The net zero policies followed by successive Labour, Coalition , Conservative and now Labour governments have left us dangerously short of electricity. The favourite option has been installing more and more inter connectors Ā with European countries, leaving us very dependent on imports when the weather lets us down with renewables.This is especially dangerous as Europe is very short of energy and may not have the power to send when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine. French old nuclear Ā plants are Ā becoming unreliable and even Norways hydro system can struggle for want of rain.
The U.K. needs to install a new fleet of gas power stations. These should draw on more U.K. domestic gas as outlined in the oil and gas industry blog, as well as importing from Norway Qatar and the USA. There needs to be more gas storage to build our resilience. Old Ā reservoirs can be adapted for this purpose. Gas generated power at present gas prices is the most economic way of covering demand when looking at pre tax costs of capital and running costs.
The U.K. should replace the nuclear capacity it will lose this decade with new nuclear, and if possible add to the 4.8 GW that disappears. It is likely the cheapest and best way to do this will be to agree Ā to build a number of 300-450 MW generators to a proven design, pre fabricating Ā as much as possible to speed site build times. Designs should not be varied. Past nuclear sites are obvious locations with a settled community Ā and local workforce used to nuclear activity.
The U.K. with other leading renewable countries need to come to a determination about how best to store renewable energy when it is plentiful.Is this more Ā pump storage, or big battery or hydrogen conversion? It is expensive stopping wind turbines when the wind is blowing because there is insufficient demand or a shortage of grid.
August 9, 2024
Good morning.
I think we need to let things run their course. If those that are elected wish to inflict harm on the nation due to their fanaticism with so called ‘renewables’ then so be it. They have tied their colours to the mast and will face the consequences, unless that is, we go full South Africa and become effectively and single party state which, when you think about it, the LibLabCON are.
Time to stock up on those candles and portable gas stoves, me thinks.
August 9, 2024
Too little too late. We are already past the tipping point for widespread power outages. Milipedes stupid rush for more wind and solar will come home to roost when his 50gw of installed capacity is only generating 2gw and solar zero on a very cold winters night. Clegg was against building more capacity as he said it would only be beneficial in 10 years time highlighting the short term stupidity of politicians.
Roll on the power curs just to reinforce the destruction of liebour same as the tories.
August 9, 2024
We had a power cut at 5 ish this morning.
And the āpowerā company PHONED on the landline to wake and tell us!!!
Now we have to try to fathom the reset for the rotten (useless) new cookerās clock.
August 9, 2024
This would make the UK dependent on French electric which would tie UK to EU, energy linked to fishing therefore tying UK to EU ie the plan all along. France importing gas fromā¦ā¦Russia! UK importing coal, oil and gas fromā¦..Russia via India.
In other news: Two Tier Keir lauding his two Teir justice system. He also wants to shut down any views not akin to his own under online misinformation. We had online surveillance during covid as well as two Teir policing of protests when Two Tier Keir took to the knee.
August 9, 2024
+1 I’ve prepared. Millions won’t have. The Westminster Uni-Party needs to reap what it has sown. Just as it is with the mass immigration we voted against.
August 9, 2024
See David Starkey Starmerās one-party state | David Starkey
August 9, 2024
David Starkey gets most things the wrong way round.He once called Diana a loose cannon.It is obvious to all that she was the target and the cannonballs came from a few different directions.
August 9, 2024
From the point of view of the Royal Family Diana was most certainly was a loose cannon and a target. The two things are not remotely exclusive. Not very much Starkey says that I disagree with. Not much that I disagree with from Ben Habib (Nat Sci Camb.) yeah – either though I do not agree with removing Shamima Begumās citizenship.
August 9, 2024
They won’t ‘face consequences’, they never do. They will simply retire on a huge pension and go on company boards so they can pull strings for their new masters. Look at what happened to Clegg and the other Milliband if you need evidence of how it all works.
August 11, 2024
Led torches, diesel generators and a pile of coal probably rather more efficient.
Matt Ridley:- In 1800, it took over five hour’s work to generate one hour of light.
Today, an hour of light costs 0.00027 hours, or about one second’s, work. youtu.be/tok23bkjf8s
Rather a shame that over that time government has become less efficient and totally misdirected on a rather similar order of magnitude!
August 9, 2024
In other words our energy policy is a shambles, if it exists at all, thanks to inaction and the all pervading Nett Zero. Dancing on its grave we have that pillar o9f logic the millipede. If immigration does not kill the body politic then the first power outage will. By winning the last election, Labour have been thrown a hospital pass which, in terms of energy, is the collective inaction of their predecsssors of thirty years. Being stretchered off will be their litest penalty.
