Prices of the electricity we use to charge

[lenny]

Surprising how easily Boeing has managed to slide out of accountability for the lethal quality issues it is responsible for. The aero manufacturing and travel industry worked hard to increase safety when it had a terrible accident record in the 1940s and 1950s and did that by taking every engineering and safety related issue seriously. Lately, Boeing has had a series of catastrophes and has hidden production safety flaws, and for the most part has been allowed to continue pretty much unpunished by the FAA.

I wouldn't get on one of their planes these days.

Boeing to plead guilty to criminal fraud charge over 737 Max crashes

Families of the people who died on the flights five years ago have criticised it as a "sweetheart deal".

www.bbc.co.uk

Live at time of posting. Flights over Eastern Atlantic, UK and near Europe @ 0920 Monday. About half of these are Boeing planes.

View attachment 58643

The life of two Boeing Starliner astronauts stuck indefinitely in space
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off for a short trip on June 5. Almost two months later, they’re still in orbit.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/07/26/boeing-starliner-astronauts-stuck-orbit-space-station/

 

[Ghost1951]

Some real world observations here: you would notice 1 in 100 cars burning at some point in your travels.

From thinking back over say 10 years, I've probably seen one or two tops.

I am pretty sure this figure is incorrect.

I can remember coming across only a couple of accidental fires in a bit more than fifty years of driving.

Not that i am in a position to contradict any data presented. Maybe my experience is not that typical. One thing though, there was a fashion a while back for car thieves - mostly young outlaws, to take cars, rag them around and then set them on fire. That sort of thing might distort figures.

 

[flecc]

Chances of your battery car catching fire 25/400,000 or 1 in 16,000

True but still a very small chance, and as I've pointed out a few times before on this subject, mainly due to the high Tesla sales here, that brand being notoriously most to blame for such fires, for obvious reasons.

Some opposing and slightly more recent data from 2022, from a country with very high EV takeup, about six times ours:

"The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) reported 23 fires in 611,000 EVs during 2022, or 0.004 per cent in a year, which makes it 20 times less likely to happen than ICE car fires, which burned 3,400 times in 4.4 million cars, or 0.08 per cent. MSB has also recently proven a new way to extinguish battery fires fast."

This second example I consider more suspect:

"EV FireSafe, funded by Australia’s Department of Defence, has managed to verify fewer than 500 electric car battery fires. Ever. Out of 20m EVs worldwide. That’s 80-odd times rarer than an ICE car fire. If it were a frequent risk, it’d be reflected in insurance premiums. It isn’t."
.

 

[Ghost1951]

@Woosh's nonsense about cavitation injuries he expects to Trump's ear....

If you knew about the subject, you would not expect to see cavitation damage to the thin cartilege at the outer part of an ear. If you shoot a high or low velocity round, or even an expanding bullet at a cardboar box or paper target, it passes through leaving a very small hole.

The hydraulic shock injury that i think you are talking about is seen only when a bullet expends a considerable portion of its energy into a substantial, fleshy or boney part of a person or animal. The outer part of the ear is not at all like that. The bullet would simply punch through, barely losing or imparting any energy.

What is the point of this obsessional focus on the episode?

Are you asserting some sort of conspiracy, campaign of misinformation, or cover up?

FACTS:

Tump had the misfortune to be attacked and slightly injured by a would be assassin with a rifle.

He luckily escaped serious injury.

Other people were much less lucky. One died and one was badly injured.

The assassin was shot dead by a secret service sniper.

What else need be said about it?

 

[Ghost1951]

True but still a very small chance, and as I've pointed out a few times before on this subject, mainly due to the high Tesla sales here, that brand being notoriously most to blame for such fires, for obvious reasons.

Some opposing and slightly more recent data from 2022, from a country with very high EV takeup, about six times ours:

"The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) reported 23 fires in 611,000 EVs during 2022, or 0.004 per cent in a year, which makes it 20 times less likely to happen than ICE car fires, which burned 3,400 times in 4.4 million cars, or 0.08 per cent. MSB has also recently proven a new way to extinguish battery fires fast."

This second example I consider more suspect:

"EV FireSafe, funded by Australia’s Department of Defence, has managed to verify fewer than 500 electric car battery fires. Ever. Out of 20m EVs worldwide. That’s 80-odd times rarer than an ICE car fire. If it were a frequent risk, it’d be reflected in insurance premiums. It isn’t."
.

It should be obvious to most of us that what we call petrol in this country, is a VERY dangerous fire risk if it escapes fom safe confinement.

A couple of years ago i was driving my 2010 diesel car, now scrapped, when i smelled diesel fuel very strongly. I stopped the car and opened the bonnet to discover a medium pressure diesel supply line, shooting a fine jet of fuel from a perished hose. If that had been a petrol car, it might well have caught fire. I wrapped it in a towel, phoned the garage about half a mile away and drove there. They replaced the two inch hose for free, since i always use them for servicing. I was lucky really. The towel was soaked in diesel when i got there, but it had been kept away from hot parts like exhaust and turbo.

