SteamyTea

Yes. It does depend on what the aim is. Noise is just a change in air pressure, which is usually short term in a house (you can unplug the TV/PCs and Stereos). Living next to a very busy road, on a hill, by a roundabout, is very different from dealing with strange noises from a bathroom.

"From tiny acorns, mighty oaks do grow" (before you know it, you are a self builder, which is shorthand for a gibbering, bankrupt, wreck, who has had no life for a decade)

By the time you have used a dozen EPC assessors, to find the one that gives you the result you want, it would be cheaper to just put the house right. I really don't think it is sensible to suggest that the assessor is asked to cheat. I have had too many experiences recently dealing with cheating and lying customers. No one benefits.

Resilience bars are just springs (simple harmonic motion rules). One end should be fitted solidly to the wall/stud/whatever, while the other end is free to move, unhindered. If the free end (the side the plasterboard screws to) is rubbing against the wall, then there is unnecessary friction, this needs to be avoided. So I would take it all down, move the bars a few millimetres, and reattach the plasterboard. As you are double boarding, are your resilience bars rated for the extra load? To use an automotive analogy, imagine you are driving over a speed bump and your front suspension bottoms out, then you run over a brick, your suspension has used up all its travel, so all the loads are now transmitted directly to the bodywork. Basically, you have no suspension or damping.

I won't show them this then. Environment The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away The floating ice shelf of world’s widest glacier – Thwaites glacier in Antarctica – is detaching, with worrying implications for global sea-level rise By Alison George 18 May 2026 The Araon, a South Korean ice-breaker vessel, navigates a bed of sea ice near the Thwaites glacier in January 2026 Chang W. Lee/New York Times/ Redux/eyevine Antarctica’s most threatened glacier is about to be further destabilised, as the floating ice shelf in front of Thwaites glacier is set to break away. “Its final demise could happen suddenly, and to avoid being caught on the hop, we have already prepared an ‘obituary’ press release,” says Rob Larter at the British Antarctic Survey. Dubbed the “doomsday glacier”, Thwaites is about the size of Britain, but it is shrinking rapidly and is already responsible for 4 per cent of all global sea-level rise. Worse still, its collapse is expected to set off a domino effect in the entire West Antarctic ice sheet, ultimately resulting in a calamitous sea-level rise of 3.3 metres and changing the coastline of the entire planet. Many Antarctic glaciers form ice shelves that float out onto the ocean and buttress against the flow of ice from the continent. Thwaites glacier has one on its eastern front, known as Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (TEIS), that is about the size of Greater London – 1500 square kilometres – and 350 metres thick. But satellite images show alarming signs that this will imminently detach. In fact, by some measures, this break-up is already under way. “Suddenly, large areas are just falling to pieces,” says Christian Wild at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. “It looks like a windscreen that’s shattering.” Huge fractures are opening up around the pinning point – where the ice shelf’s floating front is held in place by a raised ridge on the ocean floor – and along the grounding line, the point where the glacier meets the ocean and starts to float. “It’s dramatic. I was there in 2019/2020 and when I look at the satellite images now, I don’t recognise the shelf. There are huge gashes where there used to be none,” says Karen Alley at the University of Manitoba in Canada, who has been analysing how this break-up is playing out. For a start, the ice has been thinned by melting due to changes in ocean circulation. Shifts in the ice-flow dynamics also mean that the shelf is now being slammed into the pinning point, tearing the ice apart. “It’s gone from a thick, strong ice shelf that is very well grounded on this pinning point to a thin, weak ice shelf that is now splitting apart around the point that used to stabilise it,” says Alley. The ice shelf’s demise is also signalled by a dramatic speed-up in its flow rate. “It’s tripled from January 2020 to January 2026, to just over 2000 metres per year, which is nuts,” says Wild. And in the past five months, the flow has accelerated further. “It’s essentially in free fall now.” At the same time, new rifts are opening up along the grounding line. “They started appearing in the last few years as the shelf began to accelerate significantly,” says Ted Scambos at the University of Colorado at Boulder. All this means that the ice shelf is tearing away from the glacier. Exactly when the final break-up will occur is hard to determine. “Predicting ice shelf break-off or collapse has similarities to trying to predict earthquakes,” says Larter. “You can tell that an event is on its way, but its timing depends on… processes that are impossible to predict accurately. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next satellite image I see shows the ice shelf breaking up, but neither would I dismiss the possibility that I might still be saying the same thing this time next year.” If you imagine that this will result in a giant iceberg suddenly floating off into the ocean, however, you might be disappointed. The geography of the area means that the detached ice is likely to remain stuck nearby, and the TEIS is unlikely to break off in one huge piece, as it is already quite fractured. Although the break-off of huge icebergs often make front-page news, what really matters for glaciologists is the loss of the ice shelf’s buttressing power. The shelf is “gone” when it stops holding back the upstream flow, says Wild. As a result, the glacier speeds up and flows more quickly into the ocean. In a study soon to be published, Wild and his colleagues show that between January 2020 and 2026, the flow of the glacier ice previously buttressed by the TEIS increased by around 33 per cent. “There is clear evidence that there’s very little buttressing in this area any more,” he says. So, by this measure, the ice shelf has already broken free. This is concerning for future sea levels around the world. “That means more ice unloaded from Antarctica, more ice dumped into the ocean and more sea-level rise,” says Scambos, though he stresses that this isn’t an immediate crisis – rather, a slowly unfolding one that will hit home in decades. “It’s going to influence the way Thwaites evolves and how fast it gets to that point where it’s contributing 10 or 20 per cent to sea-level rise in the future.” By 2067, it is estimated that Thwaites will be losing about 190 gigatonnes of ice per year, according to a study published in January by Daniel Goldberg at the University of Edinburgh and his colleagues. This is a 30 per cent increase from today’s loss from the glacier, and equivalent to the total amount of ice currently being lost from Antarctica. It is important to stress that, while ice shelves calving off icebergs is part of the normal cycle in polar regions, there is now a trend towards increasing loss. “Since the 1990s, we’ve been watching ice shelves destabilise,” says Alley. For instance, Pine Island glacier – adjacent to Thwaites – is experiencing rapid change too, with its ice shelf also disintegrating. “Ice shelves are only really stable when it’s quite cold,” says Alley. “The ocean has to be cold and the atmosphere has to be cold. But we’re warming the world and we’re losing the ice shelves, and that’s exactly what you’d expect.”