August 9, 2024
Oh there are two wonderful methods of storageā¦
Flywheels aka clockwork and water turbines aka water wheels.
Phew!!
Energy abundance!
Embrace the future!
What can we do with all the excess energy?
Good job reallyā¦the world is using more coal than ever before.
August 9, 2024
Fly wheels have to be very large and heavy or go very fast to store much energy and they then tend to explode dangerously like jet engines from centripetal/centrifugal forces. Plus the air resistance and friction slowly eats up all the energy. Unless you have a vacuum and very low friction bearings.
August 9, 2024
These are obvious and sensible recommendations. However the evidence suggests that the current and previous governments are not sensible in setting energy policy. I read the other day the warning that the SE of England faces power cuts before the end of the decade.
August 9, 2024
And the other proposal that the South will pay more for its power than other parts. They are all nuts. Just living where you do does not make you rich and I would argue that money already goes further in the North than the rip off South so that does not make any sense, as usual with these people.
August 10, 2024
We are forced to use more power in the north because itās darker and colder. We subsidise the solar panels which are only viable in the south – the viability line moves south and the subsidies (proportionally more provided by cold dark north) moves south.
August 10, 2024
Well, move south and suddenly you’ll be rich – that’s what these morons think. Everything down here is a rip off. Try to rent or buy down here as against your end and see what you think.
August 10, 2024
Try to rent or buy in the north. You will get a shock. The differential is not as great as you would imagine.
August 9, 2024
National Grid wants prices to be set by locational marginal prices. They aim to collect the congestion rents from prices differences between regions on the basis that they would fund more pylons that should reduce the differences. They do stonking business on their 50% interest in the North Sea Link interconnector on this basis, with often huge price differences between Norway and the UK which they share with Statkraft. Meanwhile Norwegians, accustomed to very cheap hydropower for their heat pumps for their purpose designed homes, are very annoyed that interconnectors result in much higher prices for them.
August 9, 2024
It’s easy to suspect there is a plan behind the deliberate run-down of our energy supply. I doubt it’s our politicians’ plan, but comes from a higher level and our leaders play along for a variety of reasons: financial gain, power retention, net zero delusion etc.
The end result is that we are reliant on low-cost energy countries for manufactured goods, be it “allies” like the US, or “enemies” like China. Similar to the Uniparty in politics, it doesn’t matter what colour flag they have or rhetoric they use, the end result for us is bad.
Most people will be impoverished through energy reduction and outsourcing CO2 emissions. We will be forced to accept more government control over our lives (how long before we must have digital ID to register for a household energy ration to be delivered via our smart meter, or to receive government handouts that become our only means of sustenance?).
Our host’s suggestions are sensible, obvious. But I don’t think they will be allowed to happen in a way that releases us from eventual serfdom.
August 9, 2024
Yes amazing how politicians of all colours have failed to properly look and plan for future energy demand over the past decades.
Same could said of water provision, transport, infrastructure, and food production.
Nature blessed us with coal, gas, and oil in the ground, and surrounded us with a tidal sea, in an area of the World where we also get a variable breeze and some sun.
So it is difficult to understand why politicians think the two elements that are not constant, but variable, (wind and sun) should drive our future because they believe they are clean, but offer no security of constant or base load supply.
Decades ago we sold off our nuclear expertise, but are now looking at purchasing it back when the reliability of design is at best questionable.
August 9, 2024
Yes and all this neglect happened during the so called ‘boom years’ when a few people got incredibly rich. I don’t recall benefitting much from that, it seems all my life we the ordinary people have gone from one ‘belt tightening’ crisis to another while the rich get ever richer. It is just so today and will remain that way as the ‘elite’ like it that way.
August 9, 2024
What we should do is exploit our own oil and gas reserves in the north sea. Frack. Build small nuclear reactors. And if we must, let Charlie-boy have his toy windmills off the coast to provide some additional power when the wind is blowing “just right.”
We should also re-open the coal mines if additional power is needed.
Basically, make ourselves energy independent.
The Eco Nutters in the Establishment will never permit any of it since Net Zero is a UN Project to destroy our energy security and de-industrialise the west.
August 9, 2024
Perhaps ‘Charlie Boy’ would like to have some windmills sited on his shooting grounds, he has hundreds of thousands of acres to play in.
August 10, 2024
We would still pay him Ā£60k per windmill pa.
