Does Mr Miliband ever worry that his policies lead to black outs and energy shortages? We are living through a colder snap. We hear endlessly about it on the news as if it was unusual. Itās called winter and has happened most years. We have lived through far longer and colder spells in some past years than this December/January.
Despite this being a not so long or cold spell so far we find ourselves with wind and solar generating as little as 6% of our electricity, and regularly less than 15%. That means more than 90% and as much as 98% of our total energy comes from things other than wind or solar. Most comes from oil and gas.
This government has stopped any new oil and gas exploration or development at home and put Ā up oil and gas taxes even higher to try to force early closure of what is still producing. They think CO 2 heavier imported oil and gas better than home sourced. Why?
They are not rushing to put in more gas storage to make us more European. Why not? We had low levels Ā of gas storage capacity because our gas storage was our own productive Ā gas field reservoirs. Ā If we canāt produce our own we need much more storage, otherwise as now we have to pay much inflated prices to import when gas is short .
Why are we not putting in more gas fired generation? We need plants that work when there is no sun or wind. Instead again we are forced to pay sky high prices for imports when electricity is short in Europe as well.
UK policy has been to keep on putting in more pipes Ā and cables to the continent whilst closing down much our own power provision. They close Ā oil and gas, blow up all coal power stations, retire gas stations and decommission al but one of our nuclear plants. It is a policy to make us hopelessly dependent on imports from a Europe short of energy. It increases the shortages for Europe as well as ourselves.
Please Mr Miliband do something. Donāt be the Minister who presides over power cuts. Please Sir Kier donāt follow your removal of pensioner fuel allowances with policies designed to make gas and electricity even dearer.
January 11, 2025
You’re wasting your breath John
Read the private members bill which is wending it’s way through Parliament.
That intends to count emissions on all imports and exports with transport costs calculated from the port of origin.
It will shutdown any remaining industries and decimate agriculture. This is proposed by the Greens and has widespread support. Just like the CCA and treacherous Mays nut zero legislation.
Milibrain is part of the problem not the solution.
Without mass protests we’re doomed to a cold and bleak future.
Trump should send in the Marines.
January 11, 2025
Never in my life time did I ever think that I would witness the death of my nation, its culture and the rewriting of its history. Not even in China and under Mao did it go so far as to seek the complete its own irradiation.
January 11, 2025
Chill out man!
We all have the opportunity to make our country thrive. We need leaders with more vision, hope, humour, grit to make that happen.
Stay hopeful.
January 11, 2025
Oh, they’re on their way. Nigel Farage, Richard Tice, Rupert Lowe, Lee Anderson, James McMurdock …. and over 180,000 members.
January 11, 2025
Interesting that once again we are told 24 was the hottest since records began
It seems the hottest uk temperature is at Heathrow. No mention of the planed taking off and landing every 30 seconds. Temperatures estimated over half the world and accurate measurements only been available for past 100 years.
They must think we’re mugs
LA wildfires according to BBC s Rowlat down to climate change and in next breath someone arrested for arson.
Give it a rest.
January 11, 2025
Rowlatt yet another PPE Oxon chap. Anyone who thinks slightly reducing (just manmade) CO2 in a few countries & then wait a hundred years to see if it works is the best way to stop floods, wild fires etc. is clearly unable to think rationally. Wildfires have always happened certain insects have even evolved over thousands of years to take advantage of them and the lack of predators post the fire.
More people = more arson, more buildings to burn or flood and more accidental manmade fires. If you leave lots of dry flammable materials lying around they will, sooner or later, inevitable get set alight one way or another.
January 11, 2025
It also helps if the Firemen have water in the fire hydrants. It is illegal to park in front of a hydrant in the US but not apparently to keep them supplied with water. Then there is the issue of fire break maintenance. A terrible tragedy for many living in LA but you have to wonder if it could have contained if the Fire dept had had water in the hydrants and the fire breaks had been maintained.
I hope Trump orders a Federal investigation and the officials responsible are sacked.
I rather think Governer Newson won’t get quite so much celebrity backing next time he wants it. It’s one thing to look trendy & ECO “friendly”, quite another when your home has just burnt down.
January 11, 2025
CA is normally a fairly hot, dry state, and can have normally delightful breezes of the Pacific.
The natural raw material was and is wood, most homes are made of it, usually only the wealthy use stone and brick.
So, once fires start or are started there is combustible material all around, provide a relentless wind and you have a raging inferno.
January 11, 2025
Indeed.
January 11, 2025
Man-made climate change is real. Don’t stick your head in the sand. That’s childish. Rather we should look at how to make lots of money out of making technology to reverse this climate change. The sort of approach of Elon Musk.
January 11, 2025
Ed M :
Not only is climate change not man-made but the greenhouse gases, water vapour (the largest by far) and CO2, exhibit no greenhouse gas effect at the planetās surface, as shown by Shula and Ott in their Tom Nelson YT āMissiing Linkā video, both theoretically and experimentally.
So, like King Cnut, or his retinue, you believe man can hold back nature? If you believe that climate change is man-made you may like to explain how the most recent ice age occurred and how we exited a mere 11,000 years ago? Or how it is that retreating glaciers in BC/Canada and Iceland are revealing tree stumps 7000 and 3000 years old respectively?
January 11, 2025
Give King Canute credit please he was demonstrating that he could not control the tides.
January 11, 2025
I know, why don’t we all get electric cars !
January 11, 2025
Mankind certainly has some effects on climate such as the urban urban heat islands. Temperatures at Heathrow and in London being rather hotter than when it was all grass! CO2 if all other things (millions of other things that affect climate) are the same then a bit more CO2 will mean slightly hotter but not very much see William Happer on this. But slightly hotter will clearly mean other things will certainly be rather different like clouds, radiation, precipitation, orbits, solar activity,
How can we predict the climate in 100 years when we cannot predict sun spots very well, volcanic activity, when we will have practical fusion, wars, meteor impacts, changes in population, agriculture…?
We have had ice ages with multiple times higher atmospheric CO2 in the past.
January 11, 2025
The climate has always changed and it always will. NOTHING we do in the UK will make a scrap of difference …. except it will bankrupt the country.
