Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
Maybe I'm overly optimistic - but is it not that the French are doing all the nuclear work over the summer specifically so that they can run them all completely uninterrupted over the winter when we actually need them.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
Scotland and the UK doesn't need you. Which is why you live in Sweden. I pity the poor Swedes. What have they done to deserve it?
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
North Sea oil wind.
When it comes to offshore wind, there's more potential there than anyone could really ever need. For England, Scotland, Wales & NI. The issue is storage.
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
Of course, it could just be the French are doing all conceivable maintenance on their nuclear power stations to best be able to run them through the coming winter....
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
Not convinced by this on anything other than water. I think England has enough off-shore energy potential. Lucky the North Sea is so shallow.
And that's the problem with this election- Truss's positioning as "Johnson without (a) Johnson" is an easy comfort blanket for a hefty slice of the party. As we're seeing, a lot of Conservatives still don't get why their Boris had to go.
Sunak-Mordaunt would have been messy, but both acknowledged, in different ways, that the status quo was untenable.
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
Norway's leccy energy is ~ 99% hydro, the lucky sods. Seems a bit weird we're exporting to them whilst our internal generation is 58% CCGT though with the price of gas and all.
It will be so they can export it back at max level all winter, through every interconnector they have.
I suspect that that is the problem with much of Scotland's potential offshore wind capacity. The North Sea is quite a bit deeper and wilder around our coasts. The reason that the largest offshore windfarm will be on the Dogger Bank is that it is relatively shallow. Scotland has potential to generate considerable wave energy, particularly off the north west coast, but it is proving very difficult to do that economically at the moment. I am sure that this will come eventually though.
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
I wasn't aware of this until today, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more awareness. That's a crisis comparable to the effects of the war if that can't come back online.
Indeed. But no reason it shouldn't. It's planned maintenance AIUI. Just very poorly timed in the circumstances.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
Not convinced by this on anything other than water. I think England has enough off-shore energy potential. Lucky the North Sea is so shallow.
Lots of wind = Out of peak hours desalinisation close to demand.
I suspect that that is the problem with much of Scotland's potential offshore wind capacity. The North Sea is quite a bit deeper and wilder around our coasts. The reason that the largest offshore windfarm will be on the Dogger Bank is that it is relatively shallow. Scotland has potential to generate considerable wave energy, particularly off the north west coast, but it is proving very difficult to do that economically at the moment. I am sure that this will come eventually though.
Tidal energy probably has great potential for Scotland. The tidal race through the North East coast and through some of the islands is intense. Also far more predictable than wave or wind.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
North Sea oil wind.
When it comes to offshore wind, there's more potential there than anyone could really ever need. For England, Scotland, Wales & NI. The issue is storage.
Stick enough turbines in and less storage is needed.
On topic, I'd be tempted to put only a small wager on this despite Biden's willingness to serve a second term and for two reasons.
The first is the state of the man, physically and mentally. He is having more mishaps in both cases and sounds more incoherent. The attempts to explain this away by saying "he's always been muddled" are increasingly desperate attempts to bat away the obvious.
The second is that there is an increasing language coming from the more pro-Democrat commentators that he needs to step down for the sake of the Democrats and / or to stop Trump. The fact Jill Biden is also starting to come in for more criticism from their own side is probably an indication that the pressure is being stepped up (aka if you don't step down, we will go increasingly after your family). Expect also the NYT and WP to come out with more Hunter Biden stories as well.
My guess is that he will be eased out in the next 9-12 months with Harris taking over but effectively having to promise she will step down for 2024 i.e. we will let you be the first female President and so you can get in the history books but then you can retire.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
Not convinced by this on anything other than water. I think England has enough off-shore energy potential. Lucky the North Sea is so shallow.
There's more than enough potential for offshore wind for everyone in the British Isles - and distributed around the coasts.
Even just replacing the existing sites with bigger (and more efficