Snowdonia From Above

Recently I acquired a 2nd hand DJI Phantom 3 drone, it's great fun! Really been enjoying shooting some photos and videos around N.Wales with added perspective:








Llyn Padarn





Llyn Padarn Swimming




Llanberis Pass 




Llanberis 'High' Street!




Elan Valley Hydro in Meirionnydd 




Dinas Dinlle




Menai Bridge 




Menai Straits

Interested in technology, sustainable energy, EV's and recycling. Keen rock climber and outdoor enthusiast. Co-founder of OpenEnergyMonitor

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Citroen Dispatch - Split-charge relay leisure battery setup

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Since I'm interested in electronics/electrics and I like my electronic gadgets when I converted my Citroen Dispatch van into a camper a couple of years ago I made sure I put in a large 12V auxiliary/leisure battery. The actual battery I used was not a normal leisure battery, it was actually borrowed from a friend left over from a wind turbine project, I think it's originally from a UPS system. With 110Ahr capacity it's big enough to power my four large LED light units (Four units of 8 x 3mm LED's in series) for one months continuously, change a phone for 8 days continuously or power a laptop for 36 hrs continuously (assuming a 50% discharge of the leisure battery).  A leisure battery is different from a normal car battery in that it can handle 'deep-cycling', while lead acid car batteries should always be topped-up and never let to run down on a regular basis.
I added a split-charge relay and ran a wire from the engine bay to charge the leisure battery when …
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Zero Carbon Future (low carbon present)

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It’s well agreed that in order to avert dangerous climate change we must reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this century. The next 20 years are set to be an incredibly exciting time as we work hard to switch our energy systems away from fossil fuels to a zero carbon energy system. As climbers, mountaineers and adventurers we can see first hand the damage climate change is already having on the mountains we love.

This transition to a zero carbon future does admittedly sound daunting. The good news is that there is a lot of evidence that this transition can be done in a way that is socially and economically beneficial with no loss in living standards using technology that we currently have today. See the Zero Carbon Britain Report for a tangible plan for how this can be achieved. A key component of every zero carbon strategy I’ve seen is the electrification of transportation and elimination of flying.  It's amazing the carbon reductions that we as individuals c…
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North Wales to Fontainebleau via Electric Car in winter

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We recently took a trip to Fontainebleau, a magical forest just south of Paris that contains lots of awesome sandstone boulders which a great for climbing on.

Unfortunately it was a bit damp (100% humidity!) therefore we didn't do much bouldering. We did however do some tricky boulder trainer ascents and fantastic fell running and forest exploring, the highlight being the awesome 25 Bosses Trail (17km, 830m ascent).

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Electric cars emit significantly less carbon than petrol/diesel vehicles and can be close to zero carbon if charged from renewable sources e.g solar PV  / wind. I charged the EV from a 100% renewable tariff at home, the UK ElectricHighway rapid charge network is also 100% matched rene…
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Electric Campervan DIY conversion: Nissan e-NV200

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Recently I've been working hard on converting a Nissan e-NV200 24kWh electric van into a campervan. I'm happy to report that the conversion process is nearly finished.



I used to own a diesel Citroen Dispatch campervan which I converted myself many years ago. This van served me well on many trips, however, as soon as we got a Nissan LEAF electric car a couple of years ago I sold the Dispatch campervan. I couldn't justify the high cost of running a diesel van compared to an EV and driving an internal combustion vehicle just felt old and wrong. The future is certainly electric. Switching to an EV is one of the most effective ways of reducing personal CO2 emissions, see my blog post Zero Carbon Future (low carbon present).

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Sold: Citroen Dispatch Campervan

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UPDATE: Van has now been sold

With a heavy heart selling my beloved camper van. I'm just not getting use of it anymore after getting an electric car. It's been a reliable companion for many adventures for the last 7 years. I bought the van in 2010 and converted it myself. It passed an MOT and service last week with flying colors. I've kept a full service history.

- 2004 Citroen Dispatch converted campervan
- 153k Miles
- 1.9 Diesel
- 2x side sliding doors, 1x side window
- Remote central locking
- Three front seats
- Double bed

The Good
- Full service history, last service May 2017
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- Two owners: I’ve owned the van since 2010 (since 93k miles)
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- Dual USB charger, 3 x cigarette lighter sockets from leisure battery
- 12V water pump and integrated 25L water container
- 4x bright low energy LED lights
- Custom foam sofa / mattress
- Plastic storage drawers
- Secret secure storage compartment!
…
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Honeymoon - Exploring Norway by Train & Tesla!

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Norway, a country of stunning coastlines, impressive mountain ranges, extensive wildernesses, 24hr daylight and the world’s hardest sport climb. A place that generates 98% of their energy via renewable sources and is the world leader in EV adoption. A land of top-notch cinnamon buns and the hygge culture, creating spaces and moments of cosiness, comfort and contentment.

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Here's a short video edit playlist of our trip:


Overland Train As with all our trips, we started by consulting the excellent train travel knowledge database that is The Man in Seat 61 and adapted one of his suggested UK-Norway schedules. We made our outward journey quite relaxed to allow us to have half a day in London and sp…
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Céüse 2017: N.Wales to French alps in an Electric Car!

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We drove a 2nd hand 2014 Nissan LEAF with a 24kW…
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I'm currently travelling at 300 km/hr, sitting on a TGV fast French electric train on my way back to the UK after a couple of weeks climbing and exploring in Morocco. We travelled overland to keep our carbon footprint to to minimum*; first via electric car to London then high speed electric trains through France and Spain and finally a ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco.
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Deep Blue Sea 7b+ Eiger North Face

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Jon and I were 'in position' to climb Deep Blue Sea a 9 pitch route (6b+,6b+,7a,7b+,7a+,7a+,7a,7b+,4c) on the Eiger North Face. The route was put up in 2001 by Ra…
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