January 11, 2025
You say “we should look at how to make lots of money out of making technology “to reverse this climate change”. The sort of approach of Elon Musk.”
Well we have had no statistically significant climate change and we might invest huge sums to say cool the earth only to find it was getting colder anyway and we were making it worse! A bit colder is worse than a bit hotter and kills more people.
As to Musk – EV cars create more CO2 not less and more tyre wear particulates too. They need vast amounts of fossil fuels to manufacture car and batteries and the batteries do not last very long. So expensive and huge depreciation. Keeping your old car generally saves far more CO2 if wrongly CO2 bothers you.
Not sure rocket to Mars or space is very energy efficient either. Clever of him to get flog Tesla Shares on circa 100 P/E when Toyota is on more like 10 P/E though and I do like his generally free speech agenda. Just like it was clever of the Dotcom companies to flog their share for way more than they were worth to gullible punters. Then again 100 PE is not as bad as infinity P/E as with Criptos. Indeed worse than infinity as costs to buy, sell, not loose and to keep.
Twitter is hugely energy demanding too.
January 11, 2025
Ed M :
Are you Ed Miliband by any chance?
January 12, 2025
š
January 11, 2025
While Milibrain is now responsible for our headlong rush back to the stone-age, Sir J is asking the wrong question; it should be. ‘will the common sense Labour MP’s who know this is a disaster policy get off their backsides and tell Starmer to sack Milibrain and get someone who wants to keep UK industry going and the lights on?’
One hopes this might happen after the first rolling power cuts…..if not before..
January 11, 2025
The Common Sense Labour MPs? How any MPs are there who are not deluded climate alarmists. 3 or 4 % perhaps only a handful voted against it Moronic Mayās suicidal Net Zero Bill was just nodded through. Sunak, Cameron, Boris, Coutinho, May and Kemi all still believers in Net Zero just a bit more slowly!
January 11, 2025
The Big Freeze of 1947 caused rapid knock-on deadlocks throughout. 55 days of continuing deepening snow created vicious circles restricting every aspect of movement, even that of coal for power and essential supplies of labour to maintain survival of life.
Ed Miliband is generating vicious circles of his own in combat against our national security, attacking warmth and comfort with misguided Labour powers.
Whereas nature has ultimate power for most destruction on Earth, Milband is doing all he can to follow behind, dangerously.
January 11, 2025
Call me a reckless optimist! Fear and Greed — When the Labour minions start to fear for their jobs, as they should when their voters get cold and start to protest, then the tide will change. Preventing mre severe damage until they do is the wild hope.
January 11, 2025
Only red necks are in denial of man-made climate change. True capitalists and entrepreneurs are figuring out lots of interesting ways to reverse it whilst making lots of money out of it (ie Elon Musk) and of course working hard against those who want to destroy our oil and gas and nuclear and economy in general (not just Greenies but also Labour and Lib Dems and others)
January 11, 2025
the climate change you talk of is but a trfle compared to the natural change going on affecting the climate on Earth. The charge of red-neck…guilty on the scale or totality you suggest!
January 11, 2025
Commonsense Labour MPs are as rare as hens’ teeth ….. almost as rare as commonsense Tory ones.
January 11, 2025
Blowing up our coal powered stations etc. This was started by the Tory’s with bells on and only added to by the idiot Labour Party in recent months. So PLEASE. This was more a Tory driven policy under Cameron, May, Johnston, Sunak etc. As was woke, DEI, ESG, non Equality laws, Grooming gangs inaction. We need to restore our manufacturing, cheap reliable energy and ditch the net zero religion guff. Only one Party in Town to do that. REFORM!! Daily Sceptic has a good article today about the rising ice levels in the Antarctic. Who’d have thunk it! Our heating is on and we will be lighting the log burner later. An investment to ensure heating when the lights go out under these idiots!!
January 11, 2025
Accepted, it was also Tory PCP policy, complete insanity, (though in the membership I’m not so sure). BUT, right now it’s only the Labour PP that can change it. Let’s hope the current Tory PCP agenda for Net Zero simply replaces Labour.
January 11, 2025
sorry, missed out the word ‘DOESN’T’… You know where it goes in the last sentence.
January 11, 2025
Indeed.
This is proposed by the Greens surely that is reason enough to cancel it.
Is Ed Miliband (PPE yet again) a mad deluded zealot hooked om an insane modern religion or is he trying to destroy the UK deliberately or is he just on a make in some way? Any other explantions?
1. CO2 is not a problem a bit more is actually a net good.
2. All the things they propose walking, cycling, EVs, heat-pumps, public transport, exporting industries and importing gas rather than using our own do not even save CO2 at all or to any significant degree, and wrecks the economy.
January 11, 2025
Yes Ian., The Climate and Nature Bill, which gets it’s second reading on the 24th is a sinister piece of legislation. I see our local MP Clive Jones supports it.
January 11, 2025
It’s -7 outside here this morning Cliff and I left the gas central heating running overnight, ticking over on a low setting. At 8.30am of 36.7Gw of generated electricity, 9.4% was Wind, virtually no Solar, 12.8% Nuclear and 11% Import.
So Gas is doing all the heavy lifting this morning at 57.6% ! But this is just electricity generation of course, about 10% of our total power needs. We are busy closing our gas fired power stations, Nuclear takes time to build and of course we’ve (literally) already blown up our coal-fired power. Do these idiots really think this can end well?
January 11, 2025
So as Trump might say “Frack Baby, Frack!”
January 11, 2025
Indeed.
January 11, 2025
I wonder if the 72 LibnoDems will all support it?
January 11, 2025
Yes at this stage I tend to dream either of the proximate end of this bunch of losers governing us or of us becoming part of the United States.
Happy to swap Ā£ for $ in perpetuity and their plans and living circumstances for ours
January 11, 2025
@an wragg +1 – so very, very true. We should never forget who instigated this lunacy and those in Parliament that supported the plan. Punitive costs and punishments on a whole people at expense of their future, while a the World immune from this ultra extremist doctrine moves on and flourishes.
January 11, 2025
Shockingly, two of the supporters of the Climate and Nature Bill are Conservatives: Sir Roger Gale MP and Simon Hoare MP. They are as unthinking as the Labour, Lib Dems and Greens.