What are the cars worth. If less than a garage, then build a shed. Or, buy a newer car that can stay outside all the time. Keep it long enough and it will become a classic.

One of the things I learnt, when doing my teacher training, is about breaking down the student's 'mental models'. This is an interesting area and crops up in everyday life all the time. Just yesterday, I was having a coffee with Simone and we got talking about cars. Her husband likes to renovate and show old Fords. The conversation moved onto EVs. She stated that they take hours to recharge, catch fire and the batteries only last a few years. Asking where she got this information from, her reply was "my mechanic". There is no way she will be convinced otherwise as all she has ever known is a petrol engines car. This is, in part, why we have legislation to force change. Now there is always a risk that bad legislation gets passed, setting off a chain of unexpected consequences i.e. CFC, leaded fuels, the right to bear arms, and there will always be cheaters, but generally, legislation is well thought through and enforced. The term 'Net Zero's has been, what we now call, weaponised. This is just (expletive deleted)ing bonkers. All that is happening is that we are transitioning our energy sources to a more controllable systems.

It also suggest that the French only need 32 litres of hot water. Accounts for a lot. Actually that is a good study. The counter intuitive "greater affect at night" is possibly the important part from a health perspective. By keeping the daytime temperatures as low as possible, more time below a critical temperature happens.

The price would drop to 3p/kWh if they did.

Would need to be a tried and tested one.

