Wind farm

Renewable electricity generation capacity now exceeds fossil fuels

The UK for the first time has more installed capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources than from fossil fuels.

The following chart shows the total electricity generating capacity by fuel source for 2015 and 2020. It highlights the growth in renewable capacity, but while coal capacity has reduced the installed generating capacity from gas has increased.

All data comes from the Balancing Mechanism Reporting System.

Still Playin' Favorites

Still Playin’ Favorites

Still Playin' Favorites

01. So Doggone Lonesome (Johnny Cash)
02. Greenback Dollar (Hoyt Axton, Ken Ramsey)
03. Hide Nor Hair (Morton Craft, Percy Mayfield)
04. I Ain’t Never (Webb Pierce, Mel Tillis)
05. Little Sister (Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman)
06. I’m Going To Live The Life I Sing About in My Song (Thomas A. Dorsey)
07. Six White Horses (Clyde Moody)
08. Treat Me Nice (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)
09. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine) (Bob Dylan)
10. Backwater Blues (Bessie Smith)
11. The Keys to the Kingdom (Jenny Lou Carson)
12. Got The Bull By The Horns (Amos E. Byrd, Billy Jones)
13. Tell Old Bill (Traditional, Arranged by Don McLean)
14. She Used To Love Me A Lot (Charles W. Quillen, Dennis Morgan, Kye Fleming)

Released 23 October 2020 by Time Life Music

2019 electricity generation: fossil fuels vs renewables

Analysis of GB electricity generation data has resulted in the following visualisation showing in green the days on which renewables generated more electricity than fossil fuels and vice versa (in brown).

Using this analysis method shows that fossils fuels are still dominant with gas easily being the single most important fuel source.

August was the “greenest” month in 2019 for electricity from renewables (generating more than fossil fuels on 16 days).

All data, except solar, comes from the Balancing Mechanism Reporting System. Solar data comes from the Sheffield Solar project at the University of Sheffield.

Principles of fair assessment guidance for academic staff

Addressing student workload inconsistencies: design and implementation of a principles of fair assessment guide for academic staff

This short article reflects on work undertaken as School Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading in designing and implementing a new principles of fair assessment guidance document for staff.

As is common in the discipline, a varied range of assessment types are deployed within my School, including multiple choice tests, laboratory technical reports, field reports, field notebooks, essays, exams (seen and unseen), reflective diaries/blogs, screencasts, individual and group presentations, and collaborative group-based reports and Wikis. External examiners confirm that assessments are appropriately designed to assess whether a student has achieved the intended learning objectives (Biggs, 1999; Bloxham and Boyd, 2007) and form an integral part of the module design. Our approach to module and assessment design is also consistent with the outcomes-based approach adopted within credit frameworks (Tam, 2014; Gosling and Moon, 2001) and is representative of the paradigm shift in higher education from the traditional testing of knowledge, and the instructive view of learning, to a more student-centred approach to learning (Howell, 2011).

Analysis of student feedback from module and programme evaluations demonstrates that innovative assessment is often highly motivational and well regarded by students. Furthermore, students often appreciate the importance of skills development for future personal, academic and professional development (Fern et al, 2010; Fahnert, 2015).  However, our student feedback also indicated a perception of unfairness in workload expectations between modules of the same credit weighting and level of study. Subsequent review of assessment regimes confirmed variation, with some modules including four or five quite substantial assignments in the summative assessment, while others were far lighter in comparison. This potentially causes inconsistencies in workload for students (and staff) depending on their chosen pathway and some students admitted to sometimes choosing modules based on perceived workload rather than academic interest or benefit.

We reflected on the extent to which this may be a real problem from the point of view of effective assessment of student achievement of intended learning outcomes, particularly given the outcomes-based approach in use (Tam, 2014; Gosling and Moon, 2001). The University itself did not have an institutional policy on the weighting of assessment required per module credit.  However, discussion in the literature has looked at the impact of assessment weighting on academic performance (e.g. Cohall and Skeete, 2014) and some Universities do use assessment-weight to credit-value look-up tables or similar.

My conclusion was that providing guidance to colleagues on what might be a ‘typical’ assessment load for the equivalent of a 10-credut module would be beneficial to ensure “accuracy, fairness and consistency” (Butcher et al, 2006, p.96). Discussions with staff had revealed a wish to have more guidance on setting an appropriate amount of assessment, such as word limits and how alternative assessments may compare with workload for essays, reports and exams, which were traditionally used in this discipline. I therefore produced the Principles of Fair Assessment guidance (appendix 1) as a single tangible document that could be easily shared electronically and be used by colleagues as a simple reference point when designing module content and assessment.

This guidance document is in two parts, with the first section setting out our expectations for “fair” assessment practices, including in respect of inclusive assessment design, fair workload, robust marking and scrutiny processes, timely and developmental feedback, and appropriate identification and management of academic misconduct. The second section provides example assessment and their associated weighting mapped to a 10-credit module, whilst recognising some differences will occur and may be necessary. The key principles have been adapted from the indicators of sound practice published in the QAA Quality Code Chapter B6: assessment of students (QAA, 2013). This Chapter provides a reasonably common-sense approach to how providers can meet expectations for maintaining and enhancing quality in this area. The second part, setting out weightings for different assessment types, is adapted from Galvin, et al. (2012), following a desk-based review of policies at a range of Universities and other higher education providers. The guidance does not currently advise on how many assessments should be set, just the overall assessment weighting. Galvez-Bravo (2016) recently explored the relationship between student achievement and number of assessments and found no relationship between fewer assessments and improved academic performance.  Indeed, she found a slight trend showing the opposite (Galvez-Bravo, 2016).