August 10, 2024
Why? Therein lies the problem with renewables – it will never be cheap. We will be paying him for off shore as well as he owns everything to 12 miles out. My point is that he is a hypocrite, like all the rest of them when it affects their playgrounds so don’t worry, it won’t happen.
August 10, 2024
Crown estates are not really his, they belong to us. The Govt. Should now reflect any monies gained and deduct from Royal grant and make sure it is written in the planning permission Charles is responsible for the removal and scraping of these limited unreliable machines.
Charles also responsible for the killing of wild life both on land and in the sea. New research in US holds the survey boats, when testing sea bed suitability with sonar and blasts, responsible for whale deaths on the east coast of US. Perhaps the WWF should have a word with Charles as well.
August 9, 2024
Well coal is even cheaper than gas but gas is probably on balance preferable so long as we extract gas locally.
We certainly should not be chopping down forests in the US shipping them in, drying them and burning this āyoung coalā while pretending it is ārenewableā. This is insane on all measures.
āThe U.K. with other leading renewable countries need to come to a determination about how best to store renewable energy when it is plentiful. Is this more pump storage, or big battery or hydrogen conversion?ā
Well there are no cost effective electrical energy storage systems. They all cost fortune and waste 30% – 80% of the energy stored. The way to store electricity is not to generate it when not needed. Keep it as gas or coal and generate only when needed. One other thing that can be done is get some users to switch demand times things such as some electrical heating & refrigeration can be time shifted a little.
The Miliband plan is totally insane, the deluded man and his lunatic vandalism agenda must go. It is a Chairman Mao type of disaster in the making.
August 9, 2024
Ross Clark
Ed Miliband will be a liability as energy secretary in the Spectator – rather an under statement!
To give an idea of the cost of storage, the US governmentās Pacific National Laboratories estimates the lifetime cost of lithium batteries at around Ā£240 per Megawatt-hour, six times as much as it costs to generate the energy from wind in the first place!
Plus wind power is not even carbon free. Not that CO2 is even a problem – a bit more is a net good in fact.
On two tier policing, what happened to the attackers of the Balfour painting at Trinity Camb. Any charges on this or the Manchester Airport incident yet? I think not.
Kier wants to ban āmisinformationā on social media but so much comes from him and his government. So things like āthere is no two tier policingā, āwe are all far right is we think immigration has been too highā, āCovid was not a China lab leak after gain of functionā, āMilibandās Net Zero is a sensible policy and will create net jobsā, āStarmer policies will be good for growthā, āthe Covid Vaccines saved lives and are unequivocally safeā, āthe Covid Lockdowns saved net livesā, renewable are the cheapest energyā will clearly all have to be banned and not retweeted then.
August 10, 2024
+1 if misinformation requires jail-time, we n[have no problem with the Govt, they will be sewing Mail sacks – letās hope they can manage that.
August 10, 2024
BTW – you do know that regarding “false communication offence”, the most significant part comes in s180, which states that “A recognised news publisher cannot commit an offence under section 179.” Yes, you really did read that correctly. The BBC, for example, may send a message they know to be false, with the specific intent to cause “non-trivial psychological harm”. In other words, state-sponsored propaganda is legitimised in statute by OSA 2023.
August 9, 2024
JR says “It is likely the cheapest and best way to do this will be to agree to build a number of 300-450 MW generators to a proven design, pre fabricating as much as possible to speed site build times.”
In engineering terms one or two large plants should almost always cost far less to build per MWH and be more efficient to run, protect and connect. It might however be politically, legally in planning terms easier to go for modular. But these are damaging & artificial government barriers and costs that could and should be overcome. But then government is so useless and so many are on the make they probably with not be. One newt, bat, a few trees or something similary will doubtless take 10+ years to resolve thought the courts, planning etc.
August 9, 2024
well said LL, I do get frustrated when people with no knowledge of electrical distribution start to talk total nonsense! Some even have no idea how dangerous it can be if ignorant people carry out wrong actions !
August 9, 2024
I saw an estimate being touted by DESNZ recently that the UK will need 30GW of “flexibility” by 2030. Average demand us only slightly higher, and it seems they want to be able to switch most of it off.
August 9, 2024
Build more gas fired power stations !!! But but but we’ll all die. Haven’t you heard Co2 is going to destroy the planet. A Swedish schoolgirl told us.
No much better to let us freeze, that’ll only kill the old, unwell or poor.
August 9, 2024
Old Albion, the gas fired generators we’ll get are polluting open cycle as no one will waste money on CCGT when it can’t be run efficiently. So every ounce of CO2 saved by wind will be cancelled out using open cycle gas turbines as backup. Dint expect Milipede to understand that though.
