The Retirement Thread

[monkers]

@welsh dragon

I see the British government is stopping the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Genuine question. Is this going to solve the problem of fossil fuels or are we going to have an even bigger problem with the batteries in these new cars. They don't last that long, and contain a lot of harmful elements. What will we do with them when they have to be replaced. Can everything inside them be 're cycled and how are we going to get the components to make them. Will we be getting rid of one problem only to have an even bigger problem?

Good points you've raised I think. Initially electric vehicles might look like the solution, but I feel that long-term they might not be. There are problems with affordability, are not as eco-friendly as currently presented. The lithium is produced with very abusive child-labour practices in some parts of the world. As uptake increases, we will likely find that our ability to keep them sustainable from renewable energy sources will likely be impinged.

Cars in themselves are not so much the problem as the car dependency that has resulted from modern corporate practice as widely promoted by successive governments; I'm not just talking about the UK here. It is car dependency that needs to be tackled. One lesson from this Covid era is that we do have technology and ability to work from home. The climate change naysayers will say that climate change is not anthropogenic, but the onging emission measurements show that levels of harmful emissions dropped during lockdown and rose again during the following lockdown release period. Of course, we can't ignore the impacts of emissions on human health, and all other species.

It's a huge topic area in itself.

 

[screenman]

I am glad I am not a naysayer, that is a long word they use there. Educate people away from using the car for stupidly short journeys would be a good start. All a tad heavy for this old gits area I feel.

 

[Dirk]

IC engines will be around for a long while yet. They are not going to disappear overnight.

 

[BoldonLad]

Just been talking to a friend of ours who lives in Vancouver island. Now, bear in mind that Vancouver island is about the size of England and our friend was horrified by the number of deaths by Covid over here. On Vancouver island, they have had only 18 people dying of Corona virus, now isn't that telling us something about how the crisis has been dealt with by the British government ? A total disgrace I say.

Are there 66 million people living on Vancouver Island?
What are the deaths per 100,000 of population?

 

[monkers]

@Dirk

IC engines will be around for a long while yet. They are not going to disappear overnight.

Quite so. Steam technolgy, while magnificent from an engineering perspective, and imbued with a certain romance, was worse from the environmental perspective. In the timeline of human history, the widespread use ICE vehicles has been for such a short period of time. We have allowed ourselves to become dependent, we must wean ourselves away from them, until we have the available technology.

Local means of production is, at least in part, a sensible way forward. We can all play our part by sourcing locally produced food, shopping more regularly than weekly, growing our own, buying more fresh rather than frozen foods, and reducing waste. Reports show that about 30% of food production goes to waste - that's pretty scandalous.

 

[Mo1959]

Local means of production is, at least in part, a sensible way forward. We can all play our part by sourcing locally produced food, shopping more regularly than weekly, growing our own, buying more fresh rather than frozen foods, and reducing waste.

This sounds like my childhood! I know turning the clock back isn’t the answer, and people wouldn’t put up with it, but life did seem more simple and less wasteful when I was growing up.

 

[Mo1959]

Girl along the road just been for a run. This is an example of the state of the trails with this rain

 

[Paulus]

@Dirk



Quite so. Steam technolgy, while magnificent from an engineering perspective, and imbued with a certain romance, was worse from the environmental perspective. In the timeline of human history, the widespread use ICE vehicles has been for such a short period of time. We have allowed ourselves to become dependent, we must wean ourselves away from them, until we have the available technology.

Local means of production is, at least in part, a sensible way forward. We can all play our part by sourcing locally produced food, shopping more regularly than weekly, growing our own, buying more fresh rather than frozen foods, and reducing waste. Reports show that about 30% of food production goes to waste - that's pretty scandalous.

Totally agree with all your posts this morning. On the tea front, I have been using loose leaf tea for years. It certainly makes a superior cup of tea, properly made in a pot. Although i do have an infuser if I need just one cup. Many tea brands still do loose leaves.
Plus, the leaves go onto the compost after use.

 

[Dave7]

I see the British government is stopping the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Genuine question. Is this going to solve the problem of fossil fuels or are we going to have an even bigger problem with the batteries in these new cars. They don't last that long, and contain a lot of harmful elements. What will we do with them when they have to be replaced. Can everything inside them be 're cycled and how are we going to get the components to make them. Will we be getting rid of one problem only to have an even bigger problem?

Good question Welshie. Us humans do have a tendency to shoot ourselves in the foot.

 

[screenman]

Girl along the road just been for a run. This is an example of the state of the trails with this rain


View attachment 558711

Cyclocross type surface, love it.

 

[screenman]

It seems for the past 6 years my power suppliers have been charging me twice for my night time electricity, here we go for a long battle to get it back I guess.

 

[Dirk]

I see the British government is stopping the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Genuine question. Is this going to solve the problem of fossil fuels or are we going to have an even bigger problem with the batteries in these new cars. They don't last that long, and contain a lot of harmful elements. What will we do with them when they have to be replaced. Can everything inside them be 're cycled and how are we going to get the components to make them. Will we be getting rid of one problem only to have an even bigger problem?

The Cornish will be coining it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-54188071

 

[PaulSB]

@monkers recycling and environmental issues are very important in my house. As examples I literally go through every piece of plastic to ensure only items clearly marked as recyclable go in the recycling bin. I'll separate cardboard from plastic on a container to make sure each is correctly recycled and doesn't contaminate the waste.

All waste in our house which arises from an organic source goes in to my compost heap.

When the plastic tea bag thing became an issue I was delighted to discover PG Tips bags are biodegradable. We've used these for years and I can guarantee they do fully degrade. The tea is ethically produced.

 

[Paulus]

The Cornish will be coining it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-54188071

The independence campaign will hot up.

 

[PaulSB]

It seems for the past 6 years my power suppliers have been charging me twice for my night time electricity, here we go for a long battle to get it back I guess.

Good luck. I had a dispute with my power supplier. After giving them due opportunity to act and then fair warning I went to the Ombudsman. A very easy and efficient process. I received a written apology, money refunded and £100 compensation.