Thing is, the Chorleywood process (and other innovations in recent decades) is wot means you can buy a loaf of reasonably nutritious bread in the supermarket for under 50p, sometimes as little as 25p. We’ve made incredible advancements. And, despite me doing a reasonable amount of research on it, I just can’t see the problem. Sure, your 25p loaf (and, well, any loaf under about £2.50) has chemicals and preservatives in it, but there isn’t any evidence that they cause health problems.
As Tim Minchin once screamed during his comedy routine, “EVERYTHING IS CHEMICALS!”
That said, there is a bit of a labelling problem. I’m trying to shift over to rye bread and most of the loaves which advertise themselves as “rye bread” are, basically, regular wheat bread with a token amount of rye. The worst offender I almost bought had 3% rye, the rest white flour.
So, yeah, the telegraph (and these specialist bakers) do have a point.
Rich peoples problems, though!
Chorleywood bread is pretty awful. I remember a bread strike many years ago when there were long queues outside a local baker. The solution? Bake yer own. The yeast has time to do its stuff, it tastes better, and you're in control of what you add to the mix. You can bake a number of loaves and freeze some. Th old-fashioned tins folded from sheet metal are best (try a charity shop---you're not having mine), but any will do. Buy flour from a baker (Canadian whole wheat is good) in largish quantities.
On the west highland line and far north line, I read about a suggestion last year that some of Scotrails reconditioned HST's could do them in the summer. Not sure if it will ever happen but a nice idea.
On the subject of railways, I am thinking of doing a trip around Norway. Oslo - Stavanger - Bergen (by ferry) - Trondheim - Bodo: up in the far north. Its amazing value for money if you book in advance, ie most of the intercity legs are £20, and you can get your own sleeper cabin for about £70.
Going even further north than Bodo, the ferry and bus network is very good, almost incredible. From Bodo you can get a boat to the lofoten islands, then a bus across the lofoten islands (1 day), then a hydrofoil from Harstad to Tromso (3 hours). You could even keep going all the way to the Russian border through a combination of busses and boats. It isn't particularly expensive. There is just an absolutely phenomenal amount of busses, boats and flights for such a sparsely populated country. Paradise!
cheers yes I've done the London - Scandinavia route by train a few times. I always find going through Germany to be thoroughly miserable though. The train always gets delayed and something always goes wrong. And the trains get completely crowded. Similarly going through Denmark isn't brilliant. Sweden and Finland are just in another league of train travel altogether. They are really spacious trains and there is loads of space etc. Its a really enjoyable way to travel.
Thanks, that's interesting, and not what I would have expected. I'm only just dipping a toe into the 'Europe by train' game so it was a bit presumptive of me to send you the seat61 link - but it seems a great site.
Planning on train trips to Berlin and to Vienna next year so I hope the German trains issue is not ubiquitous there.
Thing is, the Chorleywood process (and other innovations in recent decades) is wot means you can buy a loaf of reasonably nutritious bread in the supermarket for under 50p, sometimes as little as 25p. We’ve made incredible advancements. And, despite me doing a reasonable amount of research on it, I just can’t see the problem. Sure, your 25p loaf (and, well, any loaf under about £2.50) has chemicals and preservatives in it, but there isn’t any evidence that they cause health problems.
As Tim Minchin once screamed during his comedy routine, “EVERYTHING IS CHEMICALS!”
That said, there is a bit of a labelling problem. I’m trying to shift over to rye bread and most of the loaves which advertise themselves as “rye bread” are, basically, regular wheat bread with a token amount of rye. The worst offender I almost bought had 3% rye, the rest white flour.
So, yeah, the telegraph (and these specialist bakers) do have a point.
My take is that, actually, it's a poor people's problem, in as much as cheap bread may be the cause of a lot of nutritional problems.
The BBC put one of Tim Spectors main claims (cheap breads cause big glucose spikes, even in healthy people, therefore we should all avoid them) to the test in an episode of the food programme;
Looks like Sunak still has the edge over Truss in terms of who the public think would be the best PM. Not overwhelmingly so however and Truss is doing better in polling v Starmer
Looks like Sunak still has the edge over Truss in terms of who the public think would be the best PM. Not overwhelmingly so however and Truss is doing better in polling v Starmer
Are you coming round to supporting La Truss @HYUFD?
Thing is, the Chorleywood process (and other innovations in recent decades) is wot means you can buy a loaf of reasonably nutritious bread in the supermarket for under 50p, sometimes as little as 25p. We’ve made incredible advancements. And, despite me doing a reasonable amount of research on it, I just can’t see the problem. Sure, your 25p loaf (and, well, any loaf under about £2.50) has chemicals and preservatives in it, but there isn’t any evidence that they cause health problems.
As Tim Minchin once screamed during his comedy routine, “EVERYTHING IS CHEMICALS!”
That said, there is a bit of a labelling problem. I’m trying to shift over to rye bread and most of the loaves which advertise themselves as “rye bread” are, basically, regular wheat bread with a token amount of rye. The worst offender I almost bought had 3% rye, the rest white flour.
So, yeah, the telegraph (and these specialist bakers) do have a point.
Rich peoples problems, though!
Chorleywood bread is pretty awful. I remember a bread strike many years ago when there were long queues outside a local baker. The solution? Bake yer own. The yeast has time to do its stuff, it tastes better, and you're in control of what you add to the mix. You can bake a number of loaves and freeze some. Th old-fashioned tins folded from sheet metal are best (try a charity shop---you're not having mine), but any will do. Buy flour from a baker (Canadian whole wheat is good) in largish quantities.