Discussion of the draft document confirmed student representative support for the approach and the document is now actively used as a reference point within the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science, and more widely within the University. The guidance has resulted in improved consistency in student workload cross-School on different module pathways and helped to remove obvious examples of “over-assessment”. The work presented here is intended to contribute to discussions in other University departments where the optimum balance of teaching, learning and assessment continues to be sought to enhance the student experience while maintaining rigorous academic standards.

Principles of Fair Assessment

Assessments should assess what the students have been required to learn.

  • Assessment is linked to the learning that students undertake on the course including directed self-study.

The student workload should be appropriate

  • The volume, timing and nature of assessment enable students to demonstrate the extent to which they have achieved the intended learning outcomes.
  • Workloads for students on the same programme should be broadly similar, even where they are taking different modules as part of that programme.

Disabilities must be catered for

  • Through inclusive design wherever possible, and through individual reasonable adjustments wherever required, assessment tasks provide every student with an equal opportunity to demonstrate their achievement.

Marking processes are robust and subject to external scrutiny

  • Processes for marking assessments and for moderating marks are clearly articulated and consistently operated by those involved in the assessment process.
  • Marking consistency is checked by external examiners and through internal moderation. Where appropriate (e.g. dissertations) double blind marking is undertaken.
  • Examination Boards apply fairly and consistently regulations for progression within programmes and for the award of credits and qualifications.

Feedback on assessment is timely, constructive and developmental

  • Feedback will be appropriate to the nature of the assessment task.
  • Feedback will be given in ways that promote students’ learning.
  • Feedback will be relevant, informative and fit for purpose.
  • Feedback will be provided within 15 working days of submission unless subject to special exemption (e.g. dissertations)


Academic misconduct is taken seriously and investigated fairly

  • Processes for preventing, identifying, investigating and responding to unacceptable academic practice (including plagiarism) are understood by all staff.
  • Students are provided with opportunities to develop an understanding of, and the necessary skills to demonstrate, good academic practice.

Students have access to the University’s Appeal procedures

  • In addition to the formal process, support is available from RUSU advisors and concerns can be discussed informally with Personal tutors or more formally with the School Director of Teaching and Learning.

Module Assessment Weighting Guidance

The programme director and SDTL should have sufficient oversight of module assessment design and weighting to ensure compatibility with the SAGES Principles of Fair Assessment guidance, and in particular that the student workload should be appropriate:

  • The volume, timing and nature of assessment enable students to demonstrate the extent to which they have achieved the intended learning outcomes.
  • Workloads for students on the same programme should be broadly similar, even where they are taking different modules as part of that programme.


As not all assessment items will be essay or exam based, broad equivalences for other means of assessment should be applied in achieving the total essay word requirements. In establishing relativities between different styles of assessment consideration may be given to:

  1. the complexity of the assignment; 
  2. the estimated amount of time required to think about, sort and structure the response;
  3. the proportion of the response that will require creative, reflective, analytical thought and evidence of deep learning that is not able to be routinely drawn from texts and lecture notes.

Suggested equivalences[1] are presented below. These guidelines may vary according to the three criteria above. Module convenors should review and adjust assessment loads to ensure the total module load falls within the range 0.8 to 1.2.

AssessmentLengthWeight (10 credit module)
Book Review8000.2
Short Oral Presentation5 mins0.2
Seminar Paper10000.2
Essay15000.5
Portfolio30001
Exam2 hr1
Dissertation120002
Project/short dissertation30001
Group Presentatione.g. 10 mins/member0.2
Reflective Journal or Learning Log2000-25000.3
Group Report750/member0.3
Practical/Field Report15000.5
Field/Lab Notebook0.2

[1] based on sector analysis by Galvin, A. et al (2012) Assessment Workload and Equivalences, University College Dublin.

Don McLean

Let’s talk guitars with Don McLean

In 2003, I did this interview with Don McLean with all questions provided by my great friend and guitar guru Ron Buck. I can’t believe it is two decades since we did this!


Don has provided an inventory of Martin guitars that he owns. The complete list (as of April 2003), together with serial number and year of production, is as follows:

00– 21                   52203 – 1932
000 – 28                39965 – 1929
000 – 28                37413 – 1928
000 – 45                378901 – 1976
D35 – S                 363882 – 1975
D35 – S                 371085 – 1975
D-35                      471783 – 1987
D-28                      287566 – 1971
D-28                      165193 – 1958
D-28                      178199 – 1961
D-40BLE               498703 – 1990
D-41                      376494 – 1976
D-41                      456528 – 1985
D-45                      500678 – 1990
D-45                      511522 – 1991
D-42                      642540 – 1998
D-40DM#6/71      665947 – 1998
D-40DM#7/71       665948 – 1998P>

(Thanks to David Fulton for providing year of production information). In this clip, Don McLean provides some further information about these guitars:

Interview Part 1

The guitars listed appear to be rosewood (back and sides) and spruce (tables/tops), i.e. no mahogany or cedar topped models. This is interesting as Martin use a variety of woods including, in addition to the above, maple and ovangkol, but Don is obviously a BIG fan of rosewood spruce models – there must be a reason for this?  What does Don think of Brazilian Rosewood (as opposed to the Indian variety) or Engelman spruce (as opposed to Sitka)? (Brazilian is considered the rarest and best and is no longer available.)

Interview Part 2

Our own Ralph McTell recently published a great book just for Guitar Players (Songs for Six Strings). Here are some “philosophical” tips from him. Can Don give us a similar paragraph in the same vein for fans.

