Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone Plans Put On Hold
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These are the first four paragraphs.
The controversial rollout of Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) has been delayed.
The scheme, which would see some high-emission vehicles face daily charges, had been due to begin at the end of May. Private cars would be exempt.
The government said the pause would allow for consultation and a revised plan was due in July.
Regional mayor Andy Burnham had earlier asked the government to delay the scheme.
If Manchester don’t bring the pollution levels down, Client Earth are threatening legal action.
But to me, as a pedestrian, I do find Manchester City Centre a difficult place to walk, compared to say Birmingham or Liverpool, as the traffic seems to move about at a fast pace.
But then I blame Harold Wilson, who cancelled the Picc-Vic tunnel.
Liverpool and Newcastle received their beneficial cross-city tunnels, but Harold Wilson said that everyone would have their own cars, so we won’t need railways.
London To Be A Magnet For Overseas Cash, Says Knight Frank
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the first paragraph.
Investors from around the world are expected to spend £60 billion on London offices over the next five years in a post-Brexit, post-pandemic vote of confidence in the capital.
They also feel that the Americans will lead the investors.
I was pleased to read this, as although, they are talking mainly about offices, these will inevitably lead to a greater need for quality housing.
And the more people live in the city, the more public transport will be dug through London’s obliging clay, the more places of entertainment will open and the city will become an even better place to live.
It will also mean that if people like me want to more out, we won’t have trouble selling our properties.
Work Begins On Bristol’s First Railway Station Since 1927
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Construction work has begun on Bristol’s first new railway station in 95 years.
Portway Park & Ride will open in the Summer, linking Shirehampton with the Severn Beach railway line.
It is planned to open this Summer.
I first wrote about Portway Parkway station in DfT Names Five Winners Of Fresh £16m Stations Fund in 2017, when the stations names were as follows.
- Horden Peterlee in County Durham
- Warrington West in Cheshire
- Reading Green Park
- Bow Street in Ceredigion, Wales
- Portway Parkway near Bristol
Note.
- Portway Parkway is the last station to start construction.
- Reading Green Park station is still under construction and should open this year.
- Bow Street station opened in February 2021.
- Horden station opened in June 2020. I wrote about station after a visit, in Horden Station – 28th October 2020.
- Warrington West station opened in December 2019. I wrote about the station after a visit in January 2020, in The New Warrington West Station.
Given the pandemic, the construction hasn’t gone too badly.
Bill Gates Invests In Verdox’s Carbon Capture Technology
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the first paragraph.
Bill Gates has invested in a carbon capture start-up. His Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund has taken part in an $80 million fundraising for Verdox, a Massachusetts-based business whose technology aims to remove carbon dioxide directly from the air.
I have my doubts that this technology will ever be economic, especially as plant, trees and in particular rain forests, do a good job at using the carbon dioxide. Planting trees is also one of those feel-good community activities.
This last paragraph gives a few details of the process.
Verdox, which is a spinout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, claims that its system is cheaper and more efficient. It uses a special plastic, which when charged with electricity, can extract CO2 from a mixture of gases. A change in voltage releases the CO2.
It is a process with a good pedigree, but you’ve still got to find a way to store or use the carbon dioxide.
Plants worked out how to do that eons ago.
Power Storage Is The Next Big Net Zero Challenge
The title of this post, is the same as that of this Opinion from Bloomberg.
This is the sub-heading.
Britain’s pioneering plans for renewable energy show the global need could be massive. The means don’t yet exist.
The opinion is very much a well-written must-read.
One new project the article mentions is a 30 GWh pumped storage project at Coire Glas in the Scottish Highlands, that is planned by SSE.
I discuss this scheme in The Coire Glas Pumped Storage Scheme.
Bloomberg didn’t say it, but this pumped storage scheme could give the UK energy security.
BP Snaps Up 30 Per Cent Stake In Green Biofuels Ltd
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Business Green.
So why would BP take a stake in Green Biofuels?
This paragraph in the Wikipedia entry for BP, outlines the company’s future philosophy.
From 1988 to 2015, BP was responsible for 1.53% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions. BP has set a goal to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. BP plans to increase its investments in renewables 10 times and reduce oil production by 40% from current levels by 2030.
BP is doing things like developing wind and solar farms to achieve these aims.
BP also seems to be investing in both blue and green hydrogen.
But possibly, the two hardest products to decarbonise are diesel for heavy transport and aviation fuel.
Looking at Green Biofuels web site, the Wikipedia entry for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and other sources, Green Biofuels product; GD+ seems to make a good fist of reducing carbon emissions and pollution, if it replaces diesel.
