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

[whole diary]

[eightonedee]

But forest fires are a part of nature ... and if that's dead wood that might naturally have burned, cleared as "brush" ... or of it's clearance (out of nesting season of course) from West Somerset Railway or Network Rail land ... then far better to have it in a fire grate than heating the countryside?

It all has to go back into the atmosphere! "Natural" fire is part of a system that starts a cycle of regeneration by vegetative succession back to woodland, assuming no intervening event such as clearance for agriculture or other human use, or grazing by animals preventing regeneration.

Does Broadgage insist that his firewood suppliers have a replanting regime that ensures full replacement of timber by replanting (a commitment that has to be longer than for a working lifetime!)?

[broadgage]

Most of my last delivery of fire wood was from large oak trees that were cut for building timber. I purchased all the small or odd shaped pieces that were unsuitable for construction.
A previous delivery was trees cut on the WSR and sold as firewood to raise money.
Other sources include a local wood that is managed to produce building timber, with fire wood as a by product.

The burning of logs in a modern stove that is used sensibly should produce very little smoke or particulates, certainly far less than the burning of the wood on a bonfire or in a forest fire.
If significant particulates result INDOORS then this indicates that the stove, or the flue are grossly defective or improperly used.

Sustainably sourced fire wood is virtually zero carbon since the carbon dioxide released during combustion is only that which was recently absorbed by the trees when growing.
My logs are delivered in a diesel burning pickup truck, but come from only a few miles away so the carbon emissions are modest. I would prefer that the supplier used an electric vehicle or wood burning vehicle but am not in a position to dictate this.
A petrol driven chainsaw is no doubt also used.
If the carbon emissions from cutting and delivering fire wood are to be counted (and arguably they should be) then the indirect emissions from say diesel fuel or natural gas should also be included. Not just the fuel delivered, but also that used in transporting, refining, storing and processing before it reaches the end user.

[eightf48544]

It can be done.

I know someone who will be doing UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Australia both ways by rail and ship!

Not sure which route is out

 China near Hong Kong by Trans Siberian etc. Ship to Melbourne

Australia Singapore ship then train  to china and Trans Siberian. I understand ther my be coach inviolved between Cambodia and Vietnam.
Probably take 6 weeks.

Is that by cargo ship or other means?

Yes Cargo ships I believe through a French shipping agent.

[Celestial]

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.

[grahame]

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.

The whole business of hotel wastage ... from food that's out on the breakfast buffet but not eaten and chucked, through to beds that are routinely changed at a frequency far in excess of what most guests do at home or want, with the resultant washing ... and (yes) keeping minibars ticking over and perhaps rooms heated in preparation for walk-ins who may not walk in.

[patch38]

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.

I agree. And I also reserve special bile for those mini-bars that charge you automatically if you pick something up or, worse, just knock it slightly. Many is the time that I have had heated discussions at check-out over this.

[TonyK]

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.

I always use the minibar, to keep my eye drops cool.

[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.

[Timmer]

Does anyone actually ever buy anything from a minibar? They must do or hotels wouldn’t bother with them.

€3 for a small bar of Dairy Milk*
£4 for a glass bottle of water, sorry I meant mineral water. Must get it right. ‘Rehydrate yourself’ it says on the card around the neck of the bottle whilst dehydrating your wallet.

*other chocolate bars are available.

[Celestial]

Does anyone actually ever buy anything from a minibar? They must do or hotels wouldn’t bother with them.

I've often wondered that. I think part of it is that it is seen as part of the service if you are a top notch hotel chain. And it is useful to put your own drinks, choccie bars or even eye drops in, but I'm not sure that as we become more aware of the environment cost that is a good enough reason to keep them on 24/7.   

[broadgage]

At a running cost of 50 pence a day for electricity, perhaps twice that in an air conditioned room, even limited sales would be profitable.
A bottle of water or beer or a soft drink might cost in bulk under one pound but sell for four pounds, a profit of at least three pounds.
Therefore an average of one sale per mini-bar, per week would roughly break even.

