Donald Trump To Open Second Aberdeenshire Golf Course In 2025
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These opening two paragraphs introduce the course.
The 18-hole links MacLeod Course – named after the former US president’s Lewis-born mother, Mary – will welcome players at the Trump International resort in Menie from the Summer of 2025.
The resort claimed the course would feature the “largest sand dunes in Scotland” and form “the greatest 36 holes in golf” alongside the original course, completed in 2012.
It sounds to me that the environmental aspects could be rather detrimental. But then Trump has form for a poor record in this area, as I wrote in Trump Forgot The Ace Of Clubs!
A Manifesto For Liverpool City Region
The title of this post is the same as that of this document from the Heseltine Institute of Public Policy, Practice and Place.
The Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place. describes itself like this on its home page on the University of Liverpool web site.
An interdisciplinary research institute focusing on the development of sustainable and inclusive cities and city regions.
The main sections of the document are as follows.
- How Can We Reduce Health Inequalities?
- How Do We Meet Our Net Zero Goals?
- How Can We Address The Cost Of Living Crisis?
- How Can We Deliver Sustainable Mobility?
- How Can We Address The Challenges And Meet The Opportunities Of Artificial Intelligence?
- How Do We Build Enough New Homes In The Right Places?
- How Should We Care For The Most Vulnerable In Society?
- How Can We Maintain A Vibrant And Inclusive Cultural Life?
- How Do We Restore Trust In Democracy?
These are nine very important questions and the document is worth a good read.
Wind Farm: Yorkshire Moors Could Get England’s Biggest Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that, of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The largest onshore wind farm in England could be built on moorland in the Pennines if plans get the go-ahead.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Calderdale Windfarm Ltd is exploring options for 65 turbines on Walshaw Moor, near the Walshaw Dean reservoirs above Hebden Bridge in Calderdale.
The company said the scheme would generate enough electricity to power more than 286,000 homes a year.
The Calderdale Wind Farm has a web site, which adds these details about the proposals.
- The 65 wind turbines will generate up to 302 MW of electricity.
- There will be a 150 MW battery on site.
- £2.5 million per year will be put in a Community Benefit Fund.
- Up to 300,000 trees will be planted across the site.
This Google Map shows the Walshaw Dean reservoirs and Hebden Bridge.
Note.
- Walshaw Dean reservoirs are in the North-West corner of the map.
- Hebden Bridge is at the bottom of the map.
- Hebden Bridge station on the Calder Valley Line is also marked.
- This will be a very unusual wind farm for England.
It could also be a controversial wind farm.
These are some of my thoughts and those of the BBC article.
Environmental Opinions
These five paragraphs indicate both sides of the environmental argument.
Environmental campaigners warned the development would disturb peat bogs, releasing carbon into the atmosphere.
A spokesperson for Calderdale Windfarm, which is backed by Worldwide Renewable Energy (WWRE), said the proposal was an “incredibly exciting opportunity”.
“During a cost-of-living crisis, with ongoing energy security challenges and the climate emergency, the UK needs to explore how it can generate more carbon-free renewable electricity,” the firm said.
“But our proposals are at a very early stage and we recognise there will be a range of views about the merits of our proposal.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the local community, environmental groups, local councillors and others over the coming months to help shape the final design of the project.”
The £2.5 million per year Community Benefit Fund could be the clincher.
The Site Has A Battery
In my view, it is good practice to fit every wind farm with a battery, if this is practical and cost-effective.
As most batteries associated with wind farms, seem to be able to replace the wind farm for two hours, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the battery specified as a 150 MW/300 MWh unit.
A battery this size would improve the stability of the electricity supply in the area.
How Will Calderdale Wind Farm Be Connected To The Grid?
This question is answered in the page of FAQs.
We already have an offer from the Distribution Network Operator Energy North West to connect into the local electricity network substation at Padiham. Negotiations are also ongoing about an alternative connection via a new substation and that would go into National Grid which would connect into existing 440 KV pylons.
Padiham is a few miles away to the West, so the second option may need a smaller number of pylons.
The grid connection and associated infrastructure would be subject to a separate planning application to the wind farm.
Is Calderdale Wind Farm Just Wind Turbines?
