I notice we have highest electricity demand of the winter so far forecast for 17:30 today, and the gas suppliers have told power generation they have to reduce gas consumption. Could be interesting. Forecast to be even higher demand tomorrow at 17:30.
Yes I noticed a BBC News website story about the GBA early this morning. It seems to have vansished now, can't find it browsing or via search...
With the 24/48hrs notice they should be able to wind up the output of some coal/oil stations. Still current UK electricity demand is 55GW, yesterdays late afternoon peak was about 60GW that is high... Wonder how much margin there is? Now if a big station drops off line like happened not that long ago it could get cold and dark...
I had my oil tank filled up yesterday and my generator can easily be put into operation to run the heating system so I will be able to watch what happens from a warm house at least.
I've got some almost dead AA batteries.
If I chain enough of them up in series and plug them momentarily backwards into the mains socket, seems I'll be able to help the country toodle along a bit for half a cycle.
Every little millivolt must help in these desperate times...
Does anyone know the coal reserves that are available in the UK? Hindsight is great but the coal mine closures since 1980 surely must be looked at as a mistake and not such a success for Mrs Thatcher after all? Okay at the time gas was cheap and coal wasn't and nobody could predict what would happen in 2010. Would anyone like to predict what the situation will be like i 2040?
Dave.
feckin dire one way or the other
Happy New Year! JimK
We need triffids. Now!
I guess very similar to the US. The USA has chosen to import oil rather than pump more out of their own ground, in fact when oil was at an all time low, it was being pumped back.
Coal in this country is expensive to extract, but when all the potential world-wide open cast mining sites have been depleted, with further mechanisation, further extraction of UK coal may be possible.
Andrew Gabriel wibbled on Tuesday 05 January 2010 10:59
Makes you wonder - did you see that Spooks episode where the explosion in the gas processing plant rendered the government having to try to do a deal with Elbonistan or somewhere?
Very very foolish making us so dependant on gas... Meanwhile in Kent, some bunch of idiots keep having a go at Kingsnorth power station (coal/oil). I bet they are now sitting in their cosy living rooms in front of the TV... Incidently, just noticed that station is down (or was on Sunday) to half capacity after an oil fire...
Anyone remember where the National Grid System Warnings and Other Messages page is - can't seem to find it. It made interesting reading when Sixewell B went offline.
Hi,
Have a read of
I think what was meant was the live data, which I have seen somewhere, but now cannot find.
Just caught end of an interview on 1pm news with reporter asking a gas spokesman why we only have 8 day's supply of gas, when Germany has 70 or 90 days or something like that (can't recall). After the privitisation of the Gas industry, we were down to only
3 days storage capability at one point, and it did get up to 11 days more recently. (Maybe capacity is 11 days, but currently only 8 days left - we used more gas yesterday than we sourced.)So far, we've been exporting over the interconnects too, which (to a first approximation) would seem to mean our neighbours are no better off either.
James Salisbury wibbled on Tuesday 05 January 2010 13:23
That's the one - ta. Bookmarked it this time...
This is quite interesting too:
And not a windmill turning anywhere.
I've got enough oil to run the aga till spring, hurricane lanterns and 4 cu meters of logs were delivered yesterday..
About 300 years reserves identified and viable (at least, as viable as the coal we were mining). More reserves become viable if coal prices take a hike. Our coal has a high sulphur content, so sulphur dioxide emissions were an issue, which is less true of the coal we now import.
Coal industry held the country to ransom more than once, and no government can let that stand, so it built it's own coffin. Can you imagine today's youth going down mines to bring it up? Might get their Nikes dirty...
Probably the only way to mine coal in the UK now would be an immigrant workforce.
I predicted it several years back, but a summary includes the words Shit Creak, Paddle, (and well before 2040).
Just make sure that you reverse the polarity of every other battery so that you get an AC signal out. Feeding DC into the mains would be bad.
Robots. Thaaasands of 'em...
If that's happening, see a doctor.
Coal use is pretty high here in the US, though - I think it might be something like 50% of the source for power generation, and I think a lot of it does come from within the country's borders. (I see lots of wibbling about 'clean' coal-fired plants over here - whilst coal is seen as a 'dirty' fuel, I don't think I've seen anything comparing those 'cleaned-up' plants against the alternatives)
I still see horror stories about how close the US grid is to complete meltdown, though, so in that respect it's perhaps no different to the UK; the extra capacity and infrastructure just isn't really there to cope if something major were to happen.
cheers
Jules
since the privatisations energy supply isnt a public service but a private business and its aim is to make profits for shareholders, so putting in excess capacity for the few days of excess demand per decade due to weather or power station failures isnt economic for them.
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