LATEST MOAN FROM YOU AND ME - 2022

Does it make any difference, .

 

I've just read in the news that the Netherlands will be ok for gas this winter, because apparently we export gas to them.

 

We export gas all over Europe as we import more than we have storage for. Getting rid of gasometer storage was another brilliant idea.

 

I think gasometers go back to the days when we used coal gas, I know we had a couple in my town at the gasworks, coal coming in and coke going out.
There were taken down about 20yrs ago, or more.

 

I have all the information I need.
Gas and electric are expensive.
Use as little as possible.

 

Natural gas completely replaced coal gas in 1977 but the gasometers continued to be used for storage along with huge storage depots. In 2013 Centrica decided to cut gas storage for financial reasons and the government did nothing to persuade them otherwise.

Centrica Plc won permission to restart Britain’s largest natural gas storage site this winter as Europe’s energy crisis intensifies.

The approval comes as the UK braces for an expensive winter, with energy costs surging as Russia’s squeeze of gas supplies to mainland Europe ripples through the UK market. Restoring the Rough reserve facility has become increasingly urgent, with the UK grid operator warning last month of “knock-on impacts” for energy supplies if Russia cuts off flows to the continent.

Centrica received the necessary approvals to launch the first phase of reopening Rough, the regulator North Sea Transition Authority said in a statement. Centrica now has all required permissions from NSTA to restart the site, where storage functions were halted five years ago when it was deemed uneconomical to repair.

Rough’s storage capacity would be brought back gradually, Centrica has said, with the initial return this winter equaling some 10 liquefied natural gas cargoes. While that won’t make a big difference to UK supply, every molecule counts for Europe and Britain in the current crisis.

The decision by Centrica and the UK government to close storage operations at Rough in 2017 -- when Europe’s supplies from Russia were plentiful -- has been widely criticized as it’s left the UK deeply exposed to gas flow disruptions, while the European Union has been racing to fill its inventories.

 

If everyone had thought that all the time, instead of just wasting energy because it was cheap, energy prices would in general be lower because of reduced demand, and the likes of Putin wouldn't have been so able to hold the world to ransom.

But with regard to info, I'd appreciate advanced warning of power cuts, but I can't see it helping ease demand, as people will just schedule their activities around it.

 

That is what they want you to do. It is not the amount that is used but the height of the peak. They bring gas-fired generation in at peak times to meet the demand but if the demand can be reduced they do not need to fire up the extra capacity.

 

If we get a cold foggy winter I think we might struggle.
So lets have a mild windy one.

 

It will just move the peak time though.

Personally I'm not worried for me or my household. I'm fully prepared for power cuts. I've bought a portable camp stove to replace my old one that broke, and a rechargeable lamp. Our house is quite thermally efficient.

I'm more worried about those that live in knackered old houses, especially the older folks that will struggle to stay warm. There's a sad truth that one of the effects of old age is that the brain becomes less tuned to temperature. That's one of the reasons why heat and cold pose an increased threat to the elderly. Some become unaware that they're too warm or too cold so they may not even realise the scale of the problem. This is why I hope we all look out for our oldies.

 

Okay.

 

It would if everybody did it but many won't and those that do, some may do it earlier some later. Either way will be enough to take the sting out of the peak.

 

Just sounds like another way to get everyone to get a smart meter.