Mar
How will Britain keep the lights on?
Britain is facing many problems, not the least of which is meeting its energy needs in the coming years. Christopher Booker of the Telegraph UK looks at Britain’s nonsensical energy policy. He questions how his country will be able to avert its looming shortage of energy, with 40% of their generating capacity set to disappear in the coming years as they close 14 major nuclear and coal-fired power stations.
He finds no real answers in the “four pillars” of the UK’s energy policy:
The first is that electricity companies should not be allowed to replace those coal-fired power stations which help provide us with 35 per cent of our electricity unless new ones are fitted with a system to pipe off their CO2 emissions and bury them under the North Sea. The Government has allocated some £4 billion for four new plants to pioneer this unproven technology (to be paid for by all of us through electricity bills), but the Tories say that no new plants should be permitted unless carbon capture is already in place.
The Tories’ second headline policy is what they call a “decentralised energy revolution”, subsidising millions of homeowners, firms, schools and hospitals to cover their roofs with solar panels and mini wind turbines. Again, the Government has already got on to this one with its new “feed-in tariff” scheme, appropriately due to start on All Fools’ Day. This will pay 34.5p to the owners of mini-turbines for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of power they feed into the grid, and 41p per kWh for electricity from photovoltaic panels. Even The Guardian’s green crusader, George Monbiot, has denounced this as a scandal, which he estimates will add £8.6 billion to our electricity bills over 20 years.
…the third pillar of their energy policy, which is to support the Government’s plan to see £100 billion spent on 10,000 giant wind turbines, in a further desperate bid to meet the EU’s requirement that, within 10 years, 32 per cent of our electricity must come from renewables. (Last Thursday, our 2,900 existing turbines met just 0.1 per cent of demand, or 1,000th of the electricity we were all using.) Again, even if it were worth doing, there is not the faintest chance that we could install three giant offshore and onshore turbines up to 650 feet high, each costing up to £4 million or more (and almost all produced and installed by foreign-owned companies), every day between now and 2020.
And what is the fourth pillar of the Tories’ energy policy? They want every home in the country to be fitted, at a cost of a further £10 billion, with “smart meters”, to allow for “better management of supply and demand”. Indeed, that is precisely the point about smart meters. They not only allow consumers to monitor their own electricity usage, they also allow electricity companies to “manage supply”, by cutting off the power when not enough is available to the grid.
It sounds like a plan dreamed up by some politically correct schoolchildren. You know, like those we have in the US congress across the pond.
Full story: Telegraph UK
Possibly related posts:
Let them eat cake
Why cant the just accept that CO2 is not an issue, and that they are steeling from us Brits to line their own pockets, and i know im not alone in the fact that i am getting pissed off about it,
The worrying part for me is that this is happening world wide?. Our government is talking about mining our conservation lands, Which I don’t object too, But they won’t be mined by NZ companies. Only foreign ones and all profits going to unknown Foreign Multinationals, total corruption?. WHAT IS GOING ON?.
Because, Mark, they are politicians.
Although a growing majority of people KNOW that CO2 is not an issue it does not fit the politicians’ agenda to soak us for as much tax as they possibly can in the name of ‘Saving the planet’.
You see, the politicians think we are all morons, incapable of independent thought. A look in thier mirrors would show them who are the morons.
I suspect that there’s going to be civil unrest soon. The economy is in such a mess that there are rumours of VAT being added to food costs and that the EC is going to add a new tax on petrol. Meanwhile the government is spraying money about on ‘green’ projects as if we’re loaded.
The government is trying to encourage people to install solar power in a country where any idiot knows the sun is unreliable, and it hasn’t any projects of its own. Wind power is being exposed as little more than a publicity stunt. It’s a novelty source of energy that’s expensive, unreliable and doesn’t reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
The thing is here is that there are alternative sources of energy, some people have been murdered by the big oil corporations and world governments for their inventions, but yet the choose to keep it quite and still insist on making us pay through the nose, the Japanese have just released a water powered car, all one would need to do is connect such an engine up to a house generator and you would have free electricity from water, but was that shown on MSM? No, and why not, because it would be free once you purchase the equipment, and they don’t want that, they are going to squeeze the last drops of fossil fuel money out of us that they can. And i agree there will be a public revolution in the near future is someone doesn’t sort it out soon, enough piss taking already.
And the proof of these murders is……..?
How about the Absolutely CLEAR evidence that those claiming to be for renewable energy, are doing eveything they can- at the very least, in the US- to BLOCK implementation of solar and wind power?
