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7 Mar 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Walkabout
Incidentally, but not really incidental, the UK energy supply policy is on very shaky ground as a direct consequence of the PC nonsense - the French owned electricity company, EDF, is having cold feet about the deals they have struck to construct the next nuclear power plant. Each winter we are a step nearer to demand exceeding supply.
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I think you need to expand on that statement, or at least post another link to a pointless blog
EDF's cold feet is more to do with the fact they need to borrow more money than they are worth (circa £18billion) and poor performance on the other new build nuclear stations (over budget, behind programme and safety flaws in the design)
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7 Mar 2016
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Enjoy the blog
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWarden
I think you need to expand on that statement, or at least post another link to a pointless blog
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"Spare electricity capacity, which ran at about 5% over the winter months last year, would be nearer 4% this year, National Grid said.
Three years ago the margin was 17%"
(the reference is to winter 14/15)
From;
National Grid warns of lower winter power capacity - BBC News
The energy minister who said at that time (some 18 months ago)
""Dismissing fears of possible electricity blackouts, energy minister Matthew Hancock told the BBC: "We are absolutely clear we are taking the measures necessary in order to have secure energy supplies this winter.""
is the same guy who was ripped apart by Andrew Neil a few days ago:
UK Unleashed - News
(recorded for posterity in the blog post of 4 March 2016).
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7 Mar 2016
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So no actual information to link to your statement that EDF are getting cold feet from PC interference then?
Yes our power supply is very close to the limits, fragile to power station failures - but then its been in that situation for roughly 16 years to my knowledge
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7 Mar 2016
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"Now, or so it would appear, EDF itself may be having cold feet. This would be quite understandable. The collapse in oil and gas prices has eaten into the company’s profits - even though the company is predominantly a nuclear generator it will have been hit by the accompanying fall in wholesale power prices – and its stock market valuation has slumped to the extent that, earlier this month, it was relegated from the CAC 40, France’s equivalent of the FTSE-100 index, and replaced, ignominiously, by a shopping centre operator"
From:
EDF Has Right To Feel Nerves Over Hinkley
And,
"Onto that can be overlaid a political dimension: EDF is effectively controlled by the French government and Francois Hollande*, the French President, has shown a propensity to interfere in its affairs in a way that his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, did not"
EDF Chief Quits Over Hinkley Nuclear Plans
*There will be consequences if we, the people, choose to exit the EU - or words to that effect
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7 Mar 2016
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This is down to cold hard cash, nothing more and certainly no "PC Nonsense"
Just spent another day on site there
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7 Mar 2016
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OK, back to reality. This thread has been taken over by one radical climate change denier posting spurious links from discredited sources bought & sold by corporate pawns, lackeys of big energy polluters and their ilk. Garbage.
The majority of real HUBB travelers are not insane ... and see the reality backed up by scientific facts confirming Global Warming/Climate Change as it is. "PC nonsense"?
Do we really need to know more when we've got Scumbags like the infamous Koch brothers pouring HUNDREDS of millions into fighting, distorting and lying regards Science FACT regarding Climate change/Global Warming?
Pretty obvious where these deniers come from.
But staying ON TOPIC and ON Motorcycles .... I wonder how many HUBB travelers have been detoured or thwarted in their attempts to travel due to some "natural" weather disaster? Just in my short 40 years of travel, I've had several significant experiences. Mostly washed out roads which meant (in some cases) doing detours of hundreds of miles to get round the slide, flood or wash out, or waiting WEEKS in order to pass.
When I lived in Guatemala (2 years) a key bridge collapsed near the Salvador border ...and that route was closed for 6 months before repaired. Infrastructure? NOPE! There were work arounds riding a bike, but no way past for 4 wheelers who had to go WAY out of their way to get through.
(A day's drive on slippery mountain road)
Many of us have ridden through and survived things like unprecedented rain events ... some breaking all previous records, massive flooding.
This sort of thing is happening not in one or two regions ... but in DOZENS of places world wide on a regular basis. Same with longer, hotter heat waves, longer droughts, more severe storms.
Winter now brings record cold at weird times of year. As the planet heats ... all systems go haywire, upsetting previous seasonal weather patterns. Unprecedented number of examples continue to rack up the stats.
Just a "Weird" year ...? don't think so. This may be our "New Normal". If out on the road, keep a close eye on the weather, have alternate route or plans. Travelers generally have a better chance at survival than locals ... we have the ability to MOVE ON if things are dangerous. (If you CAN move on!)
So rather than DENY or CONFIRM Climate Change ... ad nauseam ... I'd rather hear more about actual stories where weather or natural disasters disrupted or ended your travel. Was the weather event unusual? Unprecedented? Record breaking?
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8 Mar 2016
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It's a record breaker
Little did I realise how you Yanks are as infatuated with the weather as we Limeys.
But, then I saw on Al Jazeera English lang weather forecasting (a channel which goes off air in the USA next month) that you guys got a dump of snow and rainfall on to the drought striken land of your west coast recently.
Then there is the El Nino/La Nina influence - once every few years or thereabouts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014%E...i%C3%B1o_event
Tell us about your earthquakes, record breaking or otherwise.
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8 Mar 2016
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Let's see how this one goes
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWarden
This is down to cold hard cash, nothing more and certainly no "PC Nonsense"
Just spent another day on site there 
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Those nearest the coal face are sometimes the last to see the issues.
EDF finance chief quits over decision to push on with Hinkley Point - FT.com
EDF is in trouble, as is the more general French economy, but the UK govn has hung a substantial part of the UK energy policy on large nuclear power plants and on this company in particular.
With debt at twice their capital value, EDF have more to concern them than building a single plant; hence the man who knew the situation best had to resign to silence himself.
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8 Mar 2016
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Blindly repeating something doesn't make it a fact.
As I said it's down to money not "PC Nonsense" as you stated, can you or can you not justify your post?
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