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Are British governments anti-British?

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Peter C

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radamfi

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The primary reason for promoting electric vehicles, at the moment, is to reduce pollution in urban areas. But whose fault is it that electricity isn't 100% renewable now? Past governments preferred to rely on cheap oil, coal and gas rather than develop clean alternatives. People in the past chose to have a lot of children. UK electricity production could easily have been 100% renewable years ago if the UK had a much lower population.
 

Peter C

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The primary reason for promoting electric vehicles, at the moment, is to reduce pollution in urban areas. But whose fault is it that electricity isn't 100% renewable now? Past governments preferred to rely on cheap oil rather than develop clean alternatives. People in the past chose to have a lot of children. UK electricity production could easily have been 100% renewable years ago if the UK had a much lower population.
The number of children people have is not necessarily the fault of the government.
Renewable energy is the government's problem.

-Peter
 

Bald Rick

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radamfi

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The number of children people have is not necessarily the fault of the government.

It was the fault of our ancestors. Britain had a higher birth rate than many other countries and having children was not discouraged. Countries with a low population density but with abundant renewable sources are in a much better position than heavily populated countries like the UK.
 

Peter C

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It was the fault of our ancestors. Britain had a higher birth rate than many other countries and having children was not discouraged. Countries with a low population density but with abundant renewable sources are in a much better position than heavily populated countries like the UK.
It was - yes. Britain is currently in a situation where plenty of renewable energy is needed to support our population and we need this energy very soon if we want to mitigate climate change.

-Peter
 

najaB

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it will be a few years yet until we can have a fully renewable system.
I doubt the grid will ever be 100% renewable. There will be a place for gas generation for a long time for peak filling. But I expect we'll hit 80% zero carbon capacity in less than ten years, maybe as little as five.
 

deltic

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New trains from Spain and even Switzerland contributing to the destruction of our once proud train building industry.
Our coal industry could have been downsized (reductions in usage of coal) rather than being destroyed completely. Britain is now importing millions of tons of coal per year.
In terms of the fishing industry, the government gave in way too easily to the ridiculous demands by the Icelandic government for a 200-miles exclusion zone. How could such a small nation possibly need all that fish.
QUOTE The largest exporters to the UK in 2017 were China (67 thousand tonnes) and Iceland (56 thousand tonnes). They were followed by Germany (50 thousand tonnes), Denmark (43 thousand tonnes) and the Faroe Islands (36 thousand tonnes). UNQUOTE
https://assets.publishing.service.g...e/742793/UK_Sea_Fisheries_Statistics_2017.pdf
252 thousand tonnes of fish imported with Iceland supplying much of our cod.
How many Train Operating Companies are foreign owned?
How many bus operating companies are foreign owned?
At least the largest NHS contractor is British but how long will that last?
The day will surely come.
The day the British government throw in the towel complete in the context of national pride will surely come. The day this country becomes an overseas territory of the United States of America.

One might argue it is UK citizens who are anti-British. It is individuals who preferred to buy cheap reliable Japanese cars rather than those from British Leyland which led to the undermining of the British car industry. The same applies to many consumer items. If, as we do, buy more from overseas than those overseas buy from us then there is a build up of sterling held by those overseas and they use that money to buy British assets, especially as the declining value of the £ means they can buy more for their money. However, the UK owns broadly the same amount of assets overseas as those overseas own in the UK.
 

Gostav

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Not really Spanish railways are broad gauge, and there is limited worldwide appeal for broad gauge trains
In fact, the loading gauge is more important than the track gauge and Spanish railway are UIC loading gauge (or larger?), that means they also can export rolling stock to the mainland just need to change the bogies. It would be uneconomical if British rolling stock were running on the mainland, l believe most British train manufacturers never have a mile (or kilometre) UIC or large loading gauge test track for test export train.
But on the other hand, the tramway system almost has a similar standard, l don't know why British also lose the business.
 
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najaB

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But on the other hand, the tramway system almost has a similar standard, l don't know why British also lose the business.
We spent most of the 60s and 70s ripping out tram systems rather than building them.
 

Peter C

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I doubt the grid will ever be 100% renewable. There will be a place for gas generation for a long time for peak filling. But I expect we'll hit 80% zero carbon capacity in less than ten years, maybe as little as five.
We may do!

-Peter
 

Peter C

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If not for the financial market getting cold feet, we would have had four or five new nuclear plants coming on stream in that time frame which definitely would have helped.
I don't know enough about previous economical events / political events to comment on that with any sort of meaningful response. Sorry! :)

-Peter
 

najaB

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I don't know enough about previous economical events / political events to comment on that with any sort of meaningful response. Sorry! :)
In a nutshell, of the eight sites that had been identified for by the Government for new nuclear, five (I think) applications were made (Sizewell, Bradley, Hinkley Point, Wylfa Newydd and Sellafied/Moorside), but due to "changes to the long-term UK economic outlook post-2016" only Hinkley Point C is going ahead at the moment.
 

Peter C

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In a nutshell, of the eight sites that had been identified for by the Government for new nuclear, five (I think) applications were made (Sizewell, Bradley, Hinkley Point, Wylfa Newydd and Sellafied/Moorside), but due to "changes to the long-term UK economic outlook post-2016" only Hinkley Point C is going ahead at the moment.
Oh OK - thanks. I'm fairly sure that Sizewell is doing alright at the moment, having spent a week's holiday just down the beach from it! :)

-Peter
 

whhistle

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Your battery powered train or car is hardly environmentally friendly if it's travelled thousands of miles on a ship, surely.
Yet on the radio this morning they were saying that a Chicken has less of an impact on CO2 than a cucumber does...
 

najaB

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I'm fairly sure that Sizewell is doing alright at the moment, having spent a week's holiday just down the beach from it!
It is, but the A rector is shut down and being decommissioned, and the B reactor is only licensed until the early 2030s if memory serves correctly.
 

Peter C

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It is, but the A rector is shut down and being decommissioned, and the B reactor is only licensed until the early 2030s if memory serves correctly.
I think you're right there. Something was mentioned about "C" if I remember correctly....

-Peter
 

edwin_m

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We spent most of the 60s and 70s ripping out tram systems rather than building them.
On a point of information:
Tramways were disappearing in large numbers from the 1920s onwards (triggered by need for renewal of equipment dating from the turn of the century, plus availability of reliable motor buses and trolleybuses). Apart from the sole survivor at Blackpool the last to go was Glasgow in 1962. We just had the one tramway until the opening of Metrolink in 1992.
 

najaB

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On a point of information:
Tramways were disappearing in large numbers from the 1920s onwards (triggered by need for renewal of equipment dating from the turn of the century, plus availability of reliable motor buses and trolleybuses). Apart from the sole survivor at Blackpool the last to go was Glasgow in 1962. We just had the one tramway until the opening of Metrolink in 1992.
Thanks for the correction, I thought that some had clung on until the early 70s.
 
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