On the news a man proudly showed off his £9000 of solar panels
He ponted out it was overcast ,hence only 25 watts of electricity.
On a sunny day it produces 1 kilowatt “nealy enough to run the washing machine”
Sorry ,this is stupid. There is no better system than we had,the CEGB ,today we have a rag bag of players who are “unwilling to build the plant necessary for an industrialised nation.
The Government[laugh ,laugh] is driving us towards RUIN ,a country like ours {was] cannot live on cobbled up home generation.
People will die! either electricuted from fiddling with the mains,of from lack of POWER in a snowed up winter.
Thanks for the team of “EXPERTS”
Totally salient points Ade, but no one is going to listen. An energy crisis in the UK is imminent.
By trying to artificially warp the market for energy all you get is a string of people finding ways to make money off it, and succeeding, as they have over Carbon Trading. Everyone knows that Carbon Trading has no merit in reducing CO2 emissions, even environmentalists agree with that.
They may have chosen a better venue for their next meeting in Cancun, but it’s also going to be held just before the elderly start having to endure winter in the west without heating. It won’t be pleasant for them to witness our sun tanned politicians having fun as they freeze.
The Pachauri effect (Return to Almora reveals a temperature dip of .4 degrees)
Global Warming has no impact on Himalayas claims Wadia Director
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/northindia/Global-Warming-has-no-impact-on-Himalayas-claims-Wadia-Director/Article1-515763.aspx
Senior scientists at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WITG) has rejected the Global Warming Theory and told that the Himalayas are quite safer zone on earth, where Global Warming has no role in controlling the conditions.
In an exclusive chat with HT, Director WIHG Dr AK Dubey has said that the conditions of Himalayas are controlled by the winter snowfall rather than external factors like much hyped Global Warming. He told that for a concrete result, at least 30 years of continuous research with steady outcome is needed to confirm the actual impact.
“According to a data for over 140 years available with a British weather observatory situated in Mukteswar (2311m) in Almora has actually revealed that temperature in that region witnessed a dip of .4 degrees,” he said.
Since 1991, the institute is monitoring the Himalayas extensively with focusing the glacial studies and last twenty year data has never witnessed a continual retreat. Sometimes, the recession rates have gone up but on an average the rate is very much safer, he added……………………
Pachauri needs to be caste out.
I am currently reading a book called “When The Lights Go Out” (By Andy Beckett) which covers the period of the 70’s.
This passage I got to over the weekend [relating to power cuts p66] which I thought were salient and pertinent points, ironic.
It goes like this:
“On 21 February, the children’s television programme Blue Peter opened with an item on how to cope.
“Power cuts are an especially difficult time for old people,” began the presenter Peter Purves. “They get cold. But you can look out for the ones you know……” Behind him, in the optimistic white expanse of the Blue Peter studio stood a narrow single bed made up with brown blankets. Purves walked over to the bed and was joined by his co-presenter John Noakes. Together they started vigorously pulling apart tabloid news papers. “lay out sheets of newspaper,” said Purves. “Place them fairly thickly between the blankets.” He and Noakes bent over the bed, sifting heavy wool and flimsy newspaper. “And if you do that, the old folks will stay warm as toast.” With his trademark Boy Scout smile, Noakes added: “With all this newspaper, I shouldn’t go to bed with a candle though.”
Which of our inglorious Ministers [that will be responsible for delivering these useful tips] can you imagine in the place of Noakes and Purves, explaining why those in fuel poverty, the elderly, vulnerable, etc. and the rest of us, need to be careful whilst using candles? (and who would be putting the spin out, trying to put the blame elsewhere?)
Carbon Trading Derivatives Scheme
I really am appalled at the prospect of paying higher taxes (and increased costs estimated at 25% to 30%) only to fuel the “Carbon trading derivatives scheme” a euphemism for a Scam, with those costs hitting those already in fuel poverty and the elderly etc whilst lining the pockets of the financial industry. In addition to the loss of UK jobs, estimated to be two current jobs for the gain of one green job, if policies, as they are currently proposed (which almost appears to be collusion) are pursued by David Cameron, Gordon Brown and/or Nick Clegg!
Government “Public Policy” is flawed (as are the policies of the three main parties)
eu whats to tax carbon £9 a ton when is this going to stop and sealing my money hear is the link
http://bnp.org.uk/2010/03/eu-preparing-to-impose-federal-tax/
It’s interesting that Obama should be attempting to introduce two of the most expensive policies at a time when virtually all world economies are bust.
