SteamyTea

20 years time, just like fusion.

Shall we have a sweep stake about how much it will really cost to get the first GWh out. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/great-british-energy-nuclear-and-rolls-royce-smr-sign-contract

Rather minor reduction though. The shipping of petrolchemicals is very efficient. Probably the biggest problem would be processing, it is not a case of drilling a hole and piping it directly into the gas grid. Having grown up on oil refineries, I can tell you that they are not nice places, and very smelly.

They are filming an episode down here, right this minute. I mentioned this episode, the company has gone bust. This is a future episode. I think they are going to get wet.

Make a change from the pavement oysters and pizza that appear on a Saturday morning.

They tend to be the high power, but low energy usage parts of the daily mix. Well they are if you do it right.

Yes, and this is the major problem. Most of 'the savings' are really just playing about with retail tariffs. I can reliably store many kWhs per day in my, nearly 40 year old storage heaters. They have, so far, proved to be 100% reliable.

When you find out, I need to cover some white lines near speed cameras.

That assumes no one else is reducing FF burning. It is quite possibly that we have reached global peak CO2e.

The car, or the motorway? Best to avoid.

That totally ignores the climate change impacts though. And that is before we get involved in public health.

I shall have a look at it when I have time. We need more 'calculators' like this.

A MWh of electrify will cost about £250. Do some simple calculations and see where it all stands.

I think, when we were part of the EU, there were rules against too much government ownership. Did not stop the French taking over EDF though, so probably a way around that rule (and similar ones here). If a government did own, plan, build, run and sell energy (even at arms length) it would affect the private companies investment plans i.e. why bother when the government can undercut. They could put a capacity cap in place i.e. no more than 20% of the expected 2050 needs. But then they could also change the rules if they wanted to (think student loans and retirement ages). I don't know the answer, and I am sure some clever people are working on it, be interesting to see what happens.

This is part of the reason the system was set up. It may have run its course and now need modifying. While the idea seems good, in principle, private investment would quickly dry up, and/or bigger risks would be taken by the private sector investors on marginal sites/plants/technology knowing the the government would probably bail them out. Financing public services, through private investment has not proved very successful in the past.

They had one a couple of years back. Bird flu killed about 90% of them down here. As much as I dislike them, it was really quite tragic and changed the seaside atmosphere a lot. We currently have a rat problem, caused by the nursery not disposing of food in the food waste bins and nappies in the general waste. Every morning I am now cleaning up after the 'feastings'.

Smaller windows. They get it all year round. We don’t I have lived in the South of France, we survived without AC in August. A lot of the time it is cloudy there.

If you build to a standard that does not need MVHR (3ACH), then your heating bill will go up considerably. The Cornish summers are not that hot, it is extremely rare that we get air temperatures over 24°C, the Atlantic Ocean is our AC. He did open his windows, mainly as his ex wife, who was quite mental, insisted on it. She also refused to use an induction hob.

Wrong metric. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/10/21/why-tokens-per-watt-is-crucial-for-measuring-ai-efficiency/

Worth a mention we do have some house rules

If all the houses get sold, then they are too cheap. Not that often I agree with @Roger440, but he is spot on when comparing house and car quality. It is why kit car manufacturers don't make very good products. The components parts may reach a set quality level, just as they do in the housing industry. Then then get put together by morons. It is often quoted that you cannot have speed, quality and cheapness. You can, it is what production engineering does every hour of every day.

https://downsizegeek.com/elon-musks-6789-tiny-house-finally-hit-the-market/ Don't think it has made any difference.

Maybe @Dillsue can shed some light on this, he is in the PV business.

Well worth a listen. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002tf9x Britain is turning electric, but the shift to renewable energy will require a major rewire. Business and Economy editor Douglas Fraser follows the journey of power generated on the north coast of Scotland to the socket in your living room, to discover the scale and the challenges of re-hauling the near century-old national grid. From windfarms in Caithness, pylons in the Highlands and huge undersea cables transporting power from Aberdeenshire to North Yorkshire, Douglas looks at the environmental and financial impact of the planned changes to the country's energy infrastructure. He also asks if Britain can meet a future surge in demand for electricity to power electric cars, heat pumps and AI data centres, while achieving its ambitious net zero targets.

From the inews.co.uk The hidden £200 charge to install solar panels on your home People looking to invest in solar panels to combat soaring energy prices will be hit with a hidden fee of more than £200 from this month, The i Paper can reveal. The Government is throwing its support behind solar as a way to cut bills by offering low-interest grants and loans towards installations, including paying for installations for low-income families up to a cost of £12,000. But while demand for solar panels is soaring, customers are being hit with a new fee for connecting to the National Grid. As part of any installation, customers must complete a G98 or a G99 application, a registration for connecting solar panels or battery systems to the grid. The two different types of application relate to the size of the system that is being connected. Until now, this was free for most customers. But from 1 April, National Grid says it will be charging £183 plus VAT for the service. National Grid said the cost had previously been absorbed by other customers and the new fee is being introduced to ensure people are treated more “fairly and consistently” from now on. However, John Bloomfield, who runs Green Energy Solar in South Wales, is concerned that the charge may have an impact on business and is sending “mixed messages” to consumers. John Bloomfield, owner of Green Energy Solar, says he does not understand why the new fee is being introduced “It’s confusing to homeowners,” he told The i Paper. “You feel like the general message is ‘do it [install solar panels], this is the right thing to do, reducing carbon emissions, increasing your energy security’. “But then National Grid are saying ‘we want to charge you to do it’. It’s a shame they are doing it, I don’t understand their reasoning.” Bloomfield mainly installs solar systems and batteries to private homeowners and small businesses and said demand has gone “totally crazy” with orders more than doubling between February and March. He thinks the new fee is unlikely to put customers off an installation in the current climate but says it will create extra admin that could lead to delays. He also said communication from National Grid on the issue has been unclear. “It complicates the process for us a little bit because.. we can’t just get the acceptance [from National Grid] and go ahead,” said Bloomfield. “We have to get the acceptance with the cost and then give that to the customer and make sure they accept that.” Installers have been waiting for clarity from National Grid to be able to inform their customers, he added. The grid was privatised by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1990. In 2023, shareholders received £1.6bn in dividends and profits increased to more than £2bn in its latest half-yearly update posted last year. As a result, campaigners have long called for the company to be nationalised. Johnbosco Nwogbo, from lobby group We Own It, told The i Paper: “It’s something we’ve been demanding for several years. “If you are incentivizing homeowners, or small businesses, to go into solar generation on one hand, but then disincentivising them by charging them a fee on the other – it’s not a completely joined-up policy.” A National Grid spokesperson said: “We’ve made changes to how we handle some solar PV connection requests to help improve customer service and ensure a more consistent experience. “From 1 April, we’re applying an assessment fee of £183 including VAT to certain connection offers. This reflects the detailed engineering and safety assessment work we already carry out and ensures customers are treated fairly and consistently. “Until now, this work has still taken place, but the cost has effectively been absorbed and covered by other customers. Introducing the fee means that those requesting this service are charged fairly for the work involved. “For schemes connecting to our low‑voltage network, the fee will only be payable if the customer chooses to accept the connection offer.” A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We are making solar cheaper and easier to install with our £15 billion Warm Homes Plan, the biggest homes upgrade programme in British history. “With grants and low interest loans, alongside new plug-in panels soon to hit supermarket shelves, we are ensuring everyone can take advantage of the benefits of home solar technology.”