 Ralph Writes….Tips

“First let me say that I do not nurse my guitars. An instrument unscathed is an instrument un-played. All guitars carry the scars of triumphs, frustrations, ecstasies and accidents. That is how they develop their souls. If I am looking at a guitar with a view to buying it I usually strum just the bass strings whilst it might still be o­n the wall of the shop. If I am then moved by the quality of the sound to take it down I will o­nly play two or three chords before trying another instrument. If you sit long enough with any guitar you can adapt to its idiosyncrasies and your judgement can be flawed. Playability can usually be improved by a change of strings and minor adjustments of the neck. Tonality cannot. Sure, a sound might mature but it will still SOUND the same as when you bought it. In other words a Martin will not sound like a Gibson or vice versa no matter how old. If you are to play in my style i.e. first position play it is vital that your hand feels comfortable in that position. o­n cheaper guitars you can get the neck customised to fit your hand by a skilled luthier but if you are buying a classic you should not tamper with any part of the construction if you think at some time you might wish to part with it. Try to keep it original. Having said that, if you know it will never leave your care you can do what you like with it. In the case of my beloved ‘Miss Gibson’ (my old late fifties Gibson J45) I have had the guitar stripped twice (once by me with a broken piece of glass), new fretboard fitted (ebony), new bridge (twice), drilled holes for pick ups (now refilled), re-finished at least three times, re-fretted three times and two sets of tuners. It still sounds like the best Gibson in the history of the known world and no-one could buy it from me for any amount of money, yet I doubt it be worth half what a totally original o­ne would fetch.”

Interview Part 3

Don appears to change (upgrade) the standard Martin tuners for examples produced by Waverley (the so-called ‘Rolls Royce’ of tuners). Why? I remember reading that Don used to “re-engineer” the bridges o­n his guitars because they used to develop cracks because of the very varied conditions he travelled in (humidity of Florida then the dry heat of Israel, etc.). Guitars are VERY prone to changes in humidity – what did/does Don do to cope with this problem?

Interview Part 4

Many pros have the standard guitar necks “shaved” to fit their hand precisely – does Don do this or is he okay with the standard sizes?

Interview Part 5

Don’s got some snazzy o­nes! – are these Custom made? (Many pros have a collection, like silk ties, so they can “dress” differently o­n stage). Does Don ever make his own (he’s an adept leather craftsman, so he may)?

Interview Part 6

Does Don travel with 2 guitars o­n tour in case o­ne has an accident? (His concert rider calls for a Takamine (Japanese) flat-top to be provided – that’s a lot different quality to any Martin I’d say – surprising choice!!!!). Cases – Does he use a “flight case” like a CARLTON or MARK LEAF, or standard Martin cases? Strings – Does Don change them for EVERY performance (Tommy Emmanuel changes them twice, o­nce before his concerts and during the interval!).

Interview Part 7

How does Don run his rehearsals, do the guys work from “lead sheets”?

Interview Part 8

Fingerboards. Rosewood or ebony preferred? Capos – what are Don’s preferences and why?

Interview Part 9

Practice Routines. How does Don “practice” the Guitar? (Then and now). Re-stringing – does Don have a “method” (Most pros do – they develop their own little idiosyncrasies) to keep his strings from slipping in a 2 hour plus show under the heat of stage lighting?

Interview Part 10

Main influences o­n Don’s guitar playing.

Interview Part 11

In the early part of your career you were a traditionalist in that you always used small-bodied Martin Guitars with 12-fret wide necks and slotted peg-heads and miked them acoustically, in fact, in an interview in Guitar Player Magazine (USA) in 1972 you stated: –

 “I like a really high, sharp treble, and a deep mellow bass, and the smaller Martins have that”.

 However, in a 1980 interview in Guitar Magazine (UK) you stated: –
 “ I swear by my Martin D35S. I can play Bluegrass o­n it, I can play all my softer things, and I can use a flatpick o­n it and really lay down the rhythm. It’s got a very crisp bass and a beautiful high tone. It’s o­nly in the last 5 years that I have started using the D35S and I would never change that now”

 However, when the Martin D40-DM signature model was released in 1998 it was a based o­n a standard Dreadnought Guitar with 14-frets to the body! Why did your ideal Guitar design shift from small-body 12-fret wide-neck design (00-21) to large body 12-fret (D35S) to large body 14-fret narrow-neck design (D-28, D40-DM)?

Interview Part 12

You seem to have always favoured medium gauge strings over the standard light-gauge o­nes most fingerpickers prefer. Why is that, and does it mean that the fingerboard “action” (height of strings above the fingerboard at the 12th fret) is set very low? (Side question – what would you say the height actually was set to? – guitars player’s are always interested in this. You Guitar seems to be set high – like a Bluegrass pickers would be!? You also appear to use a thumb plus THREE fingers technique o­n the right-hand (most fingerpickers use o­ne or two fingers), like a “classical” Guitarist, but you rest your pinky (little finger) o­n the table of the Guitar (pickguard). What’s your reasons for this unusual approach, is it to sound pianistic o­n the Guitar? Do you use your LEFT hand thumb for fretting bass notes (a la Chet Atkins and Merle Travis) a lot. Are you always conscious of the “top and bottom” end of the Guitar (Bass line and top note)? Do you ever use “power chords”, i.e. where open strings are employed as “drones”. In chain lighting for example I recall you moving up the two-fingered E minor Chord up to the fifth and seventh positions whilst “droning” the treble string open. Do you use any unusual “inversions” like this regularly (Examples?)?

Interview Part 13

Can you give us some indication of how things work during studio sessions?

