Cost of living!

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, Barrykearley said:

You think that’s bad @C8RKH - most households in the uk are also hit with the bbc tax to fund their bullshit.

As I said, BBC whining about vulnerable customers whilst insisting over 75's pay for the licence! Who gets a licence fund rebate for being poor?

[MPx]

3 hours ago, C8RKH said:

Christ, we get enough of this negativity from the news, why do we need it on here too?

 

Good post Andy .... well, up to this point anyway, then it got a bit negative.  Just sayin.

[C8RKH]

10 hours ago, MPx said:

Good post Andy .... well, up to this point anyway, then it got a bit negative.  Just sayin.

Fair enough and good observation. Get fed up with people posting about stuff they obviously know little about and just regurgitate popular but incorrect sound bites. Never knew we had so many journalists and broadcasters in the Lotus community . Will try harder....

[Kimbers]

Those poor oil and gas companies with their dropping revenue, increased costs and having to look at their businesses and staff. 

Good job the Public can help them as their revenue drops and costs increase......yes just reiterating it again......

Oh wait...... 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/03/surging-energy-prices-fuel-shells-highest-quarterly-profits-in-eight-years

 

[Barrykearley]

One simple question.

uk existing renewable energy supply - how exactly are the costs of that rising ??

[C8RKH]

3 hours ago, Kimbers said:

Those poor oil and gas companies with their dropping revenue, increased costs and having to look at their businesses and staff. 

Good job the Public can help them as their revenue drops and costs increase......yes just reiterating it again......

Oh wait...... 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/03/surging-energy-prices-fuel-shells-highest-quarterly-profits-in-eight-years

 

Yawn, yawn, yawn!

If only people bothered to actually understand how this all works.  I'll give you a clue, in order to transition from the legacy carbon energy market you need to INVEST in the new alternative. The parts of your business that can, need to make a profit to fund that "investment" to enable you to power the future.  It's the fundamentals that the journalists and campaigners either don't want to understand or can't understand. Oh and let's totally disregard the fact that the UK energy market for Shell, IS tiny, compared to its global interests and operations. Saints they are not, but this really is lazy, bullshit, sensationalist and populist journalism at its very best. But hey, it sells newspapers and drives click through advertising so it must be true.

3 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

One simple question.

uk existing renewable energy supply - how exactly are the costs of that rising ??

Barry - first generation wind farms are now almost 20 years old and the turbines, blades and some of the shafts need to be replaced. Also, the renewable companies have just been fleeced to the tune of around £1bn a year, in committed spend, to "lease" new, and extend extend existing leases on, the seabed. This money will be paid to the Crown Estate, with 75% DIRECTLY contributing to UK Treasury coffers, so £750m per year, for 10 years, £7.5bn added to the Governments piggy bank.  This is BEFORE they spend a penny on surveys of the seabeds, commissioning work for the offshore wind farms, commissioning work for the onshore substations and gird connections, etc etc etc. So around a further £20bn will be spent, providing more earnings to UK Treasury coffers, providing jobs for UK engineers, graduates, and workers, and lucrative contracts for UK (and overseas) contractors.

 

But rather than look at the big picture, let's just focus on why YOUR bill is going up and how unjust it is for any business to want to run at a profit and with sufficient profits to secure the huge amount of debt that their cash flow is going to have to service for the next 30 years or so.  If you really want answers this graph, with the ones I presented earlier, will help you to ask the right questions of the right people. For instance, why not start by asking your MP how they justify that over 25% of a consumers household electricity bill is to pay for Government sanctioned subsidies for "renewables" largely (and if you add in VAT the Government is adding over 30%, yes 30%, to every households bill!)?  Whilst you're at it, ask you smug neighbour to stop rubbing in your face the fact that their solar panels, that YOU are paying more to subsidise, are providing them with free energy?  By looking at the data it might just, though I am not hopeful, make people realise the bonkerness that the politicians and green lobby groups have created and the impact that it is having on everyone. I suspect most though will just look at the sensationalist headlines that choose the easy target, the easy message.

[phil flash]

On 05/02/2022 at 16:51, windymiller said:

a relative of the wifes has just applied for a solar farm on several acres of farmland and its caused merry hell in the local community !!!

I'm not surprised ..  on this crowded island using farmland for solar panels is a stupid idea, and I'm an Electrical Power Distribution Engineer.

In the south of France, where they have much more sun, they erect solar panels to roof public car parks so cars can park in the shade without the need to blank out the windows to keep interior cool and EV's have reserved spots to recharge direct from the panel network with no distribution losses but the bulk of the output is fed into the local network. That's a win, win, win situation.

Plenty of opportunity for UK car parks to do similar rather than waste farmland but nowt we can do about the reduced light intensity in UK.

[C8RKH]

Bloody good points @phil flash. Instead here we can use the shelters to protect us from the rain!   There will still be enough sun light over the year to charge the cars etc especially if battery storage is connected locally too. Personally I think ANY farmer who uses their fields to harvest sunlight should be castrated and subjected to punitive taxes for wasting the opportunity to grow food and create a biodiverse habitat.  Another product of the nimby know what middle class brigade who'll drive past the solar farm in their EV cooing about how great this green energy revolution is whilst simultaneously bemoaning the rise in food prices and questioning why the UK is not more self sufficient for food production.

[Barrykearley]

Thanks @C8RKH - it’s the market price manipulation that I struggle with - there’s definitely massive manipulation due to that. The solar PV funding was always an issue when the FIT scheme was first dreamed up - thankfully we do get a slice of that as we have 2 lots of 4kw systems at home.

It would seem to a simpleton like me that the whole lot needs a bloody good shake up.