This question is answered in the page of FAQs.
- No. Alongside our proposals for onshore wind we are also exploring the potential for the inclusion of battery storage and solar panels on southern slopes.
- As we develop the proposals further, we will be able to confirm whether we will be including other renewable technologies as part of the proposals.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see solar panels floated on the reservoirs. This also has the secondary benefit of reducing evaporation.
How Will Calderdale Wind Farm Benefit Calderdale?
This question is answered in the page of FAQs.
If consented, Calderdale Wind Farm would represent an investment of circa £500m into the local economy. Calderdale Wind Farm will support the local economy and present many opportunities for years to come.
Community Benefit Fund
Around 16,500 households in Calderdale are living in fuel poverty, with around 1,200 of these being in the HX7 postcode area. As part of our proposals for Calderdale we are exploring a community benefit fund to provide support to these households across the 30-year operational lifetime of Calderdale Wind Farm.
This fund would represent £75m worth of funding across a 30-year timeframe that would be paid to Calderdale Council to help relieve fuel poverty for the operational lifetime of the Calderdale Wind Farm.
We want to work closely with the communities in and around Calderdale to ensure they benefit from the project to help address identified local challenges such as the current energy and cost of living crisis.
Socio Economic Impacts
A socio-economic report produced by Biggar Economics suggests that the project would be a significant boost to both the Calderdale and wider regional economy if it goes ahead. The report estimates that Calderdale Wind Farm would generate at least £2.2million GVA for Calderdale through the design, build and operational lifetime of the windfarm.
This is surely going to level-up Calderdale.
Is This Going To Impact My Walking Route?
This question is answered in the page of FAQs.
As we develop our proposals, we will design the scheme and placement of the wind turbines and associated infrastructure to minimise any disruption to existing paths and trails. Our team has taken into consideration the importance of preserving the natural beauty and accessibility of the area in our early stage designs, which will evolve as we undertake further work ahead of a planning submission.
While there might be temporary adjustments or diversions to certain paths during the construction phase to ensure safety, these changes will be communicated well in advance, and we will strive to keep any inconveniences to a minimum.
Once operational the moor will continue to be accessible to members of the public.
As part of our commitment to community consultation, we want to hear your thoughts on the proposals, if you have any specific concerns about how the wind farm might affect your walking routes please let us now, community input is vital to designing a scheme that works seamlessly with the local environment.
It does look like the impact will not be all that great.
Is Grouse Shooting On Walshaw Moor Expected To Continue If Calderdale Wind Farm Is Approved?
This question is answered in the page of FAQs.
WWRE and Calderdale Wind Farm Ltd are pleased to confirm that the approval of the wind farm would result in the end of grouse shooting on Walshaw Moor.
This could face a lot of opposition from the shooting lobby.
Who Are WWRE?
The Calderdale wind farm has a page of FAQs.
In response to who are the funding partners of the project, this is said.
WWRE Global is a UK based company that was looking at projects in Spain and registered with Companies House in Gibraltar. With its investors and opportunities its current operations are focused on helping to deliver new renewable energy infrastructure in locations across the UK, which is why the business is now listed at Companies House in London.
WWRE Global is responsible for delivering investment opportunities for Energy Horizon II Investment Company and managing the planning and consenting process.
WWRE Global has a web site.
When Will The Wind Farm Be Built?
This question is answered in the page of FAQs.
Calderdale Wind Farm is a fully funded project, and it is envisaged the construction would commence within 12 months of any planning permission being granted and conditions being discharged. At this stage it is expected that construction could take up to two years.
WWRE Global certainly seem to want to get on with it.
Objectors
Use Google to search for news about Calderdale wind farm and you get a lot of objectors.
Conclusion
This is a bold and scientifically-correct proposal and it will be a close decision, as to whether the wind farm gets built or not!
Crown Estate Supports Four Nature-Positive Offshore Wind Research Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Crown Estate has revealed that it is partnering with a range of UK-wide expert bodies to launch four research projects to support nature recovery and the coexistence of offshore wind farms with marine life.
The four projects are described in these paragraphs.
