Rambling

Beavers used to be common in the UK, but they were hunted to extinction around 400 years ago. Now they may be reintroduced back into the UK next year.

Around 15 to 20 beaver, from 4 families will be brought from Norway this autumn. Next spring, after they have been quarantined and acclimatised, they will be released into the wild by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. The beavers will be released at Knapdale, south of the Crinan canal near Lochgilphead in Argyll. An attempt to release beaver in Knapdale in 2005 failed because of objections by local land owners.

The beavers will be radio-tagged and micro-chipped so their movements can be tracked. If the project is successful more beaver may be released in other parts of Scotland in 2010.

Natural England, the government conservation agency, is soon to release details of it’s feasibility study into releasing beaver into the English countryside. Areas included in the study are Devon, Dorset, the Thames Valley, East Anglia and the Lake District.

Although I‘m sure the beavers will be a welcome sight for most people, even boosting tourism, I’m also sure other people will not welcome them.
Beaver are rodents, Europe’s biggest in fact, and as such breed like rodents. If not kept in check they could well spread and become a problem. Their activities can cause flooding on farmland, roads etc. and they can undermine river and canal banks.

In October of last year (2007) I moved house.  I also took the opportunity to install Energy Saving Light bulbs in the new house.  I bought 12 new bulbs from a leading manufacturer and installed them into the new house on the day I moved in.

The text on the boxes explained how much electricity I would save by using these bulbs.  It also said the bulbs would last “up to eight years”, and this is my beef.

One of the bulbs was dead when I installed it, and never gave off any light.  Another of the bulbs was installed in the living room, but when I switched it on two of the U shaped ‘prongs’ did not light up and the third only half lit up.  I watched it for a few seconds, thinking it was “warming up” and would be fully lit soon.   Sadly after a few seconds the bulb died completely.

The third one, that was installed in the bathroom was used a couple of times on the day it was installed.  The next morning when I switched it on it “popped” and died.

Last night, 14 April 2008, the bulb that is installed in the bedroom popped when I switched it on.  This light is rarely used as the bedroom has no door and the landing light provided enough light into the room.

So, four of my 12 Energy Saving Bulbs have died so far.  That does not give me confidence for the rest, and I now know the words “can last up to 8 years” are meaningless.

The first three have already been replaced, by the manufacturer, but I will replace the one that popped last night with a bulb from a different manufacturer.

They may save energy, but replacing them at this rate is going to cost more.  The manufacturer did replace the bulbs at no charge, but I had to pay to return them in the first place.

Well, from yesterday the petrol and diesel that you buy at the pumps must contain 2.5% biofuel. By 2010 this will rise to 5% in an effort to make transport fuels more environmentally friendly.  This all sounds very “green”, but have the government really thought it through.

Biofuels are renewable fuels made from crops such as Maize and Sugar Cane.  But some Green Groups and Scientist say that these biofuels contribute more greenhouse gasses than they save.

Whether they do are not is not the point of this post.  What matters most is these biofuels are made from our food crops.  This means there will be less food available as more crops are sold to make biofuel.  This will, in fact it already is, contributing to the large rises in the price of basic foodstuff such as Maize and Corn.

With less available, and that which is available going up in price, there will be many people who will go hungry simply because they can not afford to buy food.

Regardless of the issue of how much green house gasses biofuels release, growing crops for fuel in favour of food is not a good idea.

We should be reducing our fuel consumption, not changing one fuel for another.