August 9, 2024
School drop out that things travel by Ā£1 millions racing yacht with crew flown in and out is better than a spare economy seat on a jet that was going anyway!
August 9, 2024
āthinksā not āthingsā
August 9, 2024
Agree – interesting to note the years of covid lockdown with almost no cars, trains, planes or ships ….the environmental conditions didn’t change ….no impact whatsoever
August 9, 2024
Maybe its not man-made
August 9, 2024
Off subject.
The Guardian agrees that banks should not be paid huge interest on BoE deposits.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/04/a-simple-solution-to-rachel-reeves-spending-cuts-stop-subsidising-the-banks
August 9, 2024
Meanwhile France has quietly doubled the amount of gas it imports from Russia. It looks as though the Ukraine war is being moved offstage into the wings. It seems new threats and crises are being prepared for global elites and their followers to get excited about. Whether the Labour government will act as the French have done to secure their energy for the winter, I very much doubt. They are already clearly out of touch with public opinion. I see ‘climate change’ has now slipped to number 3 among the concerns the British public has, number 2 being the economy and no. 1 immigration. Starmer, Milliband and the rest of the Labour crew are distancing themselves more and more from what the public want to see the government do. If this continues, it will be a one-term government.
August 9, 2024
Far from being crippled, Russia’s economy is growing. The IMF predicts that Russia will record economic growth of 3.2% this year. Caveats more than in any of the world’s advanced economies. āDebilitatingā sanctions have not produced shortages. This despite the vast costs of their evil war.
There is a lot to be said for cheap reliable on demand energy if you want growth – and a lot to be said for the Starmer/Miliband Net Zero agenda if you want to destroy jobs, an economy and any prospects of decent UK growth.
August 9, 2024
Russia seems to think British involved in latest excursion into Russia with Ukraine troops! I hope this is wrong and the nutters in govt would not be so stupid!
August 9, 2024
They don’t need British troops – they’ve got thousands of Georgians (Wikipedia), Poles (Wikipedia) and now French (‘instructors’ – Kyiv Independent) fighting for them and helping to fill the depleted ranks of the Ukrainian army. The Russians may have overheard English used on Ukrainian military radio, but it’s the language the different mercenary troops use to communicate with the high command, probably. I’d be very surprised if Brits were active in that sector.
August 9, 2024
I hope it does not last that long, we need an intelligent politician to drive them out. They barely had a third of the populations votes.
That is a reason to rid our country of them
August 9, 2024
There is no ābestā way. It is completely impractical to store meaningful amounts of electricity and astronomically expensive.
Indeed. Shame Rolls Royce, which was planning to build two new factories in the North East to build the components, has given up on one of the proposed factories due to 14 years of dithering by your government.
August 9, 2024
Indeed a pile of coal, store of nuclear fuel or a store of natural gas is the way to store it. You can have some renewables on the grid up to a certain level and switch the gas, coal, (wood young coal) burning up and down but even this makes the gas/coal less efficient. Nuclear not so good to switch up and down too much.
Storing electricity once generated is generally a daft idea, very expensive and very energy wasteful. Why plan to generate much of it when it is not needed?
August 9, 2024
I’m sure there would be objections, including from people whose preferred solution is to take us back to the stone age, and I don’t think this would be cheap, but it may offer the best energy storage method for the UK:
https://www.repsol.com/en/technology-and-digitalization/technology-lab/sustainable-mobility/synthetic-fuels/index.cshtml
“Synthetic fuels: An alternative for decarbonizing mobility”
“What are synthetic fuels or e-fuels?”
“We are producing carbon-neutral fuels using only water and CO2 as raw materials. These fuels can be used in existing vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, and planes, among others. This is possible thanks to our CO2 capturing technology and the renewable energy that enables us to obtain hydrogen from water molecules.”
This is a very interesting programme that I first saw on the BBC but is not currently available there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eelVZGbvvF4
“The Engine That Powers the World”
That is the diesel engine, using energy dense liquid fuel.
August 9, 2024
Denis – You say āWe are producing carbon-neutral fuels using only water and CO2 as raw materials.ā well yes but you also need loads of energy that you do not mention – so where is that coming from? How is that energy going to be Carbon Neutral. How much of this energy is wasted in producing these fuels 80% perhaps. How much more expensive is synthetic fuels 5+ times as much perhaps?
August 9, 2024
Some airlines are already raising their prices so that they can claim they are using “sustainable” fuel (not more than 5%).