UK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warns Landmark report calls for widespread air conditioning and says UK temperatures forecast to exceed 40C by 2050 Fiona Harvey Environment editor Wed 20 May 2026 00.01 BST British homes will need air conditioning to survive predicted levels of global heating, the government’s climate advisers have warned in a report, as measures such as drawing curtains, opening windows and growing trees for shade are not likely to be enough. Air conditioning should be installed in all care homes and hospitals within the next 10 years, and in all schools within 25 years, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which published a major report on adapting to the impacts of global heating on Wednesday. The government should also set a maximum temperature for working, indoors and outdoors, the advisers said. The UK should prepare for 2C of global heating by 2050, as attempts to limit temperatures to 1.5C above preindustrial levels under the Paris agreement appeared likely to fail. Heatwaves are expected to exceed 40C in all parts of the UK by 2050. Periods of hot weather will be longer, which could lead to an additional 10,000 heat-related deaths a year. About nine in 10 UK homes are likely to overheat. Julia King, the chair of the adaptation subcommittee of the CCC, said of the many climate threats laid out in the report, extreme heat posed the most immediate risk to life. “Extreme heat is certainly the most deadly of the climate impacts on the UK, so we need to see cooling rolled out at scale,” she said. “Sometimes this will mean shading, but sometimes it will mean air conditioning. And either way, we’ve got to get serious about protecting our most vulnerable people in hospitals, in care homes, and in schools.” Current air conditioning systems are seen as energy-intensive, accounting for about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Photograph: mar-fre/Alamy In 2022, when temperatures rose above 40C, it resulted in about 3,000 excess deaths, with periods of extreme heat likely to become “the new normal”. Rather than install cooling everywhere, people could choose to have one cool room to be used during heatwaves, the report said. However, air conditioning is energy-intensive, accounting for about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. More efficient modern systems can use heat pumps, which are already subsidised by the government to replace gas boilers, but these are rarely installed at present. Sam Alvis, the head of energy security at the IPPR thinktank, called for more solar panels on roofs, alongside air conditioning. “We are going to have to get used to being a hot country, which is quite a mindset shift for the UK,” he said. “Air conditioning is actually a great pair for solar from an energy system point of view because it matches supply and demand, and your aircon is only going to be needed above certain temperatures.” Emma Howard Boyd, a professor in practice at the London School of Economics, said heat was already killing people, but received too little attention. “Heat resilience cannot continue to be treated as an afterthought,” she said. “It belongs alongside flood preparedness and water security at the very top of the national resilience agenda and the wider prosperity of the UK.” The climate crisis is costing the UK about £60bn a year, or about 2% of GDP, including flood damages and the loss of crops to farmers. “The UK was built for a climate that no longer exists today and will be increasingly distant in years to come,” the report found. Low water levels at a reservoir in Longdendale, UK. The report suggests by 2050 the shortfall in the water supply could reach 5bn litres every day. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images The committee also found: The 7m UK properties at risk of flooding could increase by 40% by 2050, without action, and peak flow in rivers could be 45% higher. Sea levels will increase by 20cm to 45cm, putting some coastal areas at risk, and heavy rainfall intensity could increase by 60%. By the end of the century, if temperatures rise by 4C, the storm surges that currently occur once every 100 years would happen every year. Natural flood defences, such as wetlands and “rewiggling” rivers, will not be enough, and more concrete flood barriers will be needed. Droughts will also become much more frequent: river flows are likely to be about a third lower in summer than they were 20 years ago, and by 2050 the shortfall in the water supply could reach 5bn litres every day – the equivalent of about 2,000 Olympic swimming pools, or a small reservoir. More reservoirs must be built, to avoid the serious risk of the taps running dry. By 2100, summers as dry as 2018 and 1976 would become the norm. Even by 2050, the number of high-risk days for wildfires are likely to double, and the wildfire season will extend into early autumn. Schools should consider the impact of heat on pupils taking exams, not only related to classroom temperature but also to pupils’ ability to sleep at night when temperatures remain above 20C. Domestic food production is under threat, and the government should take steps to ensure at least 60% of the UK’s food continues to be produced here. Food prices will rise under the impact of reduced crop yields for UK farmers, with potential disasters overseas. Protecting people and infrastructure would cost about £11bn a year, the CCC estimated, with about half coming from the private sector. Every £1 spent would yield about £5 in benefits, however, and the UK invests 50 times this amount every year, some of it on infrastructure that exacerbates the climate crisis or vulnerability to it. The cost of failure to act is rising, from about £60bn a year, and could reach £260bn a year in just over two decades. None of the UK’s existing national adaptation plans – which are produced by each of the devolved governments – was fit for purpose, the CCC found. Preparing for the impact of the climate crisis, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to lessen the impact, should be treated as national security issues, King said. “With the right decisions, we can protect the people and the places we love,” she said. “So, the strong message is that decline is a choice, it’s a political choice, it’s not inevitable. We can do something about it.” Water supplies also require urgent action. “We are facing a potential world where in 2050 you could turn the tap on and nothing would come out,” King said. “We need more new reservoirs. We need to be able to move water around the country. We need to address leaks, and we need to address water efficiency.” Emma Reynolds, the secretary of state for the environment, made no new financial commitment after the CCC’s advice, but said the government was already acting. “We have invested a record £2.65bn to repair and build flood defences, protecting tens of thousands of homes and businesses, and have deployed the largest nature-friendly farming budget in history to support sustainable food production and security,” she said.

