Plastic Bag Fee ‘To Double To 10p’ And Include Every Shop
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the guts of the story.
The 5p fee for plastic carrier bags in England will be doubled to 10p, and extended to all shops, under plans set out by the environment secretary.
The change is contained in a government consultation aimed at further reducing the plastic used by consumers and could come into effect in January 2020.
Smaller retailers, who are exempt from the current levy, supply an estimated 3.6 billion single-use bags annually.
I’m all for this, if it cuts down the amount of plastic, that blows around the country, before ending up in the seas.
This is the bag I use.
Note.
- It folds up, so that it first into my man-bag.
- It easily holds two days of my food shopping.
- The handles re very comfortable, even when carrying eight bottles of beer.
- I’ve had it over a year now and it is finally showing the odd sign of wear.
- It is big enough to hold a copy of the Sunday Times without folding.
It did cost be five pounds from M & S, but how much have I saved on five pence bags?
It is not a perfect bag, but it is a good start.
Other things, in the same vein, that I’d like to see.
- A charge on takeaway food, especially pizza boxes, which seem to end up in front of my house.
- A fine for piling household and commercial waste around litter bins, which is very prevalent in this area, despite council camnpaigns to stop it.
- Remove the foxes back to the countryside, so they don’t spread the rubbish all over the street.
As to the latter, foxes seem to have eaten most of the cats, hedgehogs and birds, so it is their only way to get food.
The Concept Of Hybrid Banking
I have been writing about hybrid trains and locomotives recently.
In Hybrid Power On The Railways, I summarised the current state of development, with brief descriptions of the current hybrid trains and locomotives.
This was my conclusion.
Just as hybrid cars are becoming more numerous, I suspect we’ll be seeing more hybrid trains in the future.
So can hybrid principles be applied to other industries and processes?
A Standard Hybrid Process
In my opinion, one of the best hybrid systems is the transmission of London’s New Routemaster bus. This description of the drive-train is from Wikipedia.
The bus is a hybrid diesel-electric driven by a battery-powered electric motor, charged by a diesel fuelled generator and recovering energy during braking by regenerative braking.
It is a classic serial hybrid vehicle.
Energy is collected in the battery from the diesel generator and regenerative braking and the battery powers the bus.
Hybrid Banking
Could a bank account be designed on similar principles?
- Money would be collected and stored in a deposit account, where it would earn interest.
- There would be a wallet or current account, where sufficient money is available to pay bills expected.
I also believe that just as in the bus, there would be a clever control algorithm, that made sure money was in the right place.
- To pay bills.
- Earn maximum interest payments.
- Avoid charges for going overdrawn.
Many would believe, I’m asking for the impossible.
But!
Zopa Or Another Peer-To-Peer Lender As A High Interest Deposit Account
I use Zopa to store my excess cash.
I just add money, when I have spare.
Zopa’s computer decides, who I lend it to, so it’s effectively deposit-and-forget.
Since, I started investing I have earned returns of around five per cent before tax.
Any irrecoverable debts are now allowed against earnings.
But the unique property of Zopa and probably some other peer-to-peer lenders, is that each month a certain amount of money becomes available for reinvestment or withdrawal.
These figures show the percentage of money, I’ve had available in the last few months.
- May 2018 – 7.5%
- April 2019 – 6.0%
- March 2019 – 5.7%
- February 2019 – 5.6%
- January 2019 – 6.1%
- December 2018 – 4.7%
- November 2018 – 6.9%
- October 2018 – 7.1%
- September 2018 – 6.7%
- August 2018 – 7.5%
- July 2018 – 6.8%
So it looks like for a mature Zopa portfolio, around 6-7 percent is available for reinvestment or withdrawal.
If like me, you have tax bills to pay at various times of the year, you might sometimes take the latter option, as I do!
But if you do withdraw money, your ratio will change.
It should also be noted that a high proportion of Zopa contracts make payments on or around the first of the month. So lenders can get a sizeable payment in the first few days of a month. All very handy!
Nationwide Or Any Other Bank Account As A Wallet
I use Nationwide as my bank current account, transferring money between Nationwide and Zopa as required.
I also have a sensible agreed overdraft limit, which gives me an extra amount of flexibility. I think it’s only been used twice in the last couple of years at tax payment time.
As the overdraft limit is lower than the minimum amount of money, I’ll be able to withdraw from Zopa in a month, I know that if I use the overdraft, I should be able to repay it quickly.
The Control Philosophy
I don’t use a computer to work through the control philosophy, but I can use the brain I was born with.
By about the twentieth of the month, I can see the state of my finances and generally know, whether my pension will cover my expenses for the next month or so, or if I need some help.
So when the Zopa payments kick in around the turn of the month, I withdraw what I think I’ll need.
If I draw out too much, then around the twelth or so, I put any surplus back into Zopa.
A Hybrid System
I believe that what I have described works in a similar way, as a typical hybrid drive system for a bus, train or car.
