Tree Huggers and Government

[Exhausted]

There appears to be three recent / up and coming items on the governments agenda, all apparently linked to global warming (ops climate change, why the name change is global warming not happening now???)

1. Banning incandescent lamps
2. Banning of paving of the front gardens without permission
3. Options to have free/ partially lower cost insulation (even if we do end up getting higher fuel bills to pay for it)

Whilst I may appear cynical I do have a number of basic questions which I can?t find a definitive source for the answers On banning (of importing / making) incandescent lamps, as I understand it > 100W already gone

60W from 1st Jan 2009. My question is this just the 75 & 100W standard Perl or clear light bulb, and this excludes any special build for example halogen for out side lights ? Is there a web iste with all the details on? The front garden planning permission, if I correct in thinking this is only a ban if you don?t use the special bricks with gaps in-between? Lastly the insulation, there appears to be a number of web sites which offer this service, any recommendations??, and is the grant only handed out to a limited number of companies, i.e. you have to be registered at a fee to take part in the scheme. Some of the sites appear to say for cavity wall there must be at least a 50 mm cavity. When cavities were first introduced was 50mm the minimum space. I live in an early 60s semi and I?m sure the gap in mine is close to or slightly under 50mm? will it even be worth it ? or is the 50mm for another reason? Many Thanks

[JonH]

I wonder how much energy goes into the production of an 'Energy Saving Lightbulb'. What is the Carbon Cost of designing and manufacturing a wind powered generator? When will these investments pay back in environmental terms?

I have a STRONG suspicion that the cost of provision is being ignored. And that the pronounced 'savings' are advertised/estimated (you all choose) on the basis of the running costs, also ignoring maintenance and disposal costs.

IMO, most folk have a fairly short Event Horizon - especially the Pundits, Activists and the Politicians, who all have immediate agendas.

I'd like to see a proper, standardized Through Life Cost Model (Womb to Tomb) tabled so that the rest of us can make a judgement about the efficay of the various 'solutions' that are being pressed upon us by the various entities that seek to influence and control our lives.

As somebody else said, the 'Carbon Footprint' is just another faith based system whereby self appointed experts get to impose their views on the rest of us. Previous examples include Religions (of various flavours), 'Weapons of Mass Destruction', 'Five Portions a Day', 'Binge Drinking', 'Safe Sex' and so on. Going back in time, Puritanism could also be thrown into the pot. There's a twisted urge within everyone of us to impose our views and prejudices on everyone else.

The exhortations to 'Save the Planet' are bunk. The planet will survive for the forseeable future; the Human Race (and various other species) may not. I can live with that.

[nightjar]

Despite a 4% increase in atmospheric CO2 over the same period, there has been no global warming since 1998. There was even a significant drop in the global average temperature in 2007, which many attribute to very low sunspot activity. The next sunspot cycle is also running late, something that, historically, has preceded decades long periods of global cooling.

Colin Bignell

[The Natural Philosopher]

E4r, theres a contradiction in terms there. If the human race dies, unless you're are a gibbon, you wont be living with that.

However yes, all this crap can be limped under the term 'ecobollox' or 'greenwash'

Basically marketing done on the basis of it being in some way greener, with in reality zero real advantage and in many case s a downright downside.

Windmills spring to mind at this point.

>

[The Natural Philosopher]

not really an answer to his question though.

I guess the arctic being free from ice for the first time since anyone has known it was there, is a sign of global cooling?

Oh well.

We are in the middele of a cool decade..but if the sunspot and NAO stiff flips the other way, we will be in for a pasting.

I haven't seen frosts, except the remarkably late and damaging one that screwed all the plums, for a couple of years..

Now all we need is a summer..

[Andrew Gabriel]

You missed the recommendation of permission to be required to put plants in your garden (including grass). Reasons given are that clippings mostly end up in landfill, and some of the plants commonly used (particularly lawns) need watering in hot dry weather.

