When I'm Prime Minister...

[Mrs Ava]

... I am going to pass a legislation that every new house built has a small wind turbine in their back gardens to power their own home with electricity.  Still pondering how I would work it for peeps living in flats.   ;D

[Mrs Ava]

[saddad]

Without the building taking off in a strong breeze????
I'll get my coat E-J
;D

[Merry Tiller]

Don't know how to tell you but they really aren't very efficient, in fact they are fairly useless :-[

[Mrs Ava]

Tut.  Blowing you a big ole raspberry MT.  ;) I think I would look very smart as PM in a proper suit and clean fingernails.  Oh well, looks like I should keep to gardening then.

[Amazin]

With some of the ideas the present incumbent has had over the last 10 years, EJ, my vote's definitely with you!

;D ;D ;D


PS - When do I get my peerage?

;)

[moonbells]

I'd got to the point where I was going to put in my order as soon as they sorted out the planning legislation, and spent the waiting time investigating how green they were.

Do you know you can't get figures as to how much carbon is released in *making* one of those things? I would want to know how many years I'd have to use it before it's 'paid' for itself carbonwise. Bear in mind they're only designed for about 10 years in the first place...

The wind speed debate's quite a large one. You can find some very interesting discussions about it on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2006/11/are_domestic_wind_turbines_an_ecocon.html

I now don't want one; solar water heating on the other hand can be 80% efficient so with a suitable gravity-feed system, you can heat scalding water in summer and tepid in winter (still saving some cash, in raising it above freezing!).

You can even DIY a recycled-materials solar heater for enough water to do your washing-up for less than a fiver!
http://www.thesietch.org/projects/solarthermalpanel2/index.htm

These chaps managed to heat 20^oC water to 43^oC and I guess one of those solid insulated boxes you can get for keeping picnics cold would be a good receptacle. If you want it hotter, you can run it through again!

I am wondering if one of those wouldn't be very useful to stick on the lottie shed roof - it's not as if the cost would be terrible if vandals nicked it. And hot water for washing would be very useful...

moonbells

[manicscousers]

why don't they build all the new houses with solar panels in the roof, there's an explosion of new buildings in wigan at the moment, not one roof panel !!   :) :)

[caroline7758]

We were seriously thinking about a B&Q wind turbine for our roof, until we found 1.we'd have to pay for planning permission (so much for govt. encouraging green energy!) and 2. It would be noisy (I sleep badly enough already!).

I'm now convinced the best bet would be solar water heating- but the price is prohibitive. If I were Prime Minister I'd give interest-free loans for installing energy- saving measures.

[kitten]

If I were Prime Minister I'd give interest-free loans for installing energy- saving measures.

I agree, and I'd also give tax incentives for people who recycle & use energy saving techniques, so the people who either don't want to or can't be bothered are penalised and the peeps who make the effort get rewarded. x

[busy_lizzie]

It always amazes me that more isn't done to houses to make them more energy effiicient.  Surely no new houses should be built now without the maximum in energy efficiency built into them.  It seems like common sense doesn't it? My vote would be with you EJ.   :) busy_lizzie

[ACE]

why don't they build all the new houses with solar panels in the roof, there's an explosion of new buildings in wigan at the moment, not one roof panel !!   :) :)

Err. I think they need sunshine to work. ;D

According to my mathematical table  solar panel + sunshine = hot water.

                                                          Solar panel + sunshine + Wigan = cold water

                                                          Wigan+ sunshine =  wishful thinking

Now if you were talking about wave power!

[kenkew]

As your minister for garden sharing, EJ, I would connect all the gardens in a street together with a cleverly designed mobile garden slider. What you do is switch it on to move your garden up the street to the man who knows all about planting spuds. After he's planted them for you, he moves it along to the guy who's good at composting....and so it goes on. That way, all the garden experts in the street do their speciality on all the gardens. End resutl; All gardens are pefectly planted and maintained by the whole street.

[bennettsleg]

Dear Prime Minister
Here's what I think:

- change all planning laws to encourage existing home owners to install energy saving/creation/storage methods.

- enforce all landlords - domestic and commercial - to install energy saving/creation/storage methods.

- the National Grid's prime directive is to purchase power from individual creators where their excess will go to waste otherwise. This will also keep money within the uk and further encourage others to install the technology.

- recycle all dirty water from the home for use in gardens, car washing etc.

- limit the number of properties that can be squeezed onto one site by developers and creative financial punishments for over-developing in one area and no financial punishments for building in underdeveloped areas (NOT the greenbelt).

- All new developments to have energy saving/creation/storage processes as standard including environmentally sound architectural methods such as turf roofs.

- All car parks should be below ground

- Shoot John Prescott & Gordon Brown

- Buy British and significantly reduce imports thus boosting the economy, providing jobs within the UK.

- Don't even THINK about introducing Mileage Charges. This will develop a 2-tier system where only the rich can drive and everything gets more expensive as a result. The rubbish public transport system will collapse further and everyone will get themselves fired and go onto benefits as it's cheaper.  The Oil Barons will have something to say about this too... There are other methods to improve on environmental impact through traffic, but think again & not your usual Rs about face process. How about taxation on 2nd cars (we'd be hit here but it's a good idea); reduce public transport costs to encourage people to use it. I fear that every "sensible" move is a vote looser and therefore not viable.

- investigate why it is so blooming expensive to just LIVE in the UK and take measures to bring us in line with the rest of Europe. We work harder for greater taxation, somethings wrong with this picture!

[kitten]

- Shoot John Prescott & Gordon Brown

;D  :-* I'd vote for you based on this policy alone bennetts! x

[manicscousers]

  Solar panel + sunshine + Wigan = cold water

                                                          Wigan+ sunshine =  wishful thinking
by ace

what've you got against wigan ?, it's only the same as everywhere else at the moment,  ;D, we had some lovely sunshine last year, and about 2 minutes this morning, it's supposed to be nice all day tomorrow, anyway, what's wrong with washing in cold water,
"When I was young, we had no bathroom and had to wash in cold water", Ray's dad

[kenkew]

You had running water? When I was a lad I had to fill a leaky pail from the sewer overflow at the gas works to wash in.

[manicscousers]

yeeeeuck !!

[Mrs Ava]

hahaha, you guys have cheered this grumpy old bird up.  ;D

[saddad]

Without descending into the three Yorkshire Men sketch Kenkew... I was 7 before our house was connected to the mains... mum always claimed it was only so they could charge us water rates. It came in through the cellar wall into a large trough, and ran out through a hole in the floor. That was 1968 just before they put a man on the moon!
;D