Ban on sale of coal and wet wood.

Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
Not new built areas, but towns like T. Wells, London, Eastbourne.
It got better and better over the years.

Diesel fumes smell much different. Some vehicles here smoke incredibly much from their Diesel engines. Embarrassing.
Environment is not high on our government agenda. Talking about it is, but action is low.
That explains it. The only people I knew with a coal fire were either in the country on bottled gas, or my neighbour who liked the feel of it as she'd had one all her life (ie pre war) and was a bit particular about such things.They are very destinctive, you can smell em for about 100 yards. Still it would have been smokeless fuel as pretty much after 1960 that was all that was sold domestically, littlle shaved briquettes.
 
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C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
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Oct 6, 2003
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"Smokeless" fuel isn't smokeless. The burning of such fuel caused a significant rift between my parents and their neighbour. He burned smokeless fuel, and the fumes made it impossible for my mum to work in her garden; tight chest, difficulty breathing. Even I found it unpleasant and hard to breath when that stuff was blowing up the hill. Bungalows on a slope put his chimney, two doors down, too close to nose level.

I have a Contura 51L wood stove and in addition to all the stuff mentioned, about having to cut, split and store wood, the other thing that does not make it into the pretty brochures is the shear mess that you get with logs shedding saw dust, bark and spider webs, then the inevitable bits of ash and charcoal that fall from the door when re-fueling.
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
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Yes, to a very large degree. If marijuana alone were legalized and taxed it would go a long way toward emptying the jails and prisons and providing revenue that could be used to treat addiction.

That’s a rather large statement, and far more complex than you imagine. To start at the very beginning, alcohol addiction costs more in monetary, human and medical costs than any other drug. Like cigaraett
Right with you Robson, bought pellets for my wood gasyding stove, put the rest into my dry outhouse but couldn't really use them anymore as they had sucked up all the air humidity

Same here, fine if used immediately or kept dry, but the couple of sacks in the garage left over from last year are really just sacks of sawdust now.
 

bobnewboy

Native
Jul 2, 2014
1,318
870
West Somerset
I have a Contura 51L wood stove and in addition to all the stuff mentioned, about having to cut, split and store wood, the other thing that does not make it into the pretty brochures is the shear mess that you get with logs shedding saw dust, bark and spider webs, then the inevitable bits of ash and charcoal that fall from the door when re-fueling.

Aye, but when the fire’s up and blazing, chucking out heat, drying your slightly damp socks and casting a rosy glow around the lounge - after a long, cold day out in the field - there’s nothing like it. That’s why I started a post regarding our first home fire of the season :) . When we moved out south and west, we actively sought out a house which included some form of real fire, not having had one before. We burn ‘ecoal’ with locally sourced seasoned firewood, plus any of the larger trimmings from our garden (also seasoned first, natch). There is an aspect of work in using the fire, but for us that is far outweighed by the pleasure of having an open fire. Also of course, as someone here has it : we always have a good reason to use an axe, every day in winter if need be :)

Cheers, Bob
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
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That’s a rather large statement, and far more complex than you imagine. To start at the very beginning, alcohol addiction costs more in monetary, human and medical costs than any other drug. Like cigaraett......
Read it a bit more widely. I don’t claim it to be a cure-all. Just a step in a better direction. And the problem with the high taxation on tobacco and alcohol is that the resulting revenue is being diverted to other projects rather than treatment. Likewise with the humongous settlements the individual states were awarded against the tobacco companies a decade or two ago.
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,855
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Read it a bit more widely. I don’t claim it to be a cure-all. Just a step in a better direction. And the problem with the high taxation on tobacco and alcohol is that the resulting revenue is being diverted to other projects rather than treatment. Likewise with the humongous settlements the individual states were awarded against the tobacco companies a decade or two ago.

That quote was a scrap of something I began to post last night and then thought the better of it due to it being wildly off topic. It seems the forum remembered it and added it to my post about wood pellets. Please ignore.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
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We use a carrying
Read it a bit more widely. I don’t claim it to be a cure-all. Just a step in a better direction. And the problem with the high taxation on tobacco and alcohol is that the resulting revenue is being diverted to other projects rather than treatment. Likewise with the humongous settlements the individual states were awarded against the tobacco companies a decade or two ago.
In US maybe, not in Europe where medical care is virtually 99% paid for the tax and duties.

Cancer treatment ( tobacco) and the medical treatment, detoxing and social problems ( alcohol) are costing more than the income.
Removing these incomes, the states will still have the costs for a couple of decades.

I think the main problem is how much intervention a state should do. Interventions done with good intentions, supported by 'good science' have later shown to be failures.
Diesel engines, now it seems they realized Hybrid cars are not so fantastic.

(Which every person knowing a little bit of physics could tell...)
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
Heating with wood pellets was very clean, efficient and comfortable with the steady heat.
No more lifting for me so I'm back to running the oil furnace central heating.
That costs me about 2X the pellets. But, there's no maitenance or cleaning for me to do.