 

[lenny]

A recipe for zero-emissions fuel: Soda cans, seawater, and caffeine

MIT engineers have developed a fast and sustainable method for producing hydrogen fuel using aluminum, saltwater, and coffee grounds.

"The researchers are developing a small reactor that could run on a marine vessel or underwater vehicle. The vessel would hold a supply of aluminum pellets (recycled from old soda cans and other aluminum products), along with a small amount of gallium-indium and caffeine. These ingredients could be periodically funneled into the reactor, along with some of the surrounding seawater, to produce hydrogen on demand. The hydrogen could then fuel an onboard engine to drive a motor or generate electricity to power the ship. "

A recipe for zero-emissions fuel: Soda cans, seawater, and caffeine

MIT engineers discovered that when the aluminum in soda cans is purified and mixed with seawater, the solution produces hydrogen — which can power an engine or fuel cell without generating carbon emissions. The reaction can be sped up by adding caffeine.

news.mit.edu

 

[MikelBikel]

The life of two Boeing Starliner astronauts stuck indefinitely in space
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off for a short trip on June 5. Almost two months later, they’re still in orbit.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/07/26/boeing-starliner-astronauts-stuck-orbit-space-station/

"Houston, we have a problem"
Water can be recycled while filter holds out. But what about oxygen tanks and co2 adsorption filters. Do they have a big supply. Do rockets bring replacements on a regular basis? Must do, I suppose, otherwise it wouldn't be a viable "Station". :-/

 

[saneagle]

Some real world observations here: you would notice 1 in 100 cars burning at some point in your travels.

From thinking back over say 10 years, I've probably seen one or two tops.

I am pretty sure this figure is incorrect.

[EDIT:
> The number of cars likely to catch fire per 100,000 sales by type (Statistics for 2021):

So the 3474 is per 100,000 or 3 in 100. Even more unlikely.

Carry on Lenny. Oh, you have.

2021 is not valid data. The number of electric cars on the road in 2024 has exploded, and those that haven't have plenty of time yet.

 

[saneagle]

Some real world observations here: you would notice 1 in 100 cars burning at some point in your travels.

From thinking back over say 10 years, I've probably seen one or two tops.

I am pretty sure this figure is incorrect.

[EDIT:
> The number of cars likely to catch fire per 100,000 sales by type (Statistics for 2021):

So the 3474 is per 100,000 or 3 in 100. Even more unlikely.

Carry on Lenny. Oh, you have.

Your maths isn't right. What those statistics show is that if you own/drive a hybrid, there's a 1% chance of it catching fire in any one year, so if you drive it for 100years, you'll probably see a fire in it once, or if you drive it for 10 years, there's a 90% chance you won't see a fire.

 

[MikelBikel]

A recipe for zero-emissions fuel: Soda cans, seawater, and caffeine

MIT engineers have developed a fast and sustainable method for producing hydrogen fuel using aluminum, saltwater, and coffee grounds.

"The researchers are developing a small reactor that could run on a marine vessel or underwater vehicle. The vessel would hold a supply of aluminum pellets (recycled from old soda cans and other aluminum products), along with a small amount of gallium-indium and caffeine. These ingredients could be periodically funneled into the reactor, along with some of the surrounding seawater, to produce hydrogen on demand. The hydrogen could then fuel an onboard engine to drive a motor or generate electricity to power the ship. "

A recipe for zero-emissions fuel: Soda cans, seawater, and caffeine

MIT engineers discovered that when the aluminum in soda cans is purified and mixed with seawater, the solution produces hydrogen — which can power an engine or fuel cell without generating carbon emissions. The reaction can be sped up by adding caffeine.

news.mit.edu

I want them powered by cow farts. There is an inexhaustible supply of those. So we are told.

How will they recycle the aluminium and gallium out of the seawater? Or is it more pollution?

Heard of a new wheeze where people are attaching a string to a plastic bottle, then pushing it in and out of a recycling machine until they get all the "deposit refunds" and it thinks its full. Kerching!

 

[lenny]

US homeowner’s insurance segment suffers worst underwriting loss this century

"According to the U.S. census, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Washington accounted for 53% of the country’s population growth between 2010 and 2020; and all six of these states are prone to severe weather-related events."

US homeowner's insurance segment suffers worst underwriting loss this century, AM Best - Reinsurance News

As the U.S. homeowner's insurance segment experiences its worst underwriting results since at least 2000, rating agency AM Best has cited the continued

www.reinsurancene.ws

 

[lenny]

 

[flecc]

The towel was soaked in diesel when i got there, but it had been kept away from hot parts like exhaust and turbo.

As you've previously posted, diesel fuel only become a risk when it is heated and that has shown up very clearly in our numerous London diesel bus fires. When we had the traditional buses like the RT and RM with front engines and radiators open to the air in front, there were never any fires. But with the change to rear engined diesel buses with their engines confined in a narrow and densely packed compartment behind the rear seats, fires became a frequent event with many total burnouts. It probably didn't help that the driver no longer had the engine next to his left leg where he could feel and smell a developing problem.
.

