A Curious Election
I voted early this morning about 09:30
Because, the usual Polling Station in a school was unavailable, two stations had been combined in a local community hall.
Usually, Labour Party supporters are busy outside making sure that they maximise the vote for Meg Hillier.
But today there was no-one outside and the only greeting was from the Poll Clerk.
There didn’t seem to be too many people voting either. I don’t think it was as busy as 2017. And I always vote early!
Was it the weather, was I too early or was it some other reason?
All very curious.
The betting odds seem carious too! Both Tories and Labour seem to be dropping, with the others steady.
Does this say that the LibDems and others are getting squeezed?
Advertising With Electric Cars
I took this picture in Islington of cars used by Chestertons; the estate agents.
If I was thinking of selling my house, I might pop-in to their office round the corner.
Class 755 Train Details
These pictures are a collection of some of the details of Class 755 trains.
I shall add to this collection of pictures.
If you give me a credit, feel free to use them in anything you write.
An Interloper At West Ealing Station
These pictures show a Chiltern Railway‘s Class 165 train in West Ealing station.
Has the train just been borrowed by Great Western Railway or is there another reason?
It looks like as I passed, that I saw a Parliamentary Train, which uses the Greenford Branch to travel to High Wycombe
Gates, Bezos Bet On Flow Battery Technology, A Potential Rival To Big Bets On Lithium-Ion
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on CNBC.
This is the first paragraph.
The U.S. energy storage market is expected to grow by a factor of 12 in the next five years, from 430MW deployed in 2019 to more than 5GW and a value of more than $5 billion by 2024, says Wood Mackenzie Energy Storage Service.
Those are big numbers and it makes me ask the question of whether Planet Earth has enough lithium.
The title of the article says that Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are looking at flow battery technology, as a possibly alternative to lithium-ion batteries.
What Is Flow Battery Technology?
This is the first sentence of the Wikipedia entry for flow battery.
A flow battery, or redox flow battery (after reduction–oxidation), is a type of electrochemical cell where chemical energy is provided by two chemical components dissolved in liquids contained within the system and separated by a membrane.
Wikipedia’s explanation is comprehensive.
- There are seven different types.
- There are around twenty different chemistries.
- They have various advantages and disadvantages.
- They seem to be less efficient than lithium-ion batteries.
Applications include; load balancing, uninterruptible power supplies, power conversion, electric vehicles and standalone power supplies.
It looks like they are a lithium-ion replacement.
Conclusion
This technology is one to watch.
With all those types and chemistries someone could strike extremely lucky!
Action This Day!
This was Churchill’s famous phrase and you can read all about it here.
I am getting sick of the indecision of Brexit and I suspect many in this country feel the same.
As I’m retired, it doesn’t make any difference to my business and those that I employ, as there is no business and no employees.
To my mind, Brexit must be sorted by the end of January at the latest, so that we can all move on.
- If we vote in Boris Johnson with a large majority, we might leave, although I suspect there will be challenges in Parliament, the Courts and on the streets.
- If we vote in Jo Swinson with a large majority, she will revoke article 50 and that could be the end of Brexit for at least a few years and hopefully for ever.
- If we vote in Jeremy Corbyn with a large majority, he will dither and prevaricate for a few years years, before we get another close referendum, which gives us more of what we’ve had for the last few years.
As someone, who voted Remain and now quite frankly doesn’t care, I believe the only way to get us out of this mess made by David Cameron, is to hope that Johnson or Swinson get a majority large enough to carry out their stated policies on Brexit.
As for Corbyn, who has a Push-Me-Pull-You policy on Brexit, everybody should make sure, that whoever they vote for, consigns Corbyn, his apparatchiks and their crack-pot policies to the dustbin of history.
Councils Rely On Diesels While Charging Drivers Who Use Them
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
Some points from the article.
- Ninety-two percent of council vehicles are diesel-powered.
- Only three percent are the greenest electric models.
- Sivty-two council fleets are totally diesel.
- Twelve councils are thinking of restricting or charging diesel or petrol vehicles to cut pollution, but all of these councils are reliant on diesel.
It looks like a case of politicians saying “Do as I say, but not as I do!”
Bumpy Ride Over $44m Ferrari’s Missing Gearbox
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
Apparently, a guy paid $44 million for a Ferrari without a gearbox.
He must have had more money than sense!
I wonder how much tax, he will pay on that sort of transaction, if we get a Corbynista government?
The Anonymous Widower 