All UK HGVs to be zero emissions from 2040

[CompoSimmonite]

With a major shake-up of the transport system its achievable, leccy hgv`s are out there already. May have to get the long haul HGV`s cargo off the roads and onto the railways .

Bob

I've said all along that HS2 should be for freight and not passengers as only the wealthy would be able to afford the train prices

 

[CompoSimmonite]

There used to be these things in the olden days called "trains". Then a fat buffoon called Beeching came along in the 1960's and said "Lets get rid of these and invest in my friends motorway building company and make us rich". If "Trains" were still around, then lorries would only be needed for local work, and electric would be fine.

But Is there a leader with the wit and intellegence to implement something like that now ?

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AFAIK Beeching was just the implementer of a government policy. The government of the time - Conservatives !

 

[8ob]

I've said all along that HS2 should be for freight and not passengers as only the wealthy would be able to afford the train prices

I thinks its all part of the bigger picture, cant come soon enough imho https://www.hs2.org.uk/why/capacity/capacity-more-freight-by-rail/
My biggest fear of rail is the unions holding the country to ransom and bringing it to its knees.

Bob

 

[CompoSimmonite]

EV is a flawed technology. Electric vehicle battery prices have shot up due to materials getting hard to find, not even mentioning use of child labour. EV owners will very soon be getting a HUGE kick in the wallet as road duty is currently not retreivable THEY WILL BE MADE PAY. What happens redundant EV batteries ? They are not recycleable and an explosion threat in even trying to. Nor can they be landfilled for the same reason India and China do not want them what does that say ?. Read yesterday of a hybrid Mercedes with battery failure £14,000 quote to replace.. EV NO THANKS.

They have just shut the tram network in Wolverhampton for a month for safety reasons....

When I was young I remember trolley buses in Wolverhampton. Far better option than trams as no need for rails - just the same type of overhead power lines

 

[CompoSimmonite]

My biggest fear of rail is the unions holding the country to ransom and bringing it to its knees.

Bob

My daughter lives in Chester but works a few miles away in Wales. The Welsh bus drivers get £1 per hour less than the English drivers so they are going on strike for 5 weeks. Daughter has no other way of getting to work s too far to walk !

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Right up until a couple of weeks ago where they fired up West Burton coal fired power station, and the train operators locked their electric trains away and bought the diesels out because there was insufficient electricity to power them.

Recently watched a short documentary about how they "filter" the harmful emissions from coal fired power stations into limestone that then turns it into gypsum and that is made into plasterboard. Wonder if we will get a shortage / price increase in plasterboards when all the coal fires power stations are closed down ?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Thats pretty much the case in a lot of rural locations, there are thousands of miles of ancient overhead and buried cables in service not fit for purpose. Before I replaced the cables to this place the fly cutter on the mill would make the lights flicker in about twenty local properties. I sorted my end out thirty years ago but the others are still fed off a tiny lead sheathed supply that must have been installed after the war.

Bob

Locally they are replacing the overhead lines from early 1950's houses to underground. It came about after one house was having an extension and requested the moving of the overhead power line to the new part of the build. Inspection found that it was dangerous condition hence hundreds of houses affected

 

[Mma man]

Has tech finally got good enough though. Heat pumps are a bit contraversal in my area as some bungalows for oldies up the road had them fitted 7 years ago and had nothing but trouble with them. The main complaints being very noisy. Not enough heat when it's icy cold but the most concern is the electricity bills tripled.

 

[Bobupndown]

The answer

 

[Bobupndown]

Or if you don't want to tow your own with you....

 

[Kayos]

Sounds like air source, we do ground source in everything from a 1 bed flat to huge hospitals and leisure centres and everything in-between

All works fine, probably because we design and install it all properly

This is proven tech that works, not daily mail scaremongering

 

[ukracer]

So true but for a maritime nation the UK as a whole port capacity is shockingly bad there would have to be huge investment to move cargo seaward, is still the most efficient way of moving cargo from a to b.

Especially if you use a sail.

 

[ukracer]

The answer to the shipping problem is simple, stop using the east to supply/ship all our goods. We need to take a step back and kick start industry here, zero imports would probably solve most of the other issues we face. Hang all the counterproductive paper shufflers/office chair polishers and get folk productive (again) . Shipping should only be used for moving raw materials, not goods.

Bob

One word...COST.

 

[ukracer]

My daughter lives in Chester but works a few miles away in Wales. The Welsh bus drivers get £1 per hour less than the English drivers so they are going on strike for 5 weeks. Daughter has no other way of getting to work s too far to walk !

Just out of interest who is in the wrong here?

I post this in the full knowledge that unions are often bashed and I tend not to reply as I know it will escalate.
But as this not not bashing I am seriously intrigued as to what the solution is/should be.

If this gets into a slanging match I will report my own post for deletion.

