Hydrogen vs Batteries to power EVs

Excellent video comparing Hydrogen and Batteries as the energy storage method for electric vehicles:

Robert and Jonny talk electric vehicles and rapid charging

Robert Llewellyn and Jonny discuss the Geneva car show and rapid charging EVs.
Have to say that Fully Charged has grown from a small niche video channel into a mainstream automobile video channel, with Rob and Jonny getting invites to discuss and review Electric Vehicles and low carbon tech all over the world. It is amazing how electric vehicle technology has developed in the 11 years this blog has run. Technically it was inevitable, but politcally it is surprising how much has changed. The main problem is Trump and his nationalist policies to desperately prop up the outdated American car industry. But I think (and pray!) that it will be a minor moronic glitch.

Anyway, here is the video:

The political plastic waste time bomb

The plastic waste time bomb has been ticking for many years or decades. This blog was started as a result of observations of plastic litter around Waterlooville.  Today we hear that China will no longer take UK plastic waste for recycling, some 25% of UK plastic waste in total, and why should they?

European and American companies happily exported industry to China because labour was and still is cheap, in turn British European consumers happily bought Chinese produced goods with British brand names (once produced in the UK, some in Havant), names such as Bush, Clarks, Morphy Richards and Kenwood. We exported our carbon emissions to China and then imported the products to use in our homes which inevitably became waste (partly because the products were not designed to be repaired).

A lack of action at Westminster and at our local Councils has resulted in a lack of recycling facilities and as pointed out previously Hampshire County Council has opted to reduce facilities (a political ideological decision, not one based on technological know how, science or the pseudo science of economics). Hampshire County Council have a record of banning wind turbines and approving the burning of hosuehold waste for energy.

What is wrong with plastic?

You have to distinguish between the material and the product designed to use the material.
You can view plastic as a wonder material that lasts many hundreds of years and this was how it was sold and marketed in the last 60 to 70 years, a cheap and cheerful material that can be used to make dishes, bowls, pipes, clothes, packaging and food wrap etc.

This is fine, these products would last forever wouldn't they?

Unfortunately nature and physics was ignored and of course the products did not last forever, joints break, fractures appear, threads unravel or break, babies out grow the baby products etc. So then the plastic products were buried in the ground (hidden) or burnt (causing polution and carbon emissions).

Manufacturers and governments failed to have a long term plan for the material (a typical fault of industrial economics), they didn't plan how to recycle the materials or even attempted to design recyclable products. Selling, marketing and jobs were more important and maintained a stable society for government to manage. They didn't want to take responsibility or knew they had to.

Today we know that we have to take responsibility. Plastics don't just crack and fracture, plastic threads don't just break, plastics also erode into tiny fibres and microscopic particles, they form dust that will still be in our air, water and earth for hundreds of year and we are adding to this dust as we produce more products. It isn't just waste plastic that you put in a bin that creates microscopic plastic waste, the daily use of plastic products also creates microscopic plastic particles and fibres.

Can we burn all the plastic waste?

When we burn plastic we are in reality using it as a fossil fuel like coal, diesel or petrol. We create particulate pollutants in the atmosphere and toxic residues in the furnace, we also produce carbon emissions in the same way that fossil fuels do when burnt. Climate change is already having an impact on people around the world including us in the UK, this includes migration of species to these isles following changing weather and climate patterns.

The only solutions are as follows:

1. Use no plastics or reserve plastics for very specific and essential uses (medical, military etc).
2. Use biodegradeable plastics that meld into nature after they have been used by us. This is similar to natural materials like wood, cotton, wool etc. They last just long enough to be useful and then return to nature to be used again.
3.Recycle all plastics and invest in extensive recycling facilities. Frankly if a council or Westminster is unwilling to do this then they should be legally enforcing 1 and 2.

Westminster and councils should be legally accountable for any lack of action on their part.

