The UK’s Detrimental Dependence on Gas August 1, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in UK, electricity, energy, fuel bills, gas, global warming, globalisation, politics, renewable, sustainable.add a comment
For years the UK was an energy rich country, with extensive untapped oil and gas reserves in the North Sea, but since 1999, when production peaked, output has been falling at a steady rate of ten percent a year. Initially this was not too much of a problem. Energy exports had buoyed the UK economy since the 80’s, and the companies who’d reaped the rewards were now global players, who sourced a sizeable chunk of their supply from far afield. And even though the UK began to import gas in larger and larger quantities, fossil fuel derived energy was still relatively cheap and abundant.
The energy policy of the UK government relied on this. When the UK signed up to the Kyoto Protocol it wasn’t gambling with the affordability of domestic supply because the targets set were eminently achievable. The agreement didn’t stimulate a raft of renewable developments, as some people had hoped, but instead it further increased our dependence on gas.
A gas turbine releases less greenhouse gases per unit of energy than any other fossil fuel derived energy source. Additionally, gas fired power stations are relatively compact, cheap, and reliable. There is no need for fleets of trucks ferrying in fuel; it can all be piped in, and surplus kept in storage. In all respects, gas is a very attractive way to generate electricity.
So it comes as no surprise that the UK Government turned to gas in the face of increasing electricity demand. In most respects it was the perfect solution, particularly for politicians who were able to avoid the tough decisions involved with commissioning the next generation of nuclear power stations. But the increasing demand for gas ensured our dependence on imports, and married with the UK’s meagre gas storage capacity, makes the UK much more vulnerable to disruptions of supply.
But it’s only in the last few weeks where gas has become a real political hot house. Creeping energy prices were blamed on globalisation, but some of the blame lies with our own politicians with their short sighted energy policy. Any increase in the price of wholesale gas has the twin effects of increasing the cost to direct consumers of gas, and to consumers of electricity, due to the huge number of gas turbines which feed the grid.
The focus of energy policy has been to wean the western world off oil. But for the UK in particular, moving away from gas and towards nuclear is much more important. If we fail to do so, huge increases in energy bills may become all too familiar.
The UK’s Detrimental Dependence on Gas can be found on Scribd.
Hydrogen Economy vs Superconducting economy May 6, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in energy, global warming, hydrogen economy, superconductors.add a comment
I’m currently writing an article that speculates whether a power network based around superconductors could soon become a reality. And if so, what effect would this have on the long feted hydrogen economy?
While I was researching it, I came across a great article on Ars Technica that explains the basic physics behind superconductivity. It’s very clear and concise, and I’d recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in physics, whether of the real kind, or the spooky sci-fi ‘what if?’ kind.
Image courtesy of st-stev
Grim October 24, 2007
Posted by townsend51 in global warming, graphic.2 comments
Implications of travel on global warming October 23, 2007
Posted by townsend51 in aviation fuel taxation, democracy, global warming, travel.add a comment
PART 1
If there’s one thing I’d like to convey in these blog posts it’s that travelling is awesome. It’s truly bamboozles the brain. Particularly in the way it throws up delights and difficult questions in equal measure.
Some of these questions occur before the first soggy sock had been donned, or troublesome tent erected. And the daddy of these had to be climate change.
Though it’s in the media constantly, we don’t often ask ourselves the difficult questions about how it effects out lives, and how we can responsibly deal with its causes and consequences.
I’m sure I can confidently assume some knowledge on the matter, but for those not those who aren’t in the know the story goes something like this: the world is getting warmer as a result of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (such as CO2) in the atmosphere. This is pretty much beyond refute, and has an avalanche of scientific literature backing it up, all based on the sound scientific principles that gave us ipods and Dolly the sheep. It isn’t a conspiracy designed to make us all stay at home and live the simple life. But there is one point of debate – whether or not the increased levels of greenhouse gases is as a consequence of human activity. It seems that some people are being deliberately oblique on the matter, and while a consensus will never likely be reached, for the sakes of this discussion let us assume that we humans have a BIG part in global warming.
Now, there are few more obvious polluters than aeroplanes, which release oodles of CO2 straight into the upper atmosphere. Since air travel is an integral part of most itineraries, it immediately becomes a problem. However there are alternatives, some of which I’ll touch on later.
Staying with air travel for the moment, what can be done to make it more environmentally sound? Well the solution favoured by most politicians is to tax aviation fuel. As can be seen with the taxation of automotive fuel, it does little to deter the use of cars, and just serves to fill the government’s coffers. If really hefty taxes were introduced then this might reduce air passenger levels, but would this necessarily be a good thing? People of low financial means (amongst which I count myself) may find air travel beyond their budgets, with few viable alternatives available. Would this be a democratic thing to do?
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END OF PART ONE
I’ll post PART TWO tomorrow!
I’d appreciate your comments on the issues raised.
Thanks!
Car junky October 22, 2007
Posted by townsend51 in car, climate change, global warming, graphic, paint.net.add a comment
Watch out for a post on the implications of climate change on travel. Should be posted this evening.
The pictures shown on this blog were created using paint.net.
A free alternative to proprietary software such as Photoshop.