 

[MetalMonkey]

The doom and gloom, as usual, is comical

I had a meeting with a DNO this week, remember I work for a company that makes and installs heat pumps. One of my current projects is a 500kw system in a leisure centre.

Anyway, another project next year is even bigger, around 1MW and the start up current is significant, after we had finished the official meeting I asked about this, they are already spending millions upgrading the network, it isn't in danger of "falling over", a beloved term of Daily Mail readers.

A slightly smaller project in a school needs a supply upgrade, we only have to pay for the cable as the area is already getting substation upgrade

I dont know where the belief the grid is still running the cables installed after ww2 and has never been upgraded comes from

Remember though, the grid covers more than just large customers and centres of populace.

For example, I am aware that the local DNO, up until recently at least, were leaving underground faults on the network where they could reroute the supply, as it was too expensive to repair them.
Even if they were suddenly gifted a bucket load of cash, and assuming they didn't give it to their shareholders, it would take several years just to rectify these faults.

The last time work was done on our supply was in the 90's when a transformer popped. The cabling wasn't changed then and hasn't been touched since, and while it is not WW2 vintage, it could well be older than me.
If the farm 100 yards up the road starts up machinery, the lights will flicker and we see a voltage drop. Within a stone's throw are several small hauliers, possibly 20-30 waggons. All these premises are fed by our single overhead cable.
The feasibility of converting all these over to electric chargers without a substantial investment in the supply is simply unrealistic.

While there will be obvious savings from more energy efficient appliances, lighting, homes etc, and an offset from local generation - we are talking about moving the majority of our transport and domestic heating energy requirements across to the electricity network. That is a sizable requirement with a price tag to match.

I'm sure the situation will vary between the different DNOs, but I can imagine that while towns and cities will be the priority for investment, rural networks will suffer once again - much as they did, and continue to do, with broadband rollout.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Just out of interest who is in the wrong here?

I post this in the full knowledge that unions are often bashed and I tend not to reply as I know it will escalate.
But as this not not bashing I am seriously intrigued as to what the solution is/should be.

If this gets into a slanging match I will report my own post for deletion.

IMO company, Arriva, are wrong - they should pay the same amount to all drivers. £1 an hour is £40 a week, assuming 40 hour week, so that is £2080 a year - a not insignificant difference.

 

[Kayos]

Remember though, the grid covers more than just large customers and centres of populace.

For example, I am aware that the local DNO, up until recently at least, were leaving underground faults on the network where they could reroute the supply, as it was too expensive to repair them.
Even if they were suddenly gifted a bucket load of cash, and assuming they didn't give it to their shareholders, it would take several years just to rectify these faults.

The last time work was done on our supply was in the 90's when a transformer popped. The cabling wasn't changed then and hasn't been touched since, and while it is not WW2 vintage, it could well be older than me.
If the farm 100 yards up the road starts up machinery, the lights will flicker and we see a voltage drop. Within a stone's throw are several small hauliers, possibly 20-30 waggons. All these premises are fed by our single overhead cable.
The feasibility of converting all these over to electric chargers without a substantial investment in the supply is simply unrealistic.

While there will be obvious savings from more energy efficient appliances, lighting, homes etc, and an offset from local generation - we are talking about moving the majority of our transport and domestic heating energy requirements across to the electricity network. That is a sizable requirement with a price tag to match.

I'm sure the situation will vary between the different DNOs, but I can imagine that while towns and cities will be the priority for investment, rural networks will suffer once again - much as they did, and continue to do, with broadband rollout.

Again, actually read my posts
The current work the DNO are doing is in very rural Northumberland

 

[The Artilleryman]

IMO company, Arriva, are wrong - they should pay the same amount to all drivers. £1 an hour is £40 a week, assuming 40 hour week, so that is £2080 a year - a not insignificant difference.

Separate Arriva company's pay different rates of pay to drivers.
I'm assuming the comparison is between Arriva Cymru and whoever the nearest english Arriva co. is.

I used to work for Arriva London and when I left we had 18 different rates of pay for the same job of driving a bus. The highest rate being those who had tupe'd over when LT was privatised and the lowest would be the newest entrant. Every year when pay negotiations concluded at the bottom would be a new lower rate for new entrants - union has no say as they negotiate for there existing members and this rate would be for future employee's - less holidays etc. most could never progress to the top rate.

Just as I left Arriva London was mounting an attack on the senior rate of pay - MD's comment was "Don't worry you won't earn any less, we are increasing your hours".

I was glad to get out when I did.

 

[The Artilleryman]

My biggest fear of rail is the unions holding the country to ransom and bringing it to its knees.

No worry there Bojo and co. will have succeeded in doing that before to long.

 

[minimutly]

Again, actually read my posts
The current work the DNO are doing is in very rural Northumberland

Well twenty years is plenty of time to install cables etc to be fair. Don’t know how many mini nuclear plants will be allowed by the nimbys though. I always thought Battersea would have been the prime site.