On the subject of railways, I am thinking of doing a trip around Norway. Oslo - Stavanger - Bergen (by ferry) - Trondheim - Bodo: up in the far north. Its amazing value for money if you book in advance, ie most of the intercity legs are £20, and you can get your own sleeper cabin for about £70.
Going even further north than Bodo, the ferry and bus network is very good, almost incredible. From Bodo you can get a boat to the lofoten islands, then a bus across the lofoten islands (1 day), then a hydrofoil from Harstad to Tromso (3 hours). You could even keep going all the way to the Russian border through a combination of busses and boats. It isn't particularly expensive. There is just an absolutely phenomenal amount of busses, boats and flights for such a sparsely populated country. Paradise!
cheers yes I've done the London - Scandinavia route by train a few times. I always find going through Germany to be thoroughly miserable though. The train always gets delayed and something always goes wrong. And the trains get completely crowded. Similarly going through Denmark isn't brilliant. Sweden and Finland are just in another league of train travel altogether. They are really spacious trains and there is loads of space etc. Its a really enjoyable way to travel.
Thanks, that's interesting, and not what I would have expected. I'm only just dipping a toe into the 'Europe by train' game so it was a bit presumptive of me to send you the seat61 link - but it seems a great site.
Planning on train trips to Berlin and to Vienna next year so I hope the German trains issue is not ubiquitous there.
Good luck. Maybe I was just unlucky. I've had great trips on Deutsch Bahn in the past. But over the past few years it was crowded and disappointing. The ICE's are still very nice trains but my experience was just that there were continuous problems, delays, sudden changes of train, etc... Made me actually appreciate the rail system in England. ... and yep, seat61 is a brilliant website , agreed.
I am neither proud nor ashamed. Flag-shagging seems odd.
Countries at ease with themselves and their place in the world have no need for flag shagging. Countries that have lost their place in the world, or who think they should be more important than they are, need to flag shag.
How do you define flag shagging? Do the Dutch display this trait at football when all the fans are in orange?
I am neither proud nor ashamed. Flag-shagging seems odd.
Countries at ease with themselves and their place in the world have no need for flag shagging. Countries that have lost their place in the world, or who think they should be more important than they are, need to flag shag.
How do you define flag shagging? Do the Dutch display this trait at football when all the fans are in orange?
On the subject of railways, I am thinking of doing a trip around Norway. Oslo - Stavanger - Bergen (by ferry) - Trondheim - Bodo: up in the far north. Its amazing value for money if you book in advance, ie most of the intercity legs are £20, and you can get your own sleeper cabin for about £70.
Going even further north than Bodo, the ferry and bus network is very good, almost incredible. From Bodo you can get a boat to the lofoten islands, then a bus across the lofoten islands (1 day), then a hydrofoil from Harstad to Tromso (3 hours). You could even keep going all the way to the Russian border through a combination of busses and boats. It isn't particularly expensive. There is just an absolutely phenomenal amount of busses, boats and flights for such a sparsely populated country. Paradise!
cheers yes I've done the London - Scandinavia route by train a few times. I always find going through Germany to be thoroughly miserable though. The train always gets delayed and something always goes wrong. And the trains get completely crowded. Similarly going through Denmark isn't brilliant. Sweden and Finland are just in another league of train travel altogether. They are really spacious trains and there is loads of space etc. Its a really enjoyable way to travel.
Thanks, that's interesting, and not what I would have expected. I'm only just dipping a toe into the 'Europe by train' game so it was a bit presumptive of me to send you the seat61 link - but it seems a great site.
Planning on train trips to Berlin and to Vienna next year so I hope the German trains issue is not ubiquitous there.
Good luck. Maybe I was just unlucky. I've had great trips on Deutsch Bahn in the past. But over the past few years it was crowded and disappointing. The ICE's are still very nice trains but my experience was just that there were continuous problems, delays, sudden changes of train, etc... Made me actually appreciate the rail system in England. ... and yep, seat61 is a brilliant website , agreed.
Planning to go with my brother, who is susceptible to placing too much faith in national stereotypes imo. Train delays in Germany would really cause him some mental readjustment!
On the subject of railways, I am thinking of doing a trip around Norway. Oslo - Stavanger - Bergen (by ferry) - Trondheim - Bodo: up in the far north. Its amazing value for money if you book in advance, ie most of the intercity legs are £20, and you can get your own sleeper cabin for about £70.
Going even further north than Bodo, the ferry and bus network is very good, almost incredible. From Bodo you can get a boat to the lofoten islands, then a bus across the lofoten islands (1 day), then a hydrofoil from Harstad to Tromso (3 hours). You could even keep going all the way to the Russian border through a combination of busses and boats. It isn't particularly expensive. There is just an absolutely phenomenal amount of busses, boats and flights for such a sparsely populated country. Paradise!
cheers yes I've done the London - Scandinavia route by train a few times. I always find going through Germany to be thoroughly miserable though. The train always gets delayed and something always goes wrong. And the trains get completely crowded. Similarly going through Denmark isn't brilliant. Sweden and Finland are just in another league of train travel altogether. They are really spacious trains and there is loads of space etc. Its a really enjoyable way to travel.