The first of four projects is called Prevalence of Seabird Species and Collision Events in OWF (PrediCtOr), led by the Carbon Trust under the Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme (ORJIP).
It aims to develop a coordinated approach for reducing uncertainty surrounding bird collision risk and influencing factors, and therefore reducing consenting risk, at offshore wind farms.
The second project is Procellariiform Behaviour & Demographics (ProcBe), led by JNCC, which seeks to fill evidence gaps around how seabird species, such as storm petrels and Manx shearwater might interact with offshore wind farms and improve the demographic rate and population modelling approaches.
Reducing Seabird Collisions Using Evidence (ReSCUE) project, led by Natural England, is a three-and-a-half project that could improve the industry’s knowledge of seabird flight heights and collision risk with offshore wind turbines in UK waters.
And the last project, named Strategic Compensations Pilots for Offshore Wind, is led by OWIC.
Research like this will surely increase the acceptance of offshore wind power amongst conservationists.
Plans To Turn Czech Coal Mine Into Storage, Hydrogen And Solar Hub
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Power Engineering International.
This is the sub-heading.
Mine is also going to be the site of an experimental greenhouse project called Eden Silesia
This paragraph outlines Eden Silesia.
The site will also be home to an experimental greenhouse project called EDEN Silesia, managed by the Silesian University of Technology and based on the concept of the Eden Project in Cornwall, England.
It does seem that the Czechs are creating a comprehensive facility around a Gravitricity energy store.
This Gravitricity system is only a 4MW/2 MWh system, but there is also this quote from the company.
Future multi-weight systems could have a capacity of 25MWh or more.
If the concept works, this could be imitated in several countries around the world?
Vivarail At COP26
This press release from Network Rail is entitled Network Rail And Porterbrook To Showcase Britain’s Green Trains Of The Future At COP26.
These two paragraphs are from the end of the first section of the press release.
It is envisaged that the HydroFLEX may also be used to transport visitors to see the Zero Emission Train, Scotland’s first hydrogen powered train.
Network Rail is also in the earlier stages of planning a similar event with Vivarail to bring an operational battery train to COP26.
Vivarail have taken battery trains to Scotland before for demonstration, as I wrote about in Battery Class 230 Train Demonstration At Bo’ness And Kinneil Railway.
Will other train companies be joining the party?
Alstom
It looks like Alstom’s hydrogen-powered Class 600 train will not be ready for COP26.
But I suspect that the French would not like to be upstaged by a rolling stock leasing company and a university on the one hand and a company with scrapyard-ready redundant London Underground trains on the other.
I think, they could still turn up with something different.
They could drag one of their Coradia iLint trains through the Channel Tunnel and even run it to Scotland under hydrogen power, to demonstrate the range of a hydrogen-powered train.
Alstom have recently acquired Bombardier’s train interests in the UK and there have been rumours of a fleet of battery-electric Electrostars, even since the demonstrator ran successfully in 2015. Will the prototype turn up at COP26?
Alstom’s UK train factory is in Widnes and I’ve worked with Liverpudlians and Merseysiders on urgent projects and I wouldn’t rule out the Class 600 train making an appearance.
CAF
Spanish train company; CAF, have impressed me with the speed, they have setup their factory in Newport and have delivered a total of well over a hundred Class 195 and Class 331 trains to Northern.
I wrote Northern’s Battery Plans, in February 2020, which talked about adding a fourth-car to three-car Class 331 trains, to create a battery-electric Class 331 train.
Will the Spanish bring their first battery-electric Class 331 train to Glasgow?
I think, they just might!
After all, is there a better place for a train manufacturer looking to sell zero-carbon trains around the world to announce, their latest product?
Hitachi
A lot of what I have said for Alstom and CAF, could be said for Hitachi.
Hitachi have announced plans for two battery-electric trains; a Regional Battery Train and an Intercity Tri-Mode Battery Train.
I doubt that either of these trains could be ready for COP26.
But last week, I saw the new Hitachi Class 803 train speeding through Oakleigh Park station.
This is not a battery-electric train, where battery power can be used for traction, but according to Wikipedia and other sources, it is certainly an electric train fitted with batteries to provide hotel power for the train, when the overhead electrification fails.
