Building A New Concrete Revolution To Net Zero
he title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Pearls and Irritations.
The article is a good explanation of the contributions concrete makes to global warming and what we should do about it.
At least I can find entrepreneurs and scientists willing to develop concretes that will be friendlier to the planet.
- Low-Carbon Concrete: Separating Greenwash From Reality
- Earth Friendly Concrete
- Carbon-Neutral Concrete Prototype Wins €100k Architecture Prize For UK Scientists
- UK Breakthrough Could Slash Emissions From Cement
- HS2 Reveals Dramatic Carbon Saving With Ambitious Modular Design For Thame Valley Viaduct
I believe that this will be a problem that will be solved by technology.
Start-Up’s Plan To Convert Food Waste Into Green Fuel
The title of this post, is the same as that, of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Dark Green wants to build biogas production plants to supply local authorities and businesses
These three paragraphs give some detail to the plans.
A Nottingham-based start-up wants to become the first company to build a fleet of plants that would convert food waste into green energy in urban centres across Britain, producing an alternative fuel for businesses and local authorities attempting to shrink their carbon footprints.
Dark Green expects to submit planning applications for six biogas production plants, including one each in Birmingham and Huddersfield, with a further six in the pipeline.
The facilities, which are more usually sited on farms, will be capable of handling 60,000 tonnes of organic waste a year, saving the same amount of carbon dioxide as taking 65,000 cars off the road, the company estimates, and will produce seven megawatts of energy, capable of powering around 6,000 homes.
I have a feeling that Dark Green fit a theme, that this blog has been following for a couple of years now.
I have been commenting on a company called HiiROC.
- I first became aware of HiiROC and their new method of generating hydrogen in this news item from Centrica, which is entitled Centrica And HiiROC To Inject Hydrogen At Brigg Gas-Fired Power Station In UK First Project.
- HiiROC is a Hull-based startup-up, that is backed by Cemex, Centrica, Hyundai, Kia, Siemens and other big names.
- HiiROC can take any hydrocarbon gas from something like chemical plant off-gas, through biomethane to natural gas and split it into hydrogen and carbon black.
- HiiROC call their process thermal plasma electrolysis.
- The carbon black has uses in the manufacture of tyres and rubber products, anodes for lithium-ion batteries and other materials and in agriculture, it can be used to improve soils.
HiiROC claim that their method uses a fifth of the energy to create hydrogen, than electrolysis.
It looks to me that if you pipe Dark Green’s methane-rich gas into one of HiiROC’s thermal plasma electrolysers, you’ll get two valuable products; hydrogen and carbon black.
Centrica have also been active with an energy storage company called Highview Power recently, in the company of Goldman Sachs and Rio Tinto.
Centrica seem to have a cunning plan!
Is Dark Green going to be part of it?
A New Metier
This article in The Times today is entitled Too many Sir Humpreys are stopping London from taking a punt.
The article is about one of Britain’s most successful private investors ; John Gunn.
The article also introduces a new company to me, with this paragraph.
His latest enthusiasm is for Metier, a company that aims to leapfrog electric vehicle power to convert buses and heavy trucks to hydrogen fuel cells. Several big firms such as Volvo are making new hydrogen-powered vehicles, but Gunn and his partners reckon there is more money in reconfiguring existing ones.
It was Metier, that caught my eye.
In the 1970s, with three others, I started a company called Metier Management Systems, which developed a project management system called Artemis.
We were very successful, in that we sold the company for a nine figure sum and won two Queen’s Awards for Exports.
Since then, there have been several successful companies named Artemis, but we haven’t seen a Metier.
Until now that is and I hope that the hydrogen vehicle company is as successful worldwide as we were.
Strangely, my first job on leaving Liverpool University was in a hydrogen factory and I am a great believer in using the gas as a source of energy.
Metier have a web site, if you want to find out more about the company.
