Eiffel Over

Tag: fossil fuels

  • When government bans protest against our projects, engineers must put down their tools

    When government bans protest against our projects, engineers must put down their tools

    The cornerstone of our democracy is the right to protest. At the moment the government is pushing through amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that would make it illegal to protest at a range of infrastructure sites.

    The Government is intending to use the latest amendment to

    introduce a new offence of interfering with the operation of key infrastructure, such as the strategic road network, railways, sea ports, airports, oil refineries and printing presses, carrying a maximum penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both

    George Monbiot citing in the guardian a private letter to members of the House of Lords

    This is on top of the existing authoritarian measures in the bill. For instance, named individuals can be banned from protesting. If I write a post encouraging readers to attend a protest, I can be individually banned from protesting. If I turn up anyway, under these new measures, I can be sent to prison for 51 weeks.

    Why is the government doing this?

    Well, I suspect it is because they know that protest works, as demonstrated by the success of the protests to stop fracking in the UK. A sustained campaign of protest by a small dedicated group halted one of the most illogical of engineering projects: fracking for more fossil fuels while committing to reducing our carbon footprint.

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  • What the fuel crisis reveals about the government’s approach to climate breakdown

    I’m sharing today my notes on the fuel crisis and what it reveals about how the government is acting in the wider context of climate breakdown.

    Defending fossil fuels

    Fossil fuels are a dying out. One way or another, their use will dwindle. But for now at least the government is prepared to ensure their supply by using the army to distribute supplies. What is so striking is the use of the armed services to prop up the dying system rather than directing these resources towards tackling the far larger crisis: how to massively reduce our dependence on fossil fuels in the first place. It is a sign of how committed the government is to the status quo rather than to find a path away from the bigger problem.

    In a related tactic, the government is willing to bend the rules to fast-track HGV licenses and visas for drivers, but we don’t see it acting to legislate to promote the rapid development of solutions that will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

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  • Allotment notes: bindweed and fertiliser

    I have been spending more time at the allotment as a stimulation for thinking about regenerative design. Notes from yesterday’s visit.

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  • Potential energy navigation – or not pedalling downhill

    Potential energy navigation – or not pedalling downhill

    How driving an e-car has changed the way I think about driving, cycling and our relationship to the landscape through which we travel.

    I have recently started driving an electric vehicle from a car club. I have always understood one of the benefits of electric vehicles being that when you slow down you can convert some of your kinetic energy back into potential energy. In practice you can see this happening when you drive. Motoring along a flat or uphill road, the dashboard display shows a steady flow of current from the battery to the motor. And when you crest a hill and take your foot off the accelerator, the display shows the current flowing the other way. 

    But this engine-braking effect only gives you a slow rate of deceleration. If you need to slow down more quickly then you need to use the old-fashioned breaks, converting that kinetic energy to heat – which is lost. 

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