Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprint R

[malcolmsanford]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

As an engineer I have to work to design something that will give me the desired result. In order for me to carry out that design I need tangible inputs to achieve that goal, PV will never in it's present state give me these desired inputs because there are too many vagaries concerning them, that is why they are not regarded as efficient.

PV cells were designed and manufactured by NASA for use in space, where there was no source of ready or easy energy available and since then we have tried to utilize these for here on Terra firma, and they don't work to any degree of efficiency and that is it.

We can not use them at night, to store the electricity would be less green than the energy produced by them and far more costly. We can not guarantee their harvest output, from one day to the next let alone throughout a period of time and the list goes on.

Ok wind is the same and so too tidal, but night or day wind can be there but still IMO not efficient enough to develop in it's present form, and IMO the way we should go as an Island is Tidal, as that is there night and day whatever the weather conditions, and worth trying to develop.

You say it wasn't a bubble, well I'm not sure how you would describe it then, but in it present form it is over. It developed and grew and now it deflated.

 

[Earthstore]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

Here is my opinion, for what it's worth.
Both Malcolm and Biggs have some valid points, but times are changing fast in this modern world, I am not a tree huger, but there may well be something in this climate change, but we can not ask our great, great great grandchildren what the world is like as we will all be pushing up daisies by then, so if we do not do something it may be too late.
Rent a roof schemes were wrong and should not have been allowed, and yes the tariff was too high, but reduced in the wrong, if not unlawful way.
As to power stations, and the big six, hmmm, do any of you really want to be beholden to these companies for eternity, so they can charge you whatever they want for your energy, Just look at how energy costs have risen in the last 8 years then compare that to the 8 years previous, producing some of your own energy can protect you somewhat.
Oh and Des56 they want to build that power station at the end of your garden, it should be safe, however keep a close eye on your children though, as their health might not be as it should.. "Nuclear power is the obvious and only energy resource" My arse...
PV is not the answer, nor is wind either, but they all help.
In Germany the power stations were selling energy in the day time at their night time tariff, because so much renewable was being put into the grid.
Let's all work together on this and make it a better place for our children..

oh and one other point, we are going off topic here.

 

[moggy1968]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

malcolm, you talk rubbish. sorry but there it is.
you bleat on about how wonderful the coal industry was because it provided power for 80% of homes and no organisations profited from it, of course they did, and so did many of the individuals concerned, (scargill was never short of a bob or two). Fossil fuel was never going to provide a long term solution to our energy problems but we still rely on it for the majority of our energy production, coming from obsolete poluting power stations. This country has an energy production crisis. we consume more than we produce, and hey, here's a thing, the biggest demand is in the day time from industry, when all that solar is being ustilised!!! Yes, nuclear is the way ahead in the long term, but that takes time and we don't have time, the energy crisis is now and something needed to be done. Also to rely on just one source of energy is a dangerous gamble, spread the production through different technologies.

You bleat on (again!) about how the technology isn't yet good enough to make it worthwhile, well how on earth do you think the technology will improve without investment? You have to be able to sell your current product in order to invest in R&D for the future.
You have to invest in fledgling industry and technology in order to make it viable for the mass market in the future. I really wouldn't have thought an engineer would need that explaining to them!

And where do you think the money coomes from for building the new nuclear stations, from centralised power providers, thats who, and where do they get their money from, why from your electric bill, or from grants from Government paid for by your taxes, so whichever way you look at it your paying for it.

The power from tidal isn't as consistent as you suggest, tide speed varies and so does the power it generates. And there is that time factor yet again.

How you work out that PV is not efficient when the cells production carbon footprint is reclaimed after less than 5 years and the average house (as against a 16 bathroom mansion) needs just 2.6kW to be carbon neutral I don't know.

Small scale domestic PV generation provided an excellent means of quickly, and relatively cheaply getting more power onto the grid. now under pressure from the big 6 energy companies the Government has U turned and the consequences of that for the economy and the environment are a disaster.

And meantime the idiot that helped kill the industry and lectured us on our carbon footprint has just bought a massive 2nd home paid for at least in part by you malcolm!!

 

[confounded]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

As an engineer I have to work to design something that will give me the desired result.

As an engineer (as I am) you should be positively salivating at the prospect of being like Germany where on a windy sunny day they have to pay people to take power off the grid.

Our customers have to change habits of a lifetime when adopting solar PV, and they do perfectly well making good use of the energy they generate during the day.

Also you need to broaden your understanding of our current economic system before you try and look at energy and PV in the black and white way you appear to. You need to gain perspective of the subsidies this industry has received and will recieve.

 

[moggy1968]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

well said old chap!!

 

[The Solar King]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

OK, lets get back on topic. The issue for this gentleman will be his Energy Performance Certificate. Properties that are used for commercial purposes may soon have to have one, so I am sure he will want to show his green credentials. Only, he is going to have a little problem. This is undoubtedly a listed building, it is stone with no cavity wall, just dry lining in the main rooms and plastered on to the inside of the stone in the servants quarters (the bit we peasants would live in).

Now let me see, to get to a level C EPC we will need: 300mm min, insulation in the loft, cavity wall insulation, extensive draft proofing, double glazing, a high efficiency condensing boiler. Even this may not do it. Oh yes, its listed so no, you cannot install double glazing, um, no cavity? Don't think external insulation and rendering over that beautiful stonework will be allowed, so how about internal wall insulation? Oops, forgot about the beautiful cornices and other internal features that are listed. We can probably do some draft proofing, so that should help. Well that just leaves the gas condensing boiler. Oh, but you are off grid, better stick to the smelly old oil burner then.

So there we have it, an EPC of F or G for you my lad, so no PV and no Solar Thermal despite the fact installed to the rules in Scotland for historic buildings they could have a major impact on the energy performance of the building.