DB Cargo UK and HVO
DB Cargo UK have a fleet of nearly two hundred large diesel locomotives in the UK.
DB Cargo UK have been experimenting with HVO, as I wrote about in Powered By HVO.
The company has issued a press release on these trials of HVO, from which this is an extract.
DB Cargo UK’s Head of Asset Management and Maintenance Steve Wilkinson said the company was collaborating with one of the UK’s leading suppliers of HVO fuel which already worked with high-profile brands like Caterpillar, John Deere, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz.
“We are very pleased with the initial performance of the HVO fuel which we could use instead of or alongside traditional red diesel. The fact it is compatible with our existing diesel means investment in new storage and fuelling facilities would also be kept to a minimum,” he added.
“On top of that, it performs well at low temperatures, has a longer lifespan and is biodegradable,” he added.
DB Cargo UK currently operates 228 diesel and electric locomotives that transport in the region of 37 million tonnes of freight each year across the UK and into Europe.
It uses approximately 45 million litres of red diesel a year.
Was one of the UK’s leading suppliers of HVO fuel, a company called Green Biofuels?
Note that DB Cargo UK’s spokesman makes these points about the fuel.
- They are very pleased with initial performance.
- It is a straight swap for red diesel and it appears locomotives can run on either. He doesn’t say it but can it run on one fuel contaminated with the other? I suspect it’s a possibility.
- Current storage can be used for HVO.
- I get the impression that swapping from red diesel to HVO wouldn’t be the most challenging of operations.
- It performs well at low temperatures. One train-driver told me, that one of the worse parts of the job, is picking up a train from a depot high in the Pennines on a cold day in the winter. That must apply to locomotives.
- It has a longer lifespan.
- It is biodegradable. I haven’t walked through an engine shed, since I used to bunk them as a child to get engine numbers, but they were filthy places, with oil and diesel all over the floor.
That sounds to me, like DB Cargo UK have decided that HVO is an excellent fuel and for them to swap to HVO, would be no more difficult than to swap between red diesel from BP to red diesel from Shell.
This is an extract from the Business Green article.
Founded in 2013, Green Biofuels is the UK’s largest provider of HVO, having delivered over 55 million litres of HVO products to the UK market over the past two years.
If DB Cargo UK wanted to swap from red diesel to HVO, they would need nearly all of Green Biofuels current production.
So have Green Biofuels run to BP and said can you help us out?
Red Diesel Replacement
This document on the Government web site is entitled Reform Of Red Diesel And Other Rebated Fuels Entitlement.
There is a section, which is entitled Policy Objective, where this is said.
In June 2019, the UK became the first major economy in the world to pass laws guaranteeing an end to its contribution to global warming by 2050. The target will require the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, compared with the previous target of at least an 80% reduction from 1990 levels. The government also launched in 2019 an ambitious new strategy to clean up the air and save lives, given air pollution is one of the biggest continuing threats to public health in the UK.
Red diesel is diesel used mainly for off-road purposes, such as to power bulldozers and cranes used in the construction industry, or to power drills for oil extraction. It accounts for around 15% of all the diesel used in the UK and is responsible for the production of nearly 14 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. Red diesel used in the construction and infrastructure building sectors was also estimated to have caused 7% of nitrogen oxide emissions and 8% of PM10 emissions (a type of particulate matter) in London in 2018.
At Budget 2020, the government therefore announced that it would remove the entitlement to use red diesel and rebated biodiesel from most sectors from April 2022 to help meet its climate change and air quality targets. The tax changes will ensure that most users of red diesel use fuel taxed at the standard rate for diesel from April 2022, like motorists, which more fairly reflects the harmful impact of the emissions they produce. Removing most red diesel entitlements will also help to ensure that the tax system incentivises users of polluting fuels like diesel to improve the energy efficiency of their vehicles and machinery, invest in cleaner alternatives, or just use less fuel.
It doesn’t say, but I have found references to the fact that HVO pays the same tax rate as diesel, despite the evidence, that it appears to be more environmentally friendly.
If I was the Chancellor, I would certainly adjust the tax system, so that red diesel users who changed to HVO and other fuels, paid tax in proportion to the emissions and pollution they caused.
So have BP decided that Green Biofuels is the best interim solution to reduce emissions from diesel fuel and taking a stake, is the best way to get the required access to the product?
Could BP be thinking about replacing red diesel with a better green diesel?
