Although an issue linked to the politics thread, I do think we need a new thread to discuss this. With petrol at astronomical levels (just under $12 a gallon for those over the pond) and electricity / gas prices now being higher than our monthly food bill which is frightening, I’m seriously of the opinion that this will lead to mass protests. Not that anybody can do much about this apart from the energy companies cutting profit margins or the government really going after them. Doubt either will happen. Mass cancellation of DD payments is gaining traction (room 101) I see. Mrs is going round the house like a woman possessed turning everything off (car on charge outside) and I’m hobbling the central heating till November.
Perfect storm it seams of the drive for cleaner energy and Putin trying to end the world. Our local coal fired power station is to be knocked down. Lunacy right now. So some discussion points. Is cheap power a human right? As @Mascot suggested, luxury usage should be more expensive? Have we had it too good for too long? Any value of solar in the UK? Would love actual experience of this. What are we all doing to cut back? I’ve lowered the hot-tub temp by a degree and now only heat the patio when we’re actually outside. Imagine these prices in the US with AC on all day, scary thought.
Did the maths on our business. Full set of LED tubes due today. Will pay for themselves in a month. It’s that serious.
A lot of factors contributing to this. But here’s some that get my goat;
Torrie’s have had a de facto ban on on-shore wind since taking power in 2010, this is by far the cheapest form of energy generation. Head in the sand politics.
Paying international market rates for North Sea gas and even renewable energy generated in this country seems crazy, companies are making huge profits from this.
I think fossil fuels should be expensive, the damage they are causing will cost the tax payer a lot of money so the price should reflect that. So really don’t agree with the idea of scrapping the green levy etc.
It’s a sign of things to come. The changing climate will make it impossible for people to maintain the quality of living they have become used to. Food production will be hit hard. Millions of people displaced will add new pressures. Conflict over resources. This is the path we are going down, and going down it much faster than a lot of people seem to realise.
As far as I am aware planning permission for new installations have been blocked and subsidies were removed. That stuff is often repeated in the press, but I have no hard evidence. Could be that a lot have been built in Scotland?
Your graph above suggests there was never an issue, which is interesting. I remember these reports back in 2020 that on-shore wind was the new flavour of the month, not sure if it led to any action. Anyway it could well have been a stupid comment from myself, certainly an ill researched one. I won’t de-rail the thread with wind turbine chat. I’ll go way and see if I can find data on actual GW of new installations.
Let’s say you run a business and have a business plan that’s designed to give a set profit margin. Should you be disadvantaged if the cost of your raw materials doubles and your customers keep paying the bills despite you increasing your prices? Our suppliers have put prices up 40% in the last 2 years. We have no option but to put our prices up accordingly. Few can afford to run altruistic businesses.
We are seeing the end result of the increased development of Lean type methods of production, all done under the umbrella Just in Time systems. These are systems where they are designed, both in terms of the processes employed and the resources obtained, to run at as close to maximum efficiency to meet expected demand. They run with almost zero slack meaning in times of equilibrium, or stable predictable changes they are highly efficient, read profitable. But they are critically flawed as soon as there is a disruption. I think no where is that more evident than in the oil drilling and refining process, with the effects trickling down through every aspect of the economy all over the world.
The problem is that the oil companies are set up to take advantage of both the upturns and the downturns, both of which come at the expense of the consumer…or the global economy. There really is no way around that other than government intervention to add slack to the system so that the peaks and troughs are smoothed out. The problem is that is politically untenable for governments that don’t have a oil interest because during downtimes it looks like corporate welfare for the world’s worst companies. And for governments that do have a stake it is against their economic interests.