January 11, 2025
Surely counting CO2 on imports is a good thing. The half wits in charge might finally tumble that using our own energy produces less CO2 and is good for all of us, and the planet.
January 11, 2025
This morning, gas Is providing 50%, nuclear 17%, imports 16% and wind 9%- rounded figures. By the next election only one nuclear station will be available and most of the gas stations will be 37 years old.
Is there anyone at Mad Ed’s ministry who can add up and tell him?
January 11, 2025
Add up too, the costs of shifting everyone to heat pumps, EVs then add on upgrading the electrical grid and generation capacity to cope with circa 10x the demand in winter weeks plus back up needed. Something like Ā£4 Trillion cost no benefit at all in fact negative benefits. As they cost more to install, cost more to run, more to maintain and are less convenient too.
Also if the electricity fails you have no alternative heating until they fix it.
January 11, 2025
If the electricity goes off, then my gas-fired boiler will not run – it’s that simple. I’ve thought about a buying a generator and it is looking more and more likely to be needed. In the short term, I still have a chimney (with a ‘sock’ in it – similar to the one I’d like to stuff in Millibands deranged mouth) and several bags of smokeless fuel in the Shed. If need be, I’ll get Mrs T in the living room with the fire going and try to keep her warm by it.
Until I was 12, I’d never lived in a house with central heating, just gas or coal fires. I used to get undressed at night under the blankets and in the morning, scrap the ice off the inside of the windows. Why does it feel as if we are being driven back to those days?
January 11, 2025
I bought a generator but it is noisy. I now have a big 12v battery and an inverter. If the power goes out I flick a changeover switch and I have enough power to run the central heating, TV, router and lights. So, Iāll be comfortable. If the power is out for longer than 11 hours, Iāll put jump leads on my car and charge the battery. Cooking will have to be in a camping stove. I am actively looking forward to the next power cut and, indeed, the rolling power cuts that are in the way.
January 11, 2025
+1
January 11, 2025
@LL; “Also if the electricity fails you have no alternative heating until they fix it.”
That has been a problem since central heating displaced the (coal/wood burning) hath in each habitable room, although water heaters (such as back-boilers) using a thermic syphon would still work, they had to, as many homes did not have a (comparable) electricity supply for a pumped system!…
January 11, 2025
You need an inverter powered from your diesel car battery or some 12v. battery to power the boiler & pump. Quite cheap to buy.
January 11, 2025
or a generator!
January 11, 2025
@Stred – Mad Ed has already announced publicly that Nuclear has no place in the UK – so even that looks dead.
January 11, 2025
energyvoice.com 06/12/2024 āNuclear to play āessential roleā in clean power plan, Ed Milliband saysā.
independent.co.uk 05/12/2024 āEd Milliband: My door is open for nuclear projects in the UKā.
forbes.com 07/12/2024 āBritainās Energy Secretary follows tech giants in pursuit of new nuclear power stationsā.
If (maybe, one can have a dream) some of the contributors in this blog knew how to search their info properly (and/or not go to the usual BS sites) they would avoid posting comments as stupid as a number of those appearing today.
Reply Six months in and no progress with SMR s
January 11, 2025
hefner:
In 1997 nuclear generated 26% of our electricity. NESOās plan for āclean powerā by 2030 is for 11-12% with no new build. NESOās Holistic 2050 Future Energy Scenario is for 8%.
I wouldn’t believe a word Ed Miliband says about nuclear power as it is the only source of low emission CO2 power which is affordable and reliable. Two features he does not want to see.
January 11, 2025
Well, maybe one (or more) of the four companies who are still in the race for providing SMRs (as of 11/11/2024 gov.uk āNegotiations begin for UKās SMR programmeā) might benefit from your expertise.
January 12, 2025
hefner :
Parliament could and should have already ordered 14 RR SMRs (equivalent to 2 Hinkley Point Cs) for delivery beginnng of the 2030s and a competition for a further 6.4 GW of SMRs from a second supplier. Instead they used the competition wheeze to further delay UK nuclear power in favour of the ruinables.
PS : i do not and have never worked in the energy business.
January 12, 2025
You still not cottoned onto the fact that politicians say contradictory things – so they can choose the statement that turns out to be the right one later? šš¤£
Major used to say the contradictory thing in the same sentence.
January 12, 2025
@hefner – Miliband and the Labour Government appear to say and do different things to placate different audiences.
Nuclear power station on the island of Anglesey? Scrapped.
The go-ahead for Sizewell C, the first Government-backed nuclear power plant in 40 years? Under review.
The Ā£300m investment to make Britain the first commercial producer of advanced nuclear fuel outside of Russia? Not so much as a peep.
Tony Blairās manifesto saw āno economic case for the building of any new nuclear power stationsā. Nick Clegg infamously proclaimed in 2010 that nuclear āisnāt even an answerā because it wouldnāt have come online until 2021 or 2022. The current Green Party wants to phase out nuclear power altogether, as does Labourās ubiquitous mega-donor Dale Vince (formerly of the Just Stop Oil parish).
The risk for Labour is that they go into an election in 2029, not with the bill savings of Ā£300 that they promised, but with bills which have shot up to pay for Edās ideological 2030 target.
Then again, Media Press releases have nothing to do with actual, they are just the PR machine saying we are still here and there is as always an election coming. What matters is what is done, not the rhetoric. On that other than boosting the Chinese economy, with more and orders, diverting UK wealth and its economy our Energy Secretary has done nothing to secure UK’s energy, self reliance and resilience
January 11, 2025
Usually about 6% from chopped down forests (young coal) imported on diesel ships from America. Total CO2 and economic insanity – worse than burning coal in cost & CO2 terms if CO2 bothers you, but it shouldnāt.
January 11, 2025
Then we have rolling blackouts, and so the country learns the painful lesson of electing pathological socialists into power.
January 11, 2025
Good morning.
This government has only been in office for 6 months and is following policies laid down by the previous government which was in office for 14 years.
Whatever one thinks of this current lot in government has the previous one(s) had the foresight to build Small Modular Reactors which were a known fact as far back as 2012, if not earlier, then we may not be having these issues. Plus. If the previous government had not allowed MILLIONS of people into the country we would also not need to meet the increased demand that that brings.