- Red diesel and GD+ could be acceptable to all diesel vehicles and equipment. So farmers for rxample, could run tractors and combines on the same fuel as their truck or Range Rover.
- Businesses, like farmers, who often have tanks for both red diesel and normal diesel, would only need one tank.
- Businesses with a green profile, would surely like it for their vehicles.
- Organic farmers would like it for their tractors.
- The availability of a green diesel would enable red diesel users to change to hydrogen or battery operation, at the optimal time.
I can see Prince Charles handing out green stars all round.
Disused Coal Mine Could Host Gravity Energy Storage Project
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Power Engineering International.
It does seem that Gravitricity has made a breakthrough, with the announcement of a full-size demonstration project in the Czech Republic.
- The project is based at the mothballed Staříč coal-mine in the Moravian Silesian region.
- They have backing from the European Investment Bank.
- This project will be delivered through the European Commission’s Project Development Assistance scheme.
- The Czech Republic seem to have carried out checks, with their own consultants.
It looks to me, that Gravitricity have passed the due diligence procedures of some high-powered agencies.
But this paragraph from the article must be important.
Gravitricity estimates there are around 14,000 mines worldwide which could be suitable for gravity energy storage.
If they can successfully store energy in one mine in the Czech Republic, how many of the 14,000 will be suitable for use?
I doubt it will be a small number, as mining engineers tend to be a conservative bunch and most of those mines will have been built to similar rules by similar machines and techniques.
A search of the Internet indicates that Staříč coal-mine has a depth of over a kilometre.
Using Omni’s Potential energy calculator, 12,000 tonnes and a kilometre give a figure of 32.69 MWh.
32 MWh may seem a small amount, but it would power one of these 4 MW Class 90 locomotives for eight hours.
At their typical operating speed of 100 mph, whilst hauling eight coaches, they’d travel a distance of eight hundred miles or from London to Edinburgh and back!
A Bid For The Return Of The Tweed Valley Railway Line Is At An Early Stage
The title of this post, is the same as that, of this article on the Southern Reporter.
This is the first paragraph.
A campaign for a multi-billion restoration of the Tweed Valley railway line is at an ’embryonic’ stage, a council committee has been informed.
The aim seems to be to take a restored Tweed Valley Line or Peebles Railway all the way to the Borders Railway at Galashiels station.
This map from Open Railway Map, shows the railway between Peebles and Innerleithen.
Note.
- The former Peebles Railway is shown as a dotted line.
- Peebles is in the North-West corner of the map.
- Innerleithen is in the South-East corner of the map.
This Google Map shows part of the former railway.
Note.
- The A72 at the top of the map.
- The hotel and the golf course.
- The Peebles Railway has been converted into cycling and walking route.
- The River Tweed adds a touch of serenity.
From this first glance, it looks like it would be difficult to restore the railway.
This second map from Open Railway Map, shows the railway between Innerleithen and Galashiels.
Note.
- The Borders Railway is shown in yellow.
- The former Peebles Railway is shown as a dotted line.
- Innerleithen is in the West.
- Galashiels is in the East on the Border Railway.
This Google Map shows Galashiels.
Note.
- The Peebles Railway enters Galashiels from the North-West.
- Galashiels station is in the South-East corner of the map.
- The Borders Railway is single-track through Galashiels and continues to the terminus at Tweedbank station.
These pictures show the Borders Railway through Galashiels and Galashiels station.
It was certainly a tight fit to rebuild the Borders Railway through Galashiels and there was only room for a single-track railway.
My Thoughts On A Restored Railway Between Peebles And Galashiels
These are my thoughts.
Single Or Double Track
It appears from Wikipedia that Innerleithen station was the only station between Peebles and Galashiels, that had two platforms.
Wikipedia doesn’t say, but I suspect that the Peebles Railway was single-track, except for at Innerleithen station, where there were two tracks and platforms to enable trains to pass.
I would expect that if the railway were to be restored, a similar layout could be used.
After flying my virtual helicopter along the route, I feel that it could be very difficult in some places to thread a double-track railway through the limited space.
As has been proven at Galashiels station, a well-designed single-platform station is step-free, can handle two trains per hour (tph) and is a more affordable option, as there is no bridge with lifts.
Service Frequency
I am fairly sure, that a single-track railway with a passing loop at Innerleithen, could handle two trains per hour.
But as the basic Off Peak service on the Borders Railway is hourly, I suspect that an hourly service between Peebles and Galashiels would be ideal and sufficient, as by intelligent timetabling, the interchange at Galashiels could be convenient for those going between Edinburgh and Peebles.
