9th February
This time we have a Bullet Point Blog, very short. I will explain …
WILD BIRDS My first bullet point relates to the pictures above. Next week I will share some information about changing patterns of migration, as our climate warms up.
EVER WARMER TEMPERATURES This is not NEW news, but there is gloomy confirmation that last year in the second half of 2023 global average air temperatures began exceeding 1.5C of warming on an almost daily basis, when El Niño began kicking in. And this has continued into 2024. I will look into facts about El Nino and how our weather may be affected this summer.
POSTPONEMENT of BIG CONTENT
I am sure some readers would be happy to have a shorter summary in a blog. Indeed a reader made that request clearly in the past 7 days. I am sorry if you do prefer a compressed version, but I write for my own education and development. I really need to cover the background of a topic and fill in with data and research reports. I hope if you have limited time to read you can get used to using the system, just skipping from image to image and highlighted heading to heading, choosing which links to follow up.
WHY?
There was always a small chance that the blog a day before a great big event might need to be curtailed. But in the past few hours another reason has arisen – we are being filmed in Truro tomorrow, by Westcountry TV. Both the commercial media and the BBC have shown interest in this occasion; they really seem keen to share a celebration of Chinese New Year. So, I have been forced to concentrate all energies on preparation. You will hear all about it next time. For now ‘Gong Hay Fat Choi!’
THE 2nd BIG TOPIC next time will be ..
That I shall be taking possession of a car, a Citroen Picasso Diesel, which is the end result of all my research into ways that I might end up as a pioneer, driving with Hydrogen Treated Vegetable Oil. It is nothing special, and not very new. But the mileage is really low for its age and hopefully the team of car enthusiasts who regularly give me advice in the pub plus a new reader, who has a really strong interest and experience in this field, will keep me on track with the new experiment!
The new reader, Geoff, has sent me so much material it will be hard to know what to choose for sharing. His regular contributions to the Volvo owners magazine (under the heading Geoff’s Jottings), reminiscing on his attendance at the very first biofuels conference in the UK in 2007, plus his frequent stories of EV faults and problems, will be really helpful especially as I have been advised by my insurance company that they will require a professional report on what the implications of driving with a blend of diesel and biodiesel will mean. He has a great deal to say!
I found a useful online analysis already from the RAC – https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/what-is-biofuel-and-biodiesel/#google_vignette. Then I began looking into the situation in Sweden, where things are very opposite to the UK. Their Government insists that drivers must include a proportion of biofuel in all their tank inputs:-
The reduction mandate obliges fuel distributors to mix biofuel into petrol and diesel in order to reduce their emissions by a certain percentage. In 2023, the reduction level was 7.8% for petrol and 30.5% for diesel. When the emissions reduction under the reduction mandate is calculated the life cycle emissions of the biofuel that are blended in are also included (the life cycle emissions include the emissions associated with production of the biofuels).
Wouldn’t it be a well-deserved break, if someone generously funded a research visit to Stockholm for me?? Ha, ha. Dream on!
I will fill in all the peripheral info on these topics and more next time. And in the meantime, this is the source of facts about the Swedish Reduction Mandate, followed by a map of fuel availability and consumption. https://www.ri.se/en/news/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-swedish-biofuel-reduction-mandate#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Swedish%20reduction,petrol%20and%2030.5%25%20for%20diesel.