 

[Ghost1951]

As you've previously posted, diesel fuel only become a risk when it is heated and that has shown up very clearly in our numerous London diesel bus fires. When we had the traditional buses like the RT and RM with front engines and radiators open to the air in front, there were never any fires. But with the change to rear engined diesel buses with their engines confined in a narrow and densely packed compartment behind the rear seats, fires became a frequent event with many total burnouts. It probably didn't help that the driver no longer had the engine next to his left leg where he could feel and smell a developing problem.
.

We had rear engined, yellow diesel busses in Newcastle since about 1962.Hundreds of them. I used to go on them to secondary school aged eleven. I remember thinking how swish they were in comparison to the open rear ones. Previously in Newcastle, there had been old fashioned rear door buses like London hung onto and some of them were petrol powered. Others were diesel.

1966 bus in Newcastle upon Tyne

PAST & PRESENT: Newcastle Upon Tyne

Yellow and blue and various lengthy stages over the years...

www.keybuses.com

I have never ever seen one of those on fire. The only reason for fires like you have described is bad design, like on y old car. I see no reason for that stupid bit of hose linking two fuel rails other than penny pinching. It should have been a metal linking pipe with a safe compression union. If you keep the fuel confined in a metal pipe, and take it to the high pressure injector like that, it can't get out to start a fire.

 

[flecc]

I have never ever seen one of those on fire.

I'm not surprised, I never saw or heard of them catching fire in other areas of the country. But we didn't have only one design of rear engine bus in London, many were no different from those in use elswhere since we had abandoned the former one double decker bus design policy and bought a variety.

One big difference is how hard some of our buses work, often up to 24 hours a day in this 24/365 city. In fact that caused some of our e-bus fires, despite them often being BYD chassis identical to the thousands of them in use in China without fires. We just had to learn the hard way that they can't be constantly rapidly charged day and night without breaks.
.

 

[Ghost1951]

I'm not surprised, I never saw or heard of them catching fire in other areas of the country. But we didn't have only one design of rear engine bus in London, many were no different from those in use elswhere since we had abandoned the former one double decker bus design policy and bought a variety.

One big difference is how hard some of our buses work, often up to 24 hours a day in this 24/365 city. In fact that caused some of our e-bus fires, despite them often being BYD chassis identical to the thousands of them in use in China without fires. We just had to learn the hard way that they can't be constantly rapidly charged day and night without breaks.
.

The diesel ones we have are fitted with huge cooling fans at the back which blow hot air out of vents. As a sometime city cyclist, I have come up behind them and been washed in hot air (quite nice in winter). If they are properly designed, and maintained, you ought to be able to run them all the time, like trucks really.

Modern turbo fan engines on aircraft work very hard also, pretty much continuous use if the airlines can manage it, else they make losses, and they produce vast amounts of power and generally do so reliably.

My anecdote above about the leaking fuel hose was really just a maintenance failure. If that hose had been replaced earlier (it was at least ten years old when it perforated) there would have been no issue.

 

[saneagle]

We had rear engined, yellow diesel busses in Newcastle since about 1962.Hundreds of them. I used to go on them to secondary school aged eleven. I remember thinking how swish they were in comparison to the open rear ones. Previously in Newcastle, there had been old fashioned rear door buses like London hung onto and some of them were petrol powered. Others were diesel.

1966 bus in Newcastle upon Tyne
View attachment 59047

PAST & PRESENT: Newcastle Upon Tyne

Yellow and blue and various lengthy stages over the years...

www.keybuses.com

I have never ever seen one of those on fire. The only reason for fires like you have described is bad design, like on y old car. I see no reason for that stupid bit of hose linking two fuel rails other than penny pinching. It should have been a metal linking pipe with a safe compression union. If you keep the fuel confined in a metal pipe, and take it to the high pressure injector like that, it can't get out to start a fire.

They use rubber hose because of vibration, which would cause metal fatigue in the pipes.

 

[richtea99]

2021 is not valid data. The number of electric cars on the road in 2024 has exploded, and those that haven't have plenty of time yet.

Exploded - I see what you did there.

However, those figures are percentages, not absolute figures, so they're still valid. And it was the hybrid figures I was pointing out, not pure electric.

 

[Ghost1951]

Re battery fires->

 

[lenny]

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With a significant jump in output to £224 billion, the UK has climbed from 9th to 8th place in the global manufacturing rankings, cementing its role as a key player in the industry.

Our in-depth report, complete with sector-by-sector overviews and export growth assessments, sheds light on the vital role that UK manufacturing continues to play in strengthening the economy in 2023."

UK-Manufacturing-The-Facts-2023

Make UK, the leading authority for UK manufacturers, presents 'UK Manufacturing Facts 2023' — a report offering firsthand insights into the sector's current state.

www.makeuk.org