It shows the level of stupidity that, we bring in people to fiddle the GDP figures yet, make energy so expensive that business either go bust or go abroad forcing GDP down. Plus. If you start having Brownouts and Blackouts this negatively affects production and thereby GDP.
I have always stated that, with immigration it is not about people but about numbers. ie The amount of people this country can absorb without a break down of the social and economic fabric of the country. But when you follow shorterm thinking coupled with UN, WEF and other bodies and individuals pushing you in a certain direction you end up with a former MP writing articles such as this.
January 11, 2025
@Mark B +1
Netzero has been a long time planned, meaning we’ve had rogue governments for far too long. No honest parliament would have supported these measures.
This rogue government will not change its way, and with so many indoctrinated with the climate change bug, we will see little real opposition to this dreadful plot against us.
January 11, 2025
I doubt Miliband, a PPE graduate from Oxford like David Cameron, understands much of the science of the climate, the oceans, the earth, not even the weather. He can barely ride a bicycle so understands little of mechanical sciences. He has zero musical ability so undestands nothing of acoustics, sound or harmony. His views on climate are shaped entirely by socialism and dogma. He does not value capitalism, enterprise, the individual, the nation state. In fact, as an international socialist he abhors them. That the climate catastrophist’s agenda damages all these things is, to him, a bonus. The threat of climate change is the great leveller, all other means of levelling down having failed – except in state education and in the monument to failure that is the NHS, the proudest achievement of Red Flagged socialism in the UK. So he will never desists from Net Zero regadless of the destruction and vulnerabilities it causes.
There is no point whatsoever in trying to reason with Milliband or with people like him.
January 11, 2025
Well it seems he did learn the violin got four A Levelsāin Mathematics (A), English (A), Further Mathematics (B) and Physics (B) so half decent grades & this before A*s so he has no excuse for not understanding that climate alarmism is a mad religion. Other than perhaps indoctrination from his Marxist father university lecturer.
So is he mad, totally deluded, hates the UK, actually wants to destroy living standards jobs and the economy on the make or other?
January 11, 2025
See āEd Miliband sings and plays toy guitar while promoting wind farms in bizarre videoā a new Nero perhaps?
Nero was motivated to destroy the city so he would be able to bypass the senate and rebuild Rome in his image.
January 11, 2025
“Nero fiddled while Rome burned”
January 11, 2025
At least he generated some heat!
January 11, 2025
Wow, if he genuinely had that much interest in Maths and Physics why on Earth is he so wedded to the Climate Alarmist cult? His ability to understand basic statistics and normal variation should have enabled him to conclude the Climate Crisis is a scam. Maybe he is part of the socialist movement using it to bring about their desired deconstruction of society and removal of capitalism? That would help to explain why someone with a functioning brain able to understand the laws of physics is championing nonsense such as Net Zero.
January 11, 2025
Yes, the determination to destroy the social and economic structure of the country learnt at the father’s knee.
January 11, 2025
Yes, but if he goes on about everyone having to save the planet, he earns sanctimony credits that allow him to fly off with his family on holiday.
Either that, or he doesn’t actually believe what he talks about.
January 11, 2025
PG : āThere is no point whatsoever in trying to reason with Milliband or with people like him.ā
As Jonathan Swift said:
āYou cannot reason people out of something they were not reasoned Intoā
It is also necessary to understand that the only thing British about the Miliband family are their current passports.
January 11, 2025
So Sir John, are you going to comment on ORās last sentence or are you happy with it?
Reply I disagree with quite a lot of responses but do not have time to counter them
January 12, 2025
He did not know that no Parliament can bind its successors – I.e that each Parliament is sovereign! Actually said that in the House bowing to Rees Moggs āsuperior knowledgeā.
I knew that in prep school! We all did!
The Net Zero Scam is about to be burst by Trump.
January 11, 2025
The introduction of the Net Zero legislation by the last Tory government was the greatest act of self harm any nation has ever committed.
The damage to the economy, the national security and harm to the people is clear for all to se and for no benefit to anyone.
Why did Theresa May do such a thing?
It is no good complaining about Miliband, he is simply continuing on the work set in place by his friend, he is not bright enough to understand the folly of his actions, clearly Theresa May shared his false unscientific climate crisis belief.
Destroying energy security by blowing up coal fired power stations was a Tory policy.
January 11, 2025
I have come to the conclusion that it is now too late and there is too much cross party national and international political momentum behind the futile attempts to halt the so-called “climate crisis” and there is no way we will get the UK’s net zero policy cancelled and we should stop wasting our time trying to do that. Instead they talk about mitigating the adverse effects of climate change but we should talk about mitigating the adverse effects of their net zero policy to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. They insist on doing it but we should insist that as they are going to do it anyway they should do it properly and with the least possible harm. Maybe sometime in the future it will become clear even to its advocates that this is a stupid policy but that is a very long way off.
January 11, 2025
Coal is no longer an issue in Britain; domestic coal mines were closed down because they were no longer economic . Coal could be imported far more cheaply than our domestic product. The coal power stations were closed down because coal was seen as the dirtiest and most polluting form of fossil fuels . What is important now is utilising our offshore oil and gas reservoirs . These resources are of course also finite and we should use the extra time they afford us to develop nuclear power , in particular small nuclear reactors.
January 11, 2025
RE; “Why did Theresa May do such a thing?”
To punish the UK for voting for Brexit and designed to destroy our economy so it could be blamed on Brext.
Even if she was so deluded as to think that global warming (0.14 degrees per decade) was man-made she diddn’t need to write unilateral Net Zero by 2050 into law and insist we are “Net Zero global leaders”.
January 11, 2025
Peter. There is no reasoning with people like millibrain because most of Westminster agree with him.
Look up the Climate and Nature Bill passing through the commons now. Lunacy by Lucy’s.
January 11, 2025
“It is a policy to make us hopelessly dependent on imports from a Europe short of energy. ”
And that’s the reason why the Establishment and their Westminster Uni-Party have been doing it: to make us hopelessly dependent on “our friends” in the EU and therefore unable to really LEAVE the organisation.
If you are dependent on the EU for the basics of life, you can be controlled. We’ve already seen Macron do it with the Channel Islands: no fishing rights = no electricity.