August 9, 2024
Indeed wasting 80% of your energy to produce vastly expensive (so called) āsustainableā aviation fuel is a nonsense. Where does the energy come from to do this? Until we crack controlled fusion perhaps.
August 10, 2024
I have managed to switch to an energy supplier that does NOT provide green energy.
Perhaps the population voting with their wallets will send a message.
August 9, 2024
As I said:
“I donāt think this would be cheap, but it may offer the best energy storage method for the UK”
August 9, 2024
LL, +++++ and carbon capture ???? LOL, sky hooks, jelly nailed to ceiling, fusion in your tea cup etc., etc.
August 9, 2024
+1
August 9, 2024
As you say, not likely to be cheap. No mention on their web site of the likely, or comparable, cost. Mind you, if the government didnāt tax synthetic fuel like it taxes petrol, maybe it could be affordable.
August 9, 2024
The highest drain of our available energy is the ever-increasing population.
August 9, 2024
How long before a comment like that becomes illegal.
August 9, 2024
Well perhaps but one of them might crack nuclear fusion a new Harbor process or similar.
August 9, 2024
I saw a commentator the other day who said a day’s worth of battery storage for the UK would cost Ā£300bn. I haven’t done the calculations myself, but I can believe the figure. How many Ā£bns depreciation would it cost each time it was used?
Time to knock this nonsense of battery storage on the head.
August 9, 2024
DA :
Taking the Royal Society’s figure of 50 TWhrs of storage needed for an annual consumption of 570 TWhrs supplied by a wind/solar 80/20 mix, and the current cost of batteries, the cost of battery storage to obtain a reliable supply is Ā£20 trillion.
According to the Royal Society’s figures hydrogen storage doubles the cost of the wind/solar electricity even when electrolysis efficiency and wind capacities are doubled.
BTW, the latest National Grid ESO Future Energy Scenario (2024) shows a planned storage of electricity by 2050 which is 1/200th of the 50 TWhrs the Royal Society calculates is needed to give security of supply.
August 9, 2024
Kilmarnock South electricity substation is part of the 400kv electricity network responsible for transmitting
renewable energy generated in Scotland to other parts of the UK .The substation was identified by the National
Grid Electricity System Operator as one of several locations on the network that required critical stability services . from zenobe.com
Here come the battery energy storage systems (BESS) .
August 9, 2024
Stanlow Terminals has 3.0 million cubic metres storage capacity:
https://www.stanlowterminals.co.uk/tank-storage-terminals/
3 million cubic metres = 3,000 million litres, and with 10 kWh per litre of diesel fuel:
https://www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk/files/cambridge_regional_college_sus_how_much_energy_do_you_use_pdf.pdf
If I have my zeroes right that would come to 30,000,000,000 kWh or 30 TWhrs:
https://www.unitconverters.net/power/kilowatt-to-terawatt.htm
It may be expensive to convert renewable energy into synthetic fuel but at the same time it may be cheaper and more practical to store the energy in tanks of diesel fuel than in lithium batteries.
August 10, 2024
Ballylumford oil fired power station had tankage that could keep it running flat out for 5 months without replenishment (and NIES often kept it almost full when they feared oil price increases). The IEA security standard was that countries should hold stock equal to 3 months of net imports. Oil us an energy dense storage medium.
August 10, 2024
I have started looking at their assumptions and methodology, only recently released. It seems to be full of such lack of realism. For example, they assume an EV owner will make 50kWh of battery capacity available to the grid. That’s more than the total capacity of cheaper EVs. Their projections all start from a weather corrected basis, so they never incorporate the huge variations between years.
It is no basis for deciding on our future.
August 9, 2024
Indeed you might get 1000 charge discharge cycles of lifetime so Ā£300 million in depreciation per cycles and a similar sum on financing costs per cycle! Great plan Ed Miliband! Perhaps do some sums?
August 9, 2024
The UK’s energy is already stored. Oil, gas, coal are beneath our feet and seas waiting to be used. Our intellectual energy should be directed at minimising any pollution their use may cause.
Almost in the same category are the Rolls Royce SMRs that politicians and scribes have failed to give the go ahead to. They have worked in submarines for decades.
Then where are we up to with fusion energy. No doubt seen by politicians as something ,if successful, we can flog to the world and not benefit from.
The real question I ask myself is do we really need politicians, are they a useless expensive luxury we could do without.
August 10, 2024
Good question. The Chinese donāt have them.
When they do their job, they stopped the idiots who work for the State from using the power of the state against the individual. No longer, so they are redundant.
But what is the alternative to constraining the power of the State?