Are these Class 803 trains already fitted with their batteries? And if they are, have they been tested?
And who is building the batteries for the Class 803 trains?
The traction batteries for Hitachi’s two battery-electric trains are to be produced by Hyperdrive Innovation of Sunderland, which is not far from Hitachi’s train factory at Newton Aycliffe.
As an engineer, I would suspect that a well-respected company like Hyperdrive Innovation, can design a battery-pack that plugs in to Hitachi’s trains, as a diesel engine would. I would also suspect that a good design, would allow an appropriate size of battery for the application and route.
I feel it is very likely, that all batteries for Hitachi’s UK trains will be designed and build by Hyperdrive Innovation.
If that is the case and the Class 803 trains are fitted with batteries, then Hitachi can be testing the battery systems.
This document on the Hitachi Rail web site, which is entitled Development of Class 800/801 High-speed Rolling Stock for UK Intercity Express Programme, gives a very comprehensive description of the electrical and computer systems of the Hitachi trains.
As an engineer and a computer programmer, I believe that if Hyperdrive Innovation get their battery design right and after a full test program, that Hitachi could be able to run battery-electric trains based on the various Class 80x trains.
It could be a more difficult task to fit batteries to Scotland’s Class 385 trains, as they are not fitted with diesel engines in any application. Although, the fitting of diesel engines may be possible in the global specification for the train.
It is likely that these trains could form the basis of the Regional Battery Train, which is described in this infographic.
Note.
- The Class 385 and Regional Battery trains are both 100 mph trains.
- Class 385 and Class 80x trains are all members of Hitachi’s A-Train family.
- Regional Battery trains could handle a lot of unelectrified routes in Scotland.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hitachi bring a battery-equipped train to COP26, if the Class 803 trains have a successful introduction into service.
Siemens
Siemens have no orders to build new trains for the national rail network in the UK.
But there are plans by Porterbrook and possibly other rolling stock leasing companies and train operators to convert some redundant Siemens-built trains, like Class 350 trains, into battery-electric trains.
According to Wikipedia, Siemens upgraded East Midlands Railways, Class 360 trains to 110 mph operation, at their Kings Heath Depot in Northampton.
Could Siemens be updating one of the Class 350 trains, that are serviced at that depot, to a prototype battery-electric Class 350 train?
Stadler
Stadler have a proven design for diesel-electric, battery-electric and hydrogen trains, that they sell all over the world.
In the UK, the only ones in service are Greater Anglia’s Class 755 trains, which are diesel-electric bi-mode trains.
The picture shows one of these trains at Ipswich.
- They are 100 mph trains.
- Diesel, battery or hydrogen modules can be inserted in the short PowerPack car in the middle of the train.
- Diesel-battery-electric versions of these trains have been sold for operation in Wales.
- The interiors of these trains are designed for both short journeys and a two-hour run.
There is a possibility, that these trains will be upgraded with batteries. See Battery Power Lined Up For ‘755s’.
Conclusion
Times will be interesting in Glasgow at COP26!
A Class 319 Train, But Not As We Know It!
This article on Rail Advent is entitled COP26 To Showcase Britain’s Sustainable Trains Of The Future Thanks To Network Rail And Porterbrook Partnership.
The article talks about and shows pictures of Porterbrook’s HydroFLEX or Class 799 train, which has been developed by the University of Birmingham, fitted out for COP26.
I have downloaded this picture of the interior from Network Rail’s media centre.
Who’d have thought a Class 319 train could look so grand?
But then some Class 319 trains used by commuters don’t look their age of over thirty years.
These pictures were taken on the Abbey Line in 2018.
There’s also this BBC Profile and video of the technology behind the HydroFLEX train.
Conclusion
It looks like Network Rail and Porterbrook are doing their best to showcase the best that Britain and Scotland can offer.
I am reminded of a tale, that I heard from a former GEC manager.
He was involved in selling one of GEC’s Air Traffic Control radars to a Middle Eastern country.
The only working installation of the radar was at Prestwick in Scotland, so he arranged that the dignitaries and the sales team would be flown to Prestwick in GEC’s HS 125 business jet.
As they disembarked at Prestwick and walked to the terminal, the pilot called the GEC Manager over.
