Copenhagen Climate Change Petition

[jimbeekeeper]

I can beat that. R reg 1997 Golf VR6 160K miles from 2 years old (I would never buy a new car, too much lost in them first couple of years), never any issues with it, and pennies per year in normal wear and tear fixes.

I expect to have it way past 200k miles and maybe more.

OH has a 7 year old car, but that is just a 1.0L engine compared to my 2.8L V6.

Also we do have solar water heating, and we are very pleased with it. There are many (more than two!) reasons why I installed it (flat panels). I do agree with M100 cals, but there are a couple of other factors, that in my case I would give about 10 years payback, but as stated that is not the issue.

Lost insulation is about 400mm deep, thanks not to a grant but it was cheaper to buy via Focus DIY when I got a special about 60p per role (in my parent OAP discount), cavity wall also done. Some people do question this ref wet /dry walls etc, and there have been issues of wall ties, but V the numbers done it is nothing.

But dont forget ventilation, when adding insulation, you still need ventilation.

Closing curtains also helps even with double glazing.

I am not a great believer in energy saving bulbs ref, energy to produce and mercury inside, but at 5 for 10p when Tescos did an offer, I bought about £5 worth, and they did make a difference in electricity usage.

But the more you get into this, yes physical changes do help, but your mind set also changes and you TURN THINGS OFF when you are not using them.

But our down side is our holidays, we like them, far and distant in warm places and often on large ships! so not only the flight to get half way round the world but also 2 weeks chugging along in a big boat.

Its not easy being green, but is also not cheap being green
.

 

[Frisbee]

got it! You're one of the unfortunately few who has the sense to do what you do....... I was having visions of a £1 in the slot meter on the telly and fridge so other family members had to cough up to "make it pay"...........

Never thought of that.............

I must confess to having always been utterly gobsmacked at people who quite happily regularly buy new cars, and chop them in for another new one every 2-3 years, just so they've got the newest reg no..........

To be fair the ones I know with "new" cars.....they don't own them, they are part of the work package, although I'm sure plenty of the others exist.

I was looking round after my last post, as you had taken what I'd said the wrong way There's very little in my house which has actually been bought by me from new, most of my furniture has come from auctions and car-boots, and the only new clothes I ever buy is underwear, everything else is from charity shops.
But............having been brought up in the 50's and 60's, my central heating is one of the last things I will give up

Frisbee

 

[SixFooter]

I work for a company that has a so called green agenda. The manager in charge of all things green recently went scuba diving in the Carribean! Shortly after his return he got very angry because someone had left a laptop power supply on overnight! Not sure what the calculation would be to work out how many power supplies woudl have to be left on over night to use as much carbon as a trip to Cuba. - and anyway, it would just be another meaningless airy fairy green statistic.

 

[MuswellMetro]

I can beat that. R reg 1997 Golf VR6 160K miles from 2 years old
.

My run about is a 1996 P reg Golf 1.9 Diesel ( non Turbo) that i run on 40/60 OSR/diesel winter and up to 80/20 in summer

just a simple wrap round of the diesel fuel line of the top radiator hose

slightly less power but quieter..though a Mc Donald smell seem to prevail in the drive and 0-60 in 18 seconds seems is ok with me though can make boy racers a bit angry

just started up at minus 1C and heavy snow with a bit of a lumpy start and two preheats on key before starting up to put it away in the garage. though might put a blanket on the engine and put a dash of petrol in the fuel filter tonight, if it gets colder

for other more robust duties..an 88" landrover thats probalbly responsible for enough Co2 to to melt most of greenland if i ran it every day.....but its got snow chains...and 6" is predicted over night

 

[Frisbee]

My present vehicle is on 172,000, my previous two went to 280,000 and 250,000, before we had to part company, this one is a Vauxhall Astra TD and does a very nice 58 mpg. I seriously considered the oil route for my last vehicle, but don't have enough technical know-how to back myself up.

