Brexit, for once some facts.

oyster

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Nov 7, 2017
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I’m not convinced about the UK‘s plans to fast track the banning of gas boilers in favour of heat pumps. I can’t see it happening within the proposed time scale. I think this is yet another over promise which will result in under delivery.
As usual, they haven't thought it through.

It also implies abandoning cooking by gas. After all, I can't see anyone laying on mains gas just for cooking. Hence a major changeover to electric cooking. Probably induction hobs. And vast volumes of pan replacement.

(I like cooking on induction. But having to abandon pans will result in vast numbers being thrown away.)
 

oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2017
10,422
14,609
West West Wales
Idiot in every conceivable way - and probably many others:

Gavin Williamson: UK is 'a much better country than all of them'

Education secretary lauds vaccine rollout saying scientists in UK better than in France, Belgium or US

At a government briefing on Wednesday, the head of the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority, which made the decision, cited EU rules. “We have been able to authorise the supply of this vaccine using provisions under European law, which exist until 1 January,” said June Raine, the MHRA’s chief executive. Boris Johnson’s spokesman also pointedly declined to back the health secretary.
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,216
30,617
I’m not convinced about the UK‘s plans to fast track the banning of gas boilers in favour of heat pumps. I can’t see it happening within the proposed time scale. I think this is yet another over promise which will result in under delivery.
Their ruling is actually impossible since it's a ban on all gas heating of homes. That cannot be done with large numbers of small flats with internal gas warm air systems using chimney venting since with extensive windows they often don't have an external wall for an adequate heat pump system.

I ripped out my gas warm air system just over 50 years ago and have used electric heating ever since, but that won't be an answer now. They'll have enough difficulty generating sufficient electricity for all the electric cars without having to heat homes that way.
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oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2017
10,422
14,609
West West Wales
Their ruling is actually impossible since it's a ban on all gas heating of homes. That cannot be done with large numbers of small flats with internal gas warm air systems using chimney venting since with extensive windows they often don't have an external wall for an adequate heat pump system.

I ripped out my gas warm air system just over 50 years ago and have used electric heating ever since, but that won't be an answer now. They'll have enough difficulty generating sufficient electricity for all the electric cars without having to heat homes that way.
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But it's only a ban on new builds, and maybe conversions/refurbs, isn't it?
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,216
30,617
But it's only a ban on new builds, and maybe conversions/refurbs, isn't it?
At the moment yes, only new builds, which means it will have almost no effect. They'll need to extend it if they are to meet their climate targets so that's where they'll hit the buffers, given the very high proportion of housing in our cities being flats in blocks.
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Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
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As usual, they haven't thought it through.

It also implies abandoning cooking by gas. After all, I can't see anyone laying on mains gas just for cooking. Hence a major changeover to electric cooking. Probably induction hobs. And vast volumes of pan replacement.

(I like cooking on induction. But having to abandon pans will result in vast numbers being thrown away.)
Well they originally tubed cities with gas not for cooking ..they were happy enough with wood and coal fired ranges , but just for house lighting. Now if you take a country like the UK, the gas pipe infrastructure is already there in every town, but the supplies of natural gas is dwindling as the North Sea fields hit end of life, and Russia becomes less reliable.
For myself, I like redundancy, so we use Bottled gas for a hob, electric oven and kettle ..with the hob being the backup, a heat pump for the main central heating, with an oil burner as backup, and thermal solar . The weak point is that both the oil burner and the solar need small amounts of electricity.
 

Wicky

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Feb 12, 2014
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Colchester, Essex
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I believe that China and Russia have been using a COVID-19 vaccine for some time. Very little is published regarding how it’s working. Do they have the COVID free return to normality that Johnson is promising us?


Putin has vaccinated one of his daughters and 400,000 military personnel.


It's still unclear how high demand will be for Sputnik V. In one recent poll of Russians, 22% of respondents said they were willing to get a Russian-made vaccine, while 44% were not. In another poll, conducted by the country's ruling United Russia party, 73% of respondents said they were not planning to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at all.
 

Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
8,611
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Their ruling is actually impossible since it's a ban on all gas heating of homes. That cannot be done with large numbers of small flats with internal gas warm air systems using chimney venting since with extensive windows they often don't have an external wall for an adequate heat pump system.

I ripped out my gas warm air system just over 50 years ago and have used electric heating ever since, but that won't be an answer now. They'll have enough difficulty generating sufficient electricity for all the electric cars without having to heat homes that way.
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Flecc, those Air to air heat pump systems do not necessarily have extensive heavy external fittings ..it need only be an air vent ,all the pumping can be internal. And they do not take a lot of power either ..a 2KW electrical load ,is no different than a standard 2 bar load, some will be no bigger than a 22Kw Gas wall mounted unit. Now my system is much heavier sits on the ground ,and needed a pallet jack to move , but then it is air to water . But it only uses 3.5KW at peak and does 11KW of heating.
 

oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2017
10,422
14,609
West West Wales
Well they originally tubed cities with gas not for cooking ..they were happy enough with wood and coal fired ranges , but just for house lighting. Now if you take a country like the UK, the gas pipe infrastructure is already there in every town, but the supplies of natural gas is dwindling as the North Sea fields hit end of life, and Russia becomes less reliable.
For myself, I like redundancy, so we use Bottled gas for a hob, electric oven and kettle ..with the hob being the backup, a heat pump for the main central heating, with an oil burner as backup, and thermal solar . The weak point is that both the oil burner and the solar need small amounts of electricity.
In my county, 56.8% of properties are off gas. Despite having vast quantities of gas delivered just down the road.

Next county up has 82.4% off gas.

Up and across 67.7% off gas. Including a former county town despite a huge gas main running about two miles away.

Even London Borough of Camden is apparently 80.1% off gas.

I'd be happy to have a bottled gas ring or two for emergencies.
 

Barry Shittpeas

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 1, 2020
2,325
3,210
Idiot in every conceivable way - and probably many others:

Gavin Williamson: UK is 'a much better country than all of them'

Education secretary lauds vaccine rollout saying scientists in UK better than in France, Belgium or US

At a government briefing on Wednesday, the head of the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority, which made the decision, cited EU rules. “We have been able to authorise the supply of this vaccine using provisions under European law, which exist until 1 January,” said June Raine, the MHRA’s chief executive. Boris Johnson’s spokesman also pointedly declined to back the health secretary.
Gavin Williamson is a child. His comments about British scientists being better than those in a list of other countries he named is infantile. His comments were straight out of the junior school playground. My dad is bigger than your dad.

His comments aren’t useful to the Brexit negotiations either. Imagine how Williamson’s comments will be received by those on the other side of the negotiating table.

Serious question, how do people like Gavin Williamson get into such positions of responsibility and leadership? Unless I’m missing something, the man appears fit for nothing more than routine general employment. A stationary cupboards monitor or similar.

I heard a leading woman from Cross Rail on the radio this morning, Florence Bzccgryujgf or something similar. She could hardly string a coherent sentence together let alone manage a complex railway project. Several subcontractors to Cross Rail phoned in to the show. The stories of waste and incompetence is frightening.
 

Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
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Flecc, those Air to air heat pump systems do not necessarily have extensive heavy external fittings ..it need only be an air vent ,all the pumping can be internal. And they do not take a lot of power either ..a 2KW electrical load ,is no different than a standard 2 bar load, some will be no bigger than a 22Kw Gas wall mounted unit. Now my system is much heavier sits on the ground ,and needed a pallet jack to move , but then it is air to water . But it only uses 3.5KW at peak and does 11KW of heating.
In fact I recall seeing so called thermodynamic boilers for domestic hot water ..not just space heating where the external panel was no different than the aluminium evaporator in a fridge, with the pentane coolant directly circulating through it. The entire panel being incredibly light weight ..maybe a few kgs in total.
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,216
30,617
Flecc, those Air to air heat pump systems do not necessarily have extensive heavy external fittings ..it need only be an air vent ,all the pumping can be internal. And they do not take a lot of power either ..a 2KW electrical load ,is no different than a standard 2 bar load, some will be no bigger than a 22Kw Gas wall mounted unit. Now my system is much heavier sits on the ground ,and needed a pallet jack to move , but then it is air to water . But it only uses 3.5KW at peak and does 11KW of heating.
I'm well aware of how economical and efficient they are with my e-car.