Thanks, that's interesting, and not what I would have expected. I'm only just dipping a toe into the 'Europe by train' game so it was a bit presumptive of me to send you the seat61 link - but it seems a great site.
Planning on train trips to Berlin and to Vienna next year so I hope the German trains issue is not ubiquitous there.
Good luck. Maybe I was just unlucky. I've had great trips on Deutsch Bahn in the past. But over the past few years it was crowded and disappointing. The ICE's are still very nice trains but my experience was just that there were continuous problems, delays, sudden changes of train, etc... Made me actually appreciate the rail system in England. ... and yep, seat61 is a brilliant website , agreed.
My last DB rail trip, not long before the pandemic, the announcer came over the tannoy to announce a significant delay, and to my surprise the German passengers were all giving each other knowing looks like you get on the tube when the same happens.
I am neither proud nor ashamed. Flag-shagging seems odd.
Countries at ease with themselves and their place in the world have no need for flag shagging. Countries that have lost their place in the world, or who think they should be more important than they are, need to flag shag.
How do you define flag shagging? Do the Dutch display this trait at football when all the fans are in orange?
I am neither proud nor ashamed. Flag-shagging seems odd.
Countries at ease with themselves and their place in the world have no need for flag shagging. Countries that have lost their place in the world, or who think they should be more important than they are, need to flag shag.
How do you define flag shagging? Do the Dutch display this trait at football when all the fans are in orange?
I am neither proud nor ashamed. Flag-shagging seems odd.
Countries at ease with themselves and their place in the world have no need for flag shagging. Countries that have lost their place in the world, or who think they should be more important than they are, need to flag shag.
How do you define flag shagging? Do the Dutch display this trait at football when all the fans are in orange?
Looks like Sunak still has the edge over Truss in terms of who the public think would be the best PM. Not overwhelmingly so however and Truss is doing better in polling v Starmer
Are you coming round to supporting La Truss @HYUFD?
No, I will still vote for Sunak but it looks like Truss will win and it may no longer be a complete disaster for the party if she does
Looks like Sunak still has the edge over Truss in terms of who the public think would be the best PM. Not overwhelmingly so however and Truss is doing better in polling v Starmer
Are you coming round to supporting La Truss @HYUFD?
No, I will still vote for Sunak but it looks like Truss will win and it may no longer be a complete disaster for the party if she does
Until she starts governing. It's easy to lead.with a compliant press for a while.
Looks like Sunak still has the edge over Truss in terms of who the public think would be the best PM. Not overwhelmingly so however and Truss is doing better in polling v Starmer
Are you coming round to supporting La Truss @HYUFD?
No, I will still vote for Sunak but it looks like Truss will win and it may no longer be a complete disaster for the party if she does
We have had the fucking Tories now for 12 years......even calling them Tory scum is much too positive a description...they have caused bloody mayhem from every conceivable orifice...
But this is a great series if you want to understand more about New Labour. I fundamentally feel that under New Labour Britain was a country very much at ease with itself, we have lost that now, things seem a lot more nasty and divided.
I try to not look back at that time romantically but I do recall how good the NHS was then and how terrible it is now, as an example.
On the subject of railways, I am thinking of doing a trip around Norway. Oslo - Stavanger - Bergen (by ferry) - Trondheim - Bodo: up in the far north. Its amazing value for money if you book in advance, ie most of the intercity legs are £20, and you can get your own sleeper cabin for about £70.
Going even further north than Bodo, the ferry and bus network is very good, almost incredible. From Bodo you can get a boat to the lofoten islands, then a bus across the lofoten islands (1 day), then a hydrofoil from Harstad to Tromso (3 hours). You could even keep going all the way to the Russian border through a combination of busses and boats. It isn't particularly expensive. There is just an absolutely phenomenal amount of busses, boats and flights for such a sparsely populated country. Paradise!
cheers yes I've done the London - Scandinavia route by train a few times. I always find going through Germany to be thoroughly miserable though. The train always gets delayed and something always goes wrong. And the trains get completely crowded. Similarly going through Denmark isn't brilliant. Sweden and Finland are just in another league of train travel altogether. They are really spacious trains and there is loads of space etc. Its a really enjoyable way to travel.
Thanks, that's interesting, and not what I would have expected. I'm only just dipping a toe into the 'Europe by train' game so it was a bit presumptive of me to send you the seat61 link - but it seems a great site.
Planning on train trips to Berlin and to Vienna next year so I hope the German trains issue is not ubiquitous there.
Good luck. Maybe I was just unlucky. I've had great trips on Deutsch Bahn in the past. But over the past few years it was crowded and disappointing. The ICE's are still very nice trains but my experience was just that there were continuous problems, delays, sudden changes of train, etc... Made me actually appreciate the rail system in England. ... and yep, seat61 is a brilliant website , agreed.
My last DB rail trip, not long before the pandemic, the announcer came over the tannoy to announce a significant delay, and to my surprise the German passengers were all giving each other knowing looks like you get on the tube when the same happens.
What a deplorable Tory leadership campaign with both candidates in a race to see who can come up with the most red meat for the Tory Membership .
Remember the Labour leadership election in 2015?
That campaign wasn’t a race to the bottom . We’ve had Truss going on about expanding the Rwanda scheme and Sunak now going after refugees in an effort to ingratiate themselves to the membership .
What a deplorable Tory leadership campaign with both candidates in a race to see who can come up with the most red meat for the Tory Membership .
Remember the Labour leadership election in 2015?