Frisbee

 

[MuswellMetro]

My present vehicle is on 172,000, my previous two went to 280,000 and 250,000, before we had to part company, this one is a Vauxhall Astra TD and does a very nice 58 mpg. I seriously considered the oil route for my last vehicle, but don't have enough technical know-how to back myself up.

Frisbee

i only know VW ,the main problem is that veg oil corrodes most older flexible fuel lines, but since 1990 all VW or VAG group engines have correct flexible lines for veg oil so can use a mixe of OSR/diesel, i statred with 20/80

you cannot use it with the VW high pressure new "pump Duse" systems as it either clogs the breather values or blows the injectors, so you have to stick to Mk 3 and Mk4 Golf diesels

i know that fords until recently had to be re kitted with new flexible line to use Veg Oil

and "High O acid " OSR is best as corn oil makes to much coke,( £160 for a new head on my 88"LR was not a saving for using Corn oil instead of OSR) other problem can be diesel bug if water gets into the tank...nasty bacteria that turn the veg oil/diesel mix to a jelly that clogs the pump

at 50/50 you need a bit of extra heat in winter, so you either use an eleltric pre heater or wrap the fuel line near a water heat source

pucker systems use two tanks like gas cars, but with 70-80p per ltre for high O OSR in bulk , i prefer the cheeper fuel line fix on my limited milage

you need to keep receipts for your veg oil, 1000lts max in any finacuial year without fuel tax becoming payable

never used filter chip fat as i think it would coke up, better to make biodiesel with that

PS my 1972 88" LR has 25,000 on the clock..someone wanted to buy it as it was low milage......oops..its third time around and second engine,... after, 99,999 it resets to zero

 

[Frisbee]

I looked for my last vehicle which was an Isuzu space cab pick-up, I looked into the dual with a seperate tank for oil, but I use so much and have no storage facilities.........when I sold it and bought the Astra, it just went on and on and on, it does twice as many mpg as the Isuzu did I sold it just in time, before the fuel price rocketed.......

Frisbee

 

[Hivemaker.]

MM, have they reduced the quantity of oil you can use before paying duty recently,as it was 2,500 litres.


Tax on Vegetable Oil

The tax or fuel duty you have to pay on Vegetable Oil when burnt in your car varies from country to country. In the UK the law has changed several times in the last few years. Prior to 2005 you had to register the fuel and pay 28.35p per litre of vegetable oil used, then in 2005 it was changed to 48.35p/litre which is the standard fuel duty to pay on Diesel. Then in 2006 it was changed again so that there was an exemptio on using less than 2500litres per year, anything after that and you have to pay the 48.35p/litre. To put this in context that is around 40 tanks of fuel for an average car of 60 litres. For average driving this would take you around 8000miles. Given that if you use over 2500 litres of vegetable oil a year you need to register and pay full duty on the fuel you may be better off diluting the oil down with Diesel or simply only using the Vegetable Oil in the summer months.

http://www.whatgas.com/fuel/vegetable-diesel.aspx

 

[jimbeekeeper]

for other more robust duties..an 88" landrover thats probalbly responsible for enough Co2 to to melt most of greenland if i ran it every day.....but its got snow chains...and 6" is predicted over night

Only recently I sold my 1967 SIIa SWB with a 3.5 V8 in, what it did to the mpg I do not know, I just put petrol in when it needed it!

It's chassis was like the old "only fools and horses" joke about the sweeping brush.

" I have had the same brush for 30 years, only needing to replace the head 10 times and the handle 15!"

One day again I will get another landy. Idealy a S1 SWB, with of course a V8!

 

[MuswellMetro]

MM, have they reduced the quantity of oil you can use before paying duty recently,as it was 2,500 litres.


]

thanks, had not picked that up, still as 50/50 mix i am well in 2500lt

 

[m100]

I work for a company that has a so called green agenda. The manager in charge of all things green recently went scuba diving in the Carribean! Shortly after his return he got very angry because someone had left a laptop power supply on overnight! Not sure what the calculation would be to work out how many power supplies woudl have to be left on over night to use as much carbon as a trip to Cuba. - and anyway, it would just be another meaningless airy fairy green statistic.

