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Pecresse is trailing Le Pen in the polls so it is probable that it will be Le Pen and Macron in the final round. This means, of course, that Macron will win another term. It is the system employed in France that means Pecresse won't be in the final round. The preceding rounds are so involved in infighting and strategic voting that it is rare that the final candidates are, in fact, what the electorate want! Biased I may be but the British system of first past the post is the best system.  The T.V channels are giving Pecresse lots of coverage and personally I would like her to be in the final round. I think then it possible she could win. Unfortunately, due to the way voting takes place here, I doubt it will come to pass. 

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I am not sure it is 'exciting times' ahead. It is 'scary' times ahead.

Did anyone see on TV the bloke hitting shît out of a woman at the Zemmour rally yesterday ? OMG ! The French don't hold back against women do they.

He has some lovely voters.

Did anyone see Macron smoosh Mohammed bin Salman the other day ? What an OMG moment. He had his hands all over him ! WTF was all that about ? BIg polemic in France.

Any Brit living in France who complains about Brexit,  Boris or UK politics in general need to get real. 

France politically is in a big mess.

Anyone but Macron for me. Anyone !

Edited by alittlebitfrench
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I think the coming French election is the most exciting I have ever known in France. With Pecresse I think the 'right' have a chance IF, she can get into the final round. Zemmour may cause the vote to be split allowing her in but I have a feeling we shall see a Macron-Le Pen final again. It is the strategic voting here that invariably means the electorate end up with a President they don't want. 

With regard the woman getting hurt at the Zemmour rally yesterday: She was hit because she had lunged at a Zemmour supporter, it is clear though wasn't highlighted, it wouldn't be would it, and was hit as a consequence. It doesn't make it right of course but if people are going to infiltrate and cause trouble, as the anti-rascist crowd did, then I'm afraid I have little sympathy.  Personally I would like Zemmour to be President, if not him then Pecresse. I fear though that France is going to suffer another Macron term.

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I fear though that France is going to suffer another Macron term"

I am not a Macron fan, but if he achieves a second term what policies is he likely to adopt, given that he will not need to worry about his popularity, as he currently does?

The one sensible plan he has put forward recently is to propose a program of building more nuclear power stations to bolster France's energy security, instead of wasting money on renewables.

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One could easily say the same about the colossal cost of a nuclear plant and it decommissioning at the end.

Looking at fossil derived fuels the subsidies given out amount to a colosal 6.5% of the worlds GDP, sink that into renewable energy and ...

 

 

 

 

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On 05/12/2021 at 19:59, Gluestick said:

Well, an already rumbustious presidential battle, has becomes even more interesting!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/05/valerie-pecresse-the-bulldozer-who-would-be-frances-first-female-president

 

 

On 05/12/2021 at 20:19, Ken said:

Pecresse is trailing Le Pen in the polls so it is probable that it will be Le Pen and Macron in the final round. This means, of course, that Macron will win another term. It is the system employed in France that means Pecresse won't be in the final round. The preceding rounds are so involved in infighting and strategic voting that it is rare that the final candidates are, in fact, what the electorate want! Biased I may be but the British system of first past the post is the best system.  The T.V channels are giving Pecresse lots of coverage and personally I would like her to be in the final round. I think then it possible she could win. Unfortunately, due to the way voting takes place here, I doubt it will come to pass. 

According to the latest poll Pecresse is now on level pegging with Le Pen. Is it possible she will get into the final round? From there the Presidency? Hope springs eternal!!

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22 hours ago, Teapot1 said:

"One could easily say the same about the colossal cost of a nuclear plant and it decommissioning at the end.

Looking at fossil derived fuels the subsidies given out amount to a colosal 6.5% of the worlds GDP, sink that into renewable energy and "...

 

"One could easily say the same about the colossal cost of a nuclear plant"

But the fuel cost of running a nuclear power station is peanuts - the fixed costs are mostly the interest on the capital to build it.

Renewable energy - mainly wind and solar - as far as reliable power generation is concerned, is a waste of money.

It's mainly a political sop to the green lobby, to get them onside when it gets to election time.

EG - If you have 20 GW of wind and solar installed, you need a corresponding 20 GW of base load generation to take over when wind and solar don't turn up when you need them. 

Aha you say - but surely wind and solar saves fuel cost, substituting for nuclear and fossil fuel powered generation, when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing?

No - it adds to the cost of running the base load nuclear and fossil fuel stations because you cannot just turn them off like your portable generator.

This applies to nuclear, coal, oil and combined cycle gas turbine - they cannot be quickly and easily shut down to save fuel when the wind blows and the sun is shining. Open cycle gas turbine stations can be shut down and started up quickly, but are not anything like as efficient as CCGT - the UK only has one OCGT.

Also, reducing the output of a nuclear reactor can "poison" the fuel (complicated - look it up)

It's like - 'will a car that is constantly stopping and starting accelerating and decelerating use more fuel than one driven at a steady speed, even if it arrives in exactly the same time?' - The predictable answer is of course yes.

