General News

[kenny]

Just now, leicsmac said:

Both wind and solar power are part of a suite of solutions, at least at a local level.

And they look effective.

 

Which is more important.

[leicsmac]

10 minutes ago, kenny said:

And they look effective.

 

Which is more important.

It's more about the future of civilisation than aesthetics, but go nuts, I guess.

[kenny]

25 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

It's more about the future of civilisation than aesthetics, but go nuts, I guess.

That's what I think. Doesn't keep the masses happy though not the politicians.

[ajthefox]

Very early days but the Liverpool City region is looking at a tidal barage in the Mersey, potentially the biggest in the world so it is claimed.

 

Lots of support for it locally.

 

https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/its-time-for-tidal

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/mersey-tidal-energy-scheme-receives-very-strong-public-support-in-first-consultation-29-01-2025/

[Clogger_]

R.e. "green" energy, seems obvious to me you look at your country: what assets do you have? We're an island. Offshore wind and tidal look like winners (along with nuclear in remote costal locations). From a purely political perspective I hope there are votes in making the right long term calls - as opposed to Rishi merely talking about the long term LOL.

 

FWIW I'm delighted to see the HUGE contribution that renewables are *already* making to the UK's energy supply. Would you realise this from the petro-funded RW press?! A future devoid of fossil fuels is within our grasp... just needs a bit more pushing. It's something of which our country could take legitimate pride FGS! I'm no hardcore environmentalist btw, just someone who tries to apply logic to a situation.

Edited 7 February by Clogger_

[leicsmac]

54 minutes ago, kenny said:

That's what I think. Doesn't keep the masses happy though not the politicians.

Long term essential infrastructure projects like this and policy decisions on them are probably the greatest weakness of a democratic system.

 

36 minutes ago, Clogger_ said:

R.e. "green" energy, seems obvious to me you look at your country: what assets do you have? We're an island. Offshore wind and tidal look like winners (along with nuclear in remote costal locations). From a purely political perspective I hope there are votes in making the right long term calls - as opposed to Rishi merely talking about the long term LOL.

 

FWIW I'm delighted to see the HUGE contribution that renewables are *already* making to the UK's energy supply. Would you realise this from the petro-funded RW press?! A future devoid of fossil fuels is within our grasp... just needs a bit more pushing. It's something of which our country could take legitimate pride FGS! I'm no hardcore environmentalist btw, just someone who tries to apply logic to a situation.

I guess some people don't think that working for the long term future is logical. And those people are responsible for all the consequences that not working for that future entails. There will be and has to be a reckoning, the same way there has to be after any event that has a grotesque cost in money and lives.

[Clogger_]

Now for those of you more versed in this area than I, maybe you can answer a question. I absolutely get and 1M % support the push for renewables. Good for the planet, good for our country's independence. But I am struggling with why we'd invest in carbon capture at a country/Capital project level. Who's carbon are we aiming to capture?! Entropy ensures it won't be our country's! For sure invest in developing technology, but the value for our country has to be in flogging it worldwide. Given realpolitik, where will the buyers be? Complicated, no?!

 

Anyway this is a nice distraction from the footie.

[Trav Le Bleu]

11 hours ago, kenny said:

And they look effective.

 

Which is more important.

 

10 hours ago, leicsmac said:

It's more about the future of civilisation than aesthetics, but go nuts, I guess.

 

10 hours ago, Clogger_ said:

R.e. "green" energy, seems obvious to me you look at your country: what assets do you have? We're an island. Offshore wind and tidal look like winners (along with nuclear in remote costal locations). From a purely political perspective I hope there are votes in making the right long term calls - as opposed to Rishi merely talking about the long term LOL.

 

FWIW I'm delighted to see the HUGE contribution that renewables are *already* making to the UK's energy supply. Would you realise this from the petro-funded RW press?! A future devoid of fossil fuels is within our grasp... just needs a bit more pushing. It's something of which our country could take legitimate pride FGS! I'm no hardcore environmentalist btw, just someone who tries to apply logic to a situation.

Been to Orkney a few times and they have an excess of renewable energy that can be "exported". People moan that turbines ruin the landscape, but there are very few on Orkney and very unobtrusive.

 

Stick some tidal generators in the Severn estuary. Could something like Corryvreckan (4th largest whirlpool in the world) be harnessed?

[Dunge]

I don’t know whether this is an unpopular opinion or not, but I find wind turbines aesthetically very pleasing. Solar farms not so much, but wind farms are cool.

[brookfox]

13 hours ago, ajthefox said:

Very early days but the Liverpool City region is looking at a tidal barage in the Mersey, potentially the biggest in the world so it is claimed.

 

Lots of support for it locally.

 

https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/its-time-for-tidal

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/mersey-tidal-energy-scheme-receives-very-strong-public-support-in-first-consultation-29-01-2025/

Feel it’s exactly projects like this the government should be investing in. Brings work, green and on-shore energy and hopefully some IP for the UK. I’d take this over a slightly faster train to London any day!

[ajthefox]

7 hours ago, Dunge said:

I don’t know whether this is an unpopular opinion or not, but I find wind turbines aesthetically very pleasing. Solar farms not so much, but wind farms are cool.

I think they're pretty elegant really. 

[urban.spaceman]

She's literally clutching at straws

 

,k[

[st albans fox]

22 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

She's literally clutching at straws

 

,k[

Don’t mention the cheese ………

[izzymuzzet]

On 07/02/2025 at 18:16, Lionator said:

Thank you for this explanation, it’s very clear!