[windymiller]

after sizewell b we shud of kept building c lol

[C8RKH]

2 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

Thanks @C8RKH - it’s the market price manipulation that I struggle with - there’s definitely massive manipulation due to that. The solar PV funding was always an issue when the FIT scheme was first dreamed up - thankfully we do get a slice of that as we have 2 lots of 4kw systems at home.

It would seem to a simpleton like me that the whole lot needs a bloody good shake up.

But you have to dig to see who is profiting from the manipulation, it is not the energy retailers that everyone is getting so irate with, they're on their knees and actually being forced to lose money due to the price cap. Now, some of them hedged, or bought forward, so they gambled and past the risk to others (not customers). 

[Barrykearley]

I’d hanker a bet that the hedging or forward buying is actually part of the problem.

[C8RKH]

46 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

I’d hanker a bet that the hedging or forward buying is actually part of the problem.

So you never fixed your mortgage rate?Always go for variable rate credit?

The manipulation is Russia and Iran throttling back at a time of increased demand as the west gets back to work from COVID. Exacerbated by our own stupidity in closing down North Sea gas and shelving LNG regas plants. In short, bloody politics and politicians.

[Kimbers]

Yeah but Climate change!!! 

It doesn't matter if you all starve to death and go without basic necessities! Climate change!

Oh yeah, and drive Electric cars because.... climate change.....though we are increasing electricity costs and will be taxing Car charging by an increase of 1000% but.....climate change.

You are all part of the problem with your reasoned arguments and need to eat and keep warm! Climate change people, Climate change.

Is it just me or is climate change becoming the new go to excuse for everything.

I want to eat meat! Climate change people! you are part of the problem
Freedom of speech! Climate change, you are part of the problem
I enjoy keeping warm and looking after my family! Climate change, you are part of the problem

 

[Colin P]

Only one solution, Population control, but no-one will grasp that particular nettle.

[exeterjeep]

WW3 starts next week.

[Mysterae]

Is that on Netflix or Amazon?

[windymiller]

1 hour ago, Colin P said:

Only one solution, Population control, but no-one will grasp that particular nettle.

the theme of "inferno" and the intrepid robert langdon !!!

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, Colin P said:

Only one solution, Population control, but no-one will grasp that particular nettle.

I've been saying that for the last 5 years but no one wants to listen. Almost 400% population growth since 1950, so in 70 years!  Hence the massive competition for raw materials, energy, food etc.  I have no idea why they think the rate of population growth will start to fall from 2060, unless that's when the food, raw materials etc starts to run out and people start dying faster than we can reproduce!  

[Colin P]

I've been saying it since the my teens/early 90s. 

Always said that we'd only have 2 kids as there were too many people on the planet and therefore no-one should more than "replace themselves" and that way those having less will gradually reduce the population.

...... then had 3 kids, so I'm a hypocrite.

[Barrykearley]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

I've been saying that for the last 5 years but no one wants to listen

Careful you don’t start a covid argument 

[Frickin_idiot]

5 hours ago, Kimbers said:

Yeah but Climate change!!! 

It doesn't matter if you all starve to death and go without basic necessities! Climate change!

Oh yeah, and drive Electric cars because.... climate change.....though we are increasing electricity costs and will be taxing Car charging by an increase of 1000% but.....climate change.

You are all part of the problem with your reasoned arguments and need to eat and keep warm! Climate change people, Climate change.

Is it just me or is climate change becoming the new go to excuse for everything.

I want to eat meat! Climate change people! you are part of the problem
Freedom of speech! Climate change, you are part of the problem
I enjoy keeping warm and looking after my family! Climate change, you are part of the problem

 

The more that the Government push the climate agenda the more that I push back. I am sick to the back teeth of this nonsense. 
 

[C8RKH]

I actually get the climate agenda. I'm a believer. Hook, line and sinker.

But!

The issue is that it does not matter how many EV's that we buy instead of ICE cars, there are just too many people alive today, and there will be too many people alive tomorrow. It's not a nice message but it is true. I liken it to oil and say that we have reached "Peak people".  The planet can only sustain so much life and right now, we're driving the planet faster than an ex rocker hooked on crack cocaine, cigarettes and alcohol with a dodgy heart. Something will give.

However, how is anyone, let alone a useless Politician, especially not a world leader, going to "sell" the fact that there are too many people and we need to stop breeding and producing more?

Talk about a tough sell. So much easier to kick the can down the road (even with EV's and renewable energy the patient ain't going to recover) and give it to the next generation, or at most the one after that, to fix.

It's Sky News, but this is a really good infographic. Worth covering your nose from the smell to look at.

https://news.sky.com/story/climate-change-investigation-the-top-15-polluters-in-the-uk-revealed-12171349

[Kimbers]

12 hours ago, C8RKH said:

However, how is anyone, let alone a useless Politician, especially not a world leader, going to "sell" the fact that there are too many people and we need to stop breeding and producing more?

Talk about a tough sell.

And that leads me on to my second point.

"My Right".

Its my right to have as many children as I want, even if I can't afford them as its my right that the UK taxpayer will pay for them.

It's my right to work as few hours as possible but my right to demand a working wage without working for it as older people who have worked hard all their life have more than me.

Its my right to be offended by anyone with a different opinion to me and demand they agree with me or be prosecuted. 

Its my right to demand law change as the majority are against me

And most importantly, anyone who doesn't agree with me on Climate change or wokeness, its my Right to demand they are seen as evil and taxed out of existence.

You have no rights however. You don't have a right to drive the car you want, you don't have the right to have an opinion because you are wrong, even though you are nearly always in the Majority.

Remember the "How Dare you" speech by a certain person who is now a celebrity?

[windymiller]

kimbers didnt realise you knew some of my family ??