All nuclear coal, oil and gas generation is most efficient when run continuously at it's rated output.

The only renewable power source that could possibly be used as base load generation to cooperate with wind and solar is hydro and pumped hydro, because it can be turned on and off quickly with no loss of efficiency. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I will look into what you say but the build cost of nuclear is colossal, as is the decommissioning and hiding the the dangerous stuff including the concrete and steel etc into deep caves so we can pull the rug over it. Not saying we dont currently need nuclear, we do. Coal, gas oil no, we cant continue to burn fossil fuels ad hoc and as you have said we cannot just turn them on and off whereas if the investment goes into battery storage, we do not need those fossil technologies of the last century.

This is a transitional period for the better. Take away the 6.5% of the worlds GDP and stick that into renewable and batteries (those batteries do not have to be lithium iron or other rare metals as is being proven now with iron air to name but 1.

Edited by Teapot1
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EDF has said its third-generation EPR Flamanville 3 project (seen here in 2010) will be delayed until 2018, due to "both structural and economic reasons," and the project's total cost has climbed to EUR 11 billion in 2012.[1] On 29 June 2019, it was announced that the start-up was once again being pushed back, making it unlikely it could be started before the end of 2022. In July 2020, the French Court of Audit finalised an eighteen-month in-depth analysis of the project, concluding that the total estimated cost reaches up to €19.1 billion which is more than 5 times the original cost estimate. Similarly, the cost of the EPR being built at Olkiluoto, Finland, has escalated dramatically from €3 billion to over €12 billion , and the project is well behind schedule. Originally to commence operation in 2009 and that is now unlikely to be before 2022.

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6 hours ago, Teapot1 said:

 ..................... This is a transitional period for the better. Take away the 6.5% of the worlds GDP and stick that into renewable and batteries (those batteries do not have to be lithium iron or other rare metals as is being proven now with iron air to name but 1.

ion, expert?

Edited by ssomon
addanemoji
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8 hours ago, Teapot1 said:

I will look into what you say but the build cost of nuclear is colossal, as is the decommissioning and hiding the the dangerous stuff including the concrete and steel etc into deep caves so we can pull the rug over it. Not saying we dont currently need nuclear, we do. Coal, gas oil no, we cant continue to burn fossil fuels ad hoc and as you have said we cannot just turn them on and off whereas if the investment goes into battery storage, we do not need those fossil technologies of the last century.

This is a transitional period for the better. Take away the 6.5% of the worlds GDP and stick that into renewable and batteries (those batteries do not have to be lithium iron or other rare metals as is being proven now with iron air to name but 1.

Do you have any idea of the impracticality of using battery storage to prop up renewable energy sources?

"The 300-megawatt facility is one of four giant lithium-ion storage projects that Pacific Gas and Electric, California’s largest utility, asked the California Public Utilities Commission to approve in late June. Collectively, they would add enough storage capacity to the grid to supply about 2,700 homes for a month (or to store about .0009 percent of the electricity the state uses each year).

https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/07/27/141282/the-25-trillion-reason-we-cant-rely-on-batteries-to-clean-up-the-grid/

(0.0009 percent is nine ten thousandths of one percent)

To power the state completely by batteries you would need 111111 times that battery capacity.

And if the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow, for how long will the charge in the batteries last?

California dreaming!

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Bloody auto correct on my phone ion! Missed that in my edit. 

Yes not perfect as I said earlier we do need nuclear for a while. Cant go by anything American, they are too stupid a nation and use too much power, too much fuel, too larger engines to do everything and consume too much food!

The batteries would also be topped up with the excess from power stations. The EV vehicle to grid will also provide much needed battery capacity going foreward and the UK grid has already given details of how this will work. 

 

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"The EV vehicle to grid will also provide much needed battery capacity going foreward and the UK grid has already given details of how this will work"

Have the UK grid given any details of the rate of payment to EV vehicle owners for providing this refuge from reality for the the UK government?

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Its an interesting concept as it turns EV owners into little power stations and sell electricity at a price when demand is high (mornings and evenings) then recharge overnight when prices are low, it takes up the over capacity during the low night time usuage as you said you cant just turn off a power station so it can be a useful feature. With solar PV battery supplies can do likewise. 

https://www.nationalgrideso.com/news/electricity-explained-battery-storage

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14 hours ago, Teapot1 said:

Its an interesting concept as it turns EV owners into little power stations and sell electricity at a price when demand is high (mornings and evenings) then recharge overnight when prices are low, it takes up the over capacity during the low night time usuage as you said you cant just turn off a power station so it can be a useful feature. With solar PV battery supplies can do likewise. 

https://www.nationalgrideso.com/news/electricity-explained-battery-storage

That sounds handy, just so long as you don't want to use your EV to go to work in the morning and return in the evening, and don't mind a chunk of the battery charge having been used by the grid just when you planned a trip.

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