The Eastern Terminal
Galashiels station may only have one platform, but it is an interchange with buses to all over the Borders and there are some facilities.
One of the problems at Galashiels station, is that there may not be space for a second platform for the Peebles service, which will mean that the Borders Railway and the Peebles service may have to share the same platform.
A convenient service could probably be achieved by clever timetabling or having both trains in a lengthened platform at the same time.
You might see a sequence like this every hour at Galashiels station.
- XX:18 – Train arrives from Edinburgh and stops in the Southern end of the platform
- XX:20 – Train arrives from Peebles and stops in the Northern end of the platform
- XX:22 – Train departs to Tweedbank
- XX:32 – Train arrives from Tweedbank and stops in the Southern end of the platform
- XX:34 – Train departs to Peebles
- XX:35 – Train departs to Edinburgh
Note.
- All passengers changing trains get off one and get on the next one going to their desired destination, at the same platform
- Passengers going between Peebles and Tweedbank have two minutes to walk along the platform to change trains.
- The Borders Railway train is working the current timetable.
- The Peebles train is in the station for fourteen minutes, which should be long enough to charge the batteries, if it were a battery-electric train.
But it might be better to extend the service to Tweedbank station, where there are two platforms.
This could possibly make it easier to organise services if the Borders Railway were to be extended to Carlisle.
Journey Times
I estimate journey times could be as follows.
- Peebles and Galashiels – 21 minutes
- Peebles and Tweedbank – 25 minutes
Ideally, I suspect, if a round trip to Peebles could be under an hour, this would allow a single train to run the service.
Rolling Stock
Surely,the ideal train for this route would be one of the very light rail trains, proposed for Coventry by Warwick University, that I wrote about in Very Light Rail – A Revolution.
- These trains are single-carriage, with a capacity of fifty.
- They can run in pairs.
- They are battery-electric powered.
- They would be fast-charged at both ends.
- They have a speed of 65 mph, with good acceleration and deceleration.
- They will be highly automated.
But their biggest feature will be that they can run on a lightweight easy-to-install affordable track.
Hopefully, by the time, this railway would be installed, these trains or something similar will probably be a common sight on branch lines.
The Track
If the train can do a round trip between Peebles and Galashiels, including charging, inside an hour, then the track can be single all the way, with simple one-platform stations.
Signalling would be by the well-established principle of One-Train-On-Line, except in Galashiels station.
I also think, that if designers can get a hold on it, then an innovative design could provide all the protection needed to ensure safe operation.
Pedestrians And Cyclists
As parts of the route is now a walking and cycling track, there will probably be protests about converting the track back into a railway.
But if the design is right, I suspect that a track for walkers and cyclists can be provided alongside.
But there are other routes in the UK, where a route could be shared between very light rail, pedestrians and cyclists.
The Sheep
And then there’s the sheep!
One of the funniest scientific documents, I’ve ever seen was a serious study by Liverpool University in the 1960s, which discussed the problem of keeping sheep off the then-proposed M62 motorway. The Veterinary School of the University had done studies, that had shown sheep could climb six-foot chain link fences.
Hopefully, Scottish sheep are more sensible and better behaved than English ones.
Conclusion
Peebles and Galashiels could be an ideal route for very light rail. But parts of the design would be challenging.
However, get that design right and other routes could be converted to affordable battery-electric railways.
Gelion To Trial Battery At Spanish Solar Plant
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on renews.biz.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Gelion has signed a test and supply contract with European renewables supplier Acciona Energia to trial its zinc-bromide battery technology at a solar plant in Spain.
Acciona Energia’s Montes del Cierzo photovoltaic solar plant in Navarra, northern Spain, will trial the energy storage system, following a competitive process launched in September 2020.
As Gelion’s Chief Executive indicates, this must be a show of confidence in their technology.
There is a full press release on the Gelion web site.
I just wonder, if Gelion could be a technology to be successful.
Royal Souvenirs Have ‘Platinum Jubbly’ Misprint
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These are the first three paragraphs.
A spelling mistake on thousands of pieces of Platinum Jubilee merchandising, calling it the “Platinum Jubbly”, is proving a challenge for souvenir sellers.
The cups and plates were meant to mark the Queen’s 70-year reign.
Clearance website boss Karl Baxter said – “in classic Del Boy-style” – he will pitch them as collectors’ items.
It is so sad that Prince Philip is no longer with us. As a Greek he would surely have had some very appropriate jokes about plate smashing.
The Anonymous Widower 