BMW planning takeover bid for Volvo!! & greenie issues |
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dryle
Really Senior Member II Joined: 31-January-2006 Location: Enfield. Status: Offline Points: 1348 |
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There is now a shortage of corn, there have been riots in mexico because tortilla prices have risen by 60%, even the UN is stating that the change over to biofuels are a concern as fuel is now being manufactured from traditional food substances that there is going to be shortages, i agree with peter regarding not enough land mass for the crops to serve both food and fuel, if you start plundering the rainforests to make way for more crops this will start to have an even more negative effect on the environment as the rain forests produce over 50% of oxygen. The way forward is hydrogen cell cars and to a certain extent hybrids but the overall carbon footprint must be examined. It is not only motorists that must view this, builders must start examining their methods as cement production produces a huge amount of carbon dioxide. |
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Dave Ryle
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- George Bernard Shaw |
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dryle
Really Senior Member II Joined: 31-January-2006 Location: Enfield. Status: Offline Points: 1348 |
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Good for you TJ, that is the way to go, we were buying a house with OFCH and were going to change for a pellet burner, fell thru. You can grow elephant grass its expensive to start €1k per acre but is seemingly vgood and grows well and fast. Dont know where you get it. There was an article in the Times magazine last year, i think a guy from SEI was growing it. |
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Dave Ryle
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- George Bernard Shaw |
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thepits
Moderator Group Joined: 09-July-2003 Location: far far away Status: Offline Points: 10000473 |
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I don't drive a DIEsel |
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Cats know your every thought.
But don't care. |
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flyingalexf68
Really Senior Member II Joined: 01-April-2006 Location: 53°19’59,6°14’56 Status: Offline Points: 2581 |
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Maybe it did. Doubt it though. It's also fairly easy to make an engine do 100mpg in a car. BUT, it's not easy to make this technology CLEAN. The cars still have to pass the latest emmissions regulations which is hard to do. So BMW are on to something with their new brake energy regeneration and automatic engine stop/start stuff. |
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1995 e36 3.0 M3 Coupe, Daytona Violet, AP Racing BBK, CCFL Angel Eyes, M3 Spoiler, M-Tec 3 Steering Wheel.
2000 530d Steptronic, Poverty Spec, 18" Alloys. |
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dryle
Really Senior Member II Joined: 31-January-2006 Location: Enfield. Status: Offline Points: 1348 |
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was that not the engine just cutting out and having to restart it as i doubt that vw if they had that technology 15 yrs ago havent progressed with it. |
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Dave Ryle
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- George Bernard Shaw |
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635CSi
Really Senior Member II Joined: 01-March-2007 Status: Offline Points: 683 |
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Well as far as I know, it's definitely not modern technology. |
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BM Fan
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 19-January-2004 Location: Ireland Status: Offline Points: 1054 |
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Interesting Thread - Friday and motivation is at a low ebb at the moment.
My 2c worth - Energy demands are going up and will continue to go up - fossil fuels are in decline but cannot be eliminated and their remaning life needs to be optimized by using them as ecconomically as possible. I think that we need to look to electricity and more utilization of this for energy. There are obvious options here but the immeadiate one with very real potential that very few are willing to discuss is Nuclear. Nuclear power has the ability to deliver vast quantities of power with technology available today. While it is not zero carbon especially when you factor in the mining CO2 emmisions to obtain the Uranium its is considerably lower than Gas, Oil or Coal it offers presents a reduction of 66% when the mining is factored in. There are risks as we all know but then there are risks with everything. This would not be the complete solution but would effectively buy time, that should allow the likes of hydro, wind, wave and particularly fuel cell technology to evolve to a level where it is commercially viable. So what have I done, nowhere near enough I imagine. However I do assess and think about what I do and its impact but I will not live in a treehouse and grow my own clothes. Made the usual switch to energy saving light bulbs at home and in the office and warehouse. Trying to switch the business over to Airtricity which really p1sses me off as I would rather be able to get green power from the ESB but their green supply is limited at present. The usual power off at night of all items. Keep the heating off in rooms not in use. Unfortunately I do use gas for heat at home as the space for a pellet system is at premium in a semi-d in Dublin. The 10 year old Passat Oil burner does return 55mpg or so on average and will be driven untill it falls apart. SWMBO does drive a new SUV of the large D4 variety, it is a Euro IV diesel engine and returns approx the same ecconomy as the 520i did but it has higher C02 emmisions. However if you look at the annual CO2 emmsions the Passat is the bigger polluter as it covers far more miles. In truth there is no simple solution to the "green issues". We all want the cheapest technology which must be mass manufactured in the developing coutries where there is very little environmental regulation. Then it must be shipped here via air or sea - more pollution We all want several holidays a year - so travel more. Want higher salaries and cheaper housing - commute further to work in the cities. I honestly cannot see a solution in my lifetime - not with the present rate of progress and for all their talk it appears that the powers that be are not interested in making a real change but rather pass it off to Joe Public like us. |
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Martin
In BMW exile at the moment (Shame on me for lurking!!!) Previous Models 2001 E39 520i Auto 1996 E36 M3 Evo Individual 1996 E36 328i Coupe 1997 E36 318i Conv 1992 E36 316i Sln |
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dryle
Really Senior Member II Joined: 31-January-2006 Location: Enfield. Status: Offline Points: 1348 |
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BMW and Ford are stating that Hydrogen cars are still a good few years off yet, there was an article in the Engineers Journal regarding this. MArtin, With regard to turning off the heating in rooms when not in use is generally considered good however if the temp in those rooms fall enough then you will be losing heat to those rooms therefore in theory heating them. The Current BR states that any new house over 100m2 should be zoned for energy efficiency ie living, sleeping and HWS. This can be achieved by the use of thermostatic zoning, honeywell make them, when i eventually move house i will be getting them. Although some people see elec as a clean source of energy SEI has stated that CO2 emmissions for elec is 880g/kwhr and for gas is 180g/kwr (approx). Petrol emmits just over 2kg Co2 per litre goning from some car details. So by being frugal when driving ie higher is doing more for the environment than you think. |
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Dave Ryle
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- George Bernard Shaw |
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T.J.
