Solar Freeze
I found this simple idea on an awards web-site.
Solar Freeze is designed to solve this problem.
In much of the developing world, postharvest losses are as high as 80% and the cold‐storage chain is virtually non‐existent due to the high cost of equipment and spotty electricity. Because fresh produce can perish in a matter of days under ambient temperatures, temperature control alone can extend the shelf life by weeks or even months.
And this is their solution.
Solar Freeze is pioneering mobile cold storage units powered by renewable energy for rural smallholder farmers, to help them reduce the huge challenge of post-harvest loss in much of the developing world, postharvest losses are as high as 80% and the cold-storage chain is virtually non-existent due to the high cost of equipment and spotty electricity.
I do like the term spotty electricity!
They’ve come up with products like this mobile solar-powered cold room.
I’ve also found this video.
This is the sort of help and innovation, that a lot of the world needs.
London Church Investigated Over ‘Protection’ Oil
The title of this post, is the same as that as this story on the BBC.
This is the first two paragraphs.
A faith healer who sold £91 “plague protection kits” claiming they could shield people from Covid-19 is being investigated by the charity watchdog.
Bishop Climate Wiseman of the Kingdom Church in Camberwell, London, claimed a bottle of oil and some red yarn would protect his followers from the virus.
Surely, he should be being investigated by the Metropolitan Police!
As far as I can see, the purpose of some religion is to let a few men, live a good life, at the expense of others.
Wrightbus Boss Eyes All-Island Green Transport Plan
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Irish Independent.
This is the introductory paragraph.
THE new owner of manufacturer Wrightbus says 12,000 buses on the island of Ireland as well as trains could be replaced with hydrogen engines to usher in a new era of environmentally friendly transport.
These points are made in the article.
- Jo Bamford, who is the owner of Wrightbus, plans to decarbonise all buses and trains on the island.
- A hydrogen infrastructure would need to be setup.
- The Enterprise train between Belfast and Dublin would be run by hydrogen.
- Jo Bamford has yet to talk to the Irish Government.
- Wrightbus is seeking a £500m subsidy from the UK Government to built 3,000 hydrogen-powered buses by 2024.
- This would bring 1,500 jobs to Ballymena.
- The ydrogen-powered buses, will be the same price as diesel.
- New Whightbus hydrogen buses will be on the streets of London and Aberdeen later this year.
This is one of the last paragraphs of the article.
He (Jo Bamford) said that the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the environment, with a clearer sky and cleaner air resulting from the fall in traffic, could be an inspiration for greener transport.
It may be an ambitious plan, but then you would expect ambition to be flowing in large quantifies in the veins of someone from the family, that gave us JCB.
Will Hydrogen Double-Deck Buses Become Commonplace?
There are now three different designs of hydrogen-powered double-deck bus in design, if not production.
- AlexanderDennis – See New Facility To Power Liverpool’s Buses With Hydrogen
- Optare – See New Hydrogen Double-Decker Bus Launched
- Wrightbus
There is also the hydrogen-powered version of the Van Hool ExquiCity tram-bus, that I wrote about in Ballard-Powered Fuel-Cell Tram-Buses From Van Hool Now In Revenue Service In France.
There are some big players making large investments in hydrogen-powered buses. I suspect at least three and possibly all four will succeed.
Designing A Hydrogen-Powered Vehicle
Two hydrogen-powered vehicle designs have impressed me this week.
- The Optare design, where the battery of an electric bus was replaced by a hydrogen power system.
- The mining dump-truck, that I wrote about in Thirsty High-Rollers … Mining’s Heavy Haulers Prime Candidates For Hydrogen Conversion.
Both designs use the existing electric transmission and seem to have been relatively straightforward for experienced engineers who are working in the field.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see other suitable vehicles redesigned for hydrogen power.
New Hydrogen Double-Decker Bus Launched
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Air Quality News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Arcola Energy and Optare Group have announced the launch of a hydrogen fuel cell double-decker bus.
A few points from the article about the Metrodecker H2 hydrogen bus.
It is based on the design of an electric version of the existing Metrodecker.
