Energy crisis

mowlas

mowlas

Member
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Zep said:
Still vanishingly unlikely, but this is nudge theory at work, making people think about consumption.
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I hear you and being in the behavioural change space myself, I know what you mean.

However the announcements are coming from the industry, not the government. There seems be no government effort going on at all.

107195
 
safrane

safrane

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16,917
Harry said:
Has anyone noticed how much darker outside it is in the evenings? Most people haven’t got garden lights blazing all night, lights on in rooms they aren’t using etc. I actually prefer less light pollution.
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If only my GF would take heed... she leaves lights on for hours, and when I ask, her retort is that she will be going back into that room (eventually)
 
GeoffCapes

GeoffCapes

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14,000
Harry said:
Has anyone noticed how much darker outside it is in the evenings? Most people haven’t got garden lights blazing all night, lights on in rooms they aren’t using etc. I actually prefer less light pollution.
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My next door neighbour said at the weekend that he wouldn't be covering his house in Christmas lights this year as he won't be able to afford the cost.

Every cloud and all that. This year it won't be like living next door to the Griswalds!
 
Zep

Zep

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9,332
mowlas said:
I hear you and being in the behavioural change space myself, I know what you mean.

However the announcements are coming from the industry, not the government. There seems be no government effort going on at all.

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Which, from my perspective anyway, is where it should be coming from. That doesn’t change the likelihood or the reasoning to my mind. There are multiple layers of action before we get anywhere near homes being blacked out.

If they said “if you don’t reduce consumption, a steel mill or car factory might have to stop production” no-one would care, so nothing would change. That’s why it’s a nudge to me.

The other piece is timing. They are saying it now because right now is the time that people are switching on their heating having more lights on, and gas used now won’t be there when we really need it, so they would like to see lower heating set points and people turning off lights to set habits for later.

In this way, government support for bills is counterproductive, as it is likely to encourage usage where people aren’t concerned about their bills (for example, where people have long term fixed rates), so it balances the books psychologically.

Of course, if your leccy is cut off, do feel free to tell me I’m an idiot, once it comes back on :p
 
mowlas

mowlas

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1,743
Zep said:
The other piece is timing. They are saying it now because right now is the time that people are switching on their heating having more lights on, and gas used now won’t be there when we really need it, so they would like to see lower heating set points and people turning off lights to set habits for later.

In this way, government support for bills is counterproductive, as it is likely to encourage usage where people aren’t concerned about their bills (for example, where people have long term fixed rates), so it balances the books psychologically.
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Mostly agree with your analysis. I think it’s the lack of gas storage facilities in the UK that is the problem. That means even if we get reasonable supplies of LNG, there is limited buffering. Our energy system doesn’t have the resilience for a disruption to supply as with Putin’s war.

So yes, I agree it is about behavioural change sought by organisations like the National Grid but it’s to trim the usage patterns until warmer temperatures arrive, when the demand will go down. They have been designing cash incentives for people to curtail usage. The other dividend, of course, will be a lower energy subsidy support bill for the government.
 
safrane

safrane

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16,917
So if this was to happen would we see a huge rise in;
  • Babies- with nothing else to do in the dark
  • Children talking to each other in person as no Ticking Tocking, face ache etc
  • Husbands and wives discovering how nice it is to talk (or not)
  • Increase numbers of divorce due to having to do the above
  • More time to drive your maserati (in the dark)
 
mowlas

mowlas

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1,743
safrane said:
So if this was to happen would we see a huge rise in;
  • Babies- with nothing else to do in the dark
  • Children talking to each other in person as no Ticking Tocking, face ache etc
  • Husbands and wives discovering how nice it is to talk (or not)
  • Increase numbers of divorce due to having to do the above
  • More time to drive your maserati (in the dark)
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I remember as a kid whenever we had a loss of power, the candles would come out and we’d huddle and chat as a family. My dad would share stories and we actually listened to each other. When the lights came back on, it was actually disappointing to end the conversation as we went about the things we were doing before.
 
philw696

philw696

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25,661
mowlas said:
I remember as a kid whenever we had a loss of power, the candles would come out and we’d huddle and chat as a family. My dad would share stories and we actually listened to each other. When the lights came back on, it was actually disappointing to end the conversation as we went about the things we were doing before.
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Quality Family Values there as I remember those times as a child the 3 day week etc but as a family we got through it.
 
Harry

Harry

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1,196
mowlas said:
I remember as a kid whenever we had a loss of power, the candles would come out and we’d huddle and chat as a family. My dad would share stories and we actually listened to each other. When the lights came back on, it was actually disappointing to end the conversation as we went about the things we were doing before.
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That’s exactly what happened earlier this year when my geriatric parents had a long powercut. I was heating soup on their open fire and we had candles going. We were all a bit sad that it went back to normal when the power came on. Despite knowing they would have probably got hypothermia if they’d gone to their beds!
 
midlifecrisis

midlifecrisis

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16,285
We've been over-generating electricity since April or so and exporting it via the interconnectors to Europe, so a black out would be European wide. France will be restating their nuclear power stations soon following maintenance, repairs and refueling. The Germans should too. They've made a big mistake

grid.iamkate.com

National Grid: Live

Shows the live status of Great Britain’s electric power transmission network
grid.iamkate.com grid.iamkate.com
 
Zep

Zep

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9,332
Interesting development. The international spot market has price has halved in the last few days. So some loosening of supply as Germany et al have filled their tanks.
 
mjheathcote

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
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9,046
midlifecrisis said:
We've been over-generating electricity since April or so and exporting it via the interconnectors to Europe, so a black out would be European wide. France will be restating their nuclear power stations soon following maintenance, repairs and refueling. The Germans should too. They've made a big mistake

grid.iamkate.com

National Grid: Live

Shows the live status of Great Britain’s electric power transmission network
grid.iamkate.com grid.iamkate.com
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That's fascinating.
Didn't realise how much energy comes from renewables, and how little comes from nuclear.
 
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