Carbon Isotopes and Climate Change

A while ago I explained the basics of Carbon Isotopes and how they help in understanding what is happening to our climate:

http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/is-all-carbon-same.html

Today Skeptical Science have posted a more detailed article about the subject:

https://www.skepticalscience.com/From-eMail-Bag-Carbon-Isotopes-Part-1.html


 

Rapanui Clothing and The Expanse Season 3

According to Shohreh Aghdashloo who plays one of the lead characters in The Expanse, filming of Season 3 has completed. Yippee, just got to wait many months now before it is available in the UK.

Whilst I was reading the December issue of The MagPi I spotted an article about Rapanui Clothing based on the Isle of Wight. They make eco friendly clothing and were started in 2008, I have been following them on and off for about the same time, being initially impressed by their Bamboo T-shirts that were as smooth as silk.

There is a link to their web site in my list of links down the right hand side of this blog.

So why did Rapanui feature in a magazine devoted to the best selling computer in the world (the Raspberry Pi)?

Turns out that they started on a budget of £200 in 2008 and since then have grown greatly. They now have a factory in an old Coop supermarket and have developed a lot of their own custom manufacturing hardware using Raspberry Pi's. They even have an Alexa that employees can ask questions about production runs and other factory stuff. The really cool thing is that they even encourage employees to learn programming!

So basically it is an eco company that is driving innovation and changing the rules.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/your-photo-t-shirt-from-rapanui/

Shell start installing EV chargers

Latest Electric Vehicle News

Robert Llewellyn and his new co-host Jonny discuss the latest news in
renewable energy and electric vehicles, months ahead of the BBC and The Sun:

Murray Energy (Coal) sue John Oliver (British comedian)

The dying American coal industry (avid funder of Donald Trump) has decided that one man, John Oliver, and HBO are responsible for their woes, as a result Murray Energy and others are suing John Oliver for defamation.

Amusingly the legal document which Murray Energy is submitting has a lot of ranting in it appealing for the sympathy vote rather than any substantial legal claim.

The sad fact is many wealthy business folk think they are important beyond any reality just because they have wealth. Anyone who has watched John Oliver knows that he has a go at people, nations and businesses in a satirical manor which is very amusing and democratic.

The  reality is that renewable energy employs many times more people in America than the coal industry, it could employ many more including ex-coal workers!

This video posted by a lawyer deconstructs the Murray Energy lawsuit:

 Added 24/06/17...

It should also be noted John Oliver actually defames himself in the same broadcasted show! So maybe he should sue himself as well. Oh, wait a minute John Oliver has a sense of humour.

Note this video may not work for long:

03/07/17
Oh dear. Youtube removed the video. Told you so!


Links:

https://www.youtube.com/user/LastWeekTonight

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-robert-murray-coal-mining-lawsuit-sued-hbo-a7802266.html

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/06/22/coal_baron_robert_murray_is_suing_john_oliver_over_his_segment_featuring.html 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/06/22/coal_baron_robert_murray_is_suing_john_oliver_over_his_segment_featuring.html

Upgraded street lamps become EV charging points

A German company has developed street lighting technology that allows Electric Vehicles to be charged at adapted street lamps. When street lighting is upgraded to low energy LED technology, the cables that supply the lamps with power are effectively under used. This is where the EV charging technology comes in. Ubitricity can install the EV charging technology in any style of lamp post, retro or modern.

Once a street lamp is installed all an EV owner has to do is to sign up with Ubitricity, the owner then receives a special cable from Ubitricity which monitors electricity usage of the owner. The user is then debted the cost of the electricity. The cable has an inline small box with buttons and a display, so I presume that it is password protected to prevent possible mis-use. However I assume that if the cable were stolen, it could be reported and the account suspended until a new cable were supplied.

No additional load is put on the local electricity cables because they were originally designed to take a bigger load than the LED lighting puts on the system.

Robert L explains in this video how it works and interviews the local council that has installed the lamps as well as a representative of Ubitricity.



https://www.ubitricity.com/en

Designer 'Edison' light bulbs

Not sure what the legality is regarding the sale of high wattage designer filament bulbs.

But the fact is you can get low power LED versions I bought this one for £12 in IKEA.
1.8 watts as opposed to 40 or 60 watts for an incandescent filament lamp.

Now I am not sure where to put it!