Interview Part 14

Sound checking. Can you give us some idea of how you carry used to carry out your personal soundchecks in the days when you played into a mike and compare it with what you do these days now that you go “direct” via the pickup in your Guitar, i.e. what sort of things are you looking and listening out for at each venue when you soundcheck? Have you ever considered using “In-Ear” (Ear buds) wireless monitors instead of stage wedges?

Interview Part 15

Band vs Solo Arrangements. Does playing a the band mean you have had to rearrange some of your Guitar-work and your general approach to be “less busy” than when you were a solo act and having to support your voice o­nly with your Guitar-work, or do you pretty much play the same arrangements and way as ever you did, or can you stretch-out a bit more? Do you work out your separate parts in the band beforehand or do you all “wing-it” from a lead-sheet (I noticed the guys carry some sort of “Fake Book” each and that you “navigate” different chords o­n occasions (I recall some hot debate between you all about how you would negotiate the “Changes” for Love Letters at the aforementioned London soundcheck!)

Interview Part 16

More o­n previous question and Don McLean Guitar Style Book. Would you ever consider putting out a “Don McLean Guitar Style” Book/Video using your own songs as illustrations for all us aspiring Guitar Players to learn your fantastic guitar arrangements from or do you think that the real fun and the greatest benefit is to be derived from figuring out your stuff using our ears and a lot of sweat and effort. Another way of asking this question is “do you think kids have got it too easy these days what with all the reaching aids like homespun tapes, Stefan Grossman’s Guitar workshop etc.

Interview Part 17

At the soundcheck in London a couple of years ago before you ran through Ray Noble’s The Very Thought Of You with the boys you mentioned “I REALLY love the chord changes in this o­ne!” What particularly appealed to you about the chord progression and the way your Guitar works in that song?

Interview Part 18

Advice to guitarists and guitar horror stories. What is the o­nE piece of advice you would give any Guitar-player that wanted to aspire to being able to play in a totally self-contained (pianistic) way the way you do in troubadour days and your solo spots at current concerts, i.e. just Guitar and voice? Travelling the world with valuable Guitars, how do you ensure they don’t get trashed or lost? Have you any “Horror Stories” about instruments that were lost or destroyed. Do you book a seat o­n the plane for your Guitar (There was a story that in the &0’s when you played solo you always bought seats o­n the plane for your guitar and banjo!

Interview Part 19
ron buck and don mclean
Ron backstage with Don at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester, May 2003
Classic Albums (American Pie)

Interview for “Classic Albums”

I was interviewed by award-winning director George Scott for the BBC 2 Classic Albums episode about Don McLean’s “American Pie” album. The interview took place at the Sleeper Sounds Studio in Ladbroke Grove, London on August 2nd 2017.

I was on the show as Don McLean’s biographer and spent a couple of hours talking about McLean’s career. At lunchtime, we were joined by Jake Bugg who was recording his contribution in the afternoon (McLean was one of Jake’s earliest influences). It was good to catch up with Jake as we’d only talked by email previously.

It was a fascinating and exciting experience taking part in and observing the recording process for a TV show. The show was first broadcast on BBC TV in December 2017 and later on PBS in America.

Classic Albums BBC
Classic Albums (American Pie)
My hot seat
My hot seat
View from my interview chair
View from my interview chair
Jake Bugg
Jake Bugg
Jake Bugg recording his segment for "Classic Albums (American Pie)"
Jake Bugg recording his segment for “Classic Albums (American Pie)”
Coal mine

The Rise and Fall of British Coal

Coal mining has been one of Britain’s most important industries, peaking in 1913 with production of 280 million tonnes of coal from an industry employing over 1 million miners at a time when coal provided nearly 100% of primary energy consumption.

However, throughout the years since 1913, coal production and employment declined, eventually leading to the closure of the last deep coal mine at Kellingley in December 2015.

The graph of coal production and imports visualises the decline in British coal through most of the 20th century. Big dips in production are evident in 1921 (coal miners’ strike), 1926 (General Strike) and 1984 (coal miners’ Strike). The general trend is one of decline in British coal production, with the exception of the period 1946 to 1952 when coal production saw successive annual increases. Imports become a factor from 1970.

Energy shortages evident during World War II continued after 1945 resulting in the new Labour government announcing its intention to nationalise the entire British coal mining industry. The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act was passed in 1946 and, on 12 July 1946, the National Coal Board (NCB) was established and given sole responsibility for managing and running the industry.

For the miners, this was the culmination of years of struggle for public ownership of their industry. Nationalisation improved wages and working conditions and investment in modern machinery led to the increases in productivity. Miners became relatively well paid workers, but they still had no power in an industry run by the National Coal Board (NCB) and local managers. The primary objective of the NCB to make profits would continue to create conflict through to the 1970s and 1980s.

Post-war Government policy has been discussed and sometimes criticised for lack of strategic investment in industry. In 1950, Britain’s investment in industry and infrastructure came to only 9 per cent of GNP, compared with 19 per cent in Germany. Such discussion is often linked to how these two countries chose to use the Marshall Aid finance package provided by the United States.

Between 1950 and 1970 around 100 North East coal mines were closed. On 2 March 1968 the last pit in the Black Country, Baggeridge, closed and pit closures were a regular occurrence in many other areas. By 1966, productivity had dropped to below the 1945 level.

A key reason for the decline in coal production was the rapidly diversifying energy mix in the 1950s and 1960s. The first nuclear power plant at Calder Hall was connected to the UK electricity grid in 1956 and the early 1960s saw a phase of nuclear power plant construction. The 1960s also saw rapid growth in oil consumption, much of it from the Middle East. British railways were also replacing steam locomotives with diesel resulting in a drop in demand for coal in the transport sector.