He wants me as his model

Why don't you just stick to that in the dungeon. All you need is a working webcam and your OnlyFans page.

https://www.makeuseof.com/claude-chatgpt-gemini-broken-javascript-debug-one-found-cause/

For existing housing stock, why not insist to see the energy bills. Add them together and divide by the livable floor area. Easy to compare then. Of course that only matters if people are bothered by the energy usage.

I have no idea either, and not Googling it to find out. Maybe he is the turd burglar and he needs something bigger to move his swag.

Why not a fixed camera and a movable mirror. Or

Try these two. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001jc1l https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001vldk

The USA and China have larger populations and economies, and are doing their bit to help. China has probably peaked in CO2 emissions. I am not sure why installing the cheapest forms of power is perceived as hurting our economy. The main reason that we are not investigate in R&D and manufacturing is that the UK does the business end, not the dirty end.

Old news. My comic mentioned it 12 months ago, and it wasn't new then. Environment Carbon-negative cement can be made with a mineral that helps catch CO2 A process to dissolve the mineral olivine in acid could provide a plentiful, energy-efficient material for carbon-negative cement James Dinneen 1 May 2024, updated 22 January 2025 A sample of cement made from the mineral olivine, which can also help sequester carbon during production. A sample of cement made from the mineral olivine, which can help sequester carbon during production. An abundant mineral called olivine can help make carbon-negative cement. This process could help tackle cement’s large carbon footprint – the material contributes about 8 per cent of global CO2 emissions. Olivine is one of the main components of Earth’s mantle and reserves sit on every continent. “It’s one of the few minerals that is available at the gigatonne scale,” says Sam Draper at Seratech, a UK-based company that has patented a process to turn olivine into cement. Dozens of start-ups like Seratech are developing low-carbon methods to produce cement, such as supplementing with steel by-products or recycling the CO2 released in cement production. Most emissions occur when heating limestone to produce clinker, a binder in cement, along with burning fossil fuels to generate the heat. Net-zero living: How your day will look in a carbon-neutral world Draper and his colleagues looked to the more abundant olivine to find a replacement for some of the usual clinker. Olivine contains silica, which makes cement stronger and more durable. Magnesium sulphate can also be extracted from it, and this salt reacts with CO2 to form minerals that sequester the gas. The researchers extracted these compounds by dissolving powdered olivine in sulphuric acid. After separating the silica and magnesium sulphate, they bubbled CO2 through the magnesium slurry to form a mineral called nesquehonite. To scale up the process, Draper says a cement plant would use CO2 captured from an emissions source or from the air, rendering the entire process carbon negative. The leftover nesquehonite could be recycled into new construction materials like bricks. Replacing 35 per cent of the regular cement in a concrete mix with silica from this process would produce a carbon-neutral cement, the researchers estimated, while subbing 40 per cent or more would make it carbon negative. Draper says current building standards allow this type of material to replace up to 55 per cent of cement, although he says they haven’t yet made enough of it for robust testing. The process utilises well-known reactions, says Rafael Santos at the University of Guelph in Canada, but offers a novel and “reasonable” way to combine them. However, some of the chemicals involved may prove tricky to recycle, he says. Journal reference Royal Society Open Science DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231645