Tell that to your mates in Government and DECC.

 

[pjcomp]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

why should anyone have to subsidize someone else?? [\quote]

You're overlooking the fact that our taxation system is all about everyone subsidising everyone else. Do you spend enough time at the doctor to use up all your contributions to the NHS? If not, your subsidising someone else, if you use more then someone else is subsidising you. My children grew up and left home years ago but I'm still paying to support local schools. The list is endless. Want something less generic? The railways are heavily subsidised from taxation, most of it from people who rarely or never use the trains. How is subsidy for renewable energy systems any different?

PJ

 

[alarm man]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

well its certainly a beautiful building,and ironically seems to have quite a number of coal fires judging by all the chimney stacks..tho if every one in the country had a coal fire we would have cheap fuel,lots more employment and booming communities,i side with mal on this one,solar has a use but until all other fuels are exhausted.

 

[alarm man]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

why should anyone have to subsidize someone else?? [\quote]

How is subsidy for renewable energy systems any different?

PJ

because pv subsidy benefits the few,nationalised industries benefited the masses,created employment hence more people paying tax's more people spending in the local economy and give a cheap product to its users,look at the price of energy bills,its all profit going to the few and its the working man again who loses out,thats capitalism for you

 

[moggy1968]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

Thats a great idea alarm man, lets carry on using up all the fossil fuels until our children are left with nothing, then suddenly have to develop new technologies. Lets get back to the smog, lets get back to those lovely black stone buildings! If everyone in the country had a coal fire thousands every year would die of polution related disease. Our cities would be grossly poluted and in less than 50 years we would have no fuel left!!!!

I grew up in Dinnington, South Yorkshire. I was there during the miners strike and left school not long after with no prospect of a job so I know exactly what damage was done to the coal and steel industry. The difference is, they were obsolete and declining industries with no future, sapping increasing quantities of public money to keep going. That, of course, is before you consider the political aspects of the destruction of the mining industry.

The PV industry is the complete reverse, a dynamic forward thinking industry with a great future which could give us and our children clean cheap energy in years to come, but to achieve that it needs a degree of investment now. No one is asking for pots of gold, just enough to make it viable.

 

[alarm man]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

Thats a great idea alarm man, lets carry on using up all the fossil fuels until our children are left with nothing, then suddenly have to develop new technologies. Lets get back to the smog, lets get back to those lovely black stone buildings! If everyone in the country had a coal fire thousands every year would die of polution related disease. Our cities would be grossly poluted and in less than 50 years we would have no fuel left!!!!

I grew up in Dinnington, South Yorkshire. I was there during the miners strike and left school not long after with no prospect of a job so I know exactly what damage was done to the coal and steel industry. The difference is, they were obsolete and declining industries with no future, sapping increasing quantities of public money to keep going. That, of course, is before you consider the political aspects of the destruction of the mining industry.

The PV industry is the complete reverse, a dynamic forward thinking industry with a great future which could give us and our children clean cheap energy in years to come, but to achieve that it needs a degree of investment now.

weve all got our views mog,im not saying im right and im not saying your wrong,but personally id look at going back to coal again,it might have sapped public money as you say but so was/is solar,tho coal had more benefits for employment and a lower energy price to the public,we still have around a thousand years worth,thats not to say there is more or less,it could be less it could be way more,with the advancement in technology from 30 yrs ago more may be found,they used to say ironically 'coals to newcastle' as a way of saying something pointless.well have a trip down to the tyne and you will see we IMPORT thousands of tonnes of it from abroad..personally i dont support the green campaign,i dont belive in it,but if you do then i respect that,living in the north east i want to see a return to mining and shipbuilding,its in the past,but the way things are going jobs/economy wise its the future..

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

because he is preaching a mantra to us all that he doesn't follow. it's pure hypocrisy.
yes, he can live where he likes, but don't then preach to us all about how energy inefficient our homes are.
Presumably then you subscribe to the view that the entire population of the UK should live in identical 3 bed semi's,with identical energy efficiency??...how do you know that he does not follow the mantra of making his abode as energy efficient as it can possibly be?It makes no difference what he does to this property (and he will be limited in what he is allowed to do under the planning regs). it is still going to consume vastly more energy than a 3 bed semi!!!
One of my main complaints against the proposed changes is that it discriminates against older homes that can't meet the required energy efficiency and are therefore effectively barred from trying to reduce their carbon footprint because PV is made uneconomic. These older buildings should be preserved, and should be made more energy efficient where it can be done without substantially altering their character.
What shouldn't be happening is some Tory Toff preaching to us all about our lack of environmental effort when he is buying a place like this, and to add insult to injury it's a SECOND HOME, so it's consuming energy even though he won't be there the majority of the time.....Jealousy is a terrible thing.
personally I think it's incompatable with his job and he should resign.By your logic he should live in an unheated tiny house with no carbon footprint at all....walk everywhere...or maybe cycle....grow all his own food to avoid the carbon emmisions involved in transporting it to the supermarket....I could go on...As long as he takes all possible steps to reduce his carbon footprint within his lifestyle he is no more a hypocrite than anyone else.

.............................

 

[SolarCity]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

As I am now a moderator of this forum, can I ask that people return to the subject or start another thread

....powers gone to my head already!

 

[i=p/u]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

money talks,,,,, i do believe we shouldnt be buying copal and fuels from iother countries..... we pay them big money but take control and still charge us as high as they can go, so whats new...

 

[i=p/u]

Re: Climate Minister buys a castle with 16 bathrooms... and a massive carbon footprin

you'l get a slap biggssolaar from the smallest guy for that craic.... oj why you and not me, rrr: