How long before the UK grinds to a halt?

[Blue Duck]

Was listening to a radio discussion about the rail fare rises, the companies are heavily subsidised by us, the rail companies are run into the ground, they receive more government funds then  they (the toffs) pay themselves nice bonuses and then put the fares up again...add infinitum.

The same happens to the utilities and anything else that has been privatised and will happen to the NHS when that becomes a reality....

 

[binky]

South West Water paid out moe in dividends to shareholders last year than it spent on repairing infrastructure. Even when tey do 'invest' it's with borrowed money, so we end up paying the interest on the debt, and if the company goes belly-up, guess who inherits the debt????

 

[Sharpend]

Well all I can say is thatcher should have been shot before she was given the opportunity to wreck the gaff. 

Reality is this, all those that preached that nationalised infrastructure was too costly were lied too, to believe that, as every government regardless of colour can find the funds when they want too for disasters all over the world so quit giving until we're in a position to give. We could easily afford our own state owned infrastructure, the only stumbling point would be the fact that these foreign companies that own most of it would want double of what it's worth let alone what they alledfed to have paid for it. 

What I do know to be true is this, if we continue down the path we are on then we will be a third world country before we know it. The rich won't give a monkeys as they never have done (past tells us that), the only ones to lose are the majority of people, oddly enough if we all came together then we'd overthrow the minority and cause a revolution in our favour. Now the question is would our government be as supportive of a revolution here as they are of the revolutions in say African or Middle East states? 

 

[Evans Electric]

What I do know to be true is this, if we continue down the path we are on then we will be a third world country

I was told years ago that in the US  , Britain was classed as a Third World Country . 

Now the question is would our government be as supportive of a revolution here as they are of the revolutions in say African or Middle East states? 

No mate ....at the end of the day , if the Police  couldn't cope  they would turn the army on us .   

Know your place  you rebellious working class upstart . 

 

[binky]

Well all I can say is thatcher should have been shot before she was given the opportunity to wreck the gaff. 

As much as detest Thatcher and her policies, things did need t change. Biggest problem is Blair just continued with the same policies and Camerron really did more damage than Thatcher - lack of opposition to stop him. 

The upside is that the formerly nationalised infrastruture is definetly more efficient than it was - much dead-wood removed, BUT there is no real incentive to invest when shareholders (and over-paid senior managers) want to strip money out of these monoploy companies. I do think it is time to bring basic infrastruture back into state ownership.This grates with me quite a bit, as it means buying back with our money what was sold off, only I don't remember geting any money from the originlal sale......

 

[Tony S]

It’s good to see solar and wind pulling their weight keeping the lights on.

 

[Tony S]

 

[binky]

that obviously varies a lot with the seasons and weather.

 

[Tony S]

It does but when we need the power we can’t make the wind blow or the sun shine.

 

[Blue Duck]

But we can store it....

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/12/27/tesla-grid-storage-battery-reacts-record-time-power-outage/

 

[binky]

I think Scotland (anywhere with high rainfall and big hills) so do a lot more hydro schemes

 

[Blue Duck]

Still need somewhere to store it....

We will see the fuel companies investing more in this kind of tech as battery cars become more mainstream.

They won't be able to rely on the grid. 

 

[Tony S]

I think Scotland (anywhere with high rainfall and big hills) so do a lot more hydro schemes

I wholly agree with you and I would add Wales, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Cumbria and Tyne/Tees.

If you look at water storage dams used for supply only, why can’t the release water be harnessed for power generation? A Fransis turbine will operate on low head high flow rates.

It all comes down to money. The above would cost a lot initially but ongoing costs would be low.

 

[Sharpend]

I wholly agree with you and I would add Wales, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Cumbria and Tyne/Tees.

If you look at water storage dams used for supply only, why can’t the release water be harnessed for power generation? A Fransis turbine will operate on low head high flow rates.

It all comes down to money. The above would cost a lot initially but ongoing costs would be low.

Isnt this what they said about wind and solar? 

 

[Blue Duck]

Still need somewhere to store it....

We will see the fuel companies investing more in this kind of tech as battery cars become more mainstream.

They won't be able to rely on the grid. 

Sometimes I cannot see the wood through the trees!

:facepalm:

Sorry it's been a long day!

 

[Sidewinder]

I wholly agree with you and I would add Wales, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Cumbria and Tyne/Tees.

If you look at water storage dams used for supply only, why can’t the release water be harnessed for power generation? A Fransis turbine will operate on low head high flow rates.

It all comes down to money. The above would cost a lot initially but ongoing costs would be low.

Welsh Water generate from the water supply now, they have replaced break tanks with turbines almost totally across their network.