Inasmuch as I have no appetite to heat with round wood, I'd still like to waste some time
with a drink in front of an open fire, as inefficient as they are. Might buy some seasoned birch,
just to be ready for any opportunity to "help out."

Late January was really short days and -30C and colder. Should have invited myself
and a bottle over to a friend's fireplace.

In my avatar, I'm standing in front of some rounds of Douglas fir that went up in smoke in a big wood stove. That's actually the back side of the rustic furniture shop, not my place.
 

demographic

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 15, 2005
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[QUOTE="Woody girl, post: 1925374, member: 51667" The amount of electricity needed to power all these new electric cars and heating systems isn't achievable with renewable sources at present levels. Watch them try to build more nuclear power stations![/QUOTE]

Since everyone is using energy efficient appliances and so on they reckon we are using less electricity now than a few years ago. Enough that electric cars wouldnt up demand to higher than it used to be.

I'll see if I can ratch out the Fullychargedshow episode that mentioned it on Youtube.
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
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Work out how many cars etc are on the road.
Work out how much electric is needed to charge one car. Multiply that by the number of cars.
Think of the demand on the grid as everyone arrives home from work plugs in to charge up for the next days travel. Plus the TV goes on.. meals are cooked. Children and adults on computers doing homework etc. Recharging of phones , Lights, heating, cups of tea, etc. The demand especially in winter would be horrendous!
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
Work out the enviromental costs of building the batteries.
Work out the costs of recycling those batteries.
Work out the costs of battery replacement, they don't last forever.
I won't buy an electric car for those reasons.
 

Woody girl

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Mar 31, 2018
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I'm all for trying to lower my carbon footprint as much as I can. I'm a dyed in the wool green campaigner.
I just can't see it working despite desperately wanting it to do so.
I've seen how dependant we are on electric nowadays. The power cut last week meant nothing in town worked.
The petrol station was out of action.
So was the cashpoint. Post office could only sell stamps. Co-op the tills were out and the electronic doors too, so that was shut.
That lasted 2hrs. Then we had to wait for the tills etc to recalibrate or whatever it is they do.
Imagine how vulnerable we have become to just relying on one power source.
Sorry boss, won't be in on time today. We had a power cut last night and the car hasn't charged....
Like I say I'm all for the green movement and have been most of my life.
We should be thinking how we can survive and function without electric too.
All it takes is one mad hacker getting in the system or adverse weather conditions or a malfunction of some sort and most life comes to a halt!
 

Sundowner

Full Member
Jan 21, 2013
891
341
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Northumberland
Heating with wood pellets was very clean, efficient and comfortable with the steady heat.
No more lifting for me so I'm back to running the oil furnace central heating.
That costs me about 2X the pellets. But, there's no maitenance or cleaning for me to do.

Inasmuch as I have no appetite to heat with round wood, I'd still like to waste some time
with a drink in front of an open fire, as inefficient as they are. Might buy some seasoned birch,
just to be ready for any opportunity to "help out."

Late January was really short days and -30C and colder. Should have invited myself
and a bottle over to a friend's fireplac.......
My kinda guy
 

Code 4

Tenderfoot
Feb 25, 2020
86
50
65
Shrewsbury
I plant, grow, harvest, stack, season and burn my own logs. I have to buy some in as well. Last month I planted over 200 Willow cuttings. Plan to harvest them in about 4 to 5 years.
When we have a power cut I can still make a brew and cook on the wood burner. Can't imagine not having a burner.
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
There's a bottle of Forty Creek Double Barrel Select rye on the shelf at the ready.
The very best is really insipid on ice. This one's in the middle.
Smoke, who said anything about fire smoke? Still pretty much roll your own in this day and time.

Must ask around again about open log fireplaces.

The wet wood thing isn't an absolute novelty.
1. Years ago, the big American ski resorts of Aspen and Vail cut off ALL log burning.
Village temperature inversions made the air toxic in winter.
2. Just a couple of years back, Beijing, China banned outdoor grill BBQ because of the smoke!
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
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In US maybe, not in Europe where medical care is virtually 99% paid for the tax and duties...........
Most addiction here eventually results in jail time. Jail time means medical and addiction treatment cost is at the taxpayers expense. So no real difference in that regard between the US and Europe.

Yeah, it would likely still cost more than it would take in. The point is that gap would be narrower (and without the additional $65,000 per year it costs to keep an inmate incarcerated)
 

Mr Wolf

Full Member
Jun 30, 2013
713
171
Nottinghamshire
It is I feel just a bit of a headline-grabbing policy, it will be forgotten about within the next twelve months. It's going to be impossible to police efficiently. Just read, laugh about it and move on. Climate change is caused by too many people in too smaller space either we make the space bigger or have fewer people.

Si
Problem is we need 90% less people and the conventional methods of population reduction are frowned upon
 

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