That campaign wasn’t a race to the bottom . We’ve had Truss going on about expanding the Rwanda scheme and Sunak now going after refugees in an effort to ingratiate themselves to the membership .
What a deplorable Tory leadership campaign with both candidates in a race to see who can come up with the most red meat for the Tory Membership .
Remember the Labour leadership election in 2015?
That campaign wasn’t a race to the bottom . We’ve had Truss going on about expanding the Rwanda scheme and Sunak now going after refugees in an effort to ingratiate themselves to the membership .
It must be difficult knowing that your fate is in the hands of selfish racists, and that appealing to them for their votes necessitates alienating many of the people whose votes will be needed at the next GE.
What a deplorable Tory leadership campaign with both candidates in a race to see who can come up with the most red meat for the Tory Membership .
Remember the Labour leadership election in 2015?
That campaign wasn’t a race to the bottom . We’ve had Truss going on about expanding the Rwanda scheme and Sunak now going after refugees in an effort to ingratiate themselves to the membership .
In hindsight 2015 was a disaster.
Yes because we got saddled with Corbyn . But the rot set in earlier , Cameron wouldn’t have got a majority if David Miliband had been leader . And certainly Labour never fought back against the Tories narrative that they spent too much . Labour had to spend to repair the damage done by the Tories to health and education .
What a deplorable Tory leadership campaign with both candidates in a race to see who can come up with the most red meat for the Tory Membership .
Remember the Labour leadership election in 2015?
That campaign wasn’t a race to the bottom . We’ve had Truss going on about expanding the Rwanda scheme and Sunak now going after refugees in an effort to ingratiate themselves to the membership .
In hindsight 2015 was a disaster.
Yes because we got saddled with Corbyn . But the rot set in earlier , Cameron wouldn’t have got a majority if David Miliband had been leader . And certainly Labour never fought back against the Tories narrative that they spent too much . Labour had to spend to repair the damage done by the Tories to health and education .
What a deplorable Tory leadership campaign with both candidates in a race to see who can come up with the most red meat for the Tory Membership .
Remember the Labour leadership election in 2015?
That campaign wasn’t a race to the bottom . We’ve had Truss going on about expanding the Rwanda scheme and Sunak now going after refugees in an effort to ingratiate themselves to the membership .
In hindsight 2015 was a disaster.
Yes because we got saddled with Corbyn . But the rot set in earlier , Cameron wouldn’t have got a majority if David Miliband had been leader . And certainly Labour never fought back against the Tories narrative that they spent too much . Labour had to spend to repair the damage done by the Tories to health and education .
#thirdworldproblems, I would say. Because these sorts of queues at frontiers are typical of third world countries. Advanced economies don't tend to have them so much.
On the west highland line and far north line, I read about a suggestion last year that some of Scotrails reconditioned HST's could do them in the summer. Not sure if it will ever happen but a nice idea.
I overheard the crew of the Wick train yesterday discussing the ways in which the HSTs aren't much cop these days, most glaringly due to their age. The units are in use between Inverness, Perth, Aberdeen and Edinburgh/Glasgow.
Thatcher (in her prime) Vs Blair (in his prime) who would've won?
Interesting question. The answer is Blair because you asked who would win, not who was the best PM or had the greatest impact. Thatcher was never that popular but was able to split the opposition very effectively; Blair on the other hand was a popular PM.
Thatcher (in her prime) Vs Blair (in his prime) who would've won?
Interesting question. The answer is Blair because you asked who would win, not who was the best PM or had the greatest impact. Thatcher was never that popular but was able to split the opposition very effectively; Blair on the other hand was a popular PM.
Looks like Sunak still has the edge over Truss in terms of who the public think would be the best PM. Not overwhelmingly so however and Truss is doing better in polling v Starmer
Are you coming round to supporting La Truss @HYUFD?
No, I will still vote for Sunak but it looks like Truss will win and it may no longer be a complete disaster for the party if she does
She will; it will be.
I'm far more worried about what a disaster it will be for the country as her crackpot schemes and desperation to be seen as a poundshop Thatcher radical sends us finally over the bloody edge.
On the subject of railways, I am thinking of doing a trip around Norway. Oslo - Stavanger - Bergen (by ferry) - Trondheim - Bodo: up in the far north. Its amazing value for money if you book in advance, ie most of the intercity legs are £20, and you can get your own sleeper cabin for about £70.
Going even further north than Bodo, the ferry and bus network is very good, almost incredible. From Bodo you can get a boat to the lofoten islands, then a bus across the lofoten islands (1 day), then a hydrofoil from Harstad to Tromso (3 hours). You could even keep going all the way to the Russian border through a combination of busses and boats. It isn't particularly expensive. There is just an absolutely phenomenal amount of busses, boats and flights for such a sparsely populated country. Paradise!
cheers yes I've done the London - Scandinavia route by train a few times. I always find going through Germany to be thoroughly miserable though. The train always gets delayed and something always goes wrong. And the trains get completely crowded. Similarly going through Denmark isn't brilliant. Sweden and Finland are just in another league of train travel altogether. They are really spacious trains and there is loads of space etc. Its a really enjoyable way to travel.
Thanks, that's interesting, and not what I would have expected. I'm only just dipping a toe into the 'Europe by train' game so it was a bit presumptive of me to send you the seat61 link - but it seems a great site.
Planning on train trips to Berlin and to Vienna next year so I hope the German trains issue is not ubiquitous there.
