Gas demands set to fall in 2009
May 22, 2009 at 4:16 pm
We can blame the recession for pretty much everything these days and that’s exactly what the gas industry in the UK is doing when it comes to demands this year. Last year saw the beginning of a rather worrying slump in demands for gas, according to the National Grid. Over the winter months of 08/09 the demand fell by around 4%, even though it was a particularly chilly winter. People struggled to pay their bills but they seemed to put on another jumper rather than turn the heating up. Money was recovered from exports into Europe, but there are worries that the gas industry is in peril as forecasts – again by the National Grid – show this summer could see a 6% drop in demands.
This figure relates to non-daily metered gas. This is the energy that we use in our homes and in small businesses. The demand for gas in large industries has also dropped by around 6% in the last year. The biggest question of all is whether or not the reason for the slump is a knock-on effect of the recession or whether it’s simply people’s attitudes towards gas, as a source of energy, changing.
The interesting statistic to come from this examination by the National Grid was that electricity supplies have risen and are set to increase this summer. This could mean demands vastly outweigh that of gas. Repairs to the nuclear power stations this year might have something to do with this, but it might also be telling us that gas is on the way out.
Gas pipes might house carbon emissions
May 15, 2009 at 4:25 pm
The deadly greenhouse gases being emitted from power stations in the UK might not actually be reduced but instead just dusted under the carpet. Rather than being released into the atmosphere – and then increase the threat of global warming – the latest plan is to pump all of the poisonous carbon dioxide gases underground and store them in the hundreds of miles of pipe lines already being used by gas and electricity companies. The Thames Estuary and the Teesside industrial hub could be used to send carbon dioxide gas through pipes under the sea before finally becoming stored in vast empty wells in the North Sea.
National Grid Plc is pushing for the procedure and has already invested many millions of pounds in pilot schemes that utilise the 7000 kilometres of underground storage pipes owned throughout the UK both on and offshore. The process is known as Carbon Capture Storage, or CCS for short, and it’s thought that over the next ten years this method could remove over 240 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere, which works out at nearly 10% of the total global CO2 emissions.
All this comes at a huge price though and, as keen and determined as the National Grid are to be given financial support for carbon capture from the government, there are a lot more cost-effective ways in which we can cut down on carbon emissions. This has the benefits of being an immediate cure to the illness though but it’s the equivalent of taking high painkillers to hide the pain rather than finding a long-term cure.
Problems with a British terminal cuts of Norway's gas
May 11, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Hidden miles away from both its offshore rigs in the North Sea and also the country that provides all of its natural gas via the hundreds of miles of undersea pipelines in Norway, the British land-based gas terminal at Easington, near Grimsby, is having a pretty bad month and went offline completely this month on its very own black Monday. Gas was cut off from the Norwegian terminal at Langeled, which transports the gas to Humberside along the longest gas pipeline in the world.
Centrica are the current owners of the British terminal at Easington and announced that the gas supply was cut off, with the suspected problem being at the Norwegian end at the gas company there called Gassaco. On a good day the pipeline brings in a staggering 47 million cubic metres of gas for the UK’s energy supply, but, as of Monday April 20th, that figure dropped to zero. Gas supply was briefly at a worrying level but National Grid Plc were keen to stress that the imported gas into the UK was never at a level that would cause concern during this shut down because huge tankers of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) were due to arrive into docks at Teesside and Kent that very same Monday.
The problem is reported to be almost completely repaired and the gas supply back to its normal level, but this does raise some concerns over the UK’s dependency on its natural gas from places other than their own rigs on and offshore. It comes in the same month that DEFRA are holding talks about the future of more fossil fuel energy resources and the storage of carbon dioxide from coal power stations in a process known as Carbon Capture.
Winter freeze results in high energy bills
May 1, 2009 at 4:25 am
The sun may be shining today but it is not long since we were in the grip of the coldest winter weather for over ten years and the snowiest conditions for eighteen years, and many of us are getting a nasty reminder of these grim days with the arrival of our bill covering energy costs for that period.
Recent research from price comparison website, moneysupermarket.com, has revealed that 42% of us have been left feeling shocked by the size of the bill, with the figure for the disgruntled in the country’s capital being even higher at 48%.
10% of us are simply unable to pay our bill and many more of us are having to make cut backs. A further 25% of us, although unsurprised at the level of our bills, are unhappy with them.
The recent reductions in energy prices from the six major providers will have had no effect on our most recent bills as the reductions did not apply to that period. According to Utilities Manager, Scott Byrom, around 40% of our annual energy is consumed during the winter quarter so perhaps it should come as no surprise that we are facing hefty bills.
Worryingly, many of society’s most vulnerable groups such as the elderly and disabled are having to make cut backs on the most basic of living costs, including food, in order to be able to afford to pay their energy bills. Calls have been made from various quarters for further government action to tackle fuel poverty.