August 9, 2024
Sir John
Whichever way the coalition of Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson, Sunak and now Starmer try to shake it out they only had in mind the destruction of the UK, its resilience, and self-reliance. In that respect they all neglected their first duty to the people of this Country ā to keep us safe.
The Nuclear power option has been removed from UK government control and is subject to its new owners a foreign power. The wind etc. again predominantly manufactured from components then owned and run by foreign powers. Its not just foreign companies that have the hands on the UKās levers to survive, it is foreign governments. Yet the UK is well resourced in expertise, ability and facilities ā but the anti-UK cabal mentioned earlier has fought against the notion of us taking on our own capability.
We have been sold out
August 9, 2024
I can’t understand why, whilst Hinckley Point ‘C’ is being built, and all the construction equipmemt and people are on site, why construction of Hinckley Point ‘D’ can’t be started ?
August 9, 2024
What Sir John says is so b***** obvious that it beggars belief that the government, even under the care of the Energy Security and Net Zero minister, Ed Miliband, doesn’t seem to have twigged. Just looking at half his job title might give them a clue.
August 10, 2024
He needs a lot more than a clue. He canāt even recognize the answer handed to him on a plate. Just does not have the wherewithall.
Is that āhate speechā?
August 9, 2024
Sir John
Overall, the biggest drain on the UKās ability to respond is the removal of its most valuable resource, the āmoney in the economyā
The Uniparty at every measure has failed the UK and its people, tax is not the economy, tax is not the countries earnings. Uncontrolled spending of our taxes is the Unipartys greatest kick in the teeth to all the people they(government) steal the money from. Growing the State buy using our money is not growing the economy or the Country. The British Empire at one stage controlled 23% of the Worldās Population with it is said to be with just 4,000 civil servants managing it all, now we have 4.5 million State employees and nothing works, no one is managing. They have lost the plot
The UK needs to be returned to the people be allowed to become a democracy. Not only let, but encourage those āthat doā, āto doā and not be killed at birth. The problem is that we have a deluded ruling class that are so intoxicated by their own delusions, by ruling and power they have yet to realize they are just exporting and destroying theirs and our future. They canāt comprehend they are the problem not the solution.
August 9, 2024
They sell their souls for a hand full of Silver.
August 9, 2024
For ‘More Power’ we need more fuel ….no mention of coal or fracking shale gas, the economic saviour of the USA
August 9, 2024
They know we need affordable, abundant and reliable power but the purpose of the CAGW lie and its Net Zero renewables āsolutionā is to sabotage our energy and consequently our economy and military capability.
If CO2 really was an issue then they would be building nuclear plants as nuclear is the only low CO2 emitting power which is affordable, abundant and reliable. Reliable nuclear is between half and two-thirds the price of unreliable fixed offshore wind at the next renewables auction (AR6). Instead they have set out to destroy our nuclear power. Firstly by making Hinkley Point C two and half times more expensive than the same EDF EPR technology used in Finland by using Chinese financing and additional regulations and then by delaying the ordering of RR SMRs by 5 years by opening up an SMRs competition not decided until 2029.
August 9, 2024
PS :
There is no CAGW caused by increasing CO2, whether natural or anthropogenic, because of a phenomenon known as IR saturation. There is already sufficient CO2 in the atmosphere to absorb all the IR radiation emitted by the planet as defined by CO2ās IR absorption bands and the planetās Planck IR distribution curve. As a result additional CO2 makes almost no difference to the GHG warming effect.
The Royal Society agrees that IR saturation exists, although they donāt quantify the negligible increase from additional CO2. This has been done by the physicists Happer and Wijngaarden who calculate the warming for a doubling of CO2 (which will take about 170 years at the current rate of increase) to be 0.7 degrees C.
The IPCC WG1 AR6 report (āthe scienceā) states that doubling CO2 produces just 1.2 degrees C of additional warming although they provide no proof in their report. See P95 footnote. In addition, the IPCC WG1 Table 12 in Chapter 12 shows that no signal for climate change can be found other than some slight warming leading to some loss of ice and snow.
August 10, 2024
Correction. They donāt know. That is the point. They just donāt know.
August 9, 2024
There are problems other than overall capacity when relying on multiple distributed intermittent power sources and distributed small-scale energy storage solutions – the grid itself becomes unstable and hard to manage leading to rolling blackouts (California) and total unplanned blackouts (Hawaii). Those airily saying that at times of need EV batteries can be used to power the grid donāt understand this. One small example of the problem is that houses with solar panels here which can in theory return excess power to the grid are sometimes not allowed to because a cap has to be implemented to manage grid stability.