I took the TEE sleeper from Paris to Berlin, but left late (power outage in France apparently), and dropped me off at a different Berlin station so had to catch the S bahn for the last bit. Very smooth and comfy, but German efficiency a bit of a myth.
Bluntly, we will need that gas ourselves. The UK consumes approximately 1.5x more gas than it produces, therefore there is not going to be any to spare if the Russians decide to turn off the lights in Europe.
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
Bluntly, we will need that gas ourselves. The UK consumes approximately 1.5x more gas than it produces, therefore there is not going to be any to spare if the Russians decide to turn off the lights in Europe.
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
I ordered my multi-fuel stove today, so can burn the furniture if needed. Perhaps eat the children too.
Bluntly, we will need that gas ourselves. The UK consumes approximately 1.5x more gas than it produces, therefore there is not going to be any to spare if the Russians decide to turn off the lights in Europe.
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
Bluntly, it makes sense for us to send them that gas now.
We have more gas than we need now coming in, but not much in the way of storage, they do have storage. We can send them electricity via as now, which they can use now. We can get energy off them in the winter from storage in return.
The more we send now, the more they can store now, ensuring everyone's storage is full this winter will help.
Bluntly, we will need that gas ourselves. The UK consumes approximately 1.5x more gas than it produces, therefore there is not going to be any to spare if the Russians decide to turn off the lights in Europe.
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
I ordered my multi-fuel stove today, so can burn the furniture if needed. Perhaps eat the children too.
Nuclear. The only option if we want energy security + low emissions. France has obviously done this quite well, hence why they are better prepared than most of us and experiencing lower inflation.
A little too early for the stove-top models, but the neglect of the nuclear industry by the west (often at the behest of the green lobby) has brought us to where we are now.
That's because the UK has a good supply of gas terminals compared with mainland Europe but no gas storage, so it makes sense to offload gas at UK terminals and pump it to the Mainland. If the connectors are shut off that gas won't necessarily land later on in the UK.
Bluntly, we will need that gas ourselves. The UK consumes approximately 1.5x more gas than it produces, therefore there is not going to be any to spare if the Russians decide to turn off the lights in Europe.
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
Bluntly, it makes sense for us to send them that gas now.
We have more gas than we need now coming in, but not much in the way of storage, they do have storage. We can send them electricity via as now, which they can use now. We can get energy off them in the winter from storage in return.
The more we send now, the more they can store now, ensuring everyone's storage is full this winter will help.
Its all interconnected.
Agree with that, as we have no capacity to store it.
The fact that we don't have capacity to store it, however, is criminal. We did until very recently (the last decade or so).
#thirdworldproblems, I would say. Because these sorts of queues at frontiers are typical of third world countries. Advanced economies don't tend to have them so much.
9 July 2015
These sorts of queues are typical of us dealing with the Frogs.
Bluntly, we will need that gas ourselves. The UK consumes approximately 1.5x more gas than it produces, therefore there is not going to be any to spare if the Russians decide to turn off the lights in Europe.
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
I ordered my multi-fuel stove today, so can burn the furniture if needed. Perhaps eat the children too.
Nuclear. The only option if we want energy security + low emissions. France has obviously done this quite well, hence why they are better prepared than most of us and experiencing lower inflation.
A little too early for the stove-top models, but the neglect of the nuclear industry by the west (often at the behest of the green lobby) has brought us to where we are now.
The problem with nuclear is its normally much more expensive than alternatives. So sure they're having lower inflation now, but that's because they were already paying much more than us. We've gone from cheaper to more expensive, but after this crisis has passed we'll be cheaper again.
The question is do you want reliably expensive all the time, or typically cheaper but sometimes expensive?
Wind + storage may be cheaper than nuclear. Or tidal may. Or it may not, but we shouldn't do one thing just because it sounds good, we should go for whatever works best.
Trump is still calling state officials to try and decertify the 2020 result.
Two years after losing he is still literally trying to fix the result.
Obsessed and mad.
And yet highly likely to be POTUS in 2025.
What a nightmare the world faces.
He will struggle to get the nomination . The January 6th hearings in congress are effecting his support . Even by Trump standards some of the revelations have been jaw dropping .
Bluntly, we will need that gas ourselves. The UK consumes approximately 1.5x more gas than it produces, therefore there is not going to be any to spare if the Russians decide to turn off the lights in Europe.
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
I ordered my multi-fuel stove today, so can burn the furniture if needed. Perhaps eat the children too.
Nuclear. The only option if we want energy security + low emissions. France has obviously done this quite well, hence why they are better prepared than most of us and experiencing lower inflation.
A little too early for the stove-top models, but the neglect of the nuclear industry by the west (often at the behest of the green lobby) has brought us to where we are now.
French nuclear is in a total mess right now. A major contributory reason why the Russian gas cutoff is having an oversized effect in Europe
What a deplorable Tory leadership campaign with both candidates in a race to see who can come up with the most red meat for the Tory Membership .
Do you think they're a basket of deplorables?
I wouldn’t put them in the same bracket as Trump supporters. The Trump cult are beneath contempt , they need to be sterilized to stop them further polluting the US gene pool.
On the west highland line and far north line, I read about a suggestion last year that some of Scotrails reconditioned HST's could do them in the summer. Not sure if it will ever happen but a nice idea.
Definitely not happening.
The best-case scenario for the WHL is that Scotrail's decarbonisation programme might mean it gets some nice hybrid FLIRTs in a few years' time.
Trump is still calling state officials to try and decertify the 2020 result.
Two years after losing he is still literally trying to fix the result.
Obsessed and mad.
And yet highly likely to be POTUS in 2025.
What a nightmare the world faces.
He will struggle to get the nomination . The January 6th hearings in congress are effecting his support . Even by Trump standards some of the revelations have been jaw dropping .
I hope so but I think you are likely to be very wrong. He will walk the nomination when he runs. Too many in GOP are now cultists. It is even highly debatable whether DeSantis will run against him rather than wait to become veep and obvious successor. Pompeo might give it a shot but surely he has no chance?
Bluntly, we will need that gas ourselves. The UK consumes approximately 1.5x more gas than it produces, therefore there is not going to be any to spare if the Russians decide to turn off the lights in Europe.
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
I ordered my multi-fuel stove today, so can burn the furniture if needed. Perhaps eat the children too.
Nuclear. The only option if we want energy security + low emissions. France has obviously done this quite well, hence why they are better prepared than most of us and experiencing lower inflation.
A little too early for the stove-top models, but the neglect of the nuclear industry by the west (often at the behest of the green lobby) has brought us to where we are now.
The problem with nuclear is its normally much more expensive than alternatives. So sure they're having lower inflation now, but that's because they were already paying much more than us. We've gone from cheaper to more expensive, but after this crisis has passed we'll be cheaper again.
The question is do you want reliably expensive all the time, or typically cheaper but sometimes expensive?
Wind + storage may be cheaper than nuclear. Or tidal may. Or it may not, but we shouldn't do one thing just because it sounds good, we should go for whatever works best.
If you ask most people "do you want your energy supply to be reliable" they would say yes.
If you ask them, after the current crisis, would your rather pay a fixed higher price over a price that fluctuates, but may become extremely high due to geopolitical factors, i.e. buying your energy off unstable dictatorships, I suspect the answer would also be in the affirmative.
That's because the UK has a good supply of gas terminals compared with mainland Europe but no gas storage, so it makes sense to offload gas at UK terminals and pump it to the Mainland. If the connectors are shut off that gas won't necessarily land later on in the UK.
Meanwhile, Europe better hope that the paperwork guys at the British end don't get stuck for many hours by an imaginary hold up in the Chunnel.....
I am neither proud nor ashamed. Flag-shagging seems odd.
Countries at ease with themselves and their place in the world have no need for flag shagging. Countries that have lost their place in the world, or who think they should be more important than they are, need to flag shag.
And America of course.
America's pathological obsession with their flag is beyond silly. You think "this is what strength looks like". So much of the world sees you with your hand on your heart pledging allegiance to the sodding flag and think you look like wazzocks.
Patriot is pretty much synonymous with racist, there and elsewhere.
I was castigated on here for revealing my concerns over the flag of St. George. When I lived near Solihull as a child I had never seen one on permanent display at a private residence. When I moved to Herefordshire it was used as a totem to ward off the Welsh. Back in Solihull post Brexit it was on display to deter, who knows what. Probably not the Welsh.
Imagine how smug this Govt. would be feeling now if May had told the Blob to do one, had approved Swansea tidal lagoon - which was now producing and the equivalent of half a dozen nuclear plants were well on their way to first power.
I am neither proud nor ashamed. Flag-shagging seems odd.
Countries at ease with themselves and their place in the world have no need for flag shagging. Countries that have lost their place in the world, or who think they should be more important than they are, need to flag shag.
And America of course.
America's pathological obsession with their flag is beyond silly. You think "this is what strength looks like". So much of the world sees you with your hand on your heart pledging allegiance to the sodding flag and think you look like wazzocks.
Patriot is pretty much synonymous with racist, there and elsewhere.
I was castigated on here for revealing my concerns over the flag of St. George. When I lived near Solihull as a child I had never seen one on permanent display at a private residence. When I moved to Herefordshire it was used as a totem to ward off the Welsh. Back in Solihull post Brexit it was on display to deter, who knows what. Probably not the Welsh.
It's an effective deterrent against Emily Thornberry.
Trump is still calling state officials to try and decertify the 2020 result.
Two years after losing he is still literally trying to fix the result.
Obsessed and mad.
And yet highly likely to be POTUS in 2025.
What a nightmare the world faces.
He will struggle to get the nomination . The January 6th hearings in congress are effecting his support . Even by Trump standards some of the revelations have been jaw dropping .
I hope you're right, but mentally preparing for it feels necessary.
Bluntly, we will need that gas ourselves. The UK consumes approximately 1.5x more gas than it produces, therefore there is not going to be any to spare if the Russians decide to turn off the lights in Europe.
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
I ordered my multi-fuel stove today, so can burn the furniture if needed. Perhaps eat the children too.
Nuclear. The only option if we want energy security + low emissions. France has obviously done this quite well, hence why they are better prepared than most of us and experiencing lower inflation.
A little too early for the stove-top models, but the neglect of the nuclear industry by the west (often at the behest of the green lobby) has brought us to where we are now.
The problem with nuclear is its normally much more expensive than alternatives. So sure they're having lower inflation now, but that's because they were already paying much more than us. We've gone from cheaper to more expensive, but after this crisis has passed we'll be cheaper again.
The question is do you want reliably expensive all the time, or typically cheaper but sometimes expensive?