- Zopa backs up the bank account and provides extra finance when needed. This is a similar function to the traction battery in a hybrid vehicle
- The agreed overdraft facility is there if any extra short term finance is needed. It has a function similar to capacitors in a hybrid vehicle, where they are used to provide a fast smoothing response.
Imagine an on-line banking system, which used artificial intelligence to calculate how much extra money is needed each month and transfer money to and from Zopa accordingly.
Crossrail’s Latest Issues Begs The Question, How Do We Judge Success In Transport Megaprojects?
The title of this post is the same as this article on Forbes.
The article makes some interesting points about transport megaprojects. It is definitely a must-read.
As an example of a megaproject that went wrong, it cites the Channel Tunnel, which exceeded its budget by 80%, required refinancing and then Eurostar only carried a third of forecast traffic.
This article on the BBC, which is entitled How Eurotunnel Went So Wrong, gives the full story of the Channel Tunnel finances.
So should it now be closed? Obviously not, as the alternatives of driving and flying would create a lot more unwanted carbon dioxide and would need more motorways and airports.
The benefits of building Crossrail, such as increasing the capacity of London’s transport system, reducing congestion in Central London and giving better access to Canary Wharf, East London, Heathrow, The City and West London will just come in a year or so later.
The article also says that according to Oxford professor; Bent Flyvbjerg, Crossrail is suffering a 7% cost overrun, where the average for rail projects is 45%.
In my view Crossrail has suffered from a number of problems that together have caused the cost and time overruns.
- Not enough time was built into the schedule to test the sophisticated trains with their three signalling systems.
- No dedicated Crossrail test track was created, so the trains could be fully tested.
- An unfortunate transformer explosion, was a big cause of delay in testing systems.
- There were not enough workers to finish the project.
- Central London is awash with large projects, some of which became viable because of Crossrail, that are sucking up masses of workers.
- Brexit uncertainty has meant that a lot of EU workers have gone back to Europe to build projects nearer their homes.
Where was the European project supremo, who added up all the needs of these European megaprojects, to make sure, we had enough resources to build all of them on time?
I Am A Twenty-Four Hour Person
I rose as usual at around five-thirty this morning and went through my normal routine.
- I measured my weight and blood pressure. Incidentally, I weighed 61.8 Kg.
- I checked my savings in Zopa and my bank account.
- I did two dozen press-ups
Now I am on my first cup of tea of the day. I have also replied to a couple of e-mails.
I’ve been like this in one way or other since the 1970s, when I started programming Artemis.
In those pre-e-mail days, I would be on my computer writing code before six and generally only stopped writing code around ten at night having been writing on and off all day.
C would sometimes drag me off for some shopping or a visit to a pub or restaurant, but I worked very hard and was well rewarded.
Some would say my hours are unusual, but my father was the same. Memorably, he once mowed the lawn at two o’clock in the morning!
Malta Energy Storage System Is Looking Forward To First Pilot
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Tech Eplore.
This is the first paragraph.
Malta has received a round of funding and is graduated from “project” to group that can sail. The Cambridge, MA-based company is focused on the storage of electro-thermal energy and the funding put the group in celebration mode this month. In return, the company is turning up the volume on its potential role in the future of energy storage—namely, working out salt-based electro-thermal energy storage.
The article goes on to describe how the system works and I suggest you read it.
This is the last paragraph.
Malta CEO Ramya Swaminathan said the challenge ahead is about design and manufacturing, in Xconomy. Swaminathan said customers were expected to come from a variety of points in the energy system. Such as? She said they expect “developers with wind or solar projects who want firm power, to grid scale applications that can be in the hundreds of megawatts range, to critical backup for data centers, to isolated grid systems like island economies.”
I believe the technology has a lot going for it.
- It has heavyweight financial backing.
- The technology is very conventional and well-understood, which will ease manufacture and maintenance.
- No complex or expensive raw materials are needed.
- I would suspect that few, if any dangerous chemicals are needed.
- It would have developing country applications.
- They would seem to have a large capacity.
I shall be following Malta Inc. with interest.
Monetarising The Freedom Pass
I find my Freedom Pass extremely valuable and I’m extremely grateful for it, as I can’t drive after a serious stroke, that left me with eyesight problems.
But I feel Freedom Pass use could be expanded, to improve the efficiency of London’s transport network and generate some much needed cash flow for Transport for London.
Some Principles
What I am proposing here will obey these principles.
- Charges will only occur, when the card is used in conjunction with a bank card to buy tickets or services.
- Any tickets or services bought through the Freedom Pass system, will be at the best possible price.
But the major principle will be that if a Freedom Pass holder continues to use their card as they do now, they will not pay any charges.
An Updated Web Site
The current web site at www.freedompass.org is mainly for information only.
This function could be increased, but I also think the website could be extended in several ways.
A Personal Profile
Some pass holders might like to add a personal profile with perhaps a photograph and selected personal details, next of kin and some medical details.
