UK Reasearch and Innovation funding from taxes
was the conversation on the next bus seat last night; I wish there were some way I could have joined-in, but I learned a lot just by listening. Our taxpayer-funded research councils have informal meetings with some of the most active researchers, like research departments at Imperial College, and exchange ideas about what's a priority for research. The research councils know already, and the broad headings are probably set for them by ministries I suppose, but there is some informal contact. Then the formal requests for research are decided. Nothing about UK manufacturing such as clothing and footwear was mentioned specifically; UK government would not piss on a manufacturer if on fire, even though manufacturers pay taxes. UK government is interested in running a carbon neutral state in which everything is made in China and we all work in services like being servants for cabinet ministers and their party funders I suppose.
Academic Footnote:
tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/37 from Lidl to Clapham
12 midnight, 15th of Februrary 2020
was the conversation on the next bus seat last night; I wish there were some way I could have joined-in, but I learned a lot just by listening. Our taxpayer-funded research councils have informal meetings with some of the most active researchers, like research departments at Imperial College, and exchange ideas about what's a priority for research. The research councils know already, and the broad headings are probably set for them by ministries I suppose, but there is some informal contact. Then the formal requests for research are decided. Nothing about UK manufacturing such as clothing and footwear was mentioned specifically; UK government would not piss on a manufacturer if on fire, even though manufacturers pay taxes. UK government is interested in running a carbon neutral state in which everything is made in China and we all work in services like being servants for cabinet ministers and their party funders I suppose.
Gas combi boilers
A big deal because we have boilers already. Can they be retro-fitted to work on hydrogen or helium? Maybe a region could have one of these options available? This is thinking ahead a long way because hydrogen production is currently done in a way that produces carbon, but in future there might be hydrogen or helium with a low carbon footprint. I wanted to but-in to a strangers' conversation here. Modern boilers have cheap plastic pipe fittings, usually, so the instructions warn against piping-in hot water, for example from a solar panel. A small scheme to subsidise and promote boilers with a hot water input, or instructions for easy conversion, would make a big difference here. The other but-in is that hot water solar panels don't work well in a cold country; they'd be more viable if simpler, without the need for pumps. If the water tank was above the sloped panel, then hot water would rise there naturally. All that's needed is a change to planning law to allow hot water tanks on top of solar panels on my roof.
Cars
are a big deal, as we know already. They might run on batteries, allowing the electricity to be made in some less carboney way. Lorries? asked the other person on the bus seat. No. Energy storage density in batteries is not good enough for long distance heavy loads, or lorries in other words. If this were a but-in session I would have said something about trains, but I was on the next seat along.
Air travel.
At the moment there are frequent flyer schemes to reward people who take a lot of trips, including short trips. Maybe a tax could reverse these, so that the people who take the odd holiday by plane do not have to pay more, but the people who travel by plane all the time do have to pay more.
Worries about more harm than good.
Chemical engineers worry about government taking some quick-fix measure, like the change from free plastic carrier bags in big shops to paid-for longer-lasting carrier bags. The effect is for people to pay for the bigger bag and then use it once, which is worse than the situation before. Also, there is a general move of fashion against plastic. Now, if people move from throw-away plastics to tuppaware-like plastic, that's a huge gain, but out of fashion. If they move to glass, it has to be re-used thousands of times before the carbon footprint is better, but glass trendier than tuppaware because it's not plastic. And the disposable card containers used in takeaways maybe aren't too bad,
Academic Footnote:
tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/37 from Lidl to Clapham
12 midnight, 15th of Februrary 2020
Philip Green is a multi-billionaire businessman, who runs some of the
biggest names on British high streets. His retail empire includes brands
such as Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Miss Selfridge and
British Home Stores.