Wind + storage may be cheaper than nuclear. Or tidal may. Or it may not, but we shouldn't do one thing just because it sounds good, we should go for whatever works best.
We don't yet have the storage capacity to back up intermittent renewables or the knowhow to construct it, and who knows how many decades it will take for large-scale tidal or exotic technologies (thorium? fusion?) to ride to the rescue.
Current uranium-based fission plants are unpopular and very expensive to build as we all know, but if we're serious about decarbonisation then they're the only mature technology capable of providing constant and reliable baseload that we have available right now. So that's what we need more of. Expensive but reliable electricity is better than any of the alternatives: cheaper but unreliable, like wind without backup storage; cheaper and reliable, but at the price of burning fossil crap until the planet roasts or we can't afford to buy enough of it; or going back to circa 1880.
What is it with these Russian nobbers? Always leaving a big pile of ammo in obvious and easy to bomb places.
Apparently it's kind of hard for them to do it any other way because they use utterly immense quantities of ammo which is extremely heavy, and it needs to be brought in by train so they're limited to places you can unload it from the train.
kyf_100 (and others) - You may want to take a look at Michael Shellenberger's "Apocalypse Never", in which a certified environmentalist makes the case for nuclear power (among other things).
In a sensational chapter 10, Shellenberger argues that anti-nuclear organizations have often been subsidized by wealthy men . . . with financial interests in fossil fuels. And he names names, including two members of the Brown family in California.
(I have followed this issue for many years, and it is my considered opinion that once the US begins producing small modular reactors in factories, the usual learning curves will allow the prices to come down, substantially.
I don't have a favorite design and have been thinking, recently, that we will end up with several designs, for different situations. The one Bill Gates is backing, for example, seems especially well suited to Wyoming, where there is enormous wind power potential, since it can store power.)
And the NuScale design uses very small modules, usually in groups of six or more. Each module can be transported on a large truck. https://www.nuscalepower.com/projects
And the NuScale design uses very small modules, usually in groups of six or more. Each module can be transported on a large truck. https://www.nuscalepower.com/projects
I've never understood how the Small Module Reactor idea is supposed to help nuclear get deployed. Compared to the traditional Humongous Monolithic Reactor design, each individual power station is really teensy, so you need to vanquish the same number of nimbies with a small one but you get way fewer kWh in return. And the only thing that convinces a community to let people put a nuclear reactor in their backyard is the promise of jobs, but the SMR idea is that all the work is done in a factory in Oregon and only thing you do on-site is dig a hole and hook it up to the grid which is like a couple of dozen guys, and they probably send those from the manufacturer as well.
How are these projects supposed to actually happen?
edmund - I'm not sure I understand your question, but this may provide a partial answer. In general, the SMRs, of whatever design, would be clustered in a few locations. This is more economical since, for example, they can share transmission lines. And you only have to solve the "NIMBY" problem once for each location.
And reducing the costs, by building many identical, or near identical, units, should be popular with everyone. Here's what Shellenberger says about the South Korean experience, where they have built the same design, multiple times: "Standardization gives construction managers like the Koreans I met the opportunity to "learn by doing" and build each consecutive nuclear reacrtor a little faster and a little cheaper." (p. 170)
Here are some numbers from their first plant in Idaho: "The Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) will be the first NuScale Power small modular reactor (SMR) plant to begin operation in the United States near Idaho Falls, Idaho, at the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory. The SMR plant will deploy six, 77-megawatt modules to generate 462 megawatts of carbon free electricity."
(The Idaho National Laboratory has been doing nuclear research since 1949 and has built more than 50 reactors, according to Wikipedia, so I doubt there will be many objections, locally, to another set.
And the NuScale design uses very small modules, usually in groups of six or more. Each module can be transported on a large truck. https://www.nuscalepower.com/projects
I've never understood how the Small Module Reactor idea is supposed to help nuclear get deployed. Compared to the traditional Humongous Monolithic Reactor design, each individual power station is really teensy, so you need to vanquish the same number of nimbies with a small one but you get way fewer kWh in return. And the only thing that convinces a community to let people put a nuclear reactor in their backyard is the promise of jobs, but the SMR idea is that all the work is done in a factory in Oregon and only thing you do on-site is dig a hole and hook it up to the grid which is like a couple of dozen guys, and they probably send those from the manufacturer as well.
How are these projects supposed to actually happen?
Ye. Not to mention each one is gonna need round-the clock (fairly well paid and very expensively trained) armed police.
edmund - I'm not sure I understand your question, but this may provide a partial answer. In general, the SMRs, of whatever design, would be clustered in a few locations. This is more economical since, for example, they can share transmission lines. And you only have to solve the "NIMBY" problem once for each location.
And reducing the costs, by building many identical, or near identical, units, should be popular with everyone. Here's what Shellenberger says about the South Korean experience, where they have built the same design, multiple times: "Standardization gives construction managers like the Koreans I met the opportunity to "learn by doing" and build each consecutive nuclear reacrtor a little faster and a little cheaper." (p. 170)
Here are some numbers from their first plant in Idaho: "The Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) will be the first NuScale Power small modular reactor (SMR) plant to begin operation in the United States near Idaho Falls, Idaho, at the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory. The SMR plant will deploy six, 77-megawatt modules to generate 462 megawatts of carbon free electricity."
(The Idaho National Laboratory has been doing nuclear research since 1949 and has built more than 50 reactors, according to Wikipedia, so I doubt there will be many objections, locally, to another set.
