Unshore

Mortal Mindy's picture

28 Comments

Capt. 'Bob''s picture

Drax Pulls Out of Carbon Capture

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34356117

Drax chief executive Dorothy Thompson said it was a very sad decision and they thought the White Rose project still had a lot of potential.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: "The most recent effect has been the government has removed a tax exemption for renewable power that is sold to industrial companies and we're the largest generator of renewable power in the UK and this has suddenly removed a stream of income."

"The day it was announced our share price dropped by a third and that simply reduces the amount of cash we have available for future investments."

The government has reduced support for the use of wood pellets, a renewable biomass fuel, that the company now burns at its plant in North Yorkshire.

Over the summer it also cut renewable energy subsidies, saying it was keen to reduce fuel costs for consumers who paid for them through their bills.

Mortal Mindy's picture

North Sea Powerhouse

http://www.northeastlabour.eu/north-seas-real-north-sea-powerhouse

"The North-Sea offers a huge amount of potential for the North East of England and today is a really positive day for our region."

""By developing large-scale renewable sources of energy, such as offshore wind, and by creating an integrated and interconnected electricity grid, we are showing the value of EU cooperation for people across the North East. We will be able to simultaneously maintain jobs in our battered offshore supply chain and create thousands of new high quality jobs, reduce our carbon emissions and secure our long term energy needs. A North Sea grid will demand the new cables and marine infrastructure in which our industries excel, and potentially provide a future for workers hit hard by the collapse in the oil price. The electricity interconnector currently being built between Norway and Blyth could be just the beginning for us."
 
"In doing so, we will also significantly reduce the energy bills of UK citizens and businesses."
 
"In the past the North-East was famed in the UK, and beyond, for the coal it produced. Today, we want to put the North-East on the path to supplying the green energy for tomorrow. This manifesto is the one of the first steps in that process."

Energy ministers from the North Sea rim will meet in the Netherlands on the 4 February and MEPs are pressing that their 7-point manifesto will inspire a concrete action plan for stepping up cooperation between the countries. Jude Kirton-Darling will join the other MEPs in making the case in The Hague in February."

More pipe dreams ...

Not quite Davos tho  ... https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/11/what-is-the-theme-of-davos-2016/

Captain Qahn's picture

RT: Europe & Hyperloops

https://www.rt.com/news/335305-hyperloop-transportation-system-europe/

"High-speed travel may soon be revolutionized by a futuristic transport system that could take passengers on a 700 mph (1,126 kpm) journey between three European cities in just minutes. A deal on the system has been struck, and testing is scheduled for 2020.

The deal between Slovakia and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), which has slated testing for 2020, brings the Hyperloop one step closer to reality. HTT  the deal on its website Thursday.

In short, the system would involve passenger pods being driven by electricity through a low-friction vacuum tunnel stretching between the three cities at speeds much higher than that of regular railways."

 

Mortal Mindy's picture

Floating Boats - Royalties

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-35445419

"Two famous hovercraft are set to be destroyed in Hampshire.

The Princess Margaret and Princess Anne Hoverspeed vessels carried passengers between Dover and France for 30 years.

They were taken out of service in 2000 and have since been stored at Lee-on-Solent.

Contractors aiming to develop the land to create new homes now plan to demolish them.

The nearby Hovercraft Museum hopes to save one of them for the nation."

HCA ? !!! hmphftks !!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-35449474

Ah, so ... "vacuum cleaner tubes and empty cat food and coffee tins"

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jan/31/mit-students-win-compet...

Pirates. No contest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34658386

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uCowNnDmKM

The Futurist? ... Plenty of Hot Air at Town Hall ...

Dear Nick, ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmhsIuGJfz0

Mebbe.

Capt. 'Bob''s picture

Smiffy ... 30 Million Years

"The Smith Cloud, a high-velocity cloud of hydrogen gas “is plummeting toward our galaxy at nearly 700,000 miles per hour,”

"The cloud, supposedly coming from the outer regions of the galactic disk where it originated about 70 million years ago, was discovered in the 1960s by doctoral astronomy student Gail Smith.

The “apocalypse” it brings is not going to happen tomorrow – the scientists found out that the cloud is expected to plow into the Milky Way's disk in some 30 million years.

