As the confidence in Europe's sovereign nations' ability to pay off their debts weakens, the yields being paid on their government bonds is increasing greatly. Evidence of this is given by Spanish and Italian bonds paying the highest yields seen in the Eurozone since its inception over a decade ago. There has been a massive sell-off of italian stocks and bonds in recent days as the markets react to the news that italy is having trouble making ends meet as a nation. This is crippling Italy in the same way that Greece was crippled by its sovereign debt.
Looking further afield, most markets in the EU including the UK have lost a significant percentage of their value in recent days due to the lack of confidence the markets have in sovereign nations' ability to pay their debt bills. The FTSE has been losing roughly 1.6% daily for the past week and the news today that Lloyds bank (partly owned by the taxpaying UK public) has made significant losses too.
It seems that this is just the latest chapter in the economic down-turn that started in 2008. Despite all the calls from governments worldwide that the markets have been getting back to 'normality' and the economic picture had been recovering, there have been no "green shoots" of recovery. This latest sell-off of government bonds and the great panic in the markets is just evidence that there is no recovery. The financial world has changed and the governments and banks need to realise this and adapt to the changed circumstances.
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Fuel saving tips and tricks
With petrol prices going up and up due to the volatility in oil price, VAT increases and inflation, one can't be blamed for looking at how to reduce their fuel consumption. Many motorists are, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, looking for ways to bring their fuel use down to save money and make their motoring more affordable. In this article are some tips to driving in a more fuel efficient way and techniques you can use to ensure that you don't use a drop more petrol than you have to.
To drive or not to drive?
An obvious one to start with but worth considering anyway, do you actually need to drive there? Many people use their cars to get from A to B when a 10 minute walk will achieve the same aim whilst saving you money and giving you some health-boosting exercise. Next time you want to pop down the shops, ask yourself, 'do I really need to drive there?'. You'll find that many journeys you made before this analysis of your driving behaviour were actually unnecessary and that as a result of not driving so much, your health picks up too.
Coast and Burn
A technique used by hypermilers to get the most from their petrol is called coast and burn. It's what it sounds like; one accelerates then removes their foot from the accelerator. The car will carry itself forward with it's momentum whilst it's in gear. Unlike 'normal' driving though, the time the car spends coasting on the momentum built up from acceleration uses no fuel. This is because the accelerator pedal tells the car's fuel injection system when to feed fuel to the engine. When the pedal is pressed, fuel is injected into the engine, when the pedal is left alone, no fuel is used. This can be considered free movement as the car still moves but it isn't using fuel. This only works if you don't have the clutch pedal down. The momentum of the car drives the engine but when the clutch is down, the engine still uses fuel. Continuing this cycle of coasting and burning can save you quite a bit of fuel over the course of a month. It also gives you a better appreciation of the speed at which you're travelling as you need to keep burning and coasting to ensure a decent average speed.
Coast to a stop
This one doesn't really have a name, it's more of an awareness of how you drive. It's a technique used when approaching a junction/ stop sign/ traffic lights/ etc and it's about letting the car coast along in gear with no pedals depressed so you roll up to one of the afore mentioned areas from cruising speed to a stop. This gives you 300/400 yards of free travel as the momentum of the car carries you forward as you slow down but unlike the coast and burn technique, the objective is to stop. Again, if no pedals are pressed, the wheels drive the engine and the movement uses no petrol.
Hopefully these techniques are useful to you in cutting your motoring bills.
To drive or not to drive?
An obvious one to start with but worth considering anyway, do you actually need to drive there? Many people use their cars to get from A to B when a 10 minute walk will achieve the same aim whilst saving you money and giving you some health-boosting exercise. Next time you want to pop down the shops, ask yourself, 'do I really need to drive there?'. You'll find that many journeys you made before this analysis of your driving behaviour were actually unnecessary and that as a result of not driving so much, your health picks up too.
Coast and Burn
A technique used by hypermilers to get the most from their petrol is called coast and burn. It's what it sounds like; one accelerates then removes their foot from the accelerator. The car will carry itself forward with it's momentum whilst it's in gear. Unlike 'normal' driving though, the time the car spends coasting on the momentum built up from acceleration uses no fuel. This is because the accelerator pedal tells the car's fuel injection system when to feed fuel to the engine. When the pedal is pressed, fuel is injected into the engine, when the pedal is left alone, no fuel is used. This can be considered free movement as the car still moves but it isn't using fuel. This only works if you don't have the clutch pedal down. The momentum of the car drives the engine but when the clutch is down, the engine still uses fuel. Continuing this cycle of coasting and burning can save you quite a bit of fuel over the course of a month. It also gives you a better appreciation of the speed at which you're travelling as you need to keep burning and coasting to ensure a decent average speed.
