Open Golf Championship’s £69m Boost To Scottish Economy
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The Open golf championship at Carnoustie in July boosted the Scottish economy by £69m this year, according to an independent study.
Researchers at Sheffield Hallam University found the Angus area alone received a £21m cash injection from hosting the event.
It just goes to show the value of big events to a country, region or a city.
I have to ask the opposite question! – Do some areas of the UK, suffer because they don’t host a big sporting event, arts festival or site or museum of national importance?
Funding Injection For Smart Central Heating Project
The title of this article is the same as that of this article in The Scotsman.
This is the first two paragraphs.
East Lothian-based thermal energy storage specialist Sunamp and energy supplier OVO have secured seven-figure funding to develop a commercially viable smart central heating system.
The project brings together OVO’s intelligent energy management platform, called VCharge, with Sunamp’s super compact “heat batteries” which are said to store four times more heat than hot water tanks of a similar size.
This sounds like an interesting concept from Sunamp and OVO.
This video from Fully Charged, shows Sunamp’s thermal batteries in action.
I believe we’ll be seeing more of thermal batteries!
Harry Redknapp And Stacey Dooley
With Harry Redknapp winning I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here and Stacey Dooley winning Strictly Come Dancing are we seeing a reaction to the gloom that pervades everyday life and especially politics.
I’ve never met either, but both seem likeable characters, to whom not many would object.
Palm Oil Giant Wilmar International To Combat Deforestation Using Satellite Monitoring Of Suppliers
The title of this post is the same as that of an article on The Independent.
This is the first three paragraphs.
The world’s largest trader in palm oil has unveiled plans to use satellite monitoring to prevent further destruction of rainforests.
Wilmar International is backing a project by sustainability consultancy Aidenvironment to draw up a comprehensive mapping database of suppliers in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
It has pledged to immediately suspend groups involved in deforestation or development on peatland, while also working with them to improve their operations.
Both the Independent and The Times, quote Kiki Taufik of Greenpeace, as the announcement being a potential breakthrough.
The Times also says, that Mondelez, who own Cadbury, have backed Wilmar’s palm oil plan.
Christmas Card Messages
I received a card with a stylised dove of peace on the front. Underneath were the words.
All is Calm
Inside the sender had added.
The makers of this card clearly hadn’t heard about Brexit!
You wouldn’t want to send it to a friend or relative in France either!
There are some very inappropriate cards in shops.
The New London Pollution Charge — May Be Mayor Sadiq Khan’s ‘Poll Tax Moment’
The title of this post is the same as that of a news story in today’s Sunday Times.
This is the first paragraph.
The ‘ultra-low emission zone’ will force 1m motorists to pay the £12.50 daily charge — or get off the road,
The Sunday Times has done a detailed analysis and makes the following points about the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
- About a million vehicles will be liable to the new levy.
- The ULEZ charge of £12.50 will be a nice little earner for Transport for London (TfL).
- The ULEZ charge will raise three times as much as the Congestion Charge.
- It could collect up to £1.5billion per year.
- Some people will be paying £4,000 a year to drive their own car.
- Initially, the charge will only be levied in Central London, but after 2021, it will apply inside the North and South Circular Roads.
- The Sunday Times has read some TfL impact assessments.
Reading the full article convinces me, that I made the right decision to give up driving.
I am in favour of the ULEZ, as I suffer from pollution and I don’t have a driving licence because my eyesight was damaged by a stroke.
But Sadiq Khan seems to have forgotten a lesson of recent history, where the City of Westminster voted down his laudable aim of pedestrianising part of Oxford Street.
On that issue, he should have pedestrianised all of it. Just as the City of London seems to be doing!
But the motoring lobby gave Westminster a good kicking and do you think, they will be less active at the ballot box in the next Mayoral Election?
Few would vote for someone, who would tax them an extra £4,000 a year.
Sadiq Khan is a well-meaning politically-correct lightweight, who doesn’t think through the effects of his promises.
2022 Opening For £80m Eden Project North Which Would Attract Up To 8,000 People A Day To Morecambe
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in the Lancaster Guardian.
This is the first paragraph.
The Eden Project North would open in autumn 2022 at a cost of £80m and attract up to 8,000 people a day to Morecambe – if planning and funding can be agreed.
