I was bored. Then became furious.

I was just browsing the DECC (Department for Energy and Climate change) website for something to do, and came across some interesting statistics. In my view we are spending a fortune on bird mincers.

Of course you see the boast of how many they are building.

Between 2003 and 2010 there was a 143 per cent increase in generation from renewables in the UK, but faster rates of growth were recorded in Northern Ireland (652 per cent), Yorkshire and The Humber (287 per cent), East Midlands (258 per cent), North East (231 per cent) and South East (207 per cent) (see charts 11 and 12). For the individual technology groups some very large increases are recorded in percentage terms because in 2003 there was very little use of some of the technologies in various regions.

Chart 13: Annual variation in load factor¹ on an unchanged configuration basis and wind speed

The first point I’d like to make is their inefficiency. They seem to be unable to reach their, so called, load rating. As you can see from the graph above, they are incapable of reaching even 30% of the maximum rated load. In the marine industry where I used to work we would never have put up with such. When commissioning generators after overhaul they were expected to deliver 100% power. In fact for a short period they were tested at 110% of full power.

The second point is if you look at the graph again you’ll see how susceptible they are variations in wind speed.

My third point is that nowhere on the website can I find how many turbines are non-operational. (Have a look if you want).

My final point is who pays for the cost of decommissioning?  Below is a small sample taken for offshore turbines

£40,000 fucking quid per megawatt. Bloody hell. Are they going to take them apart with tweezers? What’s wrong with a few kilos of semtex?

We really are being shafted.

 

1.The ratio of load to the maximum rated load.

Difference between Grans and Grandads

Ever wondered what the  difference between Grannies and Grandads is?
5 year old granddaughter is usually taken to school, daily, by her
grandfather.
When he had a bad cold his wife took the grandchild.

That night she told her parents that  the ride to school with granny was very different!!

"What made it different?" asked her parents:

"Gran and I didn't see a single tosser,  blind bastard, dick-head or wanker anywhere on the way to school today!'

Can you believe it …. they sent my Census form back!

In response to the question: "Do you have any dependants?"
I replied - "2.1 million illegal immigrants; 1.1 million crack heads; 4.4 million unemployable people, 86 thousand people in over 150 prisons; and 650 idiots in Parliament.
Apparently, this was NOT an acceptable answer........
Whom did I miss ?

Missiles

I’ve just been looking at the Angry Exile’s new blog and felt I would like to expand on the technicalities of a recent post of his regarding Iran’s naval boasting.

IMHO Iran is just providing a puff piece for their own internal propaganda machine. An American carrier battle group is probably the most powerful war machine on the planet. Apart from the carrier itself, the group has incredible self defence capabilities.

Normally there would be three Aegis equipped ships. typically one cruiser and two destroyers.

These vessels are armed with a range of weapons, not least of which are vertically launched standard missiles specifically designed to counter air and anti ship missile threats.

Iran is boasting that they have a stealth missile. That I would have to dispute. I suspect what they have is just a sea skimming missile that is difficult to pick up amongst the sea clutter, that plagues sea born ship’s radar.

However the carrier battle group will have an airborne Hawkeye AEW aircraft almost certainly aloft. These have sophisticated look down radars that can sort out targets from the sea clutter. This aircraft can control the battlegroup’s response to any missile or other threat.

Those assets that are controlled will have a very large arsenal of surface to air missiles available to them and will be able to ripple fire these off at the small number of sea skimming missiles that would be available to the Iranians. (You can only carry a small amount due to their size).

Finally. (I bet you’re glad now). The carrier has her own defences namely the RIM-116 Rolling airframe missile, specifically designed for defeating anti ship missiles. And as a last ditch, the Vulcan phalanx CIWS (Close in weapons system).

What do you think. Have I made my case?

PS. I’ve witnessed several phalanx firings. A hit on target every time.

An Oldie in film

 

Now there are a couple of things wrong with this.

Firstly, the warship in the clip is a British type 42 destroyer, Note the Large bedstead radar, the for’d ray dome, The two Scot communication domes, and last but not least, the Mk8 4.5” gun mount on the pointy bit (Bow).

Secondly, I’ll let you tell me.

The end of blogging (2011 edition)

Well it’s nearly the end of the year now. About time for New Year’s resolutions.

Here’s mine.

1. To blow tobacco smoke through Deborah Arnott from ASH’s car window. (I would suggest you don’t click on the ASH link. If you think I would link to them then you must think I’m stupid).

2. To drink to excess and then vomit over Don Shenker from Alcohol Concern. (Again, I suggest not clicking on the link for the reason already given).

3. To up my carbon footprint to show solidarity with China. Bugger the Huhnatic and his bloody bird mincers  (You can click on these ones. Honestly).

4. Try to blog better

Anyhoo. A happy New Year to all those who visit this Blog. I hope to hear from the usual suspects who comment here, in the future. It’s my round (metaphorically). Have a large one.

Chinese Sex

While in China , an American man is very sexually promiscuous and does not use a condom the entire time he is there.

A week after arriving back home in the States, he wakes one morning to find his penis covered with bright green and purple spots.

Horrified, he immediately goes to see a doctor. The doctor, never having seen anything like this before, orders some tests and tells the man to return in two days for the results.

The man returns a couple of days later and the doctor says, “I've got bad news for you, you've contracted Mongolian VD. It's very rare and almost unheard of here in the US , we know very little about it.”

The man looks a little perplexed and says, “Well, give me a shot or something and fix me up, Doc.”

The doctor answers, “I'm sorry, there's no known cure. We're going to have to amputate your penis.”

The man screams in horror, “Absolutely not! I want a second opinion!!!”

The doctor replies, “Well, it's your choice. Go ahead, if you want but surgery is your only option.”

The next day, the man seeks out a Chinese doctor, figuring that he'll know more about the disease.

The Chinese doctor examines his penis and proclaims, “Ah, yes, Mongolian VD. Vewy ware disease.”

The guy says to the doctor, “Yeah, yeah, I already know that, but what can we do? My American doctor wants to cut off my penis!”

The Chinese doctor shakes his head and laughs. “Stupid American docttah,
always want opawate. Make more money dat way. No need amputate!”

“Oh, thank God!” the man exclaims.

“Yes”, says the Chinese doctor. “Wait two week. Faw off by itself...!”

*Note to self. Must get around to writing a decent blog post.

Sorry to tell you all this, but.....

 

Please note ...After December, I  will no longer be sending
e-mails. Thanks to the Post Office I am now going back to
licking stamps.....

 

 

 

 

 

Getting to grips with electronic reading

For Christmas I was given a Kindle by my kids. I have toyed with the idea of buying one for some time, but not done so, not wishing the expenditure, on something I might not take to.

However it has taken me aback with it’s ease of use and ability to gain instant access to books that I would not normally consider.

One of the instant hits with me is that I can access the Amazon Kindle website on my computer, browse by genre, and then read the reviews on a book. Good and bad.

The beauty of it is, that if I find a book with good reviews  I can download it and be reading it in less than a minute.

And that’s my excuse why my blogging has been light over the last few days. Nothing to do with good food and copious quantities of booze of course.

Drive a Nissan and do wheelies.

Not sure of the veracity of this clip. The filming seems to be too professional to me. It;s fun to watch though.