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Post by Red Rackham on May 27, 2023 18:24:36 GMT
It was a landscape that Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien described as 'more like home to me than any other part of the world.' The ancient trees and rolling farmland near the village of Dormston in Worcestershire are believed to have helped to inspire the writer in his depiction of the Shire - the home of the Hobbits in his fantasy land of Middle Earth. But part of it could be lost if plans for a huge 287-acre solar farm get the go ahead. More than 2,000 locals and campaigners have sent letters of objection to the proposals, claiming they would negatively affect wildlife and lead to an influx of traffic to the area. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12119019/Thousands-oppose-solar-farm-plans-landscape-inspired-JRR-Tolkien-Lord-Rings.htmlThis blight on the English countryside will be huge, four times larger than the average coal fired power station yet planners optimistically say it will provide power for just 18,000 homes. A coal fired power station that covered an area a quarter of the size of this proposed solar farm provided cheap reliable electricity 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to 500,000 homes. The intention may be to cover every acre of countryside with solar panels and windmills. But even then, it wont be enough. |
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Post by steppenwolf on May 29, 2023 7:23:02 GMT
They're building these solar farms across the West Country too, and it's not going down well with the public.
The thing is that this is all counterproductive. Solar panels take the Sun's energy and convert 20% of it into electricity and the other 80% into heat, which warms the planet. If they'd left the field as it was it would have soaked up the Sun's energy and absorbed CO2. It would also be a habitat for wildlife. It's just an act of vandalism. I wonder what Chris Packham thinks of this.
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Post by Red Rackham on May 29, 2023 10:27:36 GMT
They're building these solar farms across the West Country too, and it's not going down well with the public. The thing is that this is all counterproductive. Solar panels take the Sun's energy and convert 20% of it into electricity and the other 80% into heat, which warms the planet. If they'd left the field as it was it would have soaked up the Sun's energy and absorbed CO2. It would also be a habitat for wildlife. It's just an act of vandalism. I wonder what Chris Packham thinks of this. " I wonder what Chris Packham thinks of this"
That is a very good point. When it comes to the obvious flaws with wind & solar, eco types like Packham tend to be silent. |
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Post by Baron von Lotsov on May 29, 2023 10:41:14 GMT
The intention may be to cover every acre of countryside with solar panels and windmills. But even then, it wont be enough. That's because you read the Daily Mail who are mathematically illiterate. We did the calculation on this forum a while back to figure this out. You will have to calculate it yourself I guess. |
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Post by Red Rackham on May 29, 2023 10:43:24 GMT
The intention may be to cover every acre of countryside with solar panels and windmills. But even then, it wont be enough. That's because you read the Daily Mail who are mathematically illiterate. We did the calculation on this forum a while back to figure this out. You will have to calculate it yourself I guess. What on earth makes you think I read the DM? |
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Post by Baron von Lotsov on May 29, 2023 10:50:23 GMT
They're building these solar farms across the West Country too, and it's not going down well with the public. The thing is that this is all counterproductive. Solar panels take the Sun's energy and convert 20% of it into electricity and the other 80% into heat, which warms the planet. If they'd left the field as it was it would have soaked up the Sun's energy and absorbed CO2. It would also be a habitat for wildlife. It's just an act of vandalism. I wonder what Chris Packham thinks of this use perovskites |
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Post by Baron von Lotsov on May 29, 2023 11:03:23 GMT
That's because you read the Daily Mail who are mathematically illiterate. We did the calculation on this forum a while back to figure this out. You will have to calculate it yourself I guess. What on earth makes you think I read the DM? Ah OK, you look at the pictures hehe! |
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Post by Red Rackham on May 29, 2023 11:16:46 GMT
There's a Youtube channel I watch about a couple who live off grid. (In Idaho) They built a large solar system to power their off grid home and it works brilliantly, in the summer. For the winter months they bought a large ex military diesel generator.
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Post by Baron von Lotsov on May 29, 2023 12:42:35 GMT
There's a Youtube channel I watch about a couple who live off grid. (In Idaho) They built a large solar system to power their off grid home and it works brilliantly, in the summer. For the winter months they bought a large ex military diesel generator. Think of the amount of force that would exert on that in a gale. It's a giant sail! |
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Post by steppenwolf on May 29, 2023 14:25:54 GMT
There's another problem with these solar panels that are springing up everywhere. I was watching a local TV program about a huge solar farm that has been built nearby and they have a problem. They can't connect it to the National Grid so the electricity they generate can only be distributed by the local loop - i.e. only to users in the local area. So they've, belatedly, begun to build a special connection to National Grid - but this is going to take between 5 and 7 years to build and is very expensive and very unsightly.
It's all half-baked. It's as if people go into these construction projects without researching properly what's needed.
On that huge solar array above, it looks like 12kWw which is way more that any house needs. A cheap 4kW array will cover the needs of any house - provided that you have a way of storing the electricity. The trouble is that the cost of batteries is so big that you can never recover it. Storing the energy from that array for even a few days would cost a fortune and wouldn't be cost-effective if they've already got backup.
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Post by Vinny on May 30, 2023 9:22:49 GMT
The place to put solar panels, is where there's no habitats or agriculture.
Rooftops are the ideal place.
Farmland is not.
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Post by Red Rackham on May 30, 2023 10:13:56 GMT
Think of the amount of force that would exert on that in a gale. It's a giant sail! The frame the panels are fixed too can move through almost 90 degrees, and it's in a fairly sheltered spot. Besides, all that was taken into account, he's an engineer he knows what he's doing. |
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Post by Vinny on May 30, 2023 10:20:41 GMT
In a sufficiently strong gale, the panel would be the least of his worries, all those trees around him....
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Post by Red Rackham on May 30, 2023 10:33:55 GMT
There's another problem with these solar panels that are springing up everywhere. I was watching a local TV program about a huge solar farm that has been built nearby and they have a problem. They can't connect it to the National Grid so the electricity they generate can only be distributed by the local loop - i.e. only to users in the local area. So they've, belatedly, begun to build a special connection to National Grid - but this is going to take between 5 and 7 years to build and is very expensive and very unsightly. It's all half-baked. It's as if people go into these construction projects without researching properly what's needed. On that huge solar array above, it looks like 12kWw which is way more that any house needs. A cheap 4kW array will cover the needs of any house - provided that you have a way of storing the electricity. The trouble is that the cost of batteries is so big that you can never recover it. Storing the energy from that array for even a few days would cost a fortune and wouldn't be cost-effective if they've already got backup. Just for interest; this episode covers batteries inverters etc. It is expensive, but the couple in the clip being Youtubers are sponsored. |
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Post by Red Rackham on May 30, 2023 10:38:08 GMT
In a sufficiently strong gale, the panel would be the least of his worries, all those trees around him.... Any dead trees have been felled, they are less concerned about healthy trees because they tend not to blow over. Their biggest worry being surrounded by millions of trees is forest fires. |
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