The idea, really, is to get some idea of an individual's 'footprint' on the planet, and try to make it less than the average footprint. I was trying to get away from the polarised notion that consuming electricity, or gas, or petrol, or whatever, is simply wrong and that you shouldn't do it. Instead, consume it, but do it carefully. All that we need is for the overall average to go down, and eventually it may get to be low enough to be sustainable. This could be done by enough people using less than that average.
Well...yes, (you've discovered one of the many weak points in my knowledge of physics, here). Put simply, the longer the cable, the more resistance to the flow of electricity. So, something like a light, or a heater will give a reduced output, and I guess a pump will work slower. But you can offset this by using a fatter cable, which will have a lower resistance.Boots wrote:...and also run power across longer distances (they say that costs more, when you use extension leads. Does it Muddy?)
The extra resistance also has a more marked effect upon low voltages - eg, 12v systems are in trouble if they have to be cabled over long distances; you need thicker and thicker cable, and copper is expensive when it gets up to these sorts of sizes. Nev can probably tell you more about this. It's also one reason why powercables which travel miles overland carry power that has been stepped up to thousands, or tens of thousands of volts - there is less loss over long distances.
Go for it Annette!