Hang on, you're saying the idea is to carry on building humongous nuclear *plants*, except they'll comprise loads of teensy reactors instead of a few big ones? Everything else I read about this idea seems to envisage smaller sites. Intuitively it seems weird to build one factory and deal with all the shipping problems and so forth if the things are only going to end up on one of a few dozen sites.
Comments
I am somewhat cheered by all the dismissive responses from across the PB political spectrum.
Planning on train trips to Berlin and to Vienna next year so I hope the German trains issue is not ubiquitous there.
https://www.priorsflour.co.uk/product-category/bread-flours/
... and yep, seat61 is a brilliant website , agreed.
Since when it has been the Conservative-Labour axis dominating politics.
How much longer will that last, I wonder?
"Scots cricket institutionally racist, review finds"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-62277613
It's easy to lead.with a compliant press for a while.
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-rail-operator-deutsche-bahn-admits-major-drop-in-punctuality/a-60338352
You were making a lot of very intelligent analysis, don't change your mind because the party does.
That's a real shame matey
Do they do scummy things. Yes.
Is Boris Johnson scum. No comment.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/07/22/national-grid-emergency-bid-pump-gas-europe/
Incompetent is the way to go.
Starmer should play the "what's the point in a large majority when you don't achieve anything" card.
Then contrast that to what New Labour did.
We didn’t vote to send them more gas than usual
We voted to leave!
You can have anything that you are truly not seeking.
Good luck. Does she like opinion polls with Scottish subsamples, or do you leave that for the second date?
Solar panels, diesel generators and big fluffy blankets at the ready this winter...
Two years after losing he is still literally trying to fix the result.
Obsessed and mad.
And yet highly likely to be POTUS in 2025.
What a nightmare the world faces.
England 2.78
Germany 3.7
France 4
Sweden 7.5
We have more gas than we need now coming in, but not much in the way of storage, they do have storage. We can send them electricity via as now, which they can use now. We can get energy off them in the winter from storage in return.
The more we send now, the more they can store now, ensuring everyone's storage is full this winter will help.
Its all interconnected.
A little too early for the stove-top models, but the neglect of the nuclear industry by the west (often at the behest of the green lobby) has brought us to where we are now.
The fact that we don't have capacity to store it, however, is criminal. We did until very recently (the last decade or so).
9 July 2015
These sorts of queues are typical of us dealing with the Frogs.
The question is do you want reliably expensive all the time, or typically cheaper but sometimes expensive?
Wind + storage may be cheaper than nuclear. Or tidal may. Or it may not, but we shouldn't do one thing just because it sounds good, we should go for whatever works best.
Meanwhile, north of the border, the SNP are 21 points ahead.
The best-case scenario for the WHL is that Scotrail's decarbonisation programme might mean it gets some nice hybrid FLIRTs in a few years' time.
If you ask them, after the current crisis, would your rather pay a fixed higher price over a price that fluctuates, but may become extremely high due to geopolitical factors, i.e. buying your energy off unstable dictatorships, I suspect the answer would also be in the affirmative.
Cheapest ain't always the best.
Imagine how smug Mr Putin is that we didn't.....
https://www.timeanddate.com/date/durationresult.html?d1=23&m1=7&y1=2022&d2=2&m2=5&y2=2024
Current uranium-based fission plants are unpopular and very expensive to build as we all know, but if we're serious about decarbonisation then they're the only mature technology capable of providing constant and reliable baseload that we have available right now. So that's what we need more of. Expensive but reliable electricity is better than any of the alternatives: cheaper but unreliable, like wind without backup storage; cheaper and reliable, but at the price of burning fossil crap until the planet roasts or we can't afford to buy enough of it; or going back to circa 1880.
Why is she doing that
Come on Tory members, Richy Rich at least possesses all his marbles.
Will Sunak stay an MP long enough after losing this August to have another go?
In a sensational chapter 10, Shellenberger argues that anti-nuclear organizations have often been subsidized by wealthy men . . . with financial interests in fossil fuels. And he names names, including two members of the Brown family in California.
(I have followed this issue for many years, and it is my considered opinion that once the US begins producing small modular reactors in factories, the usual learning curves will allow the prices to come down, substantially.
I don't have a favorite design and have been thinking, recently, that we will end up with several designs, for different situations. The one Bill Gates is backing, for example, seems especially well suited to Wyoming, where there is enormous wind power potential, since it can store power.)
How are these projects supposed to actually happen?
And reducing the costs, by building many identical, or near identical, units, should be popular with everyone. Here's what Shellenberger says about the South Korean experience, where they have built the same design, multiple times:
"Standardization gives construction managers like the Koreans I met the opportunity to "learn by doing" and build each consecutive nuclear reacrtor a little faster and a little cheaper." (p. 170)
Here are some numbers from their first plant in Idaho:
"The Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) will be the first NuScale Power small modular reactor (SMR) plant to begin operation in the United States near Idaho Falls, Idaho, at the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory. The SMR plant will deploy six, 77-megawatt modules to generate 462 megawatts of carbon free electricity."
(The Idaho National Laboratory has been doing nuclear research since 1949 and has built more than 50 reactors, according to Wikipedia, so I doubt there will be many objections, locally, to another set.
1.56 Liz Truss 64%
2.86 Rishi Sunak 35%
Next Conservative leader
1.54 Liz Truss 65%
2.86 Rishi Sunak 35%
I just don’t see them getting off the ground.