Jump to content
 

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium
22 minutes ago, Mike Storey said:

 

He intends to Appeal, against the Appeal Court's ruling. I presume that must mean the Supreme Court. That will cost a few bob, and may mean some blow-back...... They don't take prisoners there.

 

 

If they award costs against him, where will the money come from?

It will be a hefty bill and I wonder whether the crowd funding idiots will be prepared to stump up.

If not the bailiffs will be round!:jester:

 

It must be nice wasting other peoples dosh with, so far, no charge against him.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Zomboid said:

It's as though he'd rather people travelled by car.

 

Though with the ongoing rise of EVs that won't be such a long term environmental catastrophe. 

HS2 could be complete by the time we have made sufficient progress on this front.

  • Agree 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

If they award costs against him, where will the money come from?

It will be a hefty bill and I wonder whether the crowd funding idiots will be prepared to stump up.

If not the bailiffs will be round!:jester:

 

 

I suppose it will be too much to hope for that he will get a shadowban on Twitter and Facebook for spreading Fake News?

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Zomboid said:

It's as though he'd rather people travelled by car.

 

Though with the ongoing rise of EVs that won't be such a long term environmental catastrophe. 

 

Difficult to tell at this stage.

 

While EVs doing away with oil burning (at least directly), there is still lots of environmental damage from tyres and the building / maintaining of roads (and some places are resorting to concrete as climate change results in hotter weather) - and then there is the detail of making the batteries (including mining the raw materials) and dealing with them when they no longer hold sufficient charge.

 

Likely to be better, but as to how much?

  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not suggesting that EVs will provide an alternative to HS2, but the fact that the automotive industry is going that way at breakneck speed will alleviate the environmental impact of cars.

 

Of course, if the capacity of HS2 is not provided by rail, then I imagine we'd be looking at major expansion of the M1, M6 and M40. Which I'm sure the like of Chris Packham will be thoroughly in favour of.

  • Agree 2
  • Funny 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

One thing which annoys me about the whole process, in the UK anyway, of the supposed switch to "environmentally friendly" electricity is that a large proportion of is it produced now from imported timber. Now are those trees really being replaced at the rater they are being used? But of course that affects electric trains and electric cars equally, except for the batteries in the cars, as mentioned above. Also, doubts have been expressed recently about the previously assumed effectiveness of trees is trapping CO2.

But either way, trains are still more environmentally friendly than cars and lorries - and there seems to be no alternative to the diesel lorry in sight. I was pleased that a recent HS2 video stressed its role in allowing more freight on the railways, which will be needed regardless of commuting and other passenger travel.

Jonathan

  • Like 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

One thing which annoys me about the whole process, in the UK anyway, of the supposed switch to "environmentally friendly" electricity is that a large proportion of is it produced now from imported timber. 

 

I have never understood if it is such a good idea why it isn't done in the country the timber is grown in!

  • Like 1
  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Zomboid said:

It's as though he'd rather people travelled by car.

 

Though with the ongoing rise of EVs that won't be such a long term environmental catastrophe. 

 

6 hours ago, mdvle said:

 

Difficult to tell at this stage.

 

While EVs doing away with oil burning (at least directly), there is still lots of environmental damage from tyres and the building / maintaining of roads (and some places are resorting to concrete as climate change results in hotter weather) - and then there is the detail of making the batteries (including mining the raw materials) and dealing with them when they no longer hold sufficient charge.

 

Likely to be better, but as to how much?

Not to mention congestion, noise (mostly from tyres except when speeds are very low) and accidents.  

Edited by Edwin_m
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I was involved in a biomass plantation as a side project to a new bypass I was building. The local council planted a few fields they had bought as part of the bypass. They planted Birch trees which grew, were cut & replanted on a 3 year cycle.

 

Biomass Domestically also comes from scrap wood and by-products from timber milling.

 

i guess the reason the USA doesn’t use biomass much is Mr Trump and his promises to the coal miners though they also have widespread hydro & nuclear power stations.