In 1979, 130 million tonnes of coal were being produced annually from 170 underground mines, but by 2010 the three remaining mines produced only 17 million tonnes.

In terms of employment, jobs in the mining industry peaked in 1920 with 1,200,000 but by 1960 the workforce had been halved to 600,000, albeit due in part to mechanisation.

 

Source: Charts have been produced using data from “Historical Coal Data“.

The “paradoxical relationship between prosperity and nature loving”

This is an example of a micro-learning activity undertaken by students studying my Environmental Issues couse.

Objective: To reflect on the ‘paradoxical relationship between prosperity and nature loving’.

Students are invited to read the following extract from Peterson del Mar’s 2012 book Environmentalism and then to identify other real-world examples of the paradox between prosperity and nature loving. Students share their work on the virtual learning environment and discuss it in the next class.

Peak Death

“Peak Death”

This is an example of a micro-learning activity undertaken by students enrolled on my Environmental Issues course. The activity has a single objective to investigate the most common age of death in England and Wales since the 1960s.

When discussing births and deaths and population changes, much attention is usually given to statistical indicators such as birth rates, death rates and infant mortality.

Another statistic that has recently attracted attention is the modal age of death in a given year. This is the age at which most people died in a given year. This statistic might also be referred to as “Peak Death” age.

Students are invited to open and view the following Excel spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet includes two tables (table 1: males and table 2: females) which present data on the total number of people who died at a given age in England and Wales for each year 1963 to 2017. Infant mortality is classed as the death of children under the age of one year, so in these tables figures for death at age 0 represent infant mortality.

Row 115 includes the mode or peak death age for each year.

For both males and females, comment on the trend in peak death age since 1963. What factors might lead to increasing “peak death” age?

What is the trend in infant mortality? When was age 0, the peak age of death? What factors have affected changes in infant mortality?

British and Chinese students

China field class 2019

I was pleased to participate on the first University of Reading Environmental Science undergraduate field class to Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), organised by my colleagues Steve Robinson and Hong Yang. A group of Reading third year students joined 36 Chinese students studying our Environmental Science programme at the Reading-NUIST Academy at NUIST for 10 days of activities. Further details about the field class and our partnership with NUIST can be found here.

My existing close links with NUIST started in 2011 and I regularly publish journal articles with my collaborator Professor Defu Xu. It was great to meet up with him and other colleagues again in China during the field class.

field class in Nanjing
British and Chinese students
British and Chinese students
British and Chinese students
Panda at Taihu Lake National Wetland Park
Panda at Taihu Lake National Wetland Park

.

Crete field class 2016

Based in Chora Sfakion on the SW coast of Crete the field trip provides a valuable learning experience for second year Human and Physical Geography students.

  • “Observation and analysis of characteristics of the Ilingas Gorge and vicinity”
  • “Sfakia: landscape, character, development – threats and opportunities”

Since World War II, Sfakia has seen a reduction in its population and little change in its core economic activities, whereas northern Crete has seen significant economic growth, particularly in the development of extensive tourist infrastructure along the north coast.

The Greek Population-Housing Census of 2011 found the population of the Sfakia region to be 1,189 (a decline of 21.9% since 2001), living in an area four times larger than the City of Bristol. Sfakia is one of the least densely populated parts of Europe.

The Census also found less than 13% of the Sfakian population were employed in accommodation and food service activities, compared to over 33% in the Chersonissos region that includes the tourist resorts around Heraklion.

https://twitter.com/dr_alan_howard/status/726403101666775040

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tXUOoROeWE

Energy subsidies – fossil fuels versus renewables

The costs and benefits of different energy sources for electricity generation is a popular choice for student projects but specific data can be difficult to come by.

Following a recent discussion, Tommy Gilchrist – a former geography student at the University of Reading and currently working for the Secretary of State for Education Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP – was able to provide the following information from the House of Commons library. With thanks to Tommy and the House of Commons library research staff for this.

The first thing to say is that a range of renewable subsidies do currently exist. These include the The Renewables Obligation (RO) Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed-in Tariffs scheme (these are all being transformed by the Contracts for Difference regime) arising from the 2013 Energy Act.

The extent to which fossil fuels have been subsidised in the past 20 years depends on the definition of what constitutes a subsidy. Many organisations have argued that tax breaks or other incentives should be incorporated into the Government understanding of subsidies. Most recently the Environmental Audit Committee looked into this and recommended that linked tax breaks and other financial assistance should be better accounted for. The Committee Commissioned Dr William Blyth of Oxford Energy Associates to set out the theory and practice of energy subsidies and to review how the various definitions that are available apply to the UK.

Their report, from November 2013, found that “the UK has progressively reduced subsidies to fossil fuels over the past 30 years” but that there are still subsidies for all types of energy. His analysis showed subsidies totalling at least £12.7bn, with the most significant levels being for gas (£3.6bn), nuclear (at least £2.3bn) and renewables (£3.1bn). However in terms of subsidy relative to the energy output involved, nuclear and renewables are the most subsidised:

  • Coal: 20p per MWh
  • Oil: 55p per MWh
  • Gas: £4 per MWh
  • Domestic electricity: £6 per MWh
  • Nuclear: at least £33 per MWh
  • Renewables: £50 per MWh

The main elements of these subsidies were the reduced rate of VAT (£6.2bn), renewables (£3bn) and legacy nuclear costs (at least £2.3bn). The latter figure is the Government’s net contribution to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, but there is uncertainty about the eventual size of the decommissioning liability which could increase this figure.