Quite right, there are a number of factors that change the numbers. A PV farm in Madrid, New York or Toronto, will probably outperform a similar sized on in the UK, and the Sahara. So the embodied energy/CO2e payback time (when compared to global averages) will be shorter. Perversely, the lower the global emission become, the longer the payback becomes. We are a long way off that at the moment. When gas, coal and oil are combusted to generate electricity, the carbon costs of fuel extraction need to be taken into account. This is not always done correctly as there is a difference between open cast and deep mine mining. But I think you will find that RE generation is sub 50 g/kWh and FF are greater than 250 g/kWh. That is a 5 to 1 difference, and you don't have to drill, dig, transport or processes the wind and sunshine.

Turbines, even small one, are mature technology, with the majority of the price being the tower, blades and inverter. The actural generator is the cheap bit. PV, while when understood technology 25 years ago, was a minor player, but as it initially rode on the back of the semi-conductor industry, and could use silicone billets that were not good enough for higher end computer 'stuff', there were opportunities to cheaply get all the rest of the components (glass, frame, backing and a little wiring) in place, before extra expense of silicone was needed. The engineers with vision, soon realised that PV produces more energy per unit land area than wind power, even with the technology for the early 2000s. This may seem counter intuitive, but you cannot cluster wind turbines too close together, and with all things 'energy', the larger the better. The other big difference is that it is a global market, so the USA, Canada and Germany soon outsourced the PV technology to China. China wanted to increase its domestic energy production, were willing to subsides the industry, and more importantly, take a 30 year view on it. The rest is history. Just had a look at the price of a Britwind 5kW "Please consider a budget of between £35,000 and £40,000 + vat for a fully installed H5 wind turbine, depending on tower type (there is currently 0% vat on new domestic installations)" So prices have doubled since I was involved with making them, which when I think about it, was 19 years ago. It is probably not that windy in real terms, and not a 'clean wind'. Height is the key. Then there is the distribution, which is not linear, it follows a Weibull distribution pretty well. Basically the higher the mean wind speed, the more often you get even higher wind speeds, and as power from a turbine is proportional to the cube of the wind speed, you need to start with a high mean. A quick look at my local satellite data shown that over Land's End, at the moment. with wind speed is 6.7 m.s-1 at the surface. Now when studying weather, especially wind speed, it is more normal to use air pressure than altitude. It is currently 1003 hPa. Going upwards a little to where the air pressure is 1000 hPa, the wind speed is 7.4 m.s-1 , a lot higher to where is is 850 hPa, the WS is 9.3 m.s-1 (that is about 1500 m high). So to get a good yield out of a small turbine, you need to put it at the top of Ben Nevis, on a 300 m tower. Small turbines have dreadful efficiency, probably no more than 30% (efficiency is based on the maximum energy that could be extracted, Betz Law). Larger turbines are around 50 to 55%. Don't get me wrong, I like turbines, but you would be better off spending the money on a diesel generator.

Short answer is no. Get in touch with this lot, I suspect it is about £3k/kW installed. https://www.britwind.co.uk/products/

Is that leaking by any chance?

It is so that you can pick up the twinks and bears. Sorry, mistyped, twigs and branches.