August 9, 2024
Wasn’t this done on purpose to make France the EUs big electricity generator, but after problems with their nuclear fleet, they ran short and now take low-cost excess electricity from the UK? I thought I read that last year. I’ll have to try to find the article. I found one in the Express saying “13 Dec 2022 ā Sunak and Macron. Britain has exported vast amounts of energy to France over the last few hours”
Weren’t the EU trying to open more free trade in electricity too to share it out better as France was the top net exporter of power? Quite a powerful position to be in.
August 9, 2024
Most days we import electricity from France. As it happens, today we are exporting to France and Ireland. 80% renewables at the moment. 8.6% fossil fuels.
August 9, 2024
Every major political party has wanted to increase the population. In other words, they have wanted to create an energy crisis. Because they know as well as you do, Bloke, that another 10 million people puts huge pressure on our available energy.
This is the way it seems to me: After a massive crisis, it’s easier to get the Great Reset that our rulers want to impose on us. The Covid crisis was a means to an end, which was increased state control in collaboration with a UN agenda and big corporations, and so is the population crisis a means to an end. Then it was the WHO and pharmaceutical companies, now it’s the turn of the UN’s climate change honchos and ‘green’ energy companies who want to sell us their dodgy products. In between, the arms manufacturers have also been doing rather well.
August 9, 2024
This country, England, is being destroyed by policies our host’s Conservative party brought in and pursued and to which our host remained loyal. And not only in energy.
The new gov is just doing the same but more rigidly, and no-one in his party is prepared to criticise ths PM who, with his cabinet and others, will offer our nation to those who do not believe in it either, claiming they are victims,and we are all aggressors and must grant more power to them.
August 9, 2024
Has anyone explained how mostly peaceful counter demonstrations (Croydon was at least one exception) can be whipped up involving many tens of thousands of people all across the country without any obvious pre-publicity at the drop of a suggestion of 100 “far right” demonstrations that never materialised? Has the government surrendered to these would-be vigilantes?
August 9, 2024
But when will this government, any government here, see sense?
No other Nation on Earth is in the race to net zero, so why are we, little Britain, so involved in yet another White Elephant that is crippling households around OUR country.
August 9, 2024
China is in a rush for coal ….they must feel so foolish knowing that we beat them in the net-zero race by closing all of coal power stations
August 9, 2024
I agree Sir John. All your suggestions are sensible and obvious to anyone with the necessary equipment to think.
Unfortunately our energy policies are run by buffoons and grifters who are fully committed to the carbon death cult. Our electricity use will be rationed by price through the wretched smart meters and what remains of our industry will be destroyed.
Every time a Carbon Cultist is asked what happens when the wind stops blowing, or the windmills freeze solid in a hard winter, they mumble some nonsense about batteries or technology that has yet to be invented.
It is tempting just to let them get on with it and face the consequences when their utopian system inevitably fails but, just like the Covid atrocity, they will be nowhere to be seen when the nasty stuff hits the fan.
August 9, 2024
My energy company has been harassing me to book a smart meter. They call me frequently and send emails twice weekly.
I have told them that I don’t want one because they are intended to switch us off when the electricity is insufficient and the one we had at my wife’s house didn’t save o bills and then didn’t work at all, resulting in huge overestimated bills. They are a disaster and wasted Ā£9 bn which goes on the increased standing charges.
They told me that my present electricity meter is dangerous and must be replaced and this will have to be a smart meter. This is a lie. My had meter is only one year old and they told me it will be compulsory to change it next year. Another lie. I told them that if forced to have one I will disable it. Wrapping it in foil will prevent the telephone signal to control my usage. These liars have Glaswegian and Indian accents and are almost incomprehensible.
August 10, 2024
You donāt have to disable it. The communications equipment does not work so they āestimateā. I have to send in the readings of my various āsmart metersā monthly to avoid wild overpayment.
August 9, 2024
Quite so Sir John.
I can’t see any way forward when faced with Politicians who not only do not understand the engineering involved but who avoid finding out about it.
August 9, 2024
What utter stupidity to build two power systems when we only need one. When will reality break out and our intellectually challenged MPs realise CO2 is not a problem, Global Warming is Nonsense, and Net Zero will never happen?
Let’s use gas, oil, and coal until we have built enough small nuclear reactors to guarantee an endless, reliable supply of cheap energy. Wind and solar will never be as cheap when all the costs are taken into account as gas, oil, and coal, and they are simply not reliable!
Successful economies are built on cheap, reliable power. Why is it so difficult for the Government, both current and previous to understand this simple fact?