The Government’s Response to the Committee’s report agrees with the assertion that various methodologies can be used to calculate subsidies but does not consider that current tax breaks that are provided for oil and gas exploration constitute subsidies.

The position in the Government’s response was countered in this article authored by Dr Blyth in March this year.

The arguments have progressed a little in recent months with more international comparison around fossil fuel subsidies being made available by the IMF and the International Energy Association publishing comparative information in April. This BBC article provides information. In addition the OECD monitors international subsidies for fossil fuels and their data estimates for the UK are charted below.

fossi;

 

Historic oil and coal production data – August 2014 update

The Department of Energy and Climate Change has released updated data showing UK coal and oil production, exports and imports 1890 to 2013.

North Sea crude oil production ‘took off’ in 1976 and peaked in 1999. In 2011 imports exceeded production for the first time since 1978.

Imports of coal exceeded coal production for the first time in 2001. By 2013 there were just 9 deep mines producing 13 million tonnes  coal compared with 290 million tonnes produced by 3024 mines in 1913 – the year of peak coal production.

Download the raw data: coal_since_1853 and oil_since_1890

Coal remains a crucially important fuel source in UK electricity generation:

Data files published by DECC on 31/7/14 and made available under the Open Government licence v2.0

Robert Howard’s history of typhus

Howard, R. (1844) A history of the typhus of Heptonstall-Slack, which prevailed as an endemic during the winter of 1843-4 ; accompanied by remarks on the sanatory state of that village. Published by William Garforth, Hebden Bridge, England. 83p.

This book provides a detailed account of an outbreak of typhus in a small village community located near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire

Dr Robert Howard describes the diet, housing and social place of handloom weavers. He also describes the provision of water supply and outlines the poor sanitary measures and contamination of water with faecal matter. He recommends steps to improve housing conditions which he considered to be a “repository of filth and source of pernicious exhalation”. His research is note-worthy but less well known and influential than William Farr’s theory that “atmospheric impurities” or the “miasma” were responsible for disease such as cholera or John Snow’s subsequently accepted idea that ingestion through drinking polluted water was the actual mode of transmission.

Howard recognises the disease risk arising from contamination of water with faecal matter but tends to side with Farr in suggesting smell is the key factor. Although the miasma theory was eventually shown by Snow and others to be incorrect it provided scientific evidence for campaigners like Edwin Chadwick to successfully argue the case for Government investment in improved sanitation and clean drinking water provision.

“All smell is, if it be intense, immediate acute disease” Chadwick (1846)

Here are some excerpts from Robert Howard’s paper describing conditions in Heptonstall-Slack:

“At its origin this is capital water, but along its passage it becomes, to a certain extent, loaded with vegetable matter, and in the summer and autumn, is converted into a nursery of loathsome animal life, which, aided by solar heat, is highly injurious to its quality.”

“They [the sewers] now unite in front these habitations, and the commingled filth and detritus then pass through a sewer under one of these dwellings – the flags of the floor being its only covering –and the effluvia which permeates the seams is occasionally suffocative to the inmates. In the next house…three cases of fever occurred, and in the next but one, four cases….”

“The next that will be pointed out is a covered sewer, the opening of which is in the porch of a farmhouse. It had no proper outlet at its termination in the field behind the house and not having been opened for 20 years the stench emitted from its large aperture in the porch as extremely noisome. Six individuals in this house were attacked by the typhus, and, horrible to relate, three died.”

“…The sewer was opened, and the exhalations from it well-nigh overwhelmed the bystanders, as a powerfully depressant producing nausea, vertigo and sickness.”

Symptoms reported by Howard include:
◦ “Mental excitement”
◦ “arms and legs drawn up so as to form acute angles”
◦ “mouth and teeth mottled brown”
◦ “….in several cases a cough occurred….and, in one or two cases, attended by spitting of blood”
◦ “The respiration was accelerated”
◦ “in many cases diarrhoea commenced 2-3 days after the commencement of fever”
◦ “In certain cases the patient was passing 8-10 evacuations in one night”

The typhoid bacterium enters the body through the mouth, usually in contaminated food and water. Drinking water taken from contaminated wells was a common source of infection in the industrial revolution and the disease could be spread by lice and sometime rat.

Howard accurately identified risks to health from poor sanitation and made recommendations that were many years ahead of their time:

“I will conclude this chapter by expressing the opinion, that if an Act of Parliament was obtained, obliging the owners of property to make certain alterations in these cottages and other buildings now in existence, and confirm to certain instructions in all future erections in regard to their architecture and the construction of sink-stones, sewers, cess-pools and the removal of the contents of the two…then typhus fever be as effectually extinguished as small-pox is by vaccination.”

Jake Bugg

Jake Bugg has said in many interviews that he fell in love with music after hearing Don McLean’s song Vincent on an episode of The Simpsons. Jake saw Don in concert in Sheffield in 2007 and first wrote to him as a 14 year old asking whether he thought song-writing would be a good move.

When I interviewed Don McLean last summer I asked him about Jake:

Alan: Back in June we received another fan letter written to you by a young man in Nottingham, England. By December 2012 he was one of the biggest music stars of the moment in the UK, touring the US with Noel Gallagher and telling the world’s media that you were his hero. What do you make of Jake Bugg?

DM: I’ve seen some Youtubes of Jake Bugg and I’ve listened to him and I like him and I like his music. I think he plays some nice guitars. He plays guitars which are similar to the ones I used to play and I wish him all the luck in the world. I think he’s very young to have a lot of success – I hope somebody’s managing his money for him and I hope he has a good lawyer who’ll explain to him in simple terms what it is he’s signing so he doesn’t wake up and find himself, you know, in court which is the beginning of turning the dream of show business into a nightmare and it happens to almost everybody.

AH: Do you see a young Don McLean in Jake?

DM: Yeah, I do, I see an enthusiasm and I see a dreamy quality to him. He sees something. I can tell from his letter that he’s quite bright and he’s able to push through imaginary walls and to get to something in a songwriting way that has to do with what he’s seeing. Time will only tell how long he will want to pursue that – you know whether he finds a way to pursue that and to grow in pursing that or whether he gets distracted. There are so many distractions you know – marriages, drugs, alcohol, all kinds of stuff – not to mention court cases – that drag a person down and take the fun out of what it is you’re doing so he has to be careful about those things. I think I was a more troubled person than he seems to be. Very few handled success as badly as I did. I think it’s because singing became an obligation for quite  a while.

You know artists are very self-centred and we know we’re wonderful and we think everybody should think we’re wonderful but sometimes we wake up and realise other people have agendas, they have lives, they have plans for themselves, and they don’t include you, you know. It’s eye opening especially when you’re that self-centred and I certainly was and most artists that I know are and that’s the reason why you don’t pay attention because you assume everybody loves you and has your best interests at heart and they don’t.

AH: What would be one piece of advice that you’d give any young singer?

DM: Get a lawyer who can read whatever it is you sign and write you a simple letter telling you at your level of education what it means to sign this – what this paragraph means, what that paragraph means, etc. Because it’s in legalese and a high school graduate cannot understand what this means. A lawyer who can speak to a high school (or college) graduate, who has that ability, can tell you: ‘you are signing away this right forever, do you want to negotiate that? You are paying for this record, it’s going to come out of your royalties so the chances are unless you sell  this number of records you’re never going to make a dime from this deal, do you still want to do it?’ You know a lot of things like that. Of course you do want to do it, it’s going to do very well but at least you know you know.

Well the record companies today want everything. If they sign you you’re going to pay for everything and they want your merchandise, they want a piece of your performing  but I don’t know what his deal is and I don’t know who represents him so that’s between him and his representatives. But it is good to have an independent lawyer who even checks on your representatives because your managers are not always the people that have your best interests at heart. But if you have an independent individual who can read these things and let you know what they really say, for one thing you’ll scare the manager – the manager needs someone to scare him to make him realise that there’s someone else looking at this stuff, who knows how to read it and that he can’t tell you a bunch of junk about this and get away with it because someone else is going to read it and tell them what the truth is. That will scare the manager into doing the right thing and managers don’t do the right thing sometimes. Managers like to isolate artists and to control information.

Jake’s 2007 review of Don’s Sheffield concert:

“I enjoyed the concert very much even though
he didnt play an encore or empty chairs
but it was a great atmosphere. I couldn’t
believe that it was don mclean i was seeing
it was amazing i wish i could see him again
i got his autograph after the concert
and i think i was the ONLY KID THERE!!!!!”

 

Research update

My most recent research collaboration has been with Defu Xu, an associate professor in the College of Environmental Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology. His areas of expertise include bioremediation of wastewater and polluted soil, constructed wetland to purify wastewater, and nutrient cycles in water and soil.

He visited the University of Reading between September 2011 and August 2012 on the ‘Jiangsu Overseas Research and Training Program for University Prominent Young and Middle-Aged teachers’. Arising from our work together are the following publications:

2013 Defu Xu, Yingxue Li, Alan Howard Influence of earthworm Eisenia fetida on removal efficiency of N and P in vertical flow constructed wetland, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Volume 20, Issue 9 , pp 5922-5929

2013 Xu, D., Li, Y., Howard, A. and Guan, Y. Effect of earthworm Eisenia fetida and wetland plants on nitrification and denitrification potentials in vertical flow constructed wetland. Chemosphere, 92 (2). pp. 201-206. ISSN 0045-6535

2013 Xu, D., Howard, A. Effects of substrates and earthworms on photosynthetic characteristics, nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by Iris Pseudacorus in a constructed wetland system. Environmental Engineering and Management. ISSN 1614-7499.

Professor Xu is currently (until August 2013) a Visiting Professor at Purdue University, USA as part of the U.S.-China Ecopartnership for Environmental Sustainability – USCEES – furthering research in soil contaminant dynamics.

Ulcer Wars – The Barry Marshall Story

I watched “Ulcer Wars” – a BBC Horizon documentary – when it was first broadcast in 1994. It tells the remarkable story of Barry Marshall and Robin Warren’s discovery of Helicobacter pylori and Marshall’s battle to gain mainstream medical acceptance of his well validated theory that H. pylori infection caused ulcers.

The documentary inspired me to include H . pylori as a water contaminant issue in my GG362 Water Resources module where it has remained since 1994.

Today the link between H. pylori and stomach ulcers is a matter of common knowledge but in 1994 the broadcast of this documentary was still controversial amongst some doctors (e.g. Colin-Jones, D.G. (1994) The Subtle Microbe, British Medical Journal. 308: 1378. http://www.bmj.com/content/308/6940/1378.full)

Today, the documentary provides an important historical insight into one of the major breakthroughs in medicine of the late 20th century.

In 2005 Marshall and Warren were rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease”.