It’s all about CONTROL.
January 11, 2025
Indeed. Deliberate policy to be ruled by EU. Once threatened with a strategic national security issue like energy, you’d think our Government wouldn’t allow a second threat. I wonder if the energy issue will be raised next year in the new negotiations on fishing,……………………said no one, other that the Uni Party in Westminster until 2029 when Reform WILL take over.
January 11, 2025
Your arguments are irrefutable and point clearly to the unceremonious removal of the Minister. Where are the PM and the Chancellor?
January 11, 2025
In China, consulting their Chinese communist party mates? Reeves is.
January 11, 2025
Labour are a disaster on every level
January 11, 2025
Rather like Cameron through to Sunak then and also Brown, Blair, Major.
January 11, 2025
Gridwatch, 8:30 this morning:
Wind: 2.89 GW
Solar: 0 GW
Nuclear: 4.72 GW
Connectors: 4.5 GW
GAS: 20.84 GW
According to the DT (yes I know) we only have one week’s reserves of gas. The windmills and solar are providing just 8% of our energy needs.
The Uni-Party has deliberately created this situation. Personally, I hope the blackouts do come. It will destroy them.
January 15, 2025
Indeed we have had insane energy policies for 25+ years, even before Ed Milibandās moronic Climate Change Act. 2008.
January 11, 2025
SJR
You need to explain yourself as to why you have chosen to cancel my contribution this morning. Are you part of the problem this country faces.
Reply Choice of language to describe current Parliament and a key player.
Length.
I have made clear I run plenty of views I disagree with.
January 11, 2025
It’s not just you, A. Mine disappeared too. It wasn’t long, no offensive language. These things happen.
January 11, 2025
Its 10C inside my house as I write this. We’re keeping our home at 10-13.5C this winter because of the energy costs. Apart from multiple thermal layers, we often wear coats inside the house. Our luxury is a wood stove in the sitting room, to warm us up in the evening before the cold dash to get into bed. Thank goodness my partner and I are in work. It beggars belief that such is the UK in 2025.
Net zero annoys me greatly. I despair at how ill-informed fellow citizens are, but with 65% of them still getting their news from the BBC, what can one expect? If enough people were better informed, the NZ madness would have to stop.
Successive governments have misled the country and betrayed the population on this and so many other issues. The Liz Truss/Peter McCormack interview is worth watching: she says she couldn’t speak her mind during 10 years of being a Minister, due to collective responsibility. Hmm.
I hope the example of the US under Trump proves successful and too big to kept hidden from the average UK citizen. I also hope so-called populist nationalism continues to make inroads in Europe (the FPĆ in Austria is the latest success). We have to wait 4 years for change, though, and I assume it will get a lot worse here before we can throw out the old Uniparty.
January 11, 2025
Truss interview: +1
January 11, 2025
I wonder how many people will die as a result of trying to live at 10-13 degrees, due to being unable to pay for the necessary heating?
January 11, 2025
Political lunacy has driven energy policy, legislation and regulation for the past 30 years. That is why we are on the cusp of shutdowns in energy supply. Neither Labour nor Conservative governments during this time have delivered a coherent solution to the UK’s energy needs. Solutions are at hand for those with the wit to see them as Sir John has consistently and continually pointed out – to no avail. It is time for a change to a government that understands how the world actually works, not how they would like it to work.
January 11, 2025
Making the UK become a de-industrialised nation, dependent on imports (usually from China) Allowing our citizens to freeze unable to afford the magic energy from wind and solar (occasionally) All to save 30% of global co2.
Oh yes! this is the suicidal policy of a madmen and women. They of course won’t be affected in their mansions and pied a terre’s. They are mostly extremely wealthy and have their second home energy bills paid for them.
This is the reality of chasing ‘net zero’ Look out the window this morning and observe ‘Global warming’
January 11, 2025
I didn’t type; All to save 30% of Global Co2 !!!!
I typed the facts:
All to save <1% of Global Co2. A trace gas only 0.04% of Earths atmosphere. Meanwhile China continues to build coal-fired power stations and contributes 30% of global Co2
January 13, 2025
China is also at the start of an enormous programme of new nuclear power plant construction:
World Nuclear Association,19/11/24:”Nuclear Power in China”-“The impetus for nuclear power in China is increasingly due to air pollution from coal-fired plants………58 nuclear plants(56,888 MWe) operational currently,29 (30,827 MWe) under construction.
January 11, 2025
Importing energy from the EU wonāt increase shortages in the EU because if they need it theyāll simply stop exporting it irrespective of any contracts that are in place. Same as they did for UK Covid vaccines which were being manufactured in the EU.
January 11, 2025
Dear Sir John you are far too polite to Miliband and Starmer who more folk regard as incapable of doing anything sensible. In fact they are hell bent on destruction of what they see as a country long overdue a wake up to their idea of utopia.
Starmer and Miliband ‘s dream is most folks nightmare sadly.
I’m sure Donald Trump is watching their every move, especially given the visit to China by Reeves, Bailey & Co.
Keep the Red Flag flying ? More like red warning lights all round.
January 11, 2025
We appear to have a “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact” between Labour and the Not-a-Conservative-Party in order to postpone Local Elections in May.
Once again, the Establishment’s Uni-Party is closing ranks in order to try and preserve its power and prevent the people from getting what they want.
And they call this “democracy.”
January 11, 2025
Quote: “Does Mr Miliband ever worry that his policies lead to black outs and energy shortages “.
The short answer is No. Neither does Starmer or Reeves over the withdrawal of the Pensioner fuel payment. You have to freeze in their Socialist Utopia ( whereas they do not).
January 11, 2025
Weāve had nearly two decades of ruinous energy policies. Successive administrations have gone all in on renewables discarding nuclear whilst pledging to reduce reliance on gas and oil. This the resultant of Milibandās 2008 Climate Change legislation and the insane push for the unachievable nonsense of Net Zero. Our energy policy is largely dictated by Net Zero zealots at the Climate Change Committee and their comrades at Milibandās Energy and Net Zero Department. Without unabated Combined Cycle Gas Turbine plants we will certainly experience blackouts and as energy consultant Kathryn Porter advises we urgently need to build more of these plants rather than building wind farms. We need to expand North Sea gas exploration and revisit the issue of hydraulic fracturing. Both have the added advantage of providing energy security something offshore wind is incapable of doing. Until common sense triumphs over ideology Iām afraid we are headed for a train smash
January 11, 2025
“Does Mr Miliband ever worry that his policies lead to black outs and energy shortages?”