Coast to a stop
This one doesn't really have a name, it's more of an awareness of how you drive. It's a technique used when approaching a junction/ stop sign/ traffic lights/ etc and it's about letting the car coast along in gear with no pedals depressed so you roll up to one of the afore mentioned areas from cruising speed to a stop. This gives you 300/400 yards of free travel as the momentum of the car carries you forward as you slow down but unlike the coast and burn technique, the objective is to stop. Again, if no pedals are pressed, the wheels drive the engine and the movement uses no petrol.
Hopefully these techniques are useful to you in cutting your motoring bills.
Cloud Ships
It may sound like a fantasy idea but the concept of producing clouds to combat global warming is a potential solution to the increasing global temperatures we all face. Research done in the mid 2000's showed that a fleet of ships that can produce clouds could act as an effective tool to combat increasing temperatures caused by the excess CO2 produced by human activity.
The ships are called Flettner vessels, after their designer Anton Flettner. The ships in question consist of a single hull with three rotor stacks on top, like funnels. The stacks have fins on them and are rotated by the motion of the wind. The stacks are hollow and so draw water up themselves when rotated. The water forms a spray / mist and the aerosol formed rises into the atmosphere, increasing the concentration of water in the atmosphere and increasing the likelihood of clouds forming. It's an ingenious idea but the cost $5.3 Bn is too rich for anyone's blood at the moment as this project hasn't seen any progress since 2009.
The main inhibitor to the production of these vessels is cost. The huge cost is too much for even the richest countries. It's a good concept though, built on sound engineering principles. I'd like to see some progress and the project taken forward but it's the stuff of dreams, cloud seeding ships sailing the seas on autopilot.
Read more at : http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/1500-ships-to-fight-climate-change/1030
cloud
The ships are called Flettner vessels, after their designer Anton Flettner. The ships in question consist of a single hull with three rotor stacks on top, like funnels. The stacks have fins on them and are rotated by the motion of the wind. The stacks are hollow and so draw water up themselves when rotated. The water forms a spray / mist and the aerosol formed rises into the atmosphere, increasing the concentration of water in the atmosphere and increasing the likelihood of clouds forming. It's an ingenious idea but the cost $5.3 Bn is too rich for anyone's blood at the moment as this project hasn't seen any progress since 2009.
The main inhibitor to the production of these vessels is cost. The huge cost is too much for even the richest countries. It's a good concept though, built on sound engineering principles. I'd like to see some progress and the project taken forward but it's the stuff of dreams, cloud seeding ships sailing the seas on autopilot.
Read more at : http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/1500-ships-to-fight-climate-change/1030
cloud
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Review: Freefall by Joseph Stiglitz
I've just finished reading Joseph Stigliz' review of the 2008 financial crash. In his book Freefall, he sets out the context of the financial institutions that were responsible for the downturn and the massive harm to the global ecomony. He gives a critical review of the appraisal and encouragement systems within banks and investment companies that gave their leaders disproportionate bonuses and salary relative to the work that they did.
Stigliz goes on to give a detailed critique of the actions of both the American government and the banks before and during the crisis. He talks about the current down turn whilst contrasting and comparing with past recessions and the Great Depression. This is a useful vehicle for explaining how the banks became so intertwined and how governments became so reliant on banks for growth. The book also touches on the rarely mentioned taboo of insider trading and it's role in the financial crunch.
What is most heartening about the book is that it isn't simply a critique of the governments' failure in safeguarding the taxpayer during a market crash. It also gives potential paths forward for government to follow in the future so it gives hope to the reader. The best part about this is that the solutions to our problem http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifaren't plucked out of thin air, they're tried and tested learnings from recessions and bubble bursts from over the past century. This relevance gives the reader confidence that Stigliz has done his homework, giving a thorough treatment of the matter.
In summary, it's a fantastic read. It's exciting and not packed with obscure jargon so you don't need an economics degree to understand what's going on. I will say however, some parts move so quickly (unexpected in a review of financial history) that going back and reading again is a must so that all the information can be assimilated. The book is available on Amazon :
Stigliz goes on to give a detailed critique of the actions of both the American government and the banks before and during the crisis. He talks about the current down turn whilst contrasting and comparing with past recessions and the Great Depression. This is a useful vehicle for explaining how the banks became so intertwined and how governments became so reliant on banks for growth. The book also touches on the rarely mentioned taboo of insider trading and it's role in the financial crunch.
