PowerSwitch

A bit urgent

http://38degrees.uservoice.com/forums/7 ... om-eu-coun

Done.

Seems like it may be too late

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20079657

Yes the stable door will be closed next Monday.

In my view an important rolll of government is to ensure that science is pursued and acted upon in a timely manner.

Australia and the Pacific Islands have an admirable approach to biosecurity that has been lamentably lacking in the UK forever. It is a failure of government.

One wonders whether there will be a black swan event in firewood supply as millions of ash trees are put on the market for burning.

It's too late.

One might expect a steep drop in the price of firewood as the market is flooded with diseased ash followed, at some point later, by a steep rise in price.

For anyone with some spare land, now would be good time to start planting a robust species of tree for the purpose of firewood harvesting ten years down the line. My guess is that wood-chip stoves will become more popular as they are able to efficiently burn wood such as willow that would otherwise have been seen as an inferior firewood. This will suit suppliers as well as it will give a quicker return on investment.

Alternatively, willow logs can be used as firewood in conventional fires. They just have to be exceptionally dry at point of combustion and the consumer has to be prepared to feed the fire more frequently. The truth is, most wood species have about the same thermal energy by mass. The reason some firewood species are preferred over others is because they have different thermal energy by volume.

Willow can be harvested for firewood (either chipped or logged) five years after initial planting and can be further harvested every five years thereafter. One acre of willow will yield about five tons of dried firewood every five years.

stevecook172001 wrote: a robust species

A wide variety of species with a wide genetic diversity may be wise.

biffvernon wrote:

stevecook172001 wrote: a robust species

A wide variety of species with a wide genetic diversity may be wise.

Yep

biffvernon wrote:One wonders whether there will be a black swan event

We had one recently. Two black swans were in the north-west of our county; they flew away, it was said, because of too much harassment by bipeds of another species. They were then spotted down near Limerick on the Shannon, from whence they flew onto a smaller river on the other side of the city, at a place called Castleconnell.

One member of the harassing species (possibly one born without a functioning brain?) then strangled one of the more intelligent animals with a rope.

emordnilap wrote:

biffvernon wrote:One wonders whether there will be a black swan event

We had one recently. Two black swans were in the north-west of our county; they flew away, it was said, because of too much harassment by bipeds of another species. They were then spotted down near Limerick on the Shannon, from whence they flew onto a smaller river on the other side of the city, at a place called Castleconnell.

One member of the harassing species (possibly one born without a functioning brain?) then strangled one of the more intelligent animals with a rope.

I despair of my species

So much promise, so little hope.

if there is a God, he's taking the piss.

Apols. to Biff for taking the thread off track. This is a too-little-too-late but counter-balancing piece that also raises the question, wtf do you hunt curlews in the first place?

Curlews are one of my favourite birds. The sound of their call as they fly over our land makes getting out of bed worthwhile.

stevecook172001 wrote:One might expect a steep drop in the price of firewood as the market is flooded with diseased ash followed, at some point later, by a steep rise in price.

I'm not sure they will necessarily be diseased. It's a dreadful thought that, apparently, every case found may result in a 20km radius of chainsawed ash trees. All may be perfectly healthy.

A bit like the toppling of houses during the fire of London to prevent the spreading of the inferno.

I could weep for what is to come.

Odd that we have taken so long to stop importing ash trees. A ban may be in place next week.

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/abou ... Isag4bAuHU

Odd? Comes from having a parliament with only two MPs who have had a career as professional scientists and a government that pays little heed to science on many issues.

I wonder how felling all of a species of tree in a particular area would work. A friend with grant funded woodland has been written to about it, but I haven't, so assume that no one knows about my ash, and it would depend on my honesty to admit having some.