IS GREEN RENEWABLE ENERGY A CON?

[bluebell]

a good article in the sunday times business section about the drax powerstation, the article said that it imports wood chip from lousiana usa to burn in the powerstation to create electricity and gets nearly £900 million a year in subsities from the govt how the hell does all that make sense ? one is it really all that green when you take all the energy used to cut the wood chip and then transport it to burn ? and why should we have to import it in the first place ? cant we either burn our own wood chip and pay our own people, or dare i say burn coal and employ , keep all the money in the uk economy, and what about the subsidy paid to burn this wood chip, guess whos pays that? the poor old general public ?

 

[farmerfred86]

wind energy for April produced very little for the UK. Then the recent low pressure was so windy, we paid them to shut down due to oversupply!
Electric cars are fine but when people think they are saving the planet by trashing their old car forget it.

 

[yellowbelly]

Always makes me wonder how it all stacks up when I'm sitting at the level crossing waiting for yet another train load of wood chip (in it's own specaially dedicated trucks) to pass by on it's way from Immingham to Drax.
This American wood must have a tremendously high calorific value if they can cart it half way round the world and still be efficient.

Something to do with the Kyoto agreement (???) when the silly bu66ers all agreed to use some form of renewable energy to make it look like they were saving the planet

 

[bluebell]

so burning this wood chip from the usa what do we get out of it? same amount of pollution going in the air ? why cant we put our own countries resources, people, jobs first ?

 

[bluebell]

the currant elections have highlighted the massive massive gaps in prosperity in the UK , soft soft southerners like me in the rich areas that abound round london ? the london elite lecture other areas about not spoiling the countryside with deep coalmines or other well paid jobs ?

 

[Ffermer Bach]

wind energy for April produced very little for the UK. Then the recent low pressure was so windy, we paid them to shut down due to oversupply!
Electric cars are fine but when people think they are saving the planet by trashing their old car forget it.

I think when we think about buying newer more efficient products, we never think of the embedded energy in the old, which should be taken into account (of course the advertising of the manufacturers is all aimed at never letting us think of that). My gut feeling is, that to be as energy efficient as possible, we should not buy electric cars but should be like Cuba was and keep 1950 cars going and going, I wonder if there are any studies to look into this? Of course, we all like to buy new.

 

[Two Tone]

Unless the trees that are cut down to make wood chip are about to die anyway or that they are immediately replaced with new fast growing trees, how do we square the fact that those trees were photosynthesising, taking CO2 out of the atmosphere which they will not do any more, until they are replaced?

Doesn’t it makes you wonder if it would have been better to leave the trees to photosynthesise and burn the coal instead?

 

[teslacoils]

Yup. Just like "recycling" that just gets sent to Asia and ends up burnt or in a big heap.

 

[Big Mr C]

My local council wanted to build a wood burning power station near by. Using old pallets and wood chip produced from Thetford forest right on the door step.
Local people formed a group and got it stopped, " To much increase in Traffic".
Local power, jobs for local people.

 

[Sid]

And then there is the usually rubbish like the toilet paper manufacturers say about every tree we cut down we plant 5 to replace it....the fact the 4 that were thinned out are used for something else is sweep aside.


Why can we find a way of using hedge trimmings in rotation?
Let them grow up for 5 years, trim the side and then top them out chip it and utilise them.

 

[Ramrod]

IS GREEN RENEWABLE ENERGY A CON?
Yes!

 

[roscoe erf]

biggest con going

 

[Tarw Coch]

Why can we find a way of using hedge trimmings in rotation?
Let them grow up for 5 years, trim the side and then top them out chip it and utilise them.

That does happen, a neighbour has had someone in with a tree shear to take down some well overgrown hedges, it’s chipped into trailers and taken away and it doesn’t cost him a penny.

 

[chickens and wheat]

I find those metal water bottles hilarious,the ethos is that buying one saves the planet,they must grow on trees.
Kids BBC at the weekend had a visit to a coffee grounds to logs recycling plant, sensible idea,. But the muppet presenter said that we can now save the planet with every cup of coffee drink.
Same programme had a teenagenkid visit some beavers in the UK, he got over enthusiastic and started saying stuff like thanks to the beavers there is now one natural part of england left,while everywhere else is destroyed.
A few minutes later he stated he was a city boy and it was one of his first trips to the countryside. Ideal choice then for an up and coming wildlife presenter.

Sorry gone off topic. But it shows now easy it to twist info regarding enviroment and wildlife.

 

[bluebell]

but are the people who most demonstrate against these schemes local ? or are they incommers who have retired or moved their for a better Life ? like the rich incommers mainly from the homecounties who bought second homes down in cornwall now dictating where fishermen can keep their boats ?

 

[Tarw Coch]

I think when we think about buying newer more efficient products, we never think of the embedded energy in the old, which should be taken into account (of course the advertising of the manufacturers is all aimed at never letting us think of that). My gut feeling is, that to be as energy efficient as possible, we should not buy electric cars but should be like Cuba was and keep 1950 cars going and going, I wonder if there are any studies to look into this? Of course, we all like to buy new.

I heard it said some time ago that the geeenest car you can drive is to keep the car you’ve got

 

[betternextyear]

Every time I see a load of maize going to an AD plant, I wonder if we are burning diesel to produce green energy.

 

[Pan mixer]

The statistic on the radio the other day said that you had to drive an electric car 120 miles before it became more energy efficient than your diesel car.

That statistic doesn't tke into account the amount of environmental damage done finding the Lithium for the batteries though.

 

[teslacoils]

Makes folk feel less guilty about their polluting behaviour if they can switch to green energy to hear their poorly insulated homes; go vegan to keep buying imported avocado / GM soya / drought inducing almond milk; get electric car or offset their three long haul holidays a year.

It's making new markets in guilt and shame.

 

[roscoe erf]

Makes folk feel less guilty about their polluting behaviour if they can switch to green energy to hear their poorly insulated homes; go vegan to keep buying imported avocado / GM soya / drought inducing almond milk; get electric car or offset their three long haul holidays a year.

It's making new markets in guilt and shame.

it grinds my gears when people try to guilt trip you they can't win a argument with facts or a sensible discussion oh no they bring out the guilt trip card or the I'm offended card its a disease a lot seem to suffer from one or two on here have a serious dose of it