Grenfell Tower fire and Daily Mail Green Target misinformation

The despicable Daily Mail today were pointing the finger at green energy targets for fueling the Grenfell Tower fire in London.

This of course is a political tactic from a political activist media company, it is designed to divert attention from real financial issues relating to the buildings upgrade.

Setting a green target does not imply that cheap flammable materials should be used as a cladding/insulation material in order to achieve that target. The alternative to insulation is cold damp rooms and high energy bills for the poor people living in the building.

Other newspapers (including the Express) have highlighted the fact that fire proof cladding would have only cost £5000 more for the WHOLE building. Yes the WHOLE building could have been made safer for an additional £5000.

For the cost of the Daily Mail editor (Paul Dacre) installing trendy bi-fold doors in his expensive privately owned home or installing a new bath room etc. the Grenfell building could have been made safer.

So the FACT is - 60 peoples lives were taken away so that the contractor and council could save £5000. Green targets were not responsible for that.

Please someone take the Daily Mail down in court, even social media can do better news reporting than that despicable company. It isn't amusing and we can no longer make excuses about the 'Daily Mail'.

June 2017 Election Manifesto Analysis

Lets have a look at the main issue that the manifestos cover:

Liberal Democrats 

The Liberal Democratic manifesto commits to 60% renewable energy by 2030. Similar to Labours commitment (see below). Unlike the Conservatives and Labour, they explicitly commit to restoring onshore wind energy and solar energy to our supported energy mix.
.

Conservatives

The Tories manifesto states that the party does not believe that more onshore wind energy is right for England and oppose large scale onshore wind projects, but supports continued investment in offshore wind energy.
But Hampshire does not have any wind farms, even small ones! Hampshire has land and wind resources, but no wind farms harnessing those resources. Not only that but Hampshires nearest offshore wind energy project was cancelled. So the Conservatives are applying ideological reasons for not pursuing onshore wind as well as putting their wealthy rural supporters before the nation and the planet.
They also commit to low cost energy, which economically and technically must mean more onshore wind and solar energy, so they have contradicting statements in their manifesto

Labour

Labours manifesto is even less detailed than the Conservatives but commits to 60% zero carbon or renewable energy by 2030.
What is zero carbon energy??
All energy has at least a small carbon footprint.
They don't however say what technologies will make up this new commitment, they don't mention onshore wind or solar energy.

Green Party

Like the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party are commited to removing the Conservatives effective ban on onshore wind energy projects. They also want to scale up offshore wind and marine energy projects.

UKIP

The party has a record of denying mainstream climate science so it is not surprising that they wish to remove 'subsidies' from wind and solar energy projects. To be honest in a few years time they won't need such a policy because even in the UK government encouragement won't be needed. Solar and wind are becoming cheaper than the old school fossil fuel sources that we became to dependent on.


Well that's the analysis of the main policies of the locally relevant political parties. Energy and the environment are the key issues.

National Grid boss gives the thumbs down to old school energy

A few days ago the new energy boss in charge of the nations national electricity grid surprised the Victorian old school (many of whom are probably UKIP supporters) by announcing that the future is distributed energy generation and 'smart' use of electricity (the smart grid).

This idea has long been proposed by this blog and many educated peeps that understand these things.

According to the BBC article Nicola pointed out that more people are generating their own electricity via solar and that technological advances reduce the need for conventional power stations. People and businesses are changing the way they use electricity with the help of software and computers.

Unfortunately unions (yes the 'left') are not helpful. The left bullshit just as much as the right when it comes to facts about cutting carbon emissions and the environment. They put political ideology before the environment. The Farmers Union is just as guilty in this respect when it comes to agricultural practices and food production.

The GMB union wants Hinkley Point C to be built purely on the basis of supporting members jobs and harking back to the 1950s and the great socialist dream of nationalised centralised power generation.

BBC article on the subject:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37220703

Blog posts:
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/p/wind-energy.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/my-electric-avenue.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/big-brother-fridges.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/fareham-based-isentropic-how-their.html 
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lovedean-solar-farm-installed-and.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/how-national-grid-works.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/tokar-street-eco-house.html

Robert Llewellyn talks about Passivhaus (Low Energy Homes)

Something that this government and large developers say would be to expensive, which is a lie of course especially in the context of long term economics and damages caused by Anthropogenic Climate Change.

