Could you give up flying? Meet the no-plane pioneers

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

I suppose it would be beautiful and exciting to someone who is wondering what to do with a stockpile of depleted uranium. As the method seems to involve storing the hydrogen as uranium hydride, UH₃, I its storage density would be good volumetrically, but not by mass (storing a tonne of hydrogen would take 79 tonnes of uranium). That suggests static storage uses only.

I don't think there is a shortage of things to do with depleted uranium. It is used as balancing ballast in aircraft, screening in medical imaging machinery, keels on sailing boats, and anything else where something more than 50% heavier than lead would come in handy. Its use in munitions proved controversial. While being shot dead by a DU bullet doesn't make things any worse for you, some of the bigger munitions can pretty much vaporise, then leave a poisonous dust on the battlefield. It isn't particularly radioactive, but ingesting uranium isn't a good idea - it is rather poisonous. I think you would be right about it being useful only for static storage, it would be a lot to carry around in a mobile phone. Expect protests from anyone near wherever it may be used, for no scientifically valid reason.

[IndustryInsider]

There was an interesting segment during the World Athletics coverage on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) yesterday about the sustainability measures taken by the organisers.  It included a correspondent making the journey via rail from St.Pancras to Budapest to point out the benefits (and negatives) compared with flying.

[broadgage]

Digressing slightly, one of my pet niggles is the number of posh hotel rooms that have their mini-bars running all the time, when I expect the majority of people don't use them, so it is mostly wasted energy.  Add that up all over the world, and I expect it is quite a lot.

Agree, and the waste may be even worse than at first appears.
The fridges used in hotel rooms are often of the absorption type rather than the more efficient compressor type. This being due to least first cost and sometimes alleged silent operation.
The small mini-bar fridge in an hotel room may well be using more electricity than a modern full sized fridge in your home.
If the hotel is air conditioned, then EVEN MORE electricity will be used by the air conditioning as it works harder to remove the heat from the fridges.

The trouble is that the cost per room, per day is not that great and most hotel managers cant comprehend the wider or long term picture.

Average loading of an hotel mini-bar-----------------125 watts.
Consumption per 24 hour day------------------------- 3Kwh.
Cost per day at typical UK^▸ (United Kingdom) electricity price----------- About 50 pence.

To me, that is approaching £200 a year, per room. A significant sum.
Many thousands of pounds a year for a medium size hotel.
To the average hotel manager it is "a few pence a day" and not worth worrying about.

Since I wrote the above, we have a new war and consequent near trebling of electricity prices.
A typical hotel mini bar now costs about £500 a year for electricity, double that in an air conditioned room.

[infoman]

and I still say,

if all the passengers said we ain't going on that plane to Australia from the U.K.

British airways would just stay here then(in the U.K.) we will just fly empty

[broadgage]

and I still say,

if all the passengers said we ain't going on that plane to Australia from the U.K.

British airways would just stay here then(in the U.K.) we will just fly empty

Yes, but if enough people decide not to fly, the airline industry will put on smaller planes or fewer flights. They wont carry on flying empty or near empty planes for long.

[TaplowGreen]

and I still say,

if all the passengers said we ain't going on that plane to Australia from the U.K.

British airways would just stay here then(in the U.K.) we will just fly empty

Yes, but if enough people decide not to fly, the airline industry will put on smaller planes or fewer flights. They wont carry on flying empty or near empty planes for long.

A relatable and useful warning for the rail industry.

[TonyK]

Yes, but if enough people decide not to fly, the airline industry will put on smaller planes or fewer flights. They wont carry on flying empty or near empty planes for long.

Correct, although it doesn't seem to be what is actually happening.