The pilot told him “The Scottish Highlands at this time of the year, are one of the most beautiful places in the world! Would you and your guests like a low-level tour on the way back? I can arrange it, if you say so!”
Despite knowing GEC’s draconian attitude to cost control he said yes.
The sale was clinched!
Are Network Rail, Porterbrook, the UK and Scottish Governments, setting up the same Scottish treatment to all the delegates to COP26?
Piney Point: Emergency Crews Try To Plug Florida Toxic Wastewater Leak
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Emergency crews in Florida have been working to prevent a “catastrophic” flood after a leak was found in a large reservoir of toxic wastewater.
This Google Map shows the location.
Note.
- At the top of the map is an area called Tampa Bay Estuarine Ecosystem Rock Ponds.
- The reservoir appears to be in the South East corner of the map.
- There appear to be several chemical works to the West of the highway.
This second Google Map shows the reservoir at a larger scale.
Note.
- The picture in the BBC article was taken from the North West.
- The problem reservoir is right and above of centre.
- To its right is Lake Price, which appears to be the sort of lake to sail a boat and perhaps do a bit of fishing and swimming.
- Moore Lake to the South appears similar to Lake Price.
It looks to me that it is not the place to have an environmental incident.
This article in The Times says this.
Engineers are furiously pumping the phosphate-rich water into the sea to avoid an uncontrolled spill at Piney Point, whose failure could unleash a 20ft-high wall of toxic effluent.
Pumping it into the sea? Surely not?
I suspect there could have been a mixture of sloppy management and loose regulation, with minimal enforcement and I’ll be interested to see what recommendations are put forward by the inevitable investigation.
In my varied past, I was once indirectly involved, in the toxic waste that comes out of chemical plants. At the time, I was working for ICI in Runcorn and my main job was building designing and building instruments for the various chemical plants in and around Runcorn.
As they had hired me because of my programming skills, they asked me if I could do a few small jobs on their Ferranti Argus 500, which could be plugged in to both their Varian NMR machine and their AEI mass spectrometer.
With the former, to get better accuracy in analysis of chemicals, I would take successive scans of a sample and aggregate them together. The accuracy of the results would be proportion to the square root of the number of scans.
The second to my mind was more difficult and much more interesting.
This explanation of mass spectroscopy is from Wikipedia.
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are typically presented as a mass spectrum, a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is used in many different fields and is applied to pure samples as well as complex mixtures.
ICI at Runcorn had a lot of complex mixtures and the aim of my project, was to take a mass spectrum and automatically decide what chemicals were present in the mixture.
The mass spectra were presented as a long graph on a roll of thermal paper. I noticed that operators would pick out distinctive patterns on the graph, which they told me were distinctive patterns of chlorine ions.
Chlorine has an unusual atomic weight of 35.5 because it is a mixture of two stable isotypes Chlorine-35 and Chlorine-37, which produced these distinctive patterns on the spectra.
I was able to identify these patterns to determine the number of chlorine atoms in a compound. By giving the algorithm a clue in stating how many carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms could be involved, it was able to successfully identify what was in a complex mixture.
All this was programmed on computer with just 64K words of memory and a half-megabyte hard disc.
ICI must have been pleased, as I got a bonus.
One of the jobs the software was used for was to identify what chemicals were present in the lagoons alongside the River Weaver, which are shown today in this Google Map.
Note.
- The chemical works, which were part of ICI in the 1960s, to the North of the Weaver Navigation Canal.
- The two former lagoons between the canal and the River Weaver, which seem to have been cleaned out and partially restored.
- Was that a third large lagoon to the South of the River Weaver?
- There also appears to be a fourth smaller triangular lagoon between the canal and the river.
There certainly seems to have been a better clear-up in Runcorn, than in Florida.
I moved on from Runcorn soon after, I’d finished that software and have no idea how or if it developed and was used.
But the techniques I used stayed in my brain and were used at least four times in the future.
- In the design of a Space Allocation Program for ICI Plastics Division.
- In the design of two Project Management systems for Time Sharing Ltd.
And of course, they were also used in designing the scheduler in Artemis for Metier.
I
The Anonymous Widower 