It is increasingly difficult to avoid concluding that he hopes his policies will do so. He was, after all, a WEF Young Global Leader (think Ardern, Trudeau and Macron). All such globalists in public office believe that their countries should be run equally for the benefit of other countries, and that their ordinary electorates should be controlled, not left free. Those goals are ideally achieved in the UK by buying other countries’ expensive oil and gas, and by inflicting cold and hunger upon us plebs. This is not going to end well.
January 11, 2025
The tabloid media is awash this morning with scare stories about the UK only having (at best) 7 days supply of natural gas in storage, but what they do not mention is the grave lack of such storage in the UK, that the industry has been allowed to run a very lean YIT policy when it comes to our gas supplies because in the past we had easy and cheap access to the European gas distribution network; but of course the the actions of Putin against Ukraine, means there is less gas available to buy from the European distribution network.
My point, our host complains about what Mr Miliband has done in the last six months; I suspect almost everyone else this morning is asking what the last government achieved during the last 14 years (never mind the best part of the last 45) to secure UK fuel security, given the apparent gross lack of mass natural gas and LNG storage here in the UK.
The UK has at least 500 years of accessible fossil fuel security under our feet, or should I say we had, does anyone seriously believe the Labour Party would be so ‘green’ (in both senses of the word…) if their Party was still being bankrolled by the NUM? Miliband is not the only fool to have taken charge of our energy security, and then used it to further their political dogma…
Reply I and others on this site regularly criticised or advised previous governments to change course. Labour is in charge now so remarks need to be addressed to them. They have the power to change things.
January 11, 2025
If you check, you’ll find it’s European governments that chose in 2022 not to import Russian energy. Self-inflicted harm. They’re at it again, claiming Russia has cut off gas to Moldova, when it was Ukraine that refused from 1st January to transport it via the pipeline running through Ukraine. One thing’s for sure: Putin may win the actual war, but he’ll lose the media war.
January 13, 2025
Only because the (mainstream) media clearly isn’t free in the UK!A few minutes desk research and you can debunk the wall-to-wall lies.
January 11, 2025
@Clough; It was the Western political alliance, including the UK, *not* just the EU, who decided to stop importing Russian gas.
January 12, 2025
I am aware that geographically we are European. In fact Britain imported very little Russian gas or oil anyway. Although I didn’t mention the EU, this reckless decision was effectively theirs. As you say, though, the lack of cheap energy in Europe affects us via the European distribution network,
January 11, 2025
“Does Mr Miliband ever worry that his policies lead to black outs and energy shortages? ” of course not it is part of the plan
January 11, 2025
We can’t expect a man who lives and breaths his religion and socialist tenets to worry about the effects he causes.
Let’s be clear, the plans for netzero make it perfectly explicit that a population reduction is required to make it all work. So if a few old people die through the cold, that won’t bother anybody in government.
We should stop being surprised at what this government are doing, they are following the plot. We should be prepared for future steps by getting to know in detail what the published plan is, and discuss it to see how it will hurt us.
A sensible government would have already recognized the problems with a lack of energy, but just like with the ruination of the economy this one is not for turning, no matter how much damage it does. Put it down to blind adherence to an insane plan to reset humanity.
January 11, 2025
All good questions to an irrational government. Please send them to Kemi Badenoch for the next PMQ.
The problem, as ever, is the the Conservatives started all this Net Zero nonsense and are too embarrassed to attack it.
January 11, 2025
Yesterday in the Guardian Newspaper they were reporting that German State owned energy supplier to the UK is receiving Ā£2,300/MWh in payment. They say this is 20 times the market price for gas. A Danish Company, similarly is getting paid over the odds, 40 times the going rate at Ā£5,000 per megawatt-hour.
It is the UK taxpayer that is being conned by Government neglect, they have to pay amongst the highest rates for energy in the World, hyped by taxes, duties and levies, all the things the Government controls. UK Industry is penalised and forced to relocate. This is neglect of duty to keep us safe and secure.
All these payments are OFGEN approved.
Yet all the while we (the UK) adds more to World CO2 emissions than we have theoretically saved by being an importer of everything including energy form high output States that are not subject to Mrs May’s and Parliaments tyrannical Laws, rules and taxes. The World gets richer, moves on while, the UK People by decree of Parliament get to sink into obscurity
January 11, 2025
I would like to know what charge is made for providing the 1GW link to Ireland (an EU country) since we buy much more from EU countries at quite shocking prices.
January 13, 2025
In a market when supply is scarce the price is set by what those exposed to it will pay or not pay to maintain supply. There is next to no competition to give a lower price. The price has nothing to do with cost in such circumstances. That is why having sufficient dispatchable capacity is so important: then there is always competition to supply.
January 11, 2025
All well founded arguments. However reality will only dawn on the likes of Miliband when we have a major blackout and the voters take to the streets. Our fuel reserves are depleted and our reliance on the likes of the EU who would never do us any favours makes us very vulnerable.
January 11, 2025
Sir John, most days I take a look at this:
https://grid.iamkate.com/
and I don’t think I’ve ever seen solar and wind adding up to as little as 6% of our electricity.
Reply Try gridwatch after 4 pm in winter
January 11, 2025
11% at the moment.
January 12, 2025
Now 10% this morning before sunrise.
January 11, 2025
Why did the Tory party fail to build more gas storage as we became more dependent on imported gas? We have one week’s supply only. Gas is required in huge amounts for electricity generation when its cold and there is no wind like today. Many homes are dependent on gas-fired central heating as their only means of achieving a warm home as well as for cooking. If the weather gets colder, we could run out of gas, and then what? The priorities of the previous government were entirely wrong with their obsession with net zero, referring to gas as a ‘transition’ fuel until we could erect yet more wind farms and nuclear powered electricity generation while spending many years arguing over a single installation and being entirely dependent on overseas resources of know-how and funding. The idea that the same power plant that drives a nuclear-powered submarine can supply electricity for a whole nation is unrealistic; where else in the world is this considered a good idea?