UK, Netherlands To Connect Grids via Nederwiek 3 Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Dutch Climate and Green Growth Minister Sophie Hermans has included LionLink, said to be the first direct-current hybrid interconnector, in the country’s latest Offshore Wind Energy Development Framework. LionLink will use the offshore grid connection of Nederwiek 3 offshore wind farm in the Netherlands to connect to both the Dutch and the UK onshore high-voltage grids.
These are points from the article.
- The interconnector can also be used as an additional high-voltage link to exchange electricity between the countries.
- With LionLink now added to the offshore wind development framework, TenneT may now make investments in the project, which the Dutch transmission system operator (TSO) is realising in close cooperation with UK partner National Grid Ventures (NGV).
- Nederwiek 3 is planned to be launched in 2026.
The offshore grid between the UK and Europe is on its way.
£10bn Investment In AI Data Centre Confirmed
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This was the sub-heading.
A £10bn investment in a new artificial intelligence data centre will create about 4,000 jobs, the government has said.
These two paragraphs add more details.
The site in Cambois, near Blyth, Northumberland, will become one of Europe’s biggest AI data centres.
The land was bought by private equity giant Blackstone earlier this year, after the collapse of Britishvolt which had planned to build an electric car battery factory on the site.
In My First Trip On The Northumberland Line – 18th December 2024, I said this after my first trip to the line.
The Blyth Valley Is Well Supplied With Electricity
Several high-capacity connections to wind farms and Norway are planned to come ashore at Blyth and it appears from the pictures that the area is well connected to the grid.
This must have nudged Britishvolt to put their battery plant at Blyth.
But no matter for those jobs, as with a rail service to Greater Geordieland and lots of electricity, there must be other energy-hungry businesses like datacentres or small modular reactor factories, who would want the site.
The Long Platforms
I am fairly sure that some of the platforms have been sized to take a five-car Hitachi Class 80x train, which are only 130 metres long and can carry around 400 passengers.
This must enable the ability to use the Northumberland Line as a diversion for the East Coast Main Line.
Some services could perhaps stop at Blyth for the large factories and/or Northumberland Park for the Metro.
It looks to me, that the Northumberland line was designed for large factories or businesses with lots of workers, that needed lots of electricity.
Trump Calls On UK To ‘Get Rid’ of Offshore Wind Farms In Favour Of Oil & Gas; Gets Invited To Hull
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Donald Trump has urged the UK government to “get rid of windmills” in the North Sea and open it up for oil & gas, which earned the US president-elect an open invitation from Humber Marine and Renewables, a UK regional industry organisation, to visit Hull and witness the effects of offshore wind on the economy first-hand.
This paragraph sums up Trumps views on wind farms, which he incorrectly calls windmills.
According to global media, on 3 January, Donald Trump said via his social media platform Truth Social that the UK was “making a very big mistake” with wind energy and that it should “open up the North Sea”, accompanying the post with a link to news about US oil company Apache saying it would exit the North Sea, citing the windfall tax in the UK. The news on Apache’s UK exit followed the UK government’s announcement on raising the tax from 35 per cent to 38 per cent and using the profit for renewable energy.
But then he wouldn’t realise that a windmill grinds corn and a wind turbine generates electricity.
This paragraph describes the invitation of Trump to Hull.
After the incoming US president’s social media post, director of the UK industry organisation Humber Marine and Renewables, Dave Laister, said in a comment to BBC: “I’d like to invite Donald Trump, or a representative here in the UK, to come to Hull and take in Offshore Wind Connections 2025. He needs to hear what those ‘windmills’ have done for the economy, for our maritime heritage and for the region’s sense of purpose. I’d like him to understand the appetite for working in this clean, green sector from those at our schools and colleges, to sample the hunger to be part of a climate emergency solution.”
I doubt he’ll go to the city.
One problem, he’ll have getting to Hull, is that the city doesn’t have an airport, so he’ll have to go into Humberside, Leeds or Robin Hood.
If you would like to go to Offshore Wind Connections 2025, then this is the web site.
Enjoy the party!
Trump’s Eyeing Greenland – But Other Arctic Investment Is Frozen
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
The BBC Article is a good introduction to Trump’s ideas for Greenland.