And 40W from 1 Jan 2010. However, this isn't a ban. It's just an agreement between the main retailers and the government to not stock those lamps, so they're no longer accessible to householders. Some retailers have reported they can't get enough 100W lamps for their current demand any longer, as factories have already ceased production in anticipation.

It's just GLS (General Lighting Service) lamps, i.e. regular pear shaped lamps, clear and perl, at least at this stage.

Water companies are allowed to charge for rainwater runoff from your land now, e.g. due to runoff from a paved area into the road or into a storm drain which carries the water away from your land. At the moment, they're going around calculating the new fees for commercial premises (rain runoff from a warehouse or car park which is carried off the land is very lucrative for them). When commercial premises are done, they will probably start on residential ones (although they could do those now if they wanted to). I wouldn't be surprised if the permission to pave your land would link into these new charges, if your paving isn't permiable and with barriers to prevent runoff from your land.

[The Medway Handyman]

Wonder if they will apply that to patios? Great news for a 'free draining' decking installer :-)

[Dave Liquorice]

So rugged service, for use in inspection lamps or other places subject to high vibration or shock are still available?

Don't a lot of water companies already charge for rain water that goes into the "drains". There might be a distinction between rain water going into foul water system or the into storm water system (if it exists in that locality). If you have your own soakaway that's free.

I only pay the water company for supply, so out of touch with mains waste water charging.

[Andrew Gabriel]

They should be, but I don't think I ever saw one in a retail outlet anyway. I used to find with those inspection lamps that you started off with a 40W lamp, which turned into a 60W lamp on the first ding, and a 100W lamp on the second ding, and a photoflood on the third ding, and stopped working on the forth ding... Probably because I never bothered searching out the rough service lamps.

Also (forgot to say), coloured lamps, even GLS ones, can still be stocked, although it may be that they too run foul of all the manufacturing plant shutting down. If you can find those cheap painted ones where the paint flakes off after a few days in the rain and sun, you've got yourself a white GLS lamp!

[Appin]

The message from "Dave Liquorice" contains these words:

Scottish Water charge commercial premises for

Water by the cubic metre if there's a meter, otherwise a figure based on rateable value Waste water going into the sewer system as an assumed proportion of the wter going through the meter (90% IIRC) Waste water going into the sewer system based on rateable value if there's no meter. Surface water drainage (1) in resepct of roads drainage etc. Surface water drainage (2) in respect of drainage of rainwater falling on your property and entering the drains.

The last is the most controversial one, because if you DON'T have any surface water entering their drains they don't believe it, even after sending out multiple inspectors of their own, all of whom are deemed by their employers to be, like the customer, liars. They've also been known to try to charge for water on BOTH the meter AND rateable value and to charge for water and drainage in respect of premises which have no water supply and no connetion to their drains.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Will they then pay me for the runoff that goes into my pond, and leaches into the calciferous aquifers underneath then?

[Derek Geldard]

Is the Pope a Zoroastrian ?

Derek

[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

I think I bought some in Halfords some years ago.

[Roger]

The message from Appin contains these words:

I get a discount for not putting surface water down the foul drain. Yorkshire water took my word for it without a quibble although it would be very easy to prove as the foul drain is very close to ground level at the house end.

[David Hansen]

On Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:36:50 +0100 someone who may be "nightjar" wrote this:-

Feel free to tell us why you believe you know more about the climate than the Meteorological Office.

[Bob Eager]

Why not...FoE are doing that all the time.

[David Hansen]

On 14 Sep 2008 12:28:24 GMT someone who may be "Bob Eager" wrote this:-

Really?

[The Medway Handyman]

Here he goes again...

[Huge]

Six "facts", none of which are any such thing.

[The Medway Handyman]

"Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way; well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't, but having said that, actually, the weather will become very windy, but most of the strong winds, incidentally, will be down over Spain and across into France".

Michael Fish, employee of the Meteorological Office (not the BBC), 15 October 1987.