Renewable Energy Discussion thread

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Chris_SVS

Drax has been burning biomass for a number of years and is phasing out coal within months if not already.. They're also planning to run two CCGTs

Drax is supposed to stop burning coal in March of this year. They burn wood chips sourced from the US, Sth America and Europe which are shipped to Immingham (on the Humber) then transported by train to Drax. The only benefit I've seen is that Cleethorpes beach is no longer covered in coal dust from the unloading spillage at Immingham.

They claim this is low carbon, renewable electricity which is a statement I have difficulty in believing. Drax gets subsidised for burning wood - a lot (£700+ million)

Naturally, there is a campaign (AxeDrax) to stop this:

https://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/axedrax-campaign/

[Chris_SVS]

Close Drax right now - where does the lost MW come from until they replant?

Not like it's a new scheme https://www.gov.uk/domestic-renewable-heat-incentive


The replant is a massive step forward in cleaner burning and efficiency, you get two generators(if not more) for one gas input. All you're really doing is recirculating exhaust heat to boil water for a steam turbine. To the point where you can have the turbine spinning offload pretty much all of the time and available within a few buttons press to generate, step up and grid. A bit like your central heating at home, it's more efficient left on and warm than being allowed to cool and reheat. A large part of the reasoning why older plant like Drax is being phased out, if it's not running and warm it takes hours to bring online and efficiency is lost in doing so.

**Sidenote - I routinely walk past our 275KV station, you can literally feel death in the air even though it's tucked away and controlled

[Ruffy]

Originally Posted by Chris_SVS

**Sidenote - I routinely walk past our 275KV station, you can literally feel death in the air even though it's tucked away and controlled

As a former Grid engineer, this made me chuckle. I recognise what I think you're describing but I've never heard it described as "death in the air". To (mis)quote the character from the Fast Show: 'Electromagnetic induction - in't it brilliant!'

It's all safe while it stays in the air. It's when it leaks out you really need to start worrying

[Chris_SVS]

Hopefully it stays in and is alert etc ��

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by svenrico

They obviously were cowboys if they didn't inspect the wall cavities to see if they were suitable for retro fill insulation , partial fill cavity walls aren't intended to be fully filled and a minimum cavity width is required anyway for full fill insulation. 300mm or maybe 350mm is the optimum thickness for loft insulation (between and over the ceiling joists ) Ordinary roof trusses aren't designed for loft storage . ps you will still be able to see the rafters and the joists are in line with the rafters !

I knew our cavities were already mostly filled with expanded polystyrene boards and I told the cowboy who came knocking on our door that all the houses on the estate had been built like that, didn't stop him knocking on all the other doors though - and I bet 99% of the people didn't know about the existing insulation

Actually the bloke came back when my wife was there ( and I wasn't ) he actually told my wife that the following year ( 2018 ) it would be 'illegal' to sell a house that didn't have cavity insulation. I was that ****ed off I wrote to MP and council about their 'cowboys' and their hard sell tactics.

Most government schemes mean well but are let down by the last step in the chain, the cowboy contractors who actually mess everything up..

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

I knew our cavities were already mostly filled with expanded polystyrene boards and I told the cowboy who came knocking on our door that all the houses on the estate had been built like that, didn't stop him knocking on all the other doors though - and I bet 99% of the people didn't know about the existing insulation

Actually the bloke came back when my wife was there ( and I wasn't ) he actually told my wife that the following year ( 2018 ) it would be 'illegal' to sell a house that didn't have cavity insulation. I was that ****ed off I wrote to MP and council about their 'cowboys' and their hard sell tactics.

Most government schemes mean well but are let down by the last step in the chain, the cowboy contractors who actually mess everything up..

Aren't these schemes supposed to use 'approved' contractors though ?!

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by svenrico

Aren't these schemes supposed to use 'approved' contractors though ?!

Local councils were responsible for giving contracts for the cavity insulation and probably use the same contractors they use for other things - Pikeys, the reason Pikeys can get onto all the schools and playing fields etc with their caravans is because the council has given them keys to carry out work - my Brother in law used to work for local council highways department and he told me.

A lot of the fly tipped rubbish cluttering the place up has been tracked back to local councils who gave it to unregistered 'contractors' to 'process' it -

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by svenrico

Aren't these schemes supposed to use 'approved' contractors though ?!

Typical gov approval criteria I think, fondle a pig with the PM or split the profits. Look at the green deal farce. There are 2 approved contractors in yorkshire, one is called 'green deal developments' and started trading two weeks after the scheme went live and other has a terrible rep. Needless to say no one is accessing it.

[ethariel]

I remember back in the 80's (when i was young) they came round to blast those ply beads into all the cavity walls in town, 2 days later there was a veritable tide of shifting drifting poly balls everywhere, literally knee deep in places.

No one had explained to them that you have to pump in what's essentially a glue with them or they literally just fall out of the air bricks.

And yes it was a company that had existed for only a few weeks all set up on the back of a HIDB grant, bloody cowboys.

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by Dave20046

Typical gov approval criteria I think, fondle a pig with the PM or split the profits. Look at the green deal farce. There are 2 approved contractors in yorkshire, one is called 'green deal developments' and started trading two weeks after the scheme went live and other has a terrible rep. Needless to say no one is accessing it.

If there are only 2 companies in Yorkshire doing this work does that mean J & J Crump ,the company who did my cavity wall insulation , falls into the latter category ?!
ps they did use an adhesive sprayed in together with the plastic beads to keep them in place.
pps Potential settling and leaving gaps or falling out of holes was an accepted problem with loose fill mineral wool cavity wall insulation.
pps I do have a concern with cavity wall insulation stopping at first floor ceiling level in cold roof situations. The gable wall to the roof space doesn't need to be filled for thermal insulation purposes, but if they don't take the cavity insulation up to roof level it leaves a bridge across the cavity for moisture to cross to the inner leaf ! In that situation a cavity tray and weep vents is really required.
oops ,sorry, wrong forum.