January 13, 2025
Storage needs to be able to pay for itself. It is not a matter of politics except if politicians interfere. In the case of gas we have been able to handle the operational swings in demand via linepack (extra pressure in the gas mains) which handles intra day variations in demand, and the cavern storage and LNG tankage that helps smooth out intervals between LNG ship arrivals and changes in North Sea production. It can take several days for increased production offshore to reach the UK.
When Rough was shut down in 2017 after it started leaking that was because the market found cheaper ways to maintain supply using North Sea flexibility and LNG scheduling so the cost of repair could not be justified. In the energy crisis market conditions changed so that the larger longer term storage was economic.
Currently Centrica are hoping that Miliband will agree to a massive subsidy to enlarge the physical storage at Rough while converting it to hydrogen. This will actually result in its energy content falling sharply, because hydrogen is only a third as energy dense as methane at the same pressure, and the operating pressure for hydrogen will probably have to be lower to reduce leakage.
January 13, 2025
A footnote about strategic storage: there is a political case for this to guard against world events, but it needs to be in forms that are both reasonably secure and do not impose large costs on taxpayers. Nuclear fuel would be an excellent choice, and coal is also reasonably easily stored, if only we had the means to use it. Oil is better than gas as it requires less volume for the same energy and it is more versatile: hence the US SPR. Gas storage really requires extensive natural structures. Nothing like having your own production for that. Hydro reservoirs also work, but have to be carefully managed: we do not have much potential resource anyway.
Reply We have old gas fields
January 13, 2025
Not if we try to fill them with CO2. We are also losing key infrastructure to closure, making fields inaccessible.
January 11, 2025
As at 11:00hrs today https://grid.iamkate.com/ UK energy dashboard
Fossil fuels 52%
Solar 8%
Wind 9%
France 12%
Nuclear 11%
Coal 0%
That’s not an energy ‘mix’ that’s not energy security, just imagine if we were 100% renewable ….which is the plan
January 11, 2025
GC :
They simply don’t care.
January 11, 2025
Dear Mr. Redwood,
There is a simple solution to all this. Do not vote Labour or Conservative ever again.
Of course, Labour and the Conservatives now appear to have hit on a nice little wheeze where they intend to cancel elections, blaming reorganisation, so as to prevent people from voting them out.
Do not underestimate the determination of the Uni-Party to cling to power at all costs. We learn that the UK Counter-Intelligence Unit is investigating the tweets of Elon Musk, ostensibly, because he’s a threat to public order. What they are really worried about is that the peasants, i.e. us, might listen to him and get ideas above our station. They view him as a threat to their cosy little existence by exposing their moral cowardice, hypocrisy, stupidity and utter uselessness.
January 11, 2025
This is The End.
Except it isn’t The End unfortunately.
We have to live the new reality.
January 11, 2025
The economy is more dependant on power than ever as so many things rely on computer chips. Not only will people get ill and die if they have no power, it could make paupers of those that survive.
People with extremist idealogies – such as Mr Miliband and his supporters – are a product of having such a useless government last time and of the brainwashing we have had to endure from the civil service, local government, education, chartiy sector, legal proffession and much of the media. These extremists are themselves brainwashed and don’t seem to have much idea what damage thney are doing.
January 11, 2025
The lunatics (there is no other word) want to ‘decarbonise’ the grid by 2030.
At the same time they want to impose heat pumps and electric cars, increasing demand.
People are going to die.
There is going to be civil unrest.
Our economy will collapse.
This is obvious to anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together.
January 11, 2025
Ed :
They simply don’t care.
January 12, 2025
You can’t impose a Great Reset and Build Back Better ….. without first destroying what has gone before.
Labour is simply speeding up the destruction phase. The Not-a-Conservative-Party wasn’t doing it quickly enough.
January 11, 2025
The entire political establishment has swallowed the nonsense about Net Zero without a second thought. Everything Ed Miliband and Labour are doing appears to be designed to destroy the UK economy, but sadly, the previous conservative governments were just as bad.
Do none of our MPs think, use common sense or read a book?
How do you get through to them, and when will they wake up and realise the damage they are doing?
Where is the UK’s Donald Trump? Could it be Nigel Farage and Reform? I don’t know but as a lifelong conservative voter I doubt I will votem for them next time!
January 11, 2025
The UK has among the smallest amount of gas storage of any major European countries, with capacity to hold enough gas for 12 average days or 7.5 peak winter days. Germany has enough for 89 days, France has 103 days and the Netherlands 123 days.
Who was in government for the prior period and allowed this situation to arise? The expectation that privatised companies would prioritise the national interest over profit was always absurd because that is the opposite of what they always do and what they are for. Furthermore one of the major suppliers has demanded tax funds so it can increase the gas storage in the North Sea that they control. Privatised companies always proffer their begging bowls when confronted with major capital investment projects.
Reply It was government policy of all 3 parties in government this century to run with low storage because we had our own gasfields which are stores. I5 is adopting the policy of not allowing production of our own gas that creates the need for lots of storage for imports. This government has banned all new UK gas so it should have announced new storage facilities.
January 12, 2025
Reply to Reply: Up until 2022, the UK was dependent for half our gas demand on imports by pipeline from Europe and LNG from further afield. Either of these supplies could be disrupted by factors outside our control.
January 13, 2025
We will need to contemplate an additional LNG import terminal as North Sea gas production declines. If Mr Miliband hopes to curtail gas use in power stations he will need to ensure that there is enough gas on hand when they are called on which will entail keeping gas in store for much longer periods, denting the storage economics.
January 11, 2025
When you describe the destruction of our indigineous energy supply system it makes one wonder if we have not been subject to a deliberate attempt to destroy our free market democratic society.
January 11, 2025
The UK is currently paying over 200% more for its energy than its main competitors do. Red Ed’s push for renewable only energy is pushing that cost even higher. Has the Government declared what will the cost to UK industry and commerce with their plans.
Not forgetting those that run and manufacture all our renewables are ultimately for the most part foreign Governments. The very Governments that get to undercut UK Industry on price in the market place, mainly because they don’t have Laws to fight their people, and are not adhering to the CO2 nonsense.
