Generation & Transmission Losses.

I am not too worried about global warming - it is unclear what proportion is caused by human activity, and whether it is reversible. However, what is absolutely the case is that fossil fuels will run out - not in my life-time, but in my granddaughters'. That is unless we reduce consumption.

One of the biggest changes that has occurred in my life-time is the increase in travel. When I started motoring in the late 1970s, it was possible to travel at 3-figure speeds on major trunk roads (subject to having a fast enough car) and it was possible to overtake slower vehicles on single carriageway roads. Nowadays, ignoring speed cameras, it would be difficult to average 80 mph for any distance because of other vehicles (and poor lane discipline); and overtaking is rare because there are not big enough gaps in the oncoming traffic.

So that's long-distance travel, but we also have commuting. The “rush hour” has become rush 3 hours. Is it really necessary to live so far from work? We have often discussed whether we have the infrastructure to power EVs. Well, that may become the limiting step which controls annual mileage.

And then we have air travel. If governments were serious about CO2 emissions, aviation fuel would be taxed on par with fuel for land vehicles. I just don't see any justification for long-distance holiday travel.

Covid has shown that we can work virtually, but in fact that was happening some years ago. The idea of driving for 3 hours up to the midlands for a 90 minute meeting and then 3 hours back again is not only expensive in terms of fuel, but also working time.

We don't have to eat exotic foreign fruits.

So behaviour has to change, and will change - the human species has been the most adaptable and resourceful ever. That's where, politically, I think that global warming comes in. Any threat has to be more immediate then 50 - 100 years away. We had to make a start on “renewable” energy and I admire the early adopters.

I am not too worried about global warming - it is unclear what proportion is caused by human activity, and whether it is reversible. However, what is absolutely the case is that fossil fuels will run out - not in my life-time, but in my granddaughters'. That is unless we reduce consumption.

One of the biggest changes that has occurred in my life-time is the increase in travel. When I started motoring in the late 1970s, it was possible to travel at 3-figure speeds on major trunk roads (subject to having a fast enough car) and it was possible to overtake slower vehicles on single carriageway roads. Nowadays, ignoring speed cameras, it would be difficult to average 80 mph for any distance because of other vehicles (and poor lane discipline); and overtaking is rare because there are not big enough gaps in the oncoming traffic.

So that's long-distance travel, but we also have commuting. The “rush hour” has become rush 3 hours. Is it really necessary to live so far from work? We have often discussed whether we have the infrastructure to power EVs. Well, that may become the limiting step which controls annual mileage.

And then we have air travel. If governments were serious about CO2 emissions, aviation fuel would be taxed on par with fuel for land vehicles. I just don't see any justification for long-distance holiday travel.

Covid has shown that we can work virtually, but in fact that was happening some years ago. The idea of driving for 3 hours up to the midlands for a 90 minute meeting and then 3 hours back again is not only expensive in terms of fuel, but also working time.

We don't have to eat exotic foreign fruits.

So behaviour has to change, and will change - the human species has been the most adaptable and resourceful ever. That's where, politically, I think that global warming comes in. Any threat has to be more immediate then 50 - 100 years away. We had to make a start on “renewable” energy and I admire the early adopters.