When the collision takes place, it “will ignite a spectacular burst of star formation, perhaps providing enough gas to make 2 million suns,” the astronomers say."

https://www.rt.com/news/330716-monstrous-cloud-collide-galaxy/

Erm, mebbe its the Milky Way thats 'plowing' into erm, .... wotdotheycallit?  Ah, so 'Smith Cloud'.

Typical. Blame the other guy.

Now, the planet is XXX old, there are XXX people ... etc etc. Equations. Its a gas gas guess.

Mortal Mindy's picture

Google Guessing

Probably becos they simply don't know. Or mebbe they forgot... anyhoos afore I forget, apparently  all these Trusts and Academy's (Registered as Charities & NPO's) (They don't pay NNDR) Devolution ... the LA becomes 'responsible' & 'accountable' for the DR & NDR).   Given that under Twonk Rule most NHS outlets are becoming 'trusts' along with 'schools' they will opt out of the NNDR.   Now, say these 'trusts'  were to reassess their RV's and then request back dated relief .... under Devolution, guess who pays?

Ah, so ... Google?? Symbiotic or Condoned or Co condoning or summin or tother: 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tax-row-giant-google-paid-7279043

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/tax/12128902/Digital-...

Wot, ... they already do ... ;-) The trick is ... some bright spark might like to empty theirs.

Digital Inclusion, fun innit.

Pedantics. 

Coexisting condonement...

 

 

 

 

Mortal Mindy's picture

Loose Change - Disorganised

RT: takes up the Google challenge ...

https://www.rt.com/uk/330809-multinational-corporations-mafia-tax/

In short, with Google in bed with HMRC forget the offshore tax havens?

Camoron scores a point. Pah.   

RT missed out the bit on Bitcoin. https://bitcoin.org/en/

Screws, give that a miss too. 

The bottom line is ... the online 'Black Market' economy has a trickle down effect...  tis nowt new:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/tax/11762074/Ebay-and...

Digital Inclusion or Exclusion?

Citizen. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebGV0pUJRfg

Mortal Mindy's picture

FT: Answers On A Post Card

"...almost two in five taxpayers to be unable or unwilling to interact with the government online. The self-employed were identified as a group with exaggerated needs — 19 per cent are categorised as “digitally excluded”, defined as having no use of the internet..."
 
 
Not quite 'Self Assessment' tho is it? 
 
Fascinating.
 
 
 
Manifest.
 
 
 
 
Captain Black's picture

Swans n Swoons

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38571240

"Plans for a £1.3bn tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay could take a significant step forward if the scheme is backed by a final report on Thursday.

Charles Hendry will publish his report into the viability of the renewable energy technology later.

There are already hopes of developing a network of even larger lagoons around the UK coast.

The UK government still needs to agree on a deal and a marine licence would also need to be approved.

Former UK energy minister Mr Hendry has been gathering evidence for nearly a year for his independent inquiry, including visits to all the potential sites and discussions with industry.

Speaking ahead of the report, Mr Hendry said he believed the tidal lagoon industry was affordable.

"If you look at the cost spread out over the entire lifetime - 120 years for the project - it comes out at about 30p per household for the next 30 years. That's less than a pint of milk," he told BBC News.

"That's where I think we can start a new industry and we can do it at an affordable cost to consumers."

No spoons required...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o767PuYbEXg

Captain Qahn's picture

Tobermorite

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40494248

"Ancient sea walls built by the Romans used a concrete made from lime and volcanic ash to bind with rocks.

Now scientists have discovered that elements within the volcanic material reacted with sea water to strengthen the construction.

They believe the discovery could lead to more environmentally friendly building materials.

Unlike the modern concrete mixture which erodes over time, the Roman substance has long puzzled researchers.

Rather than eroding, particularly in the presence of sea water, the material seems to gain strength from the exposure.

In previous tests with samples from ancient Roman sea walls and harbours, researchers learned that the concrete contained a rare mineral called aluminium tobermorite.

They believe that this strengthening substance crystallised in the lime as the Roman mixture generated heat when exposed to sea water...

"This new study says the scientists found significant amounts of tobermorite growing through the fabric of the concrete, with a related, porous mineral called phillipsite.