Nothing would be made from empty rooms of course in which all those fridges are consuming energy to no useful purpose whatsoever.

The hospitality industry in general, not just hotels, tends to be very wasteful of energy.
A great many managers are simply unable to understand the figures.
Take as example a 60 watt light bulb, used in huge numbers despite the availability of more efficient alternatives.
They cost about a penny an hour to run, an amount regarded as insignificant by most managers. With long hour use, that one penny an hour can become £50 a year PER LAMP.
Yet many businesses state that they "cant afford" low energy lamps, yet presumably have no trouble affording the electricity wasted by continued use of obsolete lamps.

[Bmblbzzz]

I am not an accountant, so it's easy for me to blame this on the artificial division between capex and opex. If I were an accountant, I would see that this is a reflection of a real distinction. And if I were a hotel manager, I don't know what I would see (perhaps Grahame can say something on this?).

[grahame]

(perhaps Grahame can say something on this?).

I have been very tempted.

"Customer comes first" - the hotel business is competitive and you need to look after your guests. Each and every guest no matter what their view on climate change, peak oil, clean air, Brexit and whether they support City or Rovers.

We provided mini-fridges.  Hideous things and probably less efficient even than a steam engine. But at major refurbish time, capital budget was key to getting "done" and getting open.   

We took an early decision to keep our invoicing / charging simple and very unusually had a "no extra charges" policy - that meant no phones in the room (and that saved considerable capital setup) with people who didn't have their own mobiles able to make calls - for which we did not charge and asked them to be reasonably frugal - on the house phone.  That "no extras" also meant that we provided only bottled water in the mini fridges; their main use being to keep guest's drinks, medicines, food cold. We are 2 doors up from a Spar shop (Spa Road Spar!) and they have a much wider selection than we could possibly offer - and saved us the nightmare of checking, rotating stock, changing invoices on the morning of departure, etc.  We also used to ask people not to "sneak" their takeaway past reception - carry it in proudly, and borrow plates / knives / forks / glasses from the breakfast room - eat it there or in your room.  But please - don't sneak it in, eat it with a plastic fork which breaks and spills it on the bedding!

Not sure if that addresses the question ... but you get our drift.  Note, though, that we were not the usual hotel.   The model did work for us, though, especially for business travellers.

[broadgage]

Does anyone actually ever buy anything from a minibar? They must do or hotels wouldn’t bother with them.

I've often wondered that. I think part of it is that it is seen as part of the service if you are a top notch hotel chain. And it is useful to put your own drinks, choccie bars or even eye drops in, but I'm not sure that as we become more aware of the environment cost that is a good enough reason to keep them on 24/7.   

"top notch" indeed ! I can remember when the provision of a small self service fridge with a limited choice was criticised and regarded as a backward move by formerly good hotels whom now wished to avoid providing proper 24/7 room service.

"24 hour mini bar service in every room" often means that they no longer provide proper room service.

[Celestial]

Does anyone actually ever buy anything from a minibar? They must do or hotels wouldn’t bother with them.

I've often wondered that. I think part of it is that it is seen as part of the service if you are a top notch hotel chain. And it is useful to put your own drinks, choccie bars or even eye drops in, but I'm not sure that as we become more aware of the environment cost that is a good enough reason to keep them on 24/7.   

"top notch" indeed ! I can remember when the provision of a small self service fridge with a limited choice was criticised and regarded as a backward move by formerly good hotels whom now wished to avoid providing proper 24/7 room service.

"24 hour mini bar service in every room" often means that they no longer provide proper room service.

Well that's not my experience, although it depends on what you call top-notch.  I've stayed at many of the leading brands over the last year (eg Hilton, Marriott), and they all offered room service, which, like the minibars, I didn't use at any of them.  I didn't notice the service at the Premier Inn or Travelodges that I've stayed at though, so I think there's a budget and standard to appeal to all types of customer. You pays your money and takes your choice.