The winter of discontent

[stonerblue]

I remember a handfull of candle-lit nights and the odd day off schoo' due to lack of heating oil but that's about it.

 

[Mike D]

Won’t happen

I'm really hoping that you don't regret those words, but its not looking to rosie right now,

 

[MillionMilesAway]

I'm really hoping that you don't regret those words, but its not looking to rosie right now,

If we need spiv 'Arry Redknapp's dead dog to get us out of this, we may be in trouble.

 

[Mike D]

That article demonstrates the short sightedness of successive governments who have based the UK's energy policy on the continued availability of cheap imported gas. They should have recognised that having a sovereign source of energy is a strategic requirement, and instead of investing more in nuclear and fracking we've been happy to keep buying cheap gas and reducing our storage capacity. The most recent nuclear power station came on line over 25 years ago, and within 3 years over half our nuclear generating capacity is scheduled for decommissioning putting an even bigger reliance on renewables and gas. The government has also given in to the NIMBYs by not allowing for any significant commercial development of fracking sites. We all know that long term, renewable sources are the way ahead but we're decades away from renewables completely superseding everything else, so in the meantime we need to become less reliant on imports where we are competing for scarce resources and are at the mercy of the foreign policy of hostile governments, in particular Russia. At this rate we'll be forced into reopening mothballed coal fired power stations to keep the lights on.

Shale gas was always a none starter we are a small densely populated island and there were significant issues extracting this safely (this was alluded too on R4). I'm no expert on this but we need a long term plan a strategy that takes into the next 10, 25 and 50 years.

 

[west didsblue]

Shale gas was always a none starter we are a small densely populated island and there were significant issues extracting this safely (this was alluded too on R4). I'm no expert on this but we need a long term plan a strategy that takes into the next 10, 25 and 50 years.

The main failure of successive governments has been in not replacing and expanding the UK's nuclear generating capacity, which has got to be a long term key part of the low carbon energy mix.

I'm not convinced shale is a non-starter. There are large areas of the country with significant shale gas reserves which could have alleviated the current crisis somewhat if planning authorities had allowed for commercial scale extraction. There are lots of environmental implications but the rules in this country are much more stringent than in the US.

 

[BobKowalski]

Looking a tad ominous for the winter. I base this largely on the articles in the Brexit media extolling the virtues of sacrifice and the blitz spirit.

Also, rising energy costs, Chinese economy woes, relations with Europe worsening and the Govt thinking a small trade war with Europe will hide many self-inflicted wounds and provide a handy scapegoat.

 

[BobKowalski]

To add to China’s problems. Difficult to asses what the knock on effect of China’s problems will be in Europe. But this on top of Covid (and for us Brexit) can’t help. Strengthens the case for regionalisation and Europe on-shoring key industries.

 

[west didsblue]

To add to China’s problems. Difficult to asses what the knock on effect of China’s problems will be in Europe. But this on top of Covid (and for us Brexit) can’t help. Strengthens the case for regionalisation and Europe on-shoring key industries.

I can confidently predict it won't push the price of gas down.

 

[Mike D]

The main failure of successive governments has been in not replacing and expanding the UK's nuclear generating capacity, which has got to be a long term key part of the low carbon energy mix.

I'm not convinced shale is a non-starter. There are large areas of the country with significant shale gas reserves which could have alleviated the current crisis somewhat if planning authorities had allowed for commercial scale extraction. There are lots of environmental implications but the rules in this country are much more stringent than in the US.

Your opinion but clearly not what the experts are saying, that its not financially viable due to the issues surrounding its extraction. If it had been do you not think that Cameron would have filled his boots and probably be on the board or directors alongside Clegg as a NED collecting a tidy sum?

 

[west didsblue]

Your opinion but clearly not what the experts are saying, that its not financially viable due to the issues surrounding its extraction. If it had been do you not think that Cameron would have filled his boots and probably be on the board or directors alongside Clegg as a NED collecting a tidy sum?

I think fracking sites were mostly in rural Tory constituencies which contributed to the 2019 moratorium. Compared to the price of gas as of a few months ago it was probably deemed uneconomic which made the decision easier, even though it put our energy supplies at risk; a risk that now looks like it might be realised. Now that the price of gas is unlikely to come down to anywhere near previous levels and its long term availability is in question, it's probably worth revisiting shale as a potential medium term solution until renewables and nuclear can fill the gap.