Given the undoubted success of the Eden Project in Cornwall, I would be very surprised if this project doesn’t go ahead.
Exciting Renewable Energy Project for Spennymoor
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the Durham University web site.
This is the first paragraph.
In January 2016, local residents Alan Gardner, Cllr Kevin Thompson and Lynn Gibson from the Durham Energy Institute at Durham University, met a team of academics to explore the advantages renewable energy and specifically the use of geothermal resources could bring to Spennymoor.
And this is the last.
Durham University is one of the world leaders in this research field. Spennymoor now has an opportunity to be at the forefront of that research. What the outcomes will eventually be is unknown at this stage but being able to explore the opportunity by the best in the business is encouraging.
Charlotte Adams mentioned in the article is the academic, who did the presentation I saw yesterday and talked about in Can Abandoned Mines Heat Our Future?.
Everybody, who lives in a mining area, should read this article and show it to everyone they know.
Funding Nemo: £600m Power Cable Connects UK And Belgium
The title of this post is the same as this article in The Guardian.
This is the first paragraph.
A £600m cable connecting the UK and Belgium’s energy systems is about to be switched on, becoming the first of a new generation of interconnectors that will deepen the UK’s ties to mainland Europe just as it prepares to leave the EU.
It runs between Richborough in Kent and Zeebrugge in Belgium and is the fifth interconnector to be connected to Great Britain.
Other interconnectors connect to Ireland, Northern Ireland, France and the Netherlands.
In Large Scale Electricity Interconnection, I discuss the rest of the interconnectors, that are being constructed or planned.
We could see up to fifteen in operation in a few years.
As to Nemo, it was originally thought that the UK would be importing energy from Belgium, but as Belgium needs to service its nuclear power stations and will be shutting them in the next few years, the power will sometimes be flowing the other way. Especially, as more large wind farms come on stream in the UK!
It is my view that Icelink could change everything and Belgium’s possible future power shortage, makes Icelink far more likely.
Wikipedia describes the interconnector between Iceland and Scotland like this.
At 1000–1200 km, the 1000 MW HVDC link would be the longest sub-sea power interconnector in the world.
As more interconnectors are built between the UK and the Continent, including a possible link between Peterhead in North-East Scotland to Stavanger in Norway, which is called NorthConnect, the UK will begin to look like a giant electricity sub-station, that connects all the zero-carbon power sources together.
- Denmark will supply wind power.
- France will supply nuclear power.
- Iceland will supply hydro-electric and geothermal power.
- Norway will supply hydro-electric power.
- The UK will supply nuclear and wind power.
Other sources like wind power from France and Ireland and tidal and wave power from the UK could be added to the mix in the next decade.
The Consequences For Gas
Our use of gas to generate electricity in Western Europe will surely decline.
If projects, like those I discussed in Can Abandoned Mines Heat Our Future?, come on stream to provide heat, the role of gas in providing heating in housing and other buildings will decline in the UK.
We also shouldn’t forget the role of hydrogen, which could also replace natural gas in many applications. It would be created by electrolysis of water or as a by-product of some industrial processes.
Hydrogen could also become a valuable way of storing excess electricity produced by tidal, wave and wind power.
It is unlikely, we will develop a totally gas-free economy, as methane is a valuable chemical feedstock to produce other chemical products we need.
Conclusion
Not many people will be sorry, except for President Putin and a few equally nasty despots in the Middle East.
Arup Called In To Help New Zealand Run Ports And Trains On Hydrogen
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Global Construction Review.
This is the first paragraph.
UK consulting engineer Arup has been brought in to help design and deliver a hydrogen factory for New Zealand’s second largest port. Ports of Auckland said it plans to build a production facility to make the gas from tap water, which it will use to fuel ships, trucks, buses, cars and trains.
It is all part of the aim of making the port of Auckland, zero-carbon by 2040.
I think we’ll see other large self-contained sites like ports, airports, rail container terminals and large industrial complexes using hydrogen, as it may offer advantages over batteries in terms of range, lifting capacity and vehicle size and weight.
There is also no problem with the regular replacement of batteries in equipment like mobile cranes, which in New Zealand’s case will mean importing new ones.
I suspect, hydrogen may be more affordable to run than batteries for Auckland.
The Anonymous Widower 