OK, what follows is 'another meaningless airy fairy green statistic"

Assume a 100W laptop power supply

100W power supply for 15 hours from 6pm to 9am

is 1.5kWh

You can safely assume UK generation produces around 0.5kg of CO2 per kWh

Or one laptop psu per 15 hour night is 0.75kg of CO2

From data at http://www.thecarbonaccount.com

A return flight of 4563 miles from Manchester to Havana produces 4.34 metric tonnes of CO2

4340/0.75 = 5786 laptop psu nights, or around 15 years 10 months and 7 days at 15 hours per day.

Of course, the compressor he used to fill his air tank would also have a rather large carbon footprint, but be buggered if I'm going to work out what it is.

 

[Apis]

What a fabulous debate. It's clear that not everybody is convinced by the 'man made' aspect of global warming and given the recent history of governments deceiving their electorate by manipulating the statistics of threats, I'm not surprised. Many scientists don't believe in the man made bit but their voices are never heard above the hysterical chattering of the doom and gloom faithful. As Western governments are clearly all about taxation and control (with the care of their populations some way down the political food chain), why are they all jumping on this 'bandwagon'? It can't be a sense of guilt, they don't appear to have one so is it about popular support? I can't tell. Maybe it's a simple diversion away from the real truths, you know the one's, lying about Iraq's capabilities, allowing their buddies in the banking system to rip us all off, claiming expenses that are clearly not in the public interest, the scandal that is the N.H.S, lack of border controls, the explosion of the government executive in size, power and cost, the use of so called national security laws to persecute dog walkers and to ensure parents wishing their kids to attend a certain school, live in the right catchment area, the cheapskate and begrudging support of the forces implementing their wishes. We could all add to the list but I'm beginning to bore myself yet alone...

... Just tell me it's not all about research grants.

 

[Black Comb]

You've missed out the grandstanding opportunity for these over-inflated egos.

 

[Somerford]

My G Reg Landrover CSW has done in excess of 185,000 miles, on it's 3rd engine. If that isn't recycling I don't know what is.

Both other vehicles are diesel vw/skodas with over 115,000 on the clock each.

Not much rust between them.....so they'll be kept for a while yet !

 

[Brosville]

"given the recent history of governments deceiving their electorate by manipulating the statistics of threats"
-if only it were! Much as I find swimming with the majority a peculiar feeling, there really is little question that we are rapidly heading towards the ecological abyss. The recent "hacking" nonsense was carefully stage-managed by vested interests to try to derail the Copenhagen climate talks, and those "Many scientists don't believe in the man made bit" are in fact a vanishingly tiny few, led by the likes of the dreadful Fred Singer, who is in the pay of Exxon and the nuclear lobby.......
Much as I completely agree about amoral control-freak governments, we are facing several ecological horsemen of our collective apocalypse (climate, pollution, overpopulation, depletion of resources etc), and the only voices raised against that fact are not from governments, but the totally amoral multinational US-based corporations who depend upon raping the planet for their survival.... (See Exxon, Big Ag, GM, Big Pharma, the coal,oil and nuclear lobbies)

 

[jimbeekeeper]

"given the recent history of governments deceiving their electorate by manipulating the statistics of threats"
-

Was it just me that did not see all the body bags in the road that the goverment was predicting due to swine flu deaths?

 

[jimbeekeeper]

... Just tell me it's not all about research grants.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Perhaps we need Michel de Nostredame to let us know what is going to happen to planet earth in the future.

 

[Frisbee]

Perhaps we need Michel de Nostredame to let us know what is going to happen to planet earth in the future.

It's going to be cold tonight, if that's any help...................

Frisbee

 

[Hivemaker.]

Thats a great start Fris,a good short term psychic prediction,is it your own,or compliments of that other great psychic institution the met office.