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 22-September-2003 Location: Cork, Ireland Status: Offline Points: 2332 |
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I think the fact we're even having this debate is great. It wouldn't have happened 2yrs ago. There is a real groundswell of awareness. The youth of today are so clued into energy issues, and I have every faith that humanitys resourcefulness and survival instinct will provide long-term solutions to what is a crisis. In my opinion though, we'll need a real proper crisis to provide the transformational step-change.
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Dergside
Really Senior Member II Joined: 16-May-2004 Location: Mid West, Ireland Status: Offline Points: 4000 |
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One question that is overlooked a bit in the driving aspect of the discussion is the CO2 cost of producing a new car. I tend to drive cars that are at leat 5-6 years old when I buy them.
I really don't know the answers to these questions but it does seem to me many of the "measures" being adopted to encourage us to reduce our footprint on the earth (whether its buying new cars, how we fuel them or heat our houses, etc.) are significantly flawed and support the notion of designed in obsolesence and the market economy principles more than sustainable ecology. Worse again, when the measures to "encourage" us to be more green end up simply being cynical revenue raising opportunities for governments (for example a 10% increase in duties on fuels won't cause people to significantly alter their habits but will raise revenue where a 100% increase might alter habits but adversely affect revenue because it reduces consumption by a more significant degree) people will, correctly, be suspicious of the message. Edited by Dergside |
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Now: BMW 523i SE '00, 318i SE - e91 '07, 325i Coupe '93.
Prev: e46 328i SE Touring, 330Ci, 318Ci. e39 523i SE. e36 325i Coupe *2, 323i SE, 316iSE. e30 325iSE 2dr, 320i Conv, 320i 2dr, 316i. |
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BM Fan
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 19-January-2004 Location: Ireland Status: Offline Points: 1054 |
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Must look that up as I have an interest in these figures. I was doing some research on this (Acknowledgements to TJ for his contribution) and the ESB figures that I got were - 0.59kgCO2/kWh or 590kgCO2/MWh. Also found this figure from ESB - In 2004, 1 unit (kWhr) of electricity was responsible for 651g of CO2 (Energy in Ireland, 2005). You are right in respect to Ireland that much of our power is from sources other than gas or hydro - oil, coal etc which pushes the figure up. Good point about the rooms. I should have refered to our office and the likes of our demo room and conference room. If i turned the heat off in any room in the house I'd be severely slapped!! Environment or not - Actually I reckon if women actualy wore proper clothes we could all save a fortune on heating - My better half would be in shorts and a T-shirt in the depths of winter with the heating jacked to last and still complain about being cold Now I must go and sit on the M50 for an hour or two, and add to the pollution thanks to the inefficiency or our Transport department. Edited by BM Fan |
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Martin
In BMW exile at the moment (Shame on me for lurking!!!) Previous Models 2001 E39 520i Auto 1996 E36 M3 Evo Individual 1996 E36 328i Coupe 1997 E36 318i Conv 1992 E36 316i Sln |
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dryle
Really Senior Member II Joined: 31-January-2006 Location: Enfield. Status: Offline Points: 1348 |
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Back to the title, seems that ford arent selling off their stake in volvo, now selling jag and landrover
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Dave Ryle
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- George Bernard Shaw |
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635CSi
Really Senior Member II Joined: 01-March-2007 Status: Offline Points: 683 |
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Seems so.......... |
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flyingalexf68
Really Senior Member II Joined: 01-April-2006 Location: 53°19’59,6°14’56 Status: Offline Points: 2581 |
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Wonder what will happen now? I can see Landrover/Rangerover being built
outside the UK if they're not careful. BMW had to sell it because of all the problems and we still here of all sorts of things going wrong with them under Fords watch. Not sure about Jag. Plenty of new XK's going around here so their sales must be good but are they good enough to go out on their own? |
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1995 e36 3.0 M3 Coupe, Daytona Violet, AP Racing BBK, CCFL Angel Eyes, M3 Spoiler, M-Tec 3 Steering Wheel.
2000 530d Steptronic, Poverty Spec, 18" Alloys. |
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635CSi
Really Senior Member II Joined: 01-March-2007 Status: Offline Points: 683 |
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The new Range Rover development is apparently well under way, this time it is constructed from aluminium which is a wise but expensive move imo. You may see alot of new XK's on the road right now, but how many new X-type's, S-type's or XJ's have you seen?? Exactly, every Jag bar the XK is selling extremely poorly due to the old fashioned styling. The mediocre facelift they have just given the XJ won't help things either. Still though, the future is still looking alot brighter compared to last year. The new XF should really help things I think, but the X-type should be axed. If I was Jaguar I'd give the current XJ a reskin to keep it competetive until the new car arrives in around circa 2009... |
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