Don’t get me wrong, I support the UK NHS (though my own personal experience has been disastrous) but introducing public health care AND carbon measures during an economic downturn seems ambitious to the point of insanity. Only I wonder if there’s a concern that one measure (carbon) will force many more people out of being able to afford private health care.
Couldn’t resist. You all realize that Booker is on the record as saying “chemically identical to talcum powder” and poses a “non-existent risk” to human health. He is also a believer (and this is an appropriate use of the term) that “scientific evidence to support [the] belief that inhaling other people’s smoke causes cancer simply does not exist” .
Really terrific expert you’ve got there!
Left out key word:
he said that asbestos is “chemically identical…..
And to those of you that will claim that’s just an ad hominem attack, your “expert” clearly is clueless about energy policy and is missing some highly relevant points. Like the role of negawatts and their cost. Like what generation capacity can be TOTALLY avoided by taking the efficiencies out of the transmission grid through smart grid measures and taking it from 40′s technology to this century.
A rather poor stab at trying to spin something quite relevant as “bad” and promoting willful ignorance.
I think if we do a ‘nutter’ (idiot) count Ed Shearon we’ll find that your side of the argument is more attractive to those of minimal intellect. Let’s do a count. Gore, Pachauri, Jones and Ehrlig to name but a few.
Ehrlig is the one who said that the UK would be a wasteland and we’d have starved to death ten years ago. I’m not surprised that Brown is ‘Dancing with Dandelions’ but it’s a shame Obama is going that way too.
Nice try Ed – try again.
As I said in an earlier post in another topic, when all else fails and it appears the discussion is going the wrong way, deniers find solace in ad hominems combined with the attitude “I am right, you are wrong, I don’t have to prove it but you do because it is my BELIEF!”
How about a reply that deals with what the fruitcake Booker left out (or just plain doesn’t understand) about electric energy transmission and distribution system inefficiencies? About the cost of new generation (and its associated extra transmission) vs. the cost of not having the new demand in the first place? About what new technogies can do to totally avoid new coal plants.
Further, since we can’t forget the fact that the root of all denier myths is a fear of socialism, do you understand that your utility system is the epitome of a centrally planned economy where you, the consumer, have absolutely no say? Big nuclear and big coal (normally referred to as “central generation”) ONLY work in that context. There are lots of less expensive alternatives that can serve local needs without the need for transmission to bring in the power, or added distribution network to serve the power, and a major increase in reliability and power quality.
I think your assertion of minimal intellect is rather misplaced.
When all the gov ministers and the elites, the pop stars and the famous stop driving their super cars, flying in private jets and living in houses as big as Buckingham palace, using the energy of a small village each day, then I will consider that AGW is a truth. They are clearly not afraid of climate change, and they are the ones who are supposedly in the know. This is about money, tax and control. They ought to be ashamed when the elderly in uk are freezing to death and young families cannot afford to have the heating on and do their laundry. We are all judged on how we treat and value others, I hope these fraudsters get their just deserts.
Do what I do Graham….ignore him.
The quickest and least expensive way to solve this problem is to unleash competitive capitalism. If someone can make a fortune installing solar panels and wind turbines, then more power to them (pun intended).
But the problem is that not one of the green energy solutions is profitable. Indeed, the ONLY way any of those companies can survive is with government subsidies to the companies on one side to reduce the costs of producing energy and government subsidies to the consumer on the other to mitigate the increased costs in energy production. The only problem is that the people are paying for both. That’s an economic model headed for ruin.
No matter where you turn, green energy is failing. Bio-fuels cost more to produce than they provide in energy. Additionally, Bio-fuels take food crops our of production thereby increasing the cost of food. Brazil is increasing the destruction of the Amazon forest to plan Bio-fuel crops. Governments must subsidize solar and wind generation because they are uneconomical.
I feel sorry for the UK, but it appears that we here in the US are head for the same economic train wreck. I’m old so hopefully I’ll die before I’m forced to live a hut like Obama’s half brother in Kenya.
At a time in world history where we need strong growing democracies; we instead seem to be like Kamikaze pilots determined to destroy ourselves for the god of climate change.
In the US, we may still be able to make a course correction and stop this insanity. But as an outsider looking in, it appears that the UK has passed the tipping point.
Calls for “capitalism” are grossly misplaced. Capitalism works when there are valid price signals, i.e., there is some correlation between price and cost.
Nuclear is the best example. This is the most heavily subsidized form of electricity know to man. Are all the known real costs incorporated in what is ultimately charged at the wholesale level? Of course not. And then lets not forget about the unknown costs.