This is my one thought.
Do we side with Trump and the United States or our Danish friends?
Don’t Live In Islington If You’re A Pedestrian!
On Sunday, I went to lunch with my son in Walthamstow.
To catch the bus, I have to negotiate these these traffic lights at Southgate and Balls Pond Roads.
Note that to operate the lights, you must push the button to cross.
As I reached forward to push the button to cross, a car came racing up from Dalston Junction.
- Seeing me standing there with my hand forward, he thought it would be funny to give me a good splashing, which he did by going through the deep water.
- His girlfriend was laughing as she passed close by me in the nearside seat.
- Unfortunately, I didn’t get to read the car’s registration number.
- But I did see the Tesla logo on the boot.
If I had though, judging by the look of the guy and his girl, he might not have been the sort of guy, you report to the police.
What really annoyed me, was having to walk back to my house to change into dry clothes.
I do hope though, that the Borough of Islington fix the levels of the roads to eliminate the flooding.
But they are not good as street presentation as I wrote about in Islington Socialism At Work!
Windar Taps PORR To Build Wind Tower Factory In Poland
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Spain’s Windar Renovables has selected PORR to build a new factory in Szczecin, Poland, that will produce towers, masts, and foundations for the next generation of wind turbines.
This Google Map shows the position of Szezecin.
Note.
- The small island to the South of Sweden is the Danish island of Bornholm.
- Szczecin is on an inlet to the South of Bornholm.
- Gdynia and Gdansk are in a bay on the Polish coast to the East.
It looks like there will be several places along the coast, that will be suitable for the building and assembly of wind turbines and their components.
It will surely be easy to transport the turbines and their components up the Kattegat and down the Skagerrak into the North Sea.
This second Google Map shows the Port of Szczecin in more detail.
The location of the port is indicated by the red arrow.l
Conclusion
It looks to me to be an ideal place to build the components for wind turbines like towers, masts and foundations.
Northumberland Rail Campaigners Say East Coast Main Line Timetable ‘Bad For Our Region’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on MSN.
These three paragraphs explain the campaigners worries and point out some of the expected benefits.
Northumberland rail campaigners remain critical of the new East Coast Main Line timetable which is to be implemented from the end of this year.
LNER revealed the new industry-wide timetable, which has been in the works since 2021, had been given the green light by the Department for Transport on Wednesday, December 18. The timetable sees LNER services increased from two to three trains per hour between Newcastle and London King’s Cross.
It also shaves journey times between the Scottish and English capitals, with predictions that faster journeys could see rail’s share of the travel market between the cities rise to 60%. However, shorter journey times mean that there will be fewer stops at smaller stations, with Northumberland stations Berwick, Alnmouth and Morpeth all losing LNER services.
In My First Trip On The Northumberland Line – 18th December 2024, I made this observation about the long platforms on the Northumberland Line.
I am fairly sure that some of the platforms have been sized to take a five-car Hitachi Class 80x train, which are only 130 metres long.
This must enable the ability to use the Northumberland Line as a diversion for the East Coast Main Line.
Some services could perhaps stop at Blyth for the large factories and/or Northumberland Park for the Metro.
In Scotland To Get New Intercity Fleet, I laid down my views on ScotRail’s new Inter7City fleet.
- Could a few extra new trains for Scotland’s Intercity fleet be used to provide a long-distance service through the Northumberland Line?
- It would call at all the smaller stations between Newcastle and Edninburgh.
- It would take the Northumberland Line on occasions.
- It could stop at Blyth for the large factories.
- It could stop at Northumberland Park for the Metro.
- They would be 125 mph trains, so they kept out of the way of the expresses.
- Digital signalling would ensure safe separation.
A friend of mine in the Borders told me, that Border Scots were looking for well-paid employment at the Britishvolt factory. Britishvolt may have gone, but I’m sure a company will build a factory near Blyth, that needs large amounts of elecxtricity and workers.
The Anonymous Widower 