Windfarm anyone?

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by churchfcrules

i have virgin, so tv doesnt bother me, I'm alright jack! lol

It will when the electric cuts off!

[churchfcrules]

dynamo n bike on bricks it is then!

[davemac]

I like them, I find them impressive, and photogenic. Apart from visibility, they have not had any effect on me, I may feel different if they goosed my telly.

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by Gremlin

It suppose it would be Dinorwig Barrie, I called it Llanberis because that is where the visitors centre is and where the underground tour starts.
If you look back at the pictures of the brochure I scanned it does state it is at Llanberis.

I noticed that G but was really confused. It is some years since I was there and I approached from a different direction than from Llanberis Pass. I have the vision that the 2 lakes on the road into Llanberis are at a similar level - actually camped in the valley in I suppose '53/54 with AGS. Maybe the grey cells have emigrated at last

[Neil]

Originally Posted by maxthecollie

Ugly, Obscene they blocked off my tv reception

Thats because you are in a fringe reception area and you had your aerial pointing to the wrong transmitter. Your complaint should not be about windfarms but about being unable to receive the same channels from repeater masts as you can from the main masts.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I hate the things. They are useless lumps of ugly engineering.......they blight the landscape and make very little electricity, but lots of money for foreign companies(although the blades are made in the Isle of Wight).
If we really are serious about green energy then we have to look at tidal power.
We have a vast coastline, tides that are reliable and this could generate power on an impressive scale....far better than these inefficient turbines ever could.

[lazeeboy]

Picture the scene, Outside it is a frosty winter's day, snow all around.
The trees look beautiful covered in snow, not a breath of wind to disturb the picture.
You're sat by you electric fire, which isn't functioing because the wind turbines are not turning.

Yes hydro power is the wayforward.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by lazeeboy

Picture the scene, Outside it is a frosty winter's day, snow all around.
The trees look beautiful covered in snow, not a breath of wind to disturb the picture.
You're sat by you electric fire, which isn't functioing because the wind turbines are not turning.

Yes hydro power is the wayforward.

Except when the tide turns and all the lights go out. There is no single solution

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I hate the things. They are useless lumps of ugly engineering.......they blight the landscape and make very little electricity, but lots of money for foreign companies(although the blades are made in the Isle of Wight).
If we really are serious about green energy then we have to look at tidal power.
We have a vast coastline, tides that are reliable and this could generate power on an impressive scale....far better than these inefficient turbines ever could.

How are you measuring the efficiency of them?
They use no fuel as such so you can't look at the ratio between the energy in the fuel and the amount of electricity generated as you would most other forms of generation

[susie123]

At least we are building wind turbines which go some way if only a little to meeting our demands. We're still wrangling about where new nuclear stations should be and the likelihood of a Severn barrage seems as far off as ever.

We need a mixture of all forms of supply to make sure the lights stay on - and we need it now, not in twenty years time.

Nuclear power in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BBC News - Severn barrage: Pre-election consent not likely - Barker

Severn Barrage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by Neil

Except when the tide turns and all the lights go out. There is no single solution

The tide 'turns' at at different times all round the UK so there will never be a time when every hydro generator is dead at the same time.
Get a good high pressure zone over the UK and every wind turbine could be sat there asleep generating nothing except cash for its foreign owners.

No, I agree there is no single solution but if we don't build nuclear and gas power stations soon you'll be checking your(wind up) clock to see if it's your turn to switch the lights on.
Half the Government are on the boards of 'Green Energy' companies so how unbiased is it?
We're sat on 300 years of coal which we can't mine or use and 50 to 100 years of gas in Lancashire and we're held to ransom by power companies, all foreign owned, who won't build gas generators because they'd be on standby half the time and won't build nuclear stations because we won't guarantee them an obscene amount per KW.
Will the German and French companies care if our power is off half the time? It won't go off in Germany or France so no problem.
No, they'll say it's in short supply so they'll have to charge us more for the bit we get.
We're sinking under the weight of incompetence.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I looked at a site where the efficiency of these objects was measured....it is quite a while ago now, and I can't remember which site itwas(ah the joys of getting older)....but the figures were abysmal for the outlay.......and it was noted that they could not be turned on in certain conditions.
While I accept that tides come and go, isn't it possible for the electricity which is generated by the tides to be stored?....and at least the tides are going to turn up twice each day....without fail...which cannot be said of the wind.

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

While I accept that tides come and go, isn't it possible for the electricity which is generated by the tides to be stored?....and at least the tides are going to turn up twice each day....without fail...which cannot be said of the wind.

Margaret, replacement battery packs for those silly electric cars can cost over £10,000 and they're basically thousands of watch batteries wired together. And the stupid cars still won't do much over 100 miles.
And as the electric they use comes from gas/coal/atomic stations which are only 60% efficient the cars aren't that green anyway.
At the moment we don't have any way of storing bulk electricity- we have to generate it as we want it. And when we wan't it-not just when it's windy!

[Margaret Pilkington]

Well how did the economy seven system work then....I thought it stored electricity overnight to use during the day.
Yes, I have always thought the electric cars were a bit daft.........after all the power still has to be generated, but hope is on the horizon...I'm sure I read that someone has made an engine that runs on water....causes no pollution and is 'green'.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

Margaret, replacement battery packs for those silly electric cars can cost over £10,000 and they're basically thousands of watch batteries wired together. And the stupid cars still won't do much over 100 miles.
And as the electric they use comes from gas/coal/atomic stations which are only 60% efficient the cars aren't that green anyway.
At the moment we don't have any way of storing bulk electricity- we have to generate it as we want it. And when we wan't it-not just when it's windy!

Hydroelectric plants like the one in Wales are used to sort of store electricity. When they have spare power they pump water up the hill, when they need electricity the water up the hill turns the turbines on its way back down.