Oil is the second most subsidized. The US through its defense budget, spends about $6/gallon on operations that solely exist to protect world oil and LNG shipments. The UK spends something similar. It is a hidden tax and is not reflected at the pump. When you compare petrol prices with alternatives, the absence of that extra cost skews the equation.
Between 10% and 20% of the power generated at coal and nuclear plants is lost due to transmission efficiencies. Those losses are part of your cost. So now think about the next new coal plant that is being built to meet a demand that is anticipated. But before you build it, you take out a lot of the existing inefficiencies. Do you really need it right away? And when you do the calculus are you including the extra transmission the plant will require? 20% of all commercial load is purely incandescent lighting. What if you cut that in half? Do you know whether that would be cheaper than the coal plantS that it takes to support that load?
And it has been shown in a number of places that when consumers get true price signals over the course of the day they make efficient choices using meters that allow 2 way communication. There’s another huge amount of new power that can be eliminated.
We simply don’t have to continue replicating a system that pre-dates WWII.
Please note: there was absolutely no mention of carbon or climate in any of the above. To quote Mr. Graham, only those of minimal intellect confuse energy planning involving efficiency, sustainability and renewability with climate change.
Speaking for the UK, solar energy is a waste of time for obvious reasons. In spite of propaganda to the contrary I can see from the UK National Grid real time website that our massive phalanx of wind turbine are currently producing a princely amout of 15MW which is calcualted by them as 0 per cent of our energy needs compared with other sources.
Even economics won’t make something work that’s hopeless. The Danes give half theirs away free but we can’t even do that. If they built them closer together we could at least use them as soccer goal posts.
Some individuals are very gullible, the whole reason for the lack of investment is the theory of AGW, why otherwise would solar panels and wind turbines be manufactured in India and imported to Europe. The answer is that they have kept the means of production as cost effective to their economies, they are making a killing without any concern for AGW. I know of no one who objects to caring for the environment, however, the majority of the populace object strongly to fraud. Certain people on this site clearly have vested interests, maybe in the form of shares in renewables, or carbon trading!!!
Graham:
You keep sidestepping the issue. Is the UK really going to lose 40 per cent of gen capapcity overnight or is that hype? Are you saying that huge reductions in new demand can be cost effectively cut instead of reoeating the coal past? And that after you deal with efficiency there are no renewables in all the UK that can’t make up the difference?
Yo know in the early 90′s when deregulation occurred in the US (I was part if a team oif advisors ti wruite the rules) the entire British transmission network was controlled with a Commodore 64 hobbyist computer?
If your position is “let’s keep our strong centrally planned grossly inefficient utilty system by unnecessarily burning fossil fuels and ignoring the hidden costs of resoiratoiry illnesses it creates”. Spoken like a real socialist.
“The impending energy gap will be caused by the closure of the UK’s ageing nuclear and coal-fired power stations over the next decade. The report estimates the UK will lose a third of electricity generating capacity in this time. Candida Whitmill, a co-author of the report, said: “Nuclear will not be ready, renewables will not be able to cope. Gas is getting politically and geographically dangerous to rely upon. Security of supply must take priority over everything including climate change.” Ian Fells, emeritus professor at the University of Newcastle and a veteran energy policy analyst.
Currently the UK has Total operational wind farms: 254 (4,113.25 MW) and from the National Grid website they are producing 10 MW representing 0% of demand.
Go figure.
I despair – surely there’s someone at the CEGB that realises that we’re heading for disaster if we place any sort of reliance on stupidly expensive, inefficient and unreliable kit like photo-voltaics and WTG’s.
Perhaps they’re not allowed to speak up for fear of upsetting there political masters. Everlasting tax-wielding powers are probably considered more important to politicians than energy security.
Hell, if even the Moonbat believes that the policy is ridiculous, you’d think there’d be nobody to argue with!
Just had a horrible thought. Perhaps you believe Christopher Booker is a credible critic of energy policy precisely because you agree with him that tobacco and asbestos are not harmful to health. I mean, after all, look at your graphics and your headlines. This is the fringe I’ve been engaging with so its not out of the realm of possibility.
At least wooden windmills milled grain. The modern ones don’t even produce sufficient electricity to power a bread maker.
I suggest that they get turned into fairground rides in the future, though as they’ll only work on windy days, maybe that won’t work either. It’ll create some puzzlement in the future about what wiped out all the birds though. Were there any climate scientists around when the dinosaurs became extinct ? According to your pal Ehrlig I’m already extinct. It’s a funny world you AGW people live in Ed.