The researchers say that the long-term exposure to sea water helped these crystals to keep on growing over time, reinforcing the concrete and preventing cracks from developing..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o-nf4k8O5s

 

Captain Qahn's picture

MerKy Waters

Benefitz Betty's picture

Hunkley Points

Unnecessary ...

Non Essential

"The Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant is "not essential" for the UK to meet its energy and climate change targets, according to a think tank.

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) also said opting for "established" approaches instead would save bill payers £1bn a year in total.

EDF Energy, which has agreed to back Hinkley, said the ECIU report did not offer "credible alternatives"...

Incredible ...

Not Credible

However, EDF said while all approaches put forward by the ECIU would be included in the ideal future energy mix, large scale nuclear generation would also be part of it.

"The scenarios outlined in the ECIU report are not credible alternatives to Hinkley Point C," the company added.

"Hinkley Point C's cost is competitive with other large-scale low carbon technologies. It will generate electricity steadily even on foggy and still winter days across Northern Europe. It will play a crucial role as part of a future, flexible energy stream."

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said in a statement: "Our priority is to ensure that everyone has secure, clean and affordable energy now and in the future. This is why we want the UK to have a diverse and reliable mix of energy sources including nuclear, renewable energy and gas.""

Mind Over Matter ...

Ouch.

"The vast majority of miners in Bolivia, one of South America's poorest countries, work in cooperatives, scraping a living producing silver, tin and zinc. There are few foreign-owned mining firms, unlike in neighboring Peru and Chile.

Natural gas accounts for roughly half of Bolivia's total exports. Ex-coca grower Morales nationalized Bolivia's resources sector after taking power in 2006, initially winning plaudits for ploughing the profits into welfare programs and boosting development.

However, his government has been dogged by accusations of cronyism and authoritarianism in recent years, and even the unions who were once his core support have soured on him as falling prices have crimped spending."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/26/bolivian-deputy-interior-m...

As it 'appens ... Captions.

 

Benefitz Betty's picture

Farmers Weekly

Fascinating...

"This doesn't make me a drug dealer. I'm a farmer," says Toconas, 45, who earns about 2 million pesos ($640) a month growing weed at his small mountain farm in Tacueyo, a hamlet in Colombia's southwestern Cauca province.

"They come to my door, pay me and leave. If coffee or beans paid me more, I'd grow coffee or beans, but they don't."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-rebels-crime-idUSKCN1101OY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ltZmI5LQw

Hmmm ...

Pen Pushers

http://www.wsj.com/articles/mylans-epipen-price-increases-highlight-its-...

 

Benefitz Betty's picture

Mercury Rising

Benefitz Betty's picture

SN: 'Spider Season'

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/how-to-cope-with-spider-season-...

"ARACHNOPHOBES everywhere recoil – for spider season is upon us.

At the beginning of September large male house spiders, gorged from a summer of eating moths and flies, start making their way indoors in search of a mate.

So if you’ve started spotting a few sizeable eight-legged ‘guests’ around your home, that’s why.

Obviously those with an aversion to spiders will be rather worried about this, so we have an expert on hand with some tips...."

Oh.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQx2eosUlXY

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37275294

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPx-nUqLMtc

Benefitz Betty's picture

Yo Yo Newton - Gravity

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-37282139

"A huge storm bearing down on the Pacific coast of Mexico has strengthened to a hurricane just hours before it is due to make landfall.

Hurricane Newton is heading north-west towards the southern end of the Baja California peninsula with winds of about 75mph (120 km/h)...."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37255980

Spider ... Sellotape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSQwI3rDETk

Hmmm ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37282121

Mer....

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/local/sports-writer-slams-scarb...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWdLt3Afjrg

the Air is clean :-) Slightly salty....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU-OD5_Dxrs

 

Captain Qahn's picture

RT: Rock 'Lessons'

https://www.rt.com/news/358255-philippines-china-grave-concern/

"The Philippines is “gravely concerned” that China might be planning to build an artificial island on Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, as Beijing has decided to disregard the recent international court decision that barred China from the area.

The ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 12 said that no one country had sovereign rights over activity in the Scarborough Shoal, after The Hague court ruled against China in the maritime dispute.