Robert test drives the BMW i3 REx.

This car is electric with the addition of a small engine (647cc) that is used as a generator to charge the batteries and extend the range of the vehicle. There is no direct drive from the engine to the wheels and for most driving it can be operated as an electric vehicle.

Support Fully Charged

Roberts back with the first Fully Charged video of the year and a request for support:



https://www.patreon.com/bobbyllew

Some ludicrous and insane videos

A bit different to Roberts reviews.

Tesla S P85D Insane mode:





Tesla S P90D Ludicrous mode:

Cadillac ELR test drive

Robert test drives the Cadillac ELR, which frankly is a boring car, but what is more interesting is the discussion Robert has with Chelsea Sexton who featured in 'Who killed the electric car?':

National Grid warning indicates renewable energy is underinvested

Today the National Grid has given a warning about the margin between total grid capacity available this winter and demand. The margin has narrowed because of the recent Didcot power station fire, numerous other problems with various other power stations and scheduled closures of various coal fired power stations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29794632

What does this indicate?

Large Power Stations

Well firstly if shows that large centralised power stations can pose a significant risk to electricity security.

In the past they have been the targets of union campaigns against government policy, resulting in long black outs as a result of strikes.

Large power stations also have to be taken off line regularly so that they can be maintained and worked on, this can have a significant impact on their availability. It is a fantasy and a myth to think that a power station is available 100% of the time every year. They can be available for as little as 50% to 60% of the year.

They also potentially present a greater 'defence/terrorism' security risk because they are centralised and present large easier to hit targets.

Putting your eggs in a small number of baskets isn't a particularly sensible idea.

Finally, fossil fuel and nuclear power stations require imported fuel or fracked gas. This poses a potential risk both economically and militarily.


Renewable Energy

The first advantage of renewable energy is that it is massively distributed. One wind turbine or a solar panel on the neighbours house becoming defective, has no effect at all on overall grid performance.

The massive distribution of renewable energy also means it is more secure. It would be very hard indeed for an enemy to 'take out' hundreds of thousands or millions of distributed renewable energy installations. Potentially renewables can serve a similar purpose that the original internet was designed to do, basically a secure and tolerant system that is difficult to destroy or harm.

Renewable energy also tends to require less maintenance. Solar panels are solid state with no moving parts, whilst wind turbines are automated and can be left to run with little human intervention. This reduces potential disruptive action such as strikes interfering with supply.

As well as those issues, renewable energy reduces carbon emissions and does not depend on imported or 'fracked' fuels. Renwable energy is (apart from the eventual success of nuclear fusion) the only long term energy solution and one of many essential technologies that are required to tackle our climate change problem.

Sainsburys update

Sainburys large store (above) is due to open this winter. My mother who once didn't really mind or understand it's impact is now of the same view as me. It will have a negative impact on Waterlooville. What Havant Borough Council and others choose to ignore is that it effectively disrupts the flow of activity that was once present along Hambledon road into Waterlooville and effectively adds another 'block' to the traditional access of Waterlooville. The view is that Waterlooville will be cut off because many now won't bother going into the centre, especially in from the Hambledon road route.

The history of development and the cut off of Waterlooville started when the bipass was built and Hambledon road was cut off just below St Georges church. Following that event, Havant Borough Council sold the part of Hambledon road servicing Wadham Stringers to private investors. This eventually led to the retail park being developed and the road being turned into a feeder to the retail car park (above)

And so Havant Borough Council continues it's anti-local business agenda that supports mass car use and the monopolies of big business. In the photo above is Sainsburys attempt - that is fully supported by the council- to provide access to cyclists and pedestrians. The fact is it highlights the pro-car agenda the council has. The car park is a nightmare to get through for pedestrians and cyclists even now years after it was created and the ramp is just another meandering attempt to bodge another solution.

Pedestrians and cyclists are the leaders of sustainability and healthy life styles that reduce costs for the council, yet Havant Borough Council continue to push the car onto us with ideological intensity.