What is most heartening about the book is that it isn't simply a critique of the governments' failure in safeguarding the taxpayer during a market crash. It also gives potential paths forward for government to follow in the future so it gives hope to the reader. The best part about this is that the solutions to our problem http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifaren't plucked out of thin air, they're tried and tested learnings from recessions and bubble bursts from over the past century. This relevance gives the reader confidence that Stigliz has done his homework, giving a thorough treatment of the matter.
In summary, it's a fantastic read. It's exciting and not packed with obscure jargon so you don't need an economics degree to understand what's going on. I will say however, some parts move so quickly (unexpected in a review of financial history) that going back and reading again is a must so that all the information can be assimilated. The book is available on Amazon :
Haircut: update
Hi there! I went for a haircut today. I'm pretty pleased with it. It was one of those haircuts that made me walk out feeling much better. And in a self-respect / I-feel-much-tidier-now kind of ways.
I asked for a tapering cut going from short around the bottom to long on the top of my head so I can retain the length on top but still get shot of the thick mass of hair behind my ears and around my neck. It is summer and recently I've been suffering so much with the heat (I'm from the coast, what do you expect?). I feel much cooler now in the neck / behind ears area as I go about my day.
I also asked that some thinning scissors be applied as my hair is just thick even after a good tidying up. After that, my hair is lighter, less thick and more manageable.
The end result makes me look more professional and less grufty student. A bonus. Judge it for yourself (pictures attached).
Monday, 1 August 2011
Student Loan Calculator
As I've just finished my first degree, I've started to think about how much it's going to cost me to pay the student loan back. As I'm part of the old system whereby one starts to pay over the £15,000 threshold, I wanted to know it would work. I had a quick Google and found this handy calculator which not only gives you your student loan repayments over a year, a month and a week but it also gives your tax contributions over the same time periods for a given salary. The calculator can be found at : http://listentotaxman.com/index.php .
Useful
It's quite a handy tool as I've recently been working as a student ambassaador to young people during higher education presentations. The bulk of the content was about student life but there was some material on student loans and repayments. The main theme was that on the new system, if you earned over £21,000 then you had to start paying your loan back and then if you earned £24,000 as an example, you would only pay back about 9% per year. This got me thinking about my own loan and how it would be paid back.
Prospects
As I'm starting on the road toward being a chemical engineer, I had a look at representative starting salaries for entry level workers and the median was around £22,000. As I'm 21k in debt, this salary wouldn't even start to pay back the student loan as the interest rate on the loan is roughly 2%pa. 2% interest on 21k would add about £800 to my existing debt and contributions from my wages would only pay about £720 so I'd be getting more indebted even though I was earning the average wage for a UK worker.
Many graduates from past years in a job that isn't in their preferred line of work because of the increasing competiton from increasing numbers of graduates. This is a scary prospect because as the graduate works the lower paid job, the interest builds on the loan and compound interest occurs. This lengthens the period over which the graduate will be paying their loan for.
As there are many people set to not reach the new minimum salary for repayment, there will be a great number of new graduates in massive debt to the Student Loans Company for a large portion of their lives.
debt
Useful
It's quite a handy tool as I've recently been working as a student ambassaador to young people during higher education presentations. The bulk of the content was about student life but there was some material on student loans and repayments. The main theme was that on the new system, if you earned over £21,000 then you had to start paying your loan back and then if you earned £24,000 as an example, you would only pay back about 9% per year. This got me thinking about my own loan and how it would be paid back.
Prospects
As I'm starting on the road toward being a chemical engineer, I had a look at representative starting salaries for entry level workers and the median was around £22,000. As I'm 21k in debt, this salary wouldn't even start to pay back the student loan as the interest rate on the loan is roughly 2%pa. 2% interest on 21k would add about £800 to my existing debt and contributions from my wages would only pay about £720 so I'd be getting more indebted even though I was earning the average wage for a UK worker.
Many graduates from past years in a job that isn't in their preferred line of work because of the increasing competiton from increasing numbers of graduates. This is a scary prospect because as the graduate works the lower paid job, the interest builds on the loan and compound interest occurs. This lengthens the period over which the graduate will be paying their loan for.
As there are many people set to not reach the new minimum salary for repayment, there will be a great number of new graduates in massive debt to the Student Loans Company for a large portion of their lives.
debt
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Wood-burning stoves
Fuel bills have increased astronomically over the last few years. You can combat these increased costs with a dual-fuel / woodburning stove. These stoves are usually made from cast iron or steel and can be routed into existing chimney systems. They can be operated with many different kinds of fuel. From simple wood and paper fuels to woodchip and bitumen bricks. They can also burn heavy grade tar if it is first preheated in a bowl in the stove by already burning wood.