 

our government seem to believe that green hydrogen is the answer, both for cars and trains. EVs are a short term transition.

  • Informative/Useful 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, black and decker boy said:

i guess the reason the USA doesn’t use biomass much is Mr Trump and his promises to the coal miners though they also have widespread hydro & nuclear power stations.

 

Nuclear is 19.7%, hydro is a mere 6.6% (compared to wind at 7.3%).

 

Coal is dying regardless of Trump as Natural Gas is cheaper and easier.

 

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3

  • Agree 1
  • Thanks 1
  • Informative/Useful 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, corneliuslundie said:

One thing which annoys me about the whole process, in the UK anyway, of the supposed switch to "environmentally friendly" electricity is that a large proportion of is it produced now from imported timber. Now are those trees really being replaced at the rater they are being used? But of course that affects electric trains and electric cars equally, except for the batteries in the cars, as mentioned above. Also, doubts have been expressed recently about the previously assumed effectiveness of trees is trapping CO2.

 

 

Only about 12% of UK electricity generation comes from BioMass (as of 3rd quarter 2019), a proportion which is likely to diminish in the long term - it was mainly introduced to "save" some, originally, coal burning stations. Some initiatives on domestic production have yielded a reduced reliance on imported pellets. There is reasonable consensus that saplings absorb far more CO2 than older trees.

 

The argument about cars becoming more environmentally friendly, only applies to locally generated pollutants. The mass of new vehicle production, whether hy-brid or fully electric, consumes far more energy and uses far more rare elements than ever before. There is also the disposal problem, as cited. Buses, on the other hand, have revealed a much better green footprint overall, but it is interesting that little has been done to transfer this technology to long distance coaches.

 

The previous eco argument against HS2 fails on all counts, when modal shift (for both passenger and freight) is taken into account, over 25 years or more. The only eco argument that may hold some water, is a possible decline in demand for travel overall, due to Covid-19 effects. There may be some short term truth in this, but, having witnessed (and suffered from) so many similar forecasts over the decades, whether from technology, working patterns, modal shift, demographics generally, and a few others, which were all used at various times to argue against badly needed rail investment, all of which proved to be wrong (after the 1960's anyway), I remain sceptical. 

 

 

  • Like 3
  • Agree 4
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

A new CGI graphic image of the Old Oak Common HS2 station.

The imagined viewing angle is looking south west, from the Grand Union Canal towpath, with the TfL Crossrail depot in the foreground.

 

 

 

EegLKKmXoAA0bf_?format=jpg&name=medium

If I have this right, it's a view nobody will ever see except in the very rare event of all 20 or so Crossrail sidings being empty.  

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, Edwin_m said:

If I have this right, it's a view nobody will ever see except in the very rare event of all 20 or so Crossrail sidings being empty.  

 

Some people would have us believe that by the time HS2 is up and running, nobody will be left working in London, with commuting all but disappearing.

So I suppose you could imagine a future where all the Crossrail trains have been retired due to lack of demand and recycled to make Woks and push bikes.  :jester:

 

In all seriousness though, with the level of detail that's been coded in to render that canal side landscape, it's surprising that they've left the trains out.

Unless they would have obscured the view of the station.

 

 

 

.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
2 hours ago, Grovenor said:

Given that the view from the towpath looks down on the train roofs they would not obscure the view to any significant extent.

Except there's a ruddy great fence in the way.

Like this:

https://goo.gl/maps/awZxpYBwXRdnR38T8

 

Or from the footbridge:

https://goo.gl/maps/Dgq7X4wTGqyY9ANt6

Edited by melmerby
  • Funny 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

A stretch of the M42 will be closed near the NEC from tonight (Friday) until the early hours of Monday morning, so that the new HS2 road bridge can be moved into position and installed.

This is the first significant structure being built as part of the HS2 project.

 

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Agree 1
  • Thanks 1
  • Informative/Useful 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...