China refused to recognize the ruling, and over the last few days has been increasing its presence over the shoal, which is just a few rocks poking out above the waves.

"The presence of so many ships, other than coast guard in the area is cause for grave concern,” Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Sunday after his country’s air force plane allegedly detected four Chinese coast guard ships, two barge-like vessels and two suspected troop ships near the shoal Saturday.

The minister noted that earlier this year the Chinese tried to bring in dredging barges to turn Scarborough into an artificial island. That attempt, Lorenzana said, was dissuaded by the United States.

“If they try to construct anything in Scarborough it will have far reaching adverse effect on the security situation,” he added, pointing out that Manila summoned the Chinese ambassador for an explanation.

Washington has publicly warned China against reclaiming waters around Scarborough Shoal, located 120 nautical miles from the Philippines and some 250 nautical miles northeast of the artificial islands Beijing has built in the disputed Spratlys archipelago. China took control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a standoff with the Philippine navy....

"n April, the US flew three different air patrols near the shoal after Washington warned China of crossing a “red line” with President Barack Obama threatening with “serious consequences” in March if China attempted to reclaim the land.

"While the Chinese Embassy in Manila was not reached by Reuters or AFP for a comment over the summoning of its ambassador, following July’s Hague decision, Beijing has made clear that the South China Sea, which is home to forty percent of the world’s shipborne trade, will be pursued by China.

“We will never stop our construction on the Nansha Islands halfway...no matter what country or person applies pressure,” Adm. Wu told US Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson during a meeting in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency reported in July. 

On Friday, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said he intends to ask Beijing directly if it is building up the shoal in violation of international law.

“The coast guard made some little trips near them and there are a lot of barges... What is the purpose of a barge?” Duterte said, adding that the intelligence report “was unsettling.”

“They suspect that’s going to be another construction somewhere,” the president said. “It could be a potential flashpoint, this China Sea.”

Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have been involved in disputes over ownership of territory in the South China Sea over natural resources."

Stones .. brick n bones ... unturned.

Landings: https://www.rt.com/news/358449-space-expedition-heading-earth-landing/

https://www.rt.com/viral/355807-spacemen-conversations-iss-flight/

Captain Qahn's picture

Skardiborg Soft Rock

SNoooze ... Carl Gavaghan captures some shameful critters:

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/council-waterpark-is-not-ours-1...

"“You’ve got to say it loud and very, very long because they just can’t get it through their heads. It isn’t our waterpark...."

"..."I can’t say what I would really like to say but Scarborough’s as thick as anywhere so we just have to say to them it’s not ours.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tpvxsJAZPk

Cough, just a wee nudge?  Frankly I'd never seen such shameful back pedalling .... much to the Leaders amusement...

"Only a few rich and greedy Scarborians, “the Baylives and their consorts”, he suggested, would benefit from the suppression of Seamer’s weekly market. Scarborough’s poor had welcomed the lower prices and the greater supply of food and other commodities the new market supplied. Whereas Seamer offered a free and open exchange of goods from the neighbourhood, Scarborough’s two markets denied “strangers” fair access for their produce. As a result, traders, both foreign and local, had “now utterlie forsaken them but in tyme of distresse of wether”.

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/nostlagia-scarbo...

Oh wot's a circus ...... without the clowns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_kg9I6YK-s

Rockhopper.

 

Captain Black's picture

Tidal .. 'Bob'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38426389

"If you've ever struggled to walk across the deck of a boat as it rolls in a choppy sea, or tried to stand up against breaking waves at the beach, you'll have felt the might of the ocean.

It feels like there's a lot of power there too, so getting energy from the waves of the sea sounds as if it's got real potential. For World Service listener Michael McFarlane, it's a question that's been on his mind for years.

"I live in Jamaica and we are never very far from the sea… Electricity generation [here] is mainly based on fossil fuels," he says.

So why isn't the ocean powering Michael's home yet?

In order to tackle this question for the World Service programme Crowdscience, first, there was a language problem to unpick.

Deborah Greaves, Professor in Ocean Engineering and Director of the COAST Laboratory at the UK's Plymouth University explains: "We've tended to use "marine renewable energy" to describe wave and tidal energy…[it's] energy which can be extracted from the movement of the oceans in the marine environment...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cs3Pvmmv0E

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-38378169

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/25/british-councils-used-inve...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diYAc7gB-0A

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/dec/25/what-will-be-the-big-enviro...

