Bishop Hill What next?
Feb 19, 2013 Energy: grid The energy regulator has repeated the point I made here a few days ago. With a swathe of coal-fired power stations ready to close in March, the chances of avoiding power cuts looks very slim.
Alistair Buchanan, chief executive of Ofgem, said the combination of UK power plants closing, foreign gas supplies shrinking, and demand rising, has made British energy reserves “uncomfortably tight”.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph ahead of an industry lecture today, Mr Buchanan has warned: “We have to face the likelihood that avoiding power shortages will also carry a price.”
Given that we have discussed this issue before, I wonder if we might turn our attentions to what is going to happen when the lights go out.
Who will get the blame? Renewables obsessed greens and their crony capitalist friends? Or wicked sceptics standing in their way? Will the main political parties be swept aside? Or will they merely change their tune and say they opposed it all along?
We are heading for interesting times, where "interesting" is as defined here.
Reader Comments (108)
My local paper has an editorial today, it's all the fault of politicians. Despite the fact that the East Anglian Daily Times gives unquestioning publicity and support to anti nuclear campaigners (Sizewell) and whole hearted support to wind farms. It has a weekly environmental section with the usual warnings of impending disaster. And so on.
I see that there is an anti fracking e-petition with almost as many signatures as the Climate Change Act repeal one. Sometimes it seems almost too difficult to save people from themselves. And is it worth the effort?
David: yes - and so, it seems, do the Dutch, the Hungarians, the Slovaks, the Italians, the Poles and the Czechs.
The Express socks it to the green lobby today
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/378835/Cheaper-energy-is-more-important-than-going-green
"It is the job of the Civil Service to give governments sound advice - not to egg them on in their foolishness.
Feb 19, 2013 at 3:03 PM | Martin A "
Agreed. But the truly odd thing is that we pay for a National Audit Office to ensure "that the taxpayer receives value-for-money".
Not a word has been heard from them in relation to the windmill scam.
Yet £billions have already left the UK and we have a laughable 'source of energy' that will never perform reliably.
Still .... the ex-Minister has got a nice job as Chairman of Forewind to supplement his meagre salary as an MP..
Do not get too excited about shale gas as a panacea.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/02/20/shale-gas-bubble-looms/
Entropic man: I note that Steve Horn, the author of the "Counterpunch" article you cite, is a "Research Fellow at DeSmogBlog". No bias there then.
What next ? asks the Bishop. This is what John Hayes thinks is next- and he appear to think his letter to the Telegraph today contains the solutions to the imminent energy crisis. Green Deal? For goodness sake, only 5 people had signed up last time I heard about it. ....CCS? I give up.
www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/9883860
SIR – I am steering a radical Energy Bill through Parliament. This Government is reforming the electricity market to help keep the lights on and prices down. .
Our reforms will incentivise a record £110 billion of private sector investment in new power generation – renewables, new gas and nuclear and carbon capture and storage. Delivering a diverse energy mix will help to insulate consumers from the fluctuating prices of fossil fuels.
As well as creating new infrastructure, we need to reduce the amount of energy that is wasted in our homes. Our energy efficiency programme, the Green Deal, is designed to help consumers lower their bills by making their homes more energy efficient. Importantly, we have tabled amendments to the Energy Bill to help households get on the cheapest available energy tariff.
John Hayes MP (Con)
Minister of State for Energy
London SW1
Robert Grunier
And this site is unbiased? I am amazed that commenters here are so demanding regarding evidence of climate change and so credulous regarding evidence for the economic viability of shale gas.