 

I wonder in a hypothetical scenario, say Reform win the next election (god forbid) on a state slashing, low tax, anti immigration manifesto, how would that co-incide with the Bank of England? If everything is based on outside influence, would that literally just lead to collapse?

It does cause problems when the government and central bank are working in different directions. This happened in September 2022 when the Bank of England’s main objective was to dampen inflation, while the Truss/Kwarteng budget aimed to increase consumer spending by cutting taxes.
 

In the scenario you outline the Bank’s actions would likely be similar - their aim would be to make sure the currency doesn’t weaken too much, so they’d buy up government debt to shore up the price and maybe increase interest rates. 

[izzymuzzet]

22 hours ago, Clogger_ said:

Now for those of you more versed in this area than I, maybe you can answer a question. I absolutely get and 1M % support the push for renewables. Good for the planet, good for our country's independence. But I am struggling with why we'd invest in carbon capture at a country/Capital project level. Who's carbon are we aiming to capture?! Entropy ensures it won't be our country's! For sure invest in developing technology, but the value for our country has to be in flogging it worldwide. Given realpolitik, where will the buyers be? Complicated, no?!

 

Anyway this is a nice distraction from the footie.

Even if energy generation is 100% carbon free, carbon will still be emitted through industrial processes. Eg. steel manufacturing creates carbon emissions. The idea of CCS is you capture that carbon, reuse it for domestic industrial production and, as you say, export it. 

[Free Falling Foxes]

Not pointing the finger at anyone but Hamas need to hire a new poster company.

 

 

 

[Super_horns]

Oh dear - rightly given the tin can.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y7zperkelo
 

He hasn’t got much of a leg to stand on there has he !!

 

[Tuna]

35 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

Oh dear - rightly given the tin can.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y7zperkelo
 

He hasn’t got much of a leg to stand on there has he !!

 

Sacked and rightly so. Disgusting comments and clearly a bit of an idiot.

[ajthefox]

10 hours ago, Super_horns said:

Oh dear - rightly given the tin can.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y7zperkelo
 

He hasn’t got much of a leg to stand on there has he !!

 

I find it baffling that people like this manage to get to these positions, but then I suppose it is an indictment on the state of politics in this country.

[davieG]

12 minutes ago, ajthefox said:

I find it baffling that people like this manage to get to these positions, but then I suppose it is an indictment on the state of politics in this country.

It's a bit like referees but maybe the media and the public are to blame for their verbally aggressive, brutish and sometimes physical attacks on them.

 

I wouldn't want to be either.

[Super_horns]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

It's a bit like referees but maybe the media and the public are to blame for their verbally aggressive, brutish and sometimes physical attacks on them.

 

I wouldn't want to be either.

Has a ref wished people to die for no apparent reason or been racist /sexist ?

 

Which this bloke has done and deserves all the abuse coming his way .

 

It’s not like he has made a honest mistake ..

 

 

 

Edited 9 February by Super_horns

[davieG]

42 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

Has a ref wished people to die for no apparent reason or been racist /sexist ?

 

Which this bloke has done and deserves all the abuse coming his way .

 

It’s not like he has made a honest mistake ..

 

 

 

I think you may have misunderstood my point. I wasn't defending him my point was this the standard you'll get because of the abuse MPs and Refs get, standards will fall if no good people want to do those jobs

[ajthefox]

To some extent I agree, but most politicians are essentially unknown to the wider public so I'm not sure it's that applicable. 

 

It's only really the cabinet/shadow or the top few spots for Lib Dem, Green etc who are put under any real public scrutiny, and even then there are swathes of the public who won't even know who, for example Jenrick or Yvette Cooper are. Most of the near 700 or so MPs could walk up and down any street in the country and they'd never get recognised.

 

That said Jess Phillips has obviously had dogs abuse for basically being a woman from very normal beginnings in the North so I suppose there is that.

[davieG]

35 minutes ago, ajthefox said:

To some extent I agree, but most politicians are essentially unknown to the wider public so I'm not sure it's that applicable. 

 

It's only really the cabinet/shadow or the top few spots for Lib Dem, Green etc who are put under any real public scrutiny, and even then there are swathes of the public who won't even know who, for example Jenrick or Yvette Cooper are. Most of the near 700 or so MPs could walk up and down any street in the country and they'd never get recognised.

 

That said Jess Phillips has obviously had dogs abuse for basically being a woman from very normal beginnings in the North so I suppose there is that.

But if they have ambitions to be influential then they'd surely want to be aiming for a cabinet post thus anyone can see the abuse they get so yes you don't have to be known or even an MP to be put off being one.

 

 

I'm sure there's plenty of abuse hurled locally that never makes the news. Even local and parish councillors get abused.

[Robo61]

35 minutes ago, ajthefox said:

To some extent I agree, but most politicians are essentially unknown to the wider public so I'm not sure it's that applicable. 

 

It's only really the cabinet/shadow or the top few spots for Lib Dem, Green etc who are put under any real public scrutiny, and even then there are swathes of the public who won't even know who, for example Jenrick or Yvette Cooper are. Most of the near 700 or so MPs could walk up and down any street in the country and they'd never get recognised.

 

That said Jess Phillips has obviously had dogs abuse for basically being a woman from very normal beginnings in the North so I suppose there is that.

Abuse isn’t though confined to national politics, most MPs are pretty well known in their constituency.