Hotel Espana, Barcelona

Past students who enjoyed a downmarket Hotel Espana with me and colleagues on field trips in 2001 and 2005 may be interested in news of a revamp and a review in the Daily Telegraph which now rates it one of the best budget hotels in Barcelona:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotel/36328/Hotel-Espana-Barcelona-review.html

The 2001 December field trip is infamous for the huge snow fall that fell on our first night and remained for the whole week, cutting off the region of Catalonia and causing power black-outs in the city. All our field work sites were inaccessible.

barc2001

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1715514.stm

Ironically Barcelona in December was a late replacement for our usual summer field trip to the Yorkshire Dales. That year the Dales were largely out of bounds due to the foot and mouth disease outbreak.

Our day at Glastonbury (with Don McLean)

Don McLean Glastonbury 2011

Don McLean came to Glastonbury and sang folk, pop, country and rock. He sang Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and demonstrated his own legendary singer-songwriter status with four of his top-10 hits, three of which reached number 1.

Don sang for an hour – just 12 songs – to an estimated audience of 100,000.

I was honoured to be there with my wife as Don’s guests. Finding ourselves on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury was an unforgettable once in a lifetime experience. It was an extraordinary and exciting day.

Our day began meeting up with Don and his tour bus at the Bath Spa Hotel in Bath, Somerset. As we arrived, Paul Simon was just going into breakfast. The hotel is clearly a popular base for Glastonbury stars. However, having stayed in the hotel twice myself, I am not so sure it would meet Beyoncé’s standards.

Once at Glastonbury, we watched as the crowd increased by tens of thousands in the 20 minutes or so before Don was due on stage in the afternoon “Legends” slot prior to Beyoncé’s headline act that evening. My unsteady video captures the moment Don took to the stage and, later, part of American Pie.

Watching the BBC coverage later, I noticed Don say “wow” as he came out on stage and clocked the crowd for the first time. Wow was a good word for it.

Don’s agent and acoustic stage booker – Paul Charles – advised us that Glastonbury crowds will vote with their feet if they don’t like an act. They stayed with Don throughout and the big roars of approval weren’t just reserved for the classics – Vincent, American Pie and Crying – but lesser known Don McLean songs like “Love in my Heart ” also went down a storm.

Don and his brilliant musicians nailed every song and were clearly determined to do their best performances. As always, Don was tuned into the audience; he chose to sing American Pie slightly earlier and surprised everyone by finishing with “Sea Man”. The crowd would be dancing all day, but this song gave them something to think about.

For someone so often associated with just one or two songs, Don has a back-catalogue of hits and other influential songs that surprises many. Beneath the Pyramid Stage a huge Greenpeace banner was visible for all to see. However few present would know that a Don McLean song, “Tapestry”, was an inspiration for that movement’s formation after the co-founder David McTaggart heard Don perform the song in 1969.

After his set, Laura Marling was among the first to congratulate Don. Marling won Best British Solo Female Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and is a brilliant contemporary singer-songwriter who is clearly appreciative of Don’s work.

A quick interview with BBC TV followed and then with a wave from Beyoncé’s dancers we were ‘out of there’ on Don’s tour bus to Heathrow in time for his flight to Canada for the next stop on the tour. Sadly we said goodbye at this point and headed from the airport to our train connection back to Bath where our adventure had begun early that morning.

Don's dressing room
Don’s dressing room

Fieldwork in Nigeria

My research student, Balarabe Getso, is about to commence his wet season field work on the River Kallawa in Kano State, Nigeria. I intend to join him later in the summer.

Our research project is concerned with endocrine disrupting substances in aquatic environments. This has become a well researched subject in Europe and North America but little work has been done in the developing world despite significant and widespread associated pollution problems and impacts on aquatic life.

Azerbaijan for Eurovision victory?

My probability model of Eurovision Song Contest voting is predicting victory for Azerbaijan in tonight’s contest in Oslo. The model has a high success rate but this year the contest is more open than normal with several countries in with a shout.

Predictions for the top-10 are:

1. Azerbaijan 1.14
2. Armenia 1.56
3. Israel 3.46
4. Germany 3.66
5. Turkey 4.51
6. Greece 5.42
7. Denmark 6.87
8. Ireland 7.97
9. Belgium 14.58
10. Romania 15.48

and for last place:

25. United Kingdom 133.65

…a few hours later…and the winner is…GERMANY…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmOeISUYXuI&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0]
Deserving winner but a rubbish performance for the computer model (r2 0.51 for correlation between prediction and result) but at least it got the UK result correct.

Crete Field Trip

The field trip to Crete (June 16-23rd 2009) involved three staff (Dr Alan Howard, Richard Tegg, Ken Beard) and 28 students registered for the degree in Human and Physical Geography at the University of Reading.

We were based in the village of Chora Sfakion in the Sfakia region of south west Crete. Fieldwork was undertaken in the village, at Loutro and in the Samaria Gorge.

Daytime temperatures ranged from 28 to 36 degrees and, whilst not in the sea, work was undertaken to model the extent and impact of a major flood in December 2000 in the Ilingas Gorge and the potential impact of tourist development on society in this area (Sfakia remains largely untouched by the mass tourism associated with northern Crete).

Group Photo - 22/6/2009, Chora Sfakion
Group Photo - 22/6/2009, Chora Sfakion

 During the field trip our students made use of various Web 2.0 technologies in order to produce group blogs and videos of their experiences. These were completed in the field utilising ubiquitous wireless internet access available in the village of Chora Sfakion and the mini Dell laptops we provided. The students did an excellent job and the process of writing daily entries on their group blogs (hosted on WordPress.com) enabled them to reflect upon the educational experiences they encountered. The blogs have been compiled here:

http://www.cretefieldtrip.com/sfakia/

where you will also find all the light hearted videos each group produced while in the field. A random choice of video is displayed here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqwB-uqkc-w&w=425&h=344]