The Environment Thread :-)

2 lurkers | 58 watchers
Jul 2022
3:27pm, 7 Jul 2022
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Hanneke
Indeed :)
Jul 2022
3:29pm, 7 Jul 2022
33,826 posts
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EvilPixie
I still find it staggering that new builds don't have them as standard
and the acres of warehouse roofing that could be used too
Jul 2022
3:29pm, 7 Jul 2022
90,900 posts
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Hanneke
By the way, I should have gone for solar years ago, with the incentives, but I am not allowed on the chapel... So now really only doing it for the environment and because I need my freezer to freeze summer fruit and veg for winter and quite like to read at night...
Jul 2022
3:29pm, 7 Jul 2022
90,901 posts
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Hanneke
I still find it staggering that new builds don't have them as standard and the acres of warehouse roofing that could be used too

Totally agree Pix!
Jul 2022
3:36pm, 7 Jul 2022
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run free
Pix - I thought Plymouth was doing this.
Jul 2022
3:51pm, 7 Jul 2022
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run free
In terms of cost of solar panels, I paid 4K for the 2.5kwh. It was the most I could afford at the time and did it becos of my concerns even though it would take an estimated 10 years to pay back. I am south west facing but I also was rewarded with a much higher fit rate. It is currently helping me with my electricity bill.

I recently asked a company to clean the panels twice a year as I live near Heathrow so expect there to be a covering of dust that will degrade the panels output. He is using distilled water and see that it keeps the windows clean for a good length of time. It is still returning about 800gbp/year
Jul 2022
4:01pm, 7 Jul 2022
33,828 posts
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EvilPixie
don't know RF but good if they are and more should!!

I remember when my dad built his place in 1999 they were going to add a wind turbine for power. It was suggested because of the site/location that they could put up a bigger one (not the size you see in fields but bigger than the one needed for 1 house) so that they could sell electricity back to the board.

He didn't do it as it needed more planning permission and was too much hassle for any kind of turbine so they did nowt
Jul 2022
5:18pm, 7 Jul 2022
42,855 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Just had a call from planning department at council. Exactly what you expect. Officious, unhelpful, "it is how it is" type attitude. I hope I wasn't terse with the person who called me, they are only doing their job, but it is wrong in so many ways.

1. There should be incentives to get people to install local micro generation.
2. As a minimum, there shouldn't be barriers to do so.
3. If there are barriers, then officials should be empowered and rewarded for creative ways to remove the barriers (as long as it doesn't adversely affect someone else's health or well being - so I understand about protecting against noise, if genuinely health threatening or risk to life of large machinery or something.)

But the planning rule for a small turbine (MWT - micro wind turbine) is bonkers. Permitted development if 100m from boundary of other properties AND in your own "dwelling curtilage". Once I managed to decipher what that means - it's my garden. Not our fields but garden. Who has a garden that is more than 100m from edge of anyone else's land?!

If permitted development, then £78 for council to just say yes it is. If not, then £500 to start the planning process for planning permission.

Totally dissuades those who WANT to do the right thing from even embarking on doing so. Grrr. :-) G
Jul 2022
6:08pm, 7 Jul 2022
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run free
HG - might find it useful to get in touch with your local councillor and discuss this. Although I have managed to find some excellent officers, have also found a number of public office personnel in management unable to think beyond the biscuit tin. It took the current officer 3 years to deliver a climate change strategy and only becos he was beaten with a rod to get one delivered and then passed this on to the climate officer who recently got employed.

Pix - here is the news on Devon/Plymouth: plymouthherald.co.uk and their Climate emergency planning policy: plymouth.gov.uk

Also should be noted on 15th December 2021 the Government announced new building regulations that will help deliver net zero through a number of measures including requiring new homes to produce 30% less carbon emissions and delivery 40% of the building footprint as roof mounted solar photovoltaic (pv) panels. These standards will come into force on 15th June 2022.

gov.uk
Jul 2022
7:32pm, 7 Jul 2022
23,060 posts
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Bazoaxe
Careful HG, my daughter starts in the planning depths of the local council on Monday. That’s what her degree was in. She is in the listed building team though and wouldn’t be stroppy unless it was with me

About This Thread

Hi
I've seen environment (whether emissions, power, climate change, access to countryside, whatever you think of as "environment") discussed in various threads: Politics (obviously), the Electric Car thread fetcheveryone.com/forum/electric-car-anyone-61481/ , run free's excellent "Competitive Running and Keeping The Environment Clean" fetcheveryone.com/forum/running-competitively-keeping-our-environment-clean-60907/ my own Greta Thunberg thread fetcheveryone.com/forum/greta-thunberg---jfk-for-the-climate-generation-61044/ etc. but I haven't seen a general one.

So here it is. For those interested in the science, the politics, the action for (and I'll state that for me, this is mostly pro-environment, anti-emissions, anti-pollution etc.) and the hope for the future of our planet.

Useful links posted by contributors:
rf_fozzy: This is quite a good article about how disruptive technology works too: lesswrong.com
Basically about why Kodak completely missed the boat when it came to digital cameras timkastelle.org
run free's Grand Designs example Ben Laws is a man who built his dream: granddesignsmagazine.com granddesignsmagazine.com
Carbon Commentary carboncommentary.com

Useful Links

FE accepts no responsibility for external links. Or anything, really.

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