Hydrogen Powered Tractors Could Be The Green Answer In That Industry
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
I agree with the title and the article is worth a read.
For some time, I’ve felt that hydrogen would be ideal to power a tractor and other agricultural machinery.
- Now that companies like ITM Power have developed efficient electrolysers, the accessibility of the fuel is a lot easier.
- Many farmers would have their own electrolyser.
- Diesel is always getting nicked, but stealing hydrogen would probably be more difficult.
- Hydrogen could also power the farmer’s cars.
Energy use on the farm could be very different.
Fruit And Veg Self-Sufficiency Ahead Thanks To Heat From Sewage Farms
This headline caught my eye on an article in today’s Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Britain will become far more self-sufficient in tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and other produce under plans to tap heat from sewage farms and pipe it to giant greenhouses.
The idea of using waste heat to grow fruit and vegetables is not new.
The technique is used at Drax power station and at various Scottish distilleries.
Low Carbon Farming just intend to do it with heat from sewage works.
- They have identified 41 sites in the UK.
- The greenhouses will be larger than the O2.
- The first two sites are in East Anglia and are being built near two of Anglian Water’s sewage works.
- Fully developed, they could make the UK self-sufficient in tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers and for most of the year.
- It would be a £2.67 billion investment, that would create 8,000 jobs.
Intriguingly, if they need more heat, they’ll use a fossil-fuel combined heat and power unit. The carbon dioxide produced will be fed directly to the fruit and veg, as it makes them grow faster.
Another Source Of Heat
In Exciting Renewable Energy Project for Spennymoor, I wrote about a Durham University project to use the waste heat in old coal mines to heat housing.
Could this heat be used to grow fruit and veg?
Hydrogen Islands
I found this concept on the ITM Power web site.
This was the sub-title.
Islands tend to have abundant renewable resources yet they rely heavily upon importing fossil fuels, often at relatively high cost.
And this was the body of the page.
The integration of renewables into an island’s power grid soon creates substantial balancing and curtailment problems. These can be overcome by deploying controllable rapid response electrolysers to produce green hydrogen for the island’s transport, heat and power sectors. Projects such as BigHit are demonstrating how this may be achieved.
It would create a zero-carbon island for an Internet tycoon or a Bond villain.
I’m certain that the concept would work for somewhere like a farm or even a small village, which is effectively a landlocked island, with perhaps wind turbines or solar panels.
Balloons On The Line Blamed For £1m Worth Of Train Delays
The title of this post, is the same as this article in The Times
This is the first two paragraphs.
Families have been told to stop bringing helium-filled balloons into railway stations after they were blamed for delays that cost the network £1 million a year.
In the latest version of “leaves on the line”, Network Rail said there were 619 “balloon-related incidents” across Britain in the past 12 months.
Liverstock farmers don’t like them either, as they fall into fields and get eaten.
I don’t like banning things, but surely some regulation and sensible rules are needed.
Does Talk Radio Make Telephone Fraudsters Go Away?
At the moment, I’m being plagued by telephone fraudsters. What they are up to, I don’t know, but I get around five a day, if I’m sitting by my computer writing.
I usually have my television switched to Radio 5 or something like the News on BBC1, when they call and I find it strange that if I don’t switch the sound on the television off, by the time I get the phone to my ear, the line is dead.
The fraudster seems to hear the noise of the talking and feels they may be wasting their time.
But it never seems to fail!
It reminds me of a story told me by a farmer, who was breeding free-range organic chickens for one of the major supermarket groups.
The local foxes were a problem, until someone suggested that he wire an old radio up to a car battery and put it on Radio 5 all night at a lowish level. It appeared the calm voices of Doton Adebayo and Rhod Sharp convinced the foxes there were people around and he was losing fewer chickens to the foxes.
Sibling Wars
I agree with the princess in this story on the BBC, which is entitled Genetically-modified crops have benefits – Princess Anne.
But I doubt her elder brother does!
Where The Northern Line Extension Spoil Is Going
This article in Your Thurrock, is entitled London Tube tunnelling project set to benefit arable land in East Tilbury.
It gives a good overview of the tunnelling for the Northern Line Extension and states that the tunnel spoil will be taken by barge to Goshems Farm in East Tilbury.
This Google Map shows the North Bank of the Thames from Tilbury Fort to East Tilbury.
Tilbury Fort is in the South West corner of the map, by the river and East Tilbury is in the North East corner.
This is a more detailed map of the area of Goshems Farm.
Goshems Farm is in the area of Felmac Metals and Micks Tyres, which from their names are typical businesses, you find in areas like these all over the UK.
Note Station Road leading up to the disused Low Street station, which was on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, which is now served by c2c.
I suspect that the spoil will go into the light-coloured land between this area and the Thames, which could be something like an old landfill site.
It’ll certainly be a lot more use as arable land.
Jeremy Corbyn Courts The Rural Vote!
There is an article in The Spectator entitled Meet the new anti-meat, anti-shooting, pro-badger shadow Defra secretary.
Matthew Paris Proposes A Humane Solution To The Badger Problem
In his column today in The Times, Matthew Paris tells a tale about how the llamas he keeps have chased the badgers away.
Matthew’s proposal may sound silly, but I’ve had many a drink with a friend, where he has told me endless tales about his llamas and their instincts and habits. Some of his used to stand up tall and spit at passengers waiting to catch a bus. I believe the stop was moved.
So will be seeing farmers using llamas to protect their animals from badgers.
Or will friends of the badgers try to get the keeping of llamas near badger sets made illegal?
It’s Not April The First!
This story about exploding cows in Germany is straight out of the Guardian’s list of April Fool Jokes. There is a serious side though, as the article says!
Cows are believed to emit up to 500 litres of methane – a potent greenhouse gas – each per day.
Perhaps we should link all cows to the gas grid or have a cow in the kitchen connected to the cooker.