TTK’s him and us, extends to them and us he is desperate to destroy the UK and it’s people by any means. The bigger problem is the whole of Parliament is backing this destruction, as they have done since May started her tyrannical journey
January 11, 2025
They’re planning to go on TV nightly to say:
“āStay at home, switch off the heating and lights, save the National Gridā
January 11, 2025
and go outside in the dark banging your saucepans in celebration. Take a torch to find your way home.
January 11, 2025
I should have written :
āStay at home, switch off the heating and lights, save the planet”
January 13, 2025
Already we have Dame Angela Rippon on the radio telling Albert to use energy flexibly. During the tight market conditions on January 8th a maximum of 184MW of demand flexibility was bought by NESO at prices up to Ā£1,200/MWh. They only turned down a tiny volume at Ā£1,290/MWh, accepting everything else offered. Octopus accounted for about half of that, being paid Ā£900/MWh while paying their customers 72p/kWh, keeping 18p/kWh to cover their costs and profit. Costs of asking customers whether they want to participate and recording which ones agreed and calculating the payments from meter readings etc. Probably account for a significant share of the margin on the small volumes.
184MW is nowhere near enough to save the grid. The net imbalance between supply and demand often exceeds that level as an average over a half hour, reflected in changes in grid frequency.
January 11, 2025
The Net Zero policy supported by Mr. Milband and all the Parliamentary parties bar one isnāt simply destroying our energy security it is destroying our national security.
How can it be safe to deindustrialise so we cannot make steel and munitions and hence military equipment?
How can it be safe to transition to intermittent and unreliable renewables and put all our energy eggs into one energy basket, electrification, when there is no plan or even an economic method to store grid-scale electricity ?
How can it be safe to electrify everything and make our grid the biggest hacking target in the world? Or completely destroyed by a Carrington event?
How can it be safe for China, a state described by our security services as āhostileā, to supply all our energy infrastructure ā wind turbines, solar panels, the metals and minerals for motors, generators, batteries and cabling?
How can it be safe for our energy infrastructure to be spread out over half the North Sea? How will our depleted armed services protect all the wind turbines and undersea cables from air and submarine drones? Or all the vast expanses of solar panels? No undersea cable or pipe is safe today, as seen with Nord Stream 2 and the recent attacks on Baltic Sea internet cabling?
How can it be safe to electrify our armed services ā aircraft, ships, tanks ? How will they be re-charged on the battlefield or at sea? Or in the air?
January 11, 2025
With all our Parliamentary parties bar one supporting the Far Left policy of net Zero we know from the history of the Far left in the last century where this will all end.
Since they say that the use of hydrocarbon fuels is an existential threat to the whole planet it cannot be long before they end the supply of hydrocarbon fuels whether or not affordable, reliable and secure alternatives exist.
January 12, 2025
“The Uk takes too many risks with energy supply”
Fourteen years of Tory (WEF) administration, and the UK is in a serious pickle.
Tories try to blame Labour (WEF) administration after its first six months.
Huh!
January 12, 2025
And by the way, it was a Tory government that ruined relationships with Russia, and caused huge losses to BP and other oil and gas producers. Ā£25bn alone for BP
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/britains-bp-says-exit-stake-russian-oil-giant-rosneft-2022-02-27/
January 13, 2025
Cutting Germany off from cheap Russian hydrocarbons has devastated the German economy. I can remember when John Redwood was new in the Tory hierarchy, and he made the case frequently, that British industry was un-competitive against our peer competitor, Germany.
We were never told at the time that Germany was buying cheap hydrocarbons from Russia to underpin its efficiency. It was always how lazy the British work force was.
Incidentally, the pretext for the disastrous level of immigration, too. ‘Lazy British workers won’t do the work…” LIE!! They wouldn’t work for a pittance!
And this was used as a pretext to close down British heavy industry, instead of investing in computerisation and automation.
In Norway, they have a multi-billion NOK($) Sovereign wealth fund. In the UK, it seems to have been completely frittered away revenue from North Sea oil production. A bit like the COVID era PPE that had to be destroyed at a cost of Ā£10billion.
From this perspective, it seems to me that British Industry was deliberately destroyed in the post war era. And in large part it was the responsibility of the Tories.
Reply I never said UK workers were lazy and never favoured the low wage model. The biggest round of closures came in the 1970 s under Labour
January 14, 2025
JR: ” I never said UK workers were lazy and never favoured the low wage model. ”
What is the difference between ‘not as efficient as [ German workers ] our competitors ‘ and UK workers are lazy ?
Especially, when you ( being at the heart of government an’ all ), You must have known that Germany was burning cheap Russian oil and gas, and that underpinned the prosperity and efficiency of their economy?
Reply Theres a big difference. Workforce productivity is heavily influenced by how much capital equipment is provided.
January 15, 2025
“Workforce productivity is heavily influenced by how much capital equipment is provided.”
But in energy intensive industries, Iron smelting, Steel production, Aluminium smelting ( last UK capability in that area was shut down about a decade ago, discussed at the time on this blog ), production of High Tech., industrial metals and materials, energy is the more significant cost. As policy of successive British governments ( both Tory and Labour ) the UK has followed a high cost of energy policy. Thus making the UK un-competitive with our industrial peers. It was a deliberate program of de-industrialisation by stealth.
January 13, 2025
Just a fortnight after the election Miliband instructed the EMR Delivery Body (a department of NESO) to proceed with organising a Capacity Market auction for 44GW of capacity to be available four years hence. This is of course less than the recent demand peak and yet he hopes to add to demand with heat pumps and EVs. Just before Christmas the pre-qualication process was completed for a nominal 45GW of capacity. It will only take one larger plant to drop out and even that mediocre target will not be met. Market expectation is that this will happen, so there will be no auction, with all qualifiers awarded at the ceiling price of Ā£75/kW/year, or a cost of Ā£3.3bn in capacity market payments. Moreover, the nominal qualified volume is inflated compared with previous years by assuming that batteries and interconnectors will achieve higher rates of availability.
This will leave a widening capacity gap to be provided on ever shorter notice at ever higher prices. We will likely end up like South Australia and Tasmania which both had to rely on barges of diesel generators when they overestimated what renewables could supply.