Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms The big diesel con…..?

No.

Julian, I'd have a lot more time for you if you laid off the passive aggressive bit. You have a way of expressing your opinions in such a way that invites argument rather than discussion, which may or may not be your character, but it's hard work joining in with you when the posts are so full of angst and suppressed emotion, chum.

Life is too short for arguing, and I like this forum for the many and varied viewpoints whether I agree with them or not. Forums are not about being 'right' or 'better', but for accepting others way of thinking without getting punchy.

We all go off on one at various times, but TM's worth more as most people know each other. Long may this be the case, too.

I wonder if the reported medical issues also take into account the carcinogens in (modern) petrol...

Crikey chaps,

This seems to be a topic which could cause some ill feeling amongst us, please don't let that happen.
I had a "deep and meaningful" discussion with a Tesla sales person recently and, although I admire the technology, I can't get past the fact that some one has to live next to the power stations which will have to produce all this "clean" power and we are already very exposed if we have a bad winter. Can the grid provide enough electric power for us just to live?

Sorry about the long post, but I've spent the last decade working in the electricity supply industry, and this is indeed a very good question to ask.

We have nowhere near sufficient generation capacity to ensure reliable electricity supply over the next 15 to 20 years (and beyond, if the nuclear stations don't get built), and Ofgem has prepared and published their plans for rolling blackouts which will be instituted when grid demand starts exceeding supply capacity on a regular basis.The challenge is to figure out creative ways around the issues, ways which don't involve continuing to mess up the planet with fossil fuel consumption.

One of the avenues that is being explored at the moment is based on the idea that the use of electric cars will take off geometrically, and that people will increasingly turn to micro-generation to secure electricity supplies for their own homes and communities. Of one thing we can be sure: when people are confronted with the prospect of not having a secure electricity supply, they will be much more willing to engage in finding solutions.

One such possibility is that the supply companies and customers work in collaboration: a domestic customer could fit solar panels, a Tesla wall-type domestic battery system, and a charging point for heir electric car. The car will charge overnight from the grid, when there is generally plenty of spare capacity. In the daytime, when the sun is shining and the domestic system is topping up the Batteries, the grid will be able to call on the stored charge to assist with meeting demand on the grid.

No longer will domestic and business customers be passive recipients of a service, the will have the chance to become active partners - and of course there will be significant financial incentives so to do.

That's just one example: there are a lot of very bright graduates out there doing all sorts of blue-sky thinking that we old crusties can't really get to grips with, but I see it as being very exciting - they have a challenge they really want to get right, it's their future and I feel quite privileged to have sight of their work.

......Lol..
Just to steer this thread a bit more toward a discussion rather than a pub brawl.......ahem..

One possible solution to reduce air pollution in cities could be to bring the speed limit right down to 20mph inside cities and areas where there are extremely high levels of traffic congestion, ....or even as low as 15mph in some tight areas.......and get rid of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings.
Take a leaf out of experiences gained from schemes being used in Holland.

Once the country has an infrastructure to be able to charge all our vehicles and a safe and environmental way of processing wasted batteries then it might be time to take the internal combustion engine off the city streets.

Nonsense. We have always used diesel vehicles for commercial traffic and the growth in diesel cars is all down to fuel economy and driving costs. Its not something that either the government or the car industry can be blamed for. I decided to buy my diesel Merc because it saved me money.

The dodgy data is the effect on health. Even the BBCs own stats program says that the NICE conclusions are unreliable.

I don't understand what you mean by 'passive aggressive'.

Not sure I've ever seen a reply to a post so full of aggression…..

Sorry if it's caused offence, that wasn't the intent.
If my posts cause you or others a problem I'll restrict myself to viewing from now on.

I just wondered if you had a deeper understanding of the subject than I do and were able to fill in the blanks left by my opener.

It seemed from your reply to my original post, that by quoting euro 6 you were 'in the know'. It also seemed that you were expressing a degree of anger at my original post and in your opinion not only should I not have posted, but Diesel engines weren't polluters.
Surely the existence of Euro 6 acknowledges the problem exists and is trying to set a higher standard.

I'm not a boffin, expert or eco mentalist. My opinion is that it's probably too little to late.

Chum.

Tim H,

Thank you for taking the time to impart your info. It would seem from your knowledge that things should be a lot better in the future, however, that doesn't help us much for the next few years.
I am being naïve in suggesting that we should all do simple things to cut down on power consumption such as:
Don't leave the tele on standby.
Switch off lights that are not required.
Turn the heating down by a degree or two.
I am sure there are many other things that we could do but is there really an appetite for this?
With regard to the diesel problem, well I think we have all been talked into buying diesel cars based on the mpg however, if you don't do a lot of miles I think the overall running costs are increased when taking into account servicing, fuel costs, replacing dirty particulate filters etc.
IMHO, a good lean burn petrol engine is still best for normal motoring leaving the diesels for the HGV trade.

All good suggestions, one of the big changes that has made a real difference has been the widespread adoption of LED lights - this has been very beneficial to the Grid.

Electricity suppliers have recognised that there isn't much appetite out there to reduce consumption, and they are trying new ways to stimulate action in these area. But once the cost of domestic electricity starts shooting up over the next year or so (we've seen one supplier go bust already last week because of this) then that will have a way of focusing people's attention.



Yes, me too. I shan't buy another though, and as you say for the next few years I think small economical petrol engines are a good solution for many.