But there are problems with their use not ever being considered at present, but It will take forever to explain in typing which I frankly can't be bothered with now.
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oldgroaner

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 15, 2015
23,461
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80
Amazing what this government will do in order to provide a bit of a smokescreen for Brexit, latest stance is to absolve the vaccine manufacturers from any liability.Imagine we are now in the hands of people who will willingly remove our rights just to gain a political advantage, what idiots voted for these people?
You have given them the right to ruin our lives under protections under law we should have. What the hell were you thinking off?
 
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Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
8,611
12,256
73
Ireland
Gavin Williamson is a child. His comments about British scientists being better than those in a list of other countries he named is infantile. His comments were straight out of the junior school playground. My dad is bigger than your dad.

His comments aren’t useful to the Brexit negotiations either. Imagine how Williamson’s comments will be received by those on the other side of the negotiating table.

Serious question, how do people like Gavin Williamson get into such positions of responsibility and leadership? Unless I’m missing something, the man appears fit for nothing more than routine general employment. A stationary cupboards monitor or similar.

I heard a leading woman from Cross Rail on the radio this morning, Florence Bzccgryujgf or something similar. She could hardly string a coherent sentence together let alone manage a complex railway project. Several subcontractors to Cross Rail phoned in to the show. The stories of waste and incompetence is frightening.
I have been reading about the rollout of the vaccines in the UK. And in fairness the British Health minister has a valid point. The reason the UK released it yesterday is because , since Brexit they are no longer bound by the EMA, The chair of the UK medicines board, also did not tell any untruths ..They had followed EU protocols , but not exactly all of them. .. otherwise they would also have waited for the EMA clearance.
 
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oldgroaner

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 15, 2015
23,461
32,613
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What a bonanza Brexit will prove to be for manufacturers when the government will happily absolve them from any blame or liability towards their customers as the condition of them opening a factory you may as well go back to slave labour
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,216
30,617
Amazing what this government will do in order to provide a bit of a smokescreen for Brexit, latest stance is to absolve the vaccine manufacturers from any liability.Imagine we are now in the hands of people who will willingly remove our rights just to gain a political advantage, what idiots voted for these people?
You have given them the right to ruin our lives under protections under law we should have. What the hell were you thinking off?
I foresee large numbers of people refusing the vaccines once they realise the overall situation.
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Woosh

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May 19, 2012
20,387
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Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
I have been reading about the rollout of the vaccines in the UK. And in fairness the British Health minister has a valid point. The reason the UK released it yesterday is because , since Brexit they are no longer bound by the EMA, The chair of the UK medicines board, also did not tell any untruths ..They had followed EU protocols , but not exactly all of them. .. otherwise they would also have waited for the EMA clearance.
it's still unwise to link brexit to the vaccine.
People are a bit fed up with brexit, they want want brexit over and done with.
Whatever the deal BJ may come up with this week or next week, it won't bear any remote semblance to anything previously promised.
 

Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
8,611
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it's still unwise to link brexit to the vaccine.
People are a bit fed up with brexit, they want want brexit over and done with.
Whatever the deal BJ may come up with this week or next week, it won't bear any remote semblance to anything previously promised.
Well in the interest of fairness , I must ..There are plenty of naysayer regarding Brexit, and is one tangible case where they have had flexibility. Let us sincerely hope it is not a new Thalidomide.
Fortunately we have our own opportunities to farm fish salmon here.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,216
30,617
Whatever the deal BJ may come up with this week or next week, it won't bear any remote semblance to anything previously promised.
In a nutshell it will prove to have been a huge waste of time, effort and money, achieving far more loss than gain both in the short and long term,

A moment of sheer madness in our history.
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