Obviously, creating a profile would be at the pass holder’s discretion.
Journey Logging
I believe that with Oyster, you can check where you’ve been on a ticket machine.
Some Freedom Pass holders might like to have a similar facility on a web site.
Railcard Management
If you have a Freedom Pass, the site will know if you are over a certain age or have a qualifying disability. I would actually get a Freedom Pass, even if I wasn’t quite as old, as my eyesight was deemed not good enough to drive.
So the Freedom Pass web site could prompt you when you needed to renew your Railcard.
Adding A Bank Card To A Freedom Pass
To get between Dalston Junction and Gatwick Airport stations, I need to buy a ticket from the Zone 6 Boundary to the Airport. It would be very handy, if a Freedom Pass could be linked to a bank card, so that there was no need to buy an extra ticket. The few pounds to get to the Airport, would be automatically charged to the linked bank card.
I would not need to buy a ticket and would just touch in at Dalston Junction station and touch out at Gatwick Airport. My bank card would be charged a few pounds.
The link would also work, where a journey was done before the 09:30 start time of Freedom Pass on many routes.
So if Esmerelda, who lived in Camden wanted to get to Orpington to walk her grandchildren to school., she would be able to use the Freedom Pass for a normal fare, which would be charged to her bank card.
I would assume that Transport for London would pick up a small commission for the National Rail tickets.
A Ticket Buying Web Site
Depending on the company, the rules for using Freedom Passes with National Rail tickets aren’t always simple.
Yesterday, I went to football at Ipswich and bought a return ticket between Harold Wood and Ipswich stations.
- Harold Wood is the Zone 6 boundary.
- I was also able to get on a Liverpool Street to Norwich train, despite it not stopping at Harold Wood.
- As a Greater Anglia ticket inspector told me off for not doing this about six months ago, when he saw my Freedom Pass alongside my Senior Railcard, when he checked my tickets, I feel it must be right.
But I don’t think all train companies are so accommodating.
Suppose you were able to buy any rail ticket on the Freedom Pass web site and I wanted to buy a return ticket on a Saturday from Dalston Junction to Ipswich.
- Logging in, the site would know I had a Freedom Pass and a Senior Railcard.
- I would ask for my ticket and then the web site would find my cheapest ticket.
- I would pay for it as one does on any of the numerous rail ticket web-sites.
But it would probably add a third orange ticket, giving my route and conditions.
Should Ticket Buying Be Limited To Freedom Pass Holders?
If you are a London resident, would you use a trusted ticket buying web site from Transport for London, where you knew any profits would be reinvested in London’s transport network?
If it was a best price, I would!
Conclusion
The right design of web site could be a nice little earner for Transport for London.
Or any other regionalised transport organisation, like Transport for Wales or Merseytravel.
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?
Hybrid Power On The Railways
In my opinion, one of the best hybrid transmissions is that of London’s New Routemaster bus. This description of the drive-train is from Wikipedia.
The bus is a hybrid diesel-electric driven by a battery-powered electric motor, charged by a diesel fuelled generator and recovering energy during braking by regenerative braking.
It is a classic serial hybrid vehicle.
- There is no mechanical connection between the engine and the driving wheels.
- The diesel engine only runs, when the battery charge is low.
- The electric motor is always powered directly from the battery.
- The control systems for the drive-train are very simple.
- It is very efficient, as the engine only runs when needed and regenerative braking is employed.
- The bus can run on battery power only, for short distances.
- The various components of the drive-train can be placed in convenient places and connected by power and control cables.
In the New Routemaster, the components are placed as follows.
- The diesel engine is half-way up the back stairs.
- The battery is under the front stairs.
- The electric motor is under the floor in front of the rear axle.
This flexibility is very useful in a large vehicle.
Hybrid transmissions are starting to be employed on the railways.
These are the applications in use or planned.
Alstom Coradia iLint
The Alstom Coradia iLint is a hydrogen-powered two-car multiple unit.
This video shows the operation of the train.
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It would appear to be a serial hybrid, where the hydrogen fuel-cell charges the battery and this drives the train through an electric motor,
I suspect most hydrogen trains will work in a similar way.
Class 321 Hydrogen Train
Some Class 321 trains are being converted to run on hydrogen. Unlike the Coradia iLint, the trains will also be able to use electricity from electrification.
MTU Hybrid PowerPacks
MTU have produced a Hybrid PowerPack, which is being retrofitted into several trains, including Class 170 trains in the UK.
Class 93 Locomotive
The recently-announced Class 93 locomotive appears to be a hybrid locomotive with a large diesel engine and about 125 kWh of batteries, that can also use electrification.
High Speed Bi-Mode Aventra
I am sure that Bombardier’s proposed High Speed Bi-Mode Aventra, which features batteries and 125 mph running under both diesel and electric power is a hybrid train.
Conclusion
Just as hybrid cars are becoming more numerous, I suspect we’ll be seeing more hybrid trains in the future.
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!
The Anonymous Widower 