As a result, this kind of stove is really appealing to survival nuts who feel they'll need to be able to burn anything 'when the end of the world comes'. http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=11297564&fh_location=//catalog01/en_GB/categories%3C{9372014}/categories%3C{9372037}/categories%3C{9372162}/specificationsProductType=stoves/specificationsSpecificProductType=solid_fuel_stoves&tmcampid=4&tmad=c&ecamp=cse_go&CAWELAID=754382696
Fuel
For normal people, this represents a really useful stove which can provide (after purchase) nearly free heat over the winter months. I say nearly free as you must invest in a hand axe http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002W5VM8A/ref=asc_df_B002W5VM8A3821946?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B002W5VM8A to obtain the fuel for your stove. This can be any wood that isn't treated with chemicals as these will be released into the air if you burn it. You can obtain wood from fallen logs in forests and old fence posts which haven't been treated with preservative. This act also serves to protect the delicate ecosystem in a forest to
ensure that no one species get the upper hand in that environment. To ensure an uninterrupted supply of wood, pile loads of dry wood up under a water proof tarp near your house. This will make finding wood in winter easy and ensure you don't have to go for to get it.
Use
Obviously, a stove can be used to heat your home but it can also be of another use, heating water. some stoves come with a built in hotplate which you can use to heat an iron kettle. This allows you to avoid using electricity during the winter months as it is charged at a higher rate. It can be safely used as central heating overnight while you sleep too. To do this safely, you will need a carbon monoxide alarm to ensure that you're stove isn't malfunctioning. position this near the stove and test it regularly. To use overnight, simply load up your stove with fuel then close the air intake to half way. This will reduce the burn rate of your stove and allow it to burn through the night. To continue use in the morning, simply add more fuel and open the intake to full to give full burn of fuel.
Savings
Over about a two year period, your stove will have paid for itself through gas and electricity savings. This goes forward on the premise that you'll use a few hundred pounds in energy to heat your home over winter. As these stoves are normally of very high quality, you can be sure to save that figure annually. The money saved will soon mount up on paper though in reality, you'll be able to use it for other things you want, rather than need.
Environment
Some of you may think that using a woodburning stove harms the environment but consider this, a woodburning stove uses fuel from local surroundings and ensures that waste wood doesn't build up. It also takes the transport energy costs out of heating your home. What I mean is that the natural gas you would have used formally, would have come from the Middle East or Australia or Russia. At least some of this gas will have arrived via pipeline which involves large machines to compress the gas for transport. This is without mentioning the energy costs involved in obtaining the gas in the first place. Drilling for gas is very energy intensive work and is another negative which is avoided totally with the use of a woodburning stove.
As a result, this kind of stove is really appealing to survival nuts who feel they'll need to be able to burn anything 'when the end of the world comes'. http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=11297564&fh_location=//catalog01/en_GB/categories%3C{9372014}/categories%3C{9372037}/categories%3C{9372162}/specificationsProductType=stoves/specificationsSpecificProductType=solid_fuel_stoves&tmcampid=4&tmad=c&ecamp=cse_go&CAWELAID=754382696
Fuel
For normal people, this represents a really useful stove which can provide (after purchase) nearly free heat over the winter months. I say nearly free as you must invest in a hand axe http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002W5VM8A/ref=asc_df_B002W5VM8A3821946?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B002W5VM8A to obtain the fuel for your stove. This can be any wood that isn't treated with chemicals as these will be released into the air if you burn it. You can obtain wood from fallen logs in forests and old fence posts which haven't been treated with preservative. This act also serves to protect the delicate ecosystem in a forest to
ensure that no one species get the upper hand in that environment. To ensure an uninterrupted supply of wood, pile loads of dry wood up under a water proof tarp near your house. This will make finding wood in winter easy and ensure you don't have to go for to get it.
Use
Obviously, a stove can be used to heat your home but it can also be of another use, heating water. some stoves come with a built in hotplate which you can use to heat an iron kettle. This allows you to avoid using electricity during the winter months as it is charged at a higher rate. It can be safely used as central heating overnight while you sleep too. To do this safely, you will need a carbon monoxide alarm to ensure that you're stove isn't malfunctioning. position this near the stove and test it regularly. To use overnight, simply load up your stove with fuel then close the air intake to half way. This will reduce the burn rate of your stove and allow it to burn through the night. To continue use in the morning, simply add more fuel and open the intake to full to give full burn of fuel.
