If so, I like it.
Chile Wants To Export Solar Energy To Asia Via 15,000km Submarine Cable
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on pv magazine.
You can’t fault the Chileans for ambition, especially as the Atacama Desert is the sunniest area in the world.
But I do think, that it might be cheaper to build a giant electrolyser in Chile and export the hydrogen by ship to Japan and South Korea.
I do wonder, if Chile is a country, that needs to talk to Andrew Forrest of Fortescue Future Industries.
Will JCB Dig The Whole World Out Of A Hole?
JCB and the Bamford family in general have form, where hydrogen is concerned.
- JCB have developed internal combustion engines, that will run on hydrogen.
- Jo Bamford owns Wrightbus and they are building hydrogen-fuelled buses in Northern Ireland.
- JCB were an early investor in hydrogen electrolyser company; ITM Power.
- JCB have signed a large contract for the delivery of hydrogen with Fortescue Future Industries.
I have just watched this amazing video, where Lord Bamford explains his philosophy on hydrogen.
London’s Newest Property Hotspot Has Been Revealed — And It’s On The NLE Tube Line
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Metro.
This doesn’t surprise me one bit.
Any new train or tram line, whether it is under or over the ground always creates a property hot spot.
That’s why London needs to develop the West London Orbital Railway, Crossrail to Ebbsfleet and New Bermondsey station as soon as possible, as the areas they serve need a lift.
On a wider view, it is also why reopening rail lines is such a good policy. Some might object to property hot-spots, but most residents of the UK, like it when property prices rise!
Fortescue Future Industries As A First Mover In Global Green Hydrogen And Next Generation Mining Equipment
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on International Mining.
This is the most significant sentence in the article.
Fortescue has set an industry leading target to be carbon neutral by 2030.
The article details how Andrew Forrest’s company intends to do it.
I found the article a fascinating read.
Hydrophilic Polymers: The Key To A Green Future
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Tech Xplore.
This is the first paragraph.
Researchers from the University of Surrey and the University of Bristol are working on innovative devices to tame and store carbon-free renewable energy from unpredictable sources such as wind and solar.
That got me interested and I read the whole article.
This abstract on SpringerLink gives a definition of hydrophilic polymers.
Hydrophilic polymers are those polymers which dissolve in, or are swollen by, water. Many compounds of major technical and economic importance fall within this definition, including many polymers of natural origin. Many foodstuffs—containing substantial amounts of carbohydrate and protein— can be classified as hydrophilic polymers, and some have important technical and industrial uses, apart from their nutritional value. For example, although over 95% of the starches produced from corn (maize), wheat, potato, tapioca, and other vegetable sources are used as foods (human or animal), the remaining quantity represents an important part of the technical polymer market. In fact, more than two-thirds of hydrophilic or water-soluble polymers used in industry are derived from polymers of natural origin, so coming from renewable resources (harvested crops, trees, waste animal products and so on), rather than petrochemical sources of finite availability.
This paragraph from the Tech Xplore article describes the research.
The Chemistry Department at Surrey is working with collaborators at Bristol, Professors Ian Hamerton and David Fermin, and Superdielectrics Ltd., an innovative British Research Company located at the Surrey Research Park to transform simple hydrophilic polymers which were originally developed for use as contact lenses, to realize a second critical energy storage process.
This could lead to the next generation of supercapacitors.
Conclusion
This is fascinating technology and it could save the world.
The Anonymous Widower 