- It will be built in the UK.
- It will carry 90 passengers.
- It will have a range of between 200 and 250 miles.
- It is planned to enter service in 2021.
It looks like we now have three double-deck hydrogen bus projects in the UK, with one each from AlexanderDennis, Optare and Wrightbus.
The Range
The range of the bus between 200 and 250 miles, which depends on specification and capacity, deserves a comment.
This range is of the same order as that of a Tesla Model S with a 75 kWh battery.
My Strange Skin
As a coeliac, a stroke survivor on Warfarin and a lab rat for a medical research centre, I’ve had my blood taken many times in the last ten years. I also have several injections a year for vitamin B12 and a yearly one for flu.
I never need a plaster, as despite being on Warfarin, once the needle is taken out, the skin seems to shut the hole tight.
On the other hand on a typical night, I’ll lose just over a kilo in weight, whilst I sleep. I once spoke to a sleep expert on the radio and they said that was normal.
But the funniest thing that happened, was one day not unlike today for weather with rain about and not cold, I fell asleep on the living room floor in my underwear.
About half-an-hour later, I awoke and thought for a moment, that I’d gone blind, as I couldn’t see a thing.
I then realised that the room was full of water vapour, as if I’d left the kettle on the stove. But I have an automatic kettle and there was nothing on the stove.
So where had all the water vapour come from?
There was only one place! It had leaked from my skin and the temperature and pressure, were just right for the fog to form.
My skin is often very dry and I usually start the day with a deep bath, when I put my head under the water and irrigate my dry eyes, which an eye surgeon, once described as the driest he’d seen.
Prue Leith’s Solution To The Flour Shortage
I was watching BBC Breakfast, when Prue Leith was interviewed about the shortage of flour.
When asked for her solution to the problem of making cakes without flour, her answer was forthright.
- She said the best thing to do, was to buy a gluten-free cookery book.
- She then gave some ideas for cakes.
As a coeliac I thoroughly approve.
Five Eastern Counties
The five Eastern counties around London have the following numbers of people, who have tested positive for COVID-19.
- Cambridgeshire – 673 of 852,523 or 0.08%
- Essex – 2320 of 1,832,752 or 0.13%
- Kent – 3232 of 1,568.623 or 0.20%
- Norfolk – 1355 of 903,680 or 0.15%
- Suffolk – 936 of 768,556 or 0.12%
Note that the second figure is the population and the third is the percentage found positive.
Compare these figures with some other places, including Hackney where I live now.
Blackpool – 377 of 139,720 or 0.27%
Cumbria – 1734 of 498,888 or 0.35%
Hackney – 596 of 279,665 or 0.21%
You can make some interesting deductions.
NHS Nightingale, The Emergency Hospital Showing How It’s Done
The title of this post, is the same as this article on The Times.
Whatever you do today, read this article.
You should be able to get a free registration to the on-line version, if all else fails.
Electric Cars Do 26% More Miles A Year Than Petrol‑Engine Rivals
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
As the research was performed by the RAC Foundation, probably in the UK, I think this is not greenwash from environmental lobbyists!
Alert Over Child Inflammation Cases
The title of this post, is the same as that of an article on The Times.
Someone has posted this comment,
It’s Scarlet Fever. My grandson just had it . It responded instantly to antibiotics, so it can’t be viral.
Get a grip!
And this was my reply.
Strange you should mention scarlet fever.
I’m 72 and growing up in a polluted Southgate in North London from all that domestic coal smoke, I was quite a sickly child.
At about six, I caught scarlet fever and was isolated at home for about eight weeks. Strangely, it was an isolated case as my GP told my parents, that I was the only case in London.
Doctors, who I’ve discussed this with since, suspect it could have been a misdiagnosis.
But, I have another explanation.
At 50, I was found to be coeliac and I think it was an extreme reaction to gluten, perhaps brought on by the pollution. My medical records of that time have also been lost.
Not for nothing, does one doctor call coeliac disease, the many-headed hydra!
I didn’t think that scarlet fever was still about.
The Anonymous Widower 