Savings
Over about a two year period, your stove will have paid for itself through gas and electricity savings. This goes forward on the premise that you'll use a few hundred pounds in energy to heat your home over winter. As these stoves are normally of very high quality, you can be sure to save that figure annually. The money saved will soon mount up on paper though in reality, you'll be able to use it for other things you want, rather than need.
Environment
Some of you may think that using a woodburning stove harms the environment but consider this, a woodburning stove uses fuel from local surroundings and ensures that waste wood doesn't build up. It also takes the transport energy costs out of heating your home. What I mean is that the natural gas you would have used formally, would have come from the Middle East or Australia or Russia. At least some of this gas will have arrived via pipeline which involves large machines to compress the gas for transport. This is without mentioning the energy costs involved in obtaining the gas in the first place. Drilling for gas is very energy intensive work and is another negative which is avoided totally with the use of a woodburning stove.
Consulting
Being a chemistry graduate, I have quite extensive experience in matters of chemical science and labwork. I am able and willing to consult with you if you have any need for chemical knowledge or assistance in a related area.
Extending out from chemistry, I have experience in public speaking and delivering my thoughts and ideas to groups of people.
Please hit me up if you're interested in some freelance consultancy
Extending out from chemistry, I have experience in public speaking and delivering my thoughts and ideas to groups of people.
Please hit me up if you're interested in some freelance consultancy
House Hunt Update
Hi, I went yesterday to the house I found on the internet and arranged to meet my contact, Jose, at elevenish. As I had arrived early in London, I had time on my hands so I scoped out the local area. I've given a quick account of the local area and my thoughts against my needs and preferences.
Quiet and Leafy
I had a slow walk around the surrounding streets and it looked like a decent area. The surrounding houses were all Victorian three storey houses and there wasn't much activity even at half past ten on a Saturday. From what I could see, there's a few older couples and young families in the area so I can only assume it has some degree of safety. This is important as I don't want to be 'locked into' an area rife with crime. There were plenty of trees and there were two parks close by. Again, an important thing for me as I like nothing more than to walk in parks when I've got a spare half an hour.
Shopping!!
Further up the road and round some corners, there's a Londis supermarket which makes two close by (I saw a discount supermarket shortly after getting off the tube). This is important too as I don't want to be walking miles / getting on many buses to get to a food shop done. In addition, there's a few restaurants, newsagents and a launderette. All these amenities being close to hand makes the property look very attractive.
The house proper
Having looked around the local area, I returned to the house to meet with Jose. The door opened to reveal a smiley character. He walked me through the house and it tallied well with the pictures that the advertiser of the house had given to me. It had a great, bright well lit living room. This is more important than anything as I tend to work, eat and generally live in there. The room was small but with a double bed so indeed, very tolerable!!
Spick and Span
As the property is rented by young professionals, there is a cleaning rota and the house was very clean and tidy when I saw it. As I'm allergic to dust and mould, this is fantastic. As I won't be busy for the whole working day like they will, I'll be able to easily achieve my cleaning commitments.
The way forward
I've indicated my strong interest in the property and I have a number for the estate agent. I'll give them a call Monday and see how I go from here.
Quiet and Leafy
I had a slow walk around the surrounding streets and it looked like a decent area. The surrounding houses were all Victorian three storey houses and there wasn't much activity even at half past ten on a Saturday. From what I could see, there's a few older couples and young families in the area so I can only assume it has some degree of safety. This is important as I don't want to be 'locked into' an area rife with crime. There were plenty of trees and there were two parks close by. Again, an important thing for me as I like nothing more than to walk in parks when I've got a spare half an hour.
Shopping!!
Further up the road and round some corners, there's a Londis supermarket which makes two close by (I saw a discount supermarket shortly after getting off the tube). This is important too as I don't want to be walking miles / getting on many buses to get to a food shop done. In addition, there's a few restaurants, newsagents and a launderette. All these amenities being close to hand makes the property look very attractive.
The house proper
Having looked around the local area, I returned to the house to meet with Jose. The door opened to reveal a smiley character. He walked me through the house and it tallied well with the pictures that the advertiser of the house had given to me. It had a great, bright well lit living room. This is more important than anything as I tend to work, eat and generally live in there. The room was small but with a double bed so indeed, very tolerable!!
Spick and Span
As the property is rented by young professionals, there is a cleaning rota and the house was very clean and tidy when I saw it. As I'm allergic to dust and mould, this is fantastic. As I won't be busy for the whole working day like they will, I'll be able to easily achieve my cleaning commitments.
The way forward
I've indicated my strong interest in the property and I have a number for the estate agent. I'll give them a call Monday and see how I go from here.
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