Energy: gas rationing
Saturday 23 March 2013
 Households and businesses have turned up the heating in recent weeks to keep warm in the unseasonably cold weather. It is this, the paper claims, that has run gas reserves so low that there is a very real prospect of running out in the coming weeks if the cold snap persists. But what the paper doesn't seem to realise is that gas is already being rationed. Mains pressure has been reduced. Householders are finding that gas ovens are taking longer to cook food, while fires burn less brightly. And companies with interruptible supply contracts are already on notice for Monday, that gas will not be available. And, of course, it is not helping that the coal estate is being shut down, although we are currently getting 42 percent of our electricity from coal, compared with 20 percent from gas. In a week's time, the equation will have changed yet again and the generators could be in real trouble.
Thus do we get the Daily Mail blandly tell us that, "National Grid has protocols for gas shortages, designed to stop households being affected immediately".
Power stations which run on gas are the first to be rationed. "They can do that to keep the lights on because we have coal and oil-run power stations which can be ramped up to meet demand", energy analyst Peter Atherton says. "But next month many of the UK's coal and oil plants come offline to meet green regulations handed down by the EU, and will not be available as a stop-gap if another shortfall arises next winter", theMail tells us. If we actually avoid power cuts, it will be by the skin of our teeth. But the nation is on notice, a country that is paying the price for the failure to manage energy supplies. More and more, predictions are becoming fact and we are looking at "when" not "if" we run out. COMMENT THREAD Richard North 23/03/2013 |
Climate change: and the snows kept coming
Saturday 23 March 2013
That is the problem with this district. Most of the residential roads are privately-owed (known as "unadopted"), which means they are unpaved, and unserviced. We never see a gritter or plough and never get help with snow clearance.
Thus, while the main road seems open (just - but down to one lane), it is almost impossible to reach it. As for public transport, who knows? Information normally is unreliable. Thus, while I was due in London today for a conference with Campaign for Independent Britain, I have abandoned any idea of attending.
But the fact that I should be writing of such matters on 23 March is utterly bizarre. Last year at this time, we were in the throes of a drought, and the temperature on this day peaked at 21ºC in part of the region. Today, in this area, it will struggle to reach zero, with the wind-chill dragging it down to a bitter minus seven.
And last year, the warmists were in full spate about their precious climate change, despite the fact that their predictions had been for cool wet winters and hot dry summers. In fact, we got a long dry winter, running into a dry spring, with a glorious few weeks of warmth which then settled down to a long, cold and excessively wet summer.
That dragged on into a wet autumn and early winter, then turning to snow, more snow and even more snow. Although it never lasts, it has been frequent. This is our eighth separate episode of snow this season. And it would be a brave warmist who stood up and started preaching about climate change. People are heartily sick of the cold. It seems forever since we last had a prolonged spell of good weather.
Still though, the local council spends about £300,000 a year on the salaries of climate change officials. Send them here with shovels in their hands, and they might be some use. Send them to preach, and we would happily lynch them. Instead, the council will be here shortly with its hands out for our money, and we must pay them or go to jail - all so that we can keep these climate change officials paid.
So, we are heartily sick of our council as well - not that they give a tinker's cuss. They take our money whether we like it or not, while we freeze. But who dare call it climate change? Not their climate officers, for sure. They really would be lynched.
COMMENT THREAD Richard North 23/03/2013 |
Saturday, 23 March 2013
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