Benefitz Betty's picture

Wolf Whistles

Every Cloud hides one ....

http://www.space.com/35281-january-full-moon.html

12/01/17 @9.01

"A  Silver Command meeting is taking place this morning, to discuss the latest information in regard to the flood warning...  it appears the prediction is for the water level to be higher than originally expected."

Hi Ho ...

".... Friday afternoon and on Saturday, when the winds turn northerly.  The water level ... a meter and a half higher than high tide.... there will be flooding.  Sand gate area... all area around the harbour... will the Council be putting a warning alert out"

Good. Question.

Ooops.... some previous form:-)

http://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/news/local-news/2190624/flood-warning...

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/flood-fears-for-humber-and-east-coas...

Again.

Captain Qahn's picture

North Sea Cook In

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/31/shell-sells-north-sea-o...

"American-born Cook, nicknamed the first lady of oil and gas by the City, had been at Shell for 29 years and was latterly in charge of the group’s gas and renewables businesses. She was a frontrunner to become chief executive, but instead Peter Voser was appointed to the post and Cook resigned...

"Now she will become chair of private equity-backed oil group Chrysaor after it snapped up the package of oil fields put up for sale by Shell. The deal will be partly funded by Harbour Energy, which is part of the US investment giant EIG and where Cook has been managing director since 2014...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifobQSP-b7E

http://www.eigpartners.com/team/linda-cook

Eh so, ... Royal Dutch.... shipping magnate  Fred Olsen owned a house on Scabby's South Cliff and built the 'tunnel'  ... (South Cliff Stabilisation scheme)

http://fortune.com/2015/03/07/fred-olsen/

All very Dutch.

Tick Tock ;-)

Oh OK. Norwegian .. Dutch ... eh? Who cares ... all very European ... waterdyamean ...

"In the late 1960s, Olsen led the first Norwegian group to drill for oil in the North Sea. Shortly thereafter, his company’s rig made the first discovery in Ekofisk, one of the largest deepwater oilfields ever developed. Olsen also co-founded Norway’s first private oil company, Saga Petroleum, and rallied the Norwegian industry to build expertise in oilfield products and services, a course that helped make his homeland one of the richest nations on earth.Since he branched out into renewable energy in the 1990s, Olsen’s companies have invested more than $1 billion in wind power. Olsen is now the biggest independent, meaning non-utility, provider of wind electricity in Britain. Today he’s focusing on the fastest-growing market in renewables: offshore wind. His companies installed one in five new offshore turbines last year in Europe, the world’s largest market. He’s also installing the first sea-based wind farm in the U.S., located off the coast of Rhode Island."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblYSKz_VnI

Ah, so ... tis a Saga.

Arrrgha.

PSssst :

https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/ccf

Turnips ... some of the above is not true.

t'was Sir Erik Ohlson, Sweden. "In 1902, he emigrated to Hull,  and established the firm of Ohlson & Co, shipowners and brokers, coal exporters, and timber importers. He was knighted in 1915 and created a Baronet of Scarborough in the 1920 New Year Honours for his efforts to bring Sweden into the British camp during the First World War)

Further ref :

http://www.friendsofsouthcliffgardens.com/Rose-Garden-History.php

Mutton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOB941hi2bU&app=desktop

Captain Qahn's picture

NASA : Treasure Chests

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/nasa-creating-the-cooles...

"NASA wants to create the coolest spot in the universe to better understand matter and the fundamental nature of gravity.

While understanding atoms behave in surprising ways at super-low temperatures, NASA has never before created or observed this behaviour in space.

As such, the space agency will be sending an ice chest-sized box to the International Space Station, where Nobel prize winner Eric Cornell and other scientists will conduct experiments.

The technology, known as the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), works by using lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic “knife” to freeze gas atoms to a mere billionth of a degree above absolute zero — more than 100 million times colder than the depths of space.

By creating these extremely low temperatures, NASA is able to develop what is known as Bose-Einstein condensate — a state in which atoms move in with one another in wave form, opposed to individual particles..."

Fag Packet stuff ...