August 9, 2024
To be perfectly clear, I continue to doubt that human activity is significantly affecting the global climate and I reject the current dogma that we must reduce emissions of carbon dioxide to prevent or limit climate change.
However I do not foresee that our government will change its mind on that, and in any case it has become clear just how vulnerable we are now that we have become a net importer of energy, which happened in 2004:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04046/
and so I believe that despite the high cost we should crack on and secure long term energy self-sufficiency.
August 9, 2024
The record of the climate is being affected by the closure of old weather stations and their replacement by low quality sites subject to local urban heat island effects, and then using these to “interpolate” for the closed stations. The Met Office have been caught doing this, and are trying to avoid it becoming widely known.
August 9, 2024
Hi sir John
Don’t worry labour have got it all sorted
Unless they have told lies like with everything else
August 9, 2024
Under the guidance of the deluded net zero zealot and PPE graduate Ed tomb stone Miliband.
August 9, 2024
Here is the solution to our energy needs for the future: only vote for political parties that promise to repeal the Climate Change Act, an act whose specific purpose was not to save the planet but to destroy our economy.
August 9, 2024
Exactly.
August 9, 2024
The South Koreans are pretty good at building very reliable Nuclear at competitive costs. UK should look to buy proven solutions from elsewhere rather than continually trying to reinvent the wheel.
For those who have a ‘Spectator’ subscription there are some informative articles on this written by Sam Dumitriu back in April & May this year.
We should also look at making electricity bills cheaper overnight, especially when renewables are generating more than demand, so some more discretionary appliances (washers etc…) could be incentivised to run then
August 10, 2024
There are a variety of time of use tariffs available to those with Smart Meters. Economy 7 is still provided to existing white meter customers, but the switching signal to the meters to use the overnight register is due to be switched off at the end of June next year.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/economy-7-tariff-guidance
If EVs become popular there is no guarantee that overnight power will be cheaper.
August 9, 2024
This afternoon at 5p.m. the AR6 CFD auction closes. The results will not be published until early September. Ed Miliband increased the estimated annual subsidy on offer to Ā£2.215bn per year indexed to June CPI. Most of the money will go to offshore wind, and it is only for power at the offshore grid connection point. The cost of the necessary grid connections to deliver the power to users is gargantuan if you allocate it to the incremental production, and even if you dilute National Grid’s planned spend of Ā£18.4 bn p.a. through 2035 across current demand of 270TWh p.a. it is Ā£67/MWh on top of metered cost. There will be balancing and stabilising costs on top.
The auction is expected to procure about 4.3GW of offshore wind at prices very close to the maximum price, plus some costly floating wind and onshore wind and solar to desecrate the countryside. This should be seen in the context that projects from the AR4 round have seen CFD terminations and planned capacity reductions totalling 3.5GW. The previous government fell a long way behind with capacity procurement. This auction is about 2 years of catchup since AR5 saw no bids at all for offshore wind.
August 9, 2024
The UK is actually generating more power than it needs at this present moment in time.
That doesn’t happen very often, as whenever I look it always seems like we are importing 20%.
But there I see the wholesale price is actually negative, so we’re paying the continent to take our electricity.
This bizarre circumstance is because it’s still worth generating electricity given the subsidies.
If the wholesale price is negative, does that mean my electricity bill goes negative too?
August 9, 2024
Maybe its time for our government to switch off, via smart-meters, a little bit of energy usage …to all those they deem as far-right
August 10, 2024
You get to pay for the export subsidies in your own bill, along with the curtailnent of power tgat couldn’tbe routed to an export interconnector.
August 9, 2024
An OT but I hope I am permitted as current subject.
We are told by our new PM how important it is to speed criminal cases through the court system, and how good he has been getting it.
Maybe, but I have seen on tv news more than once a judge spending a long time reading out his summary of the case prior to the sentence. Why does he do this if time is short?
Why can he not simply read the sentence to the guilty party, and have his summary printed, given to the guilty party and available to anyone else who wants it? He will save not only his time but that of the many others who must listen to it.
August 9, 2024
Yes, we should be investing in new energy production – just why isn’t that happening?
There has been a pathetic attempt to get over our shortage of nurses by importing them – the same thing is now occurring with energy.
Such policies are not just short termed – they are morally wrong. There will come a time when we are no longer able to pay for imported energy because if any is to spare it will become very expensive.
Those in power don’t just ignore the idiocy of not being able to create enough energy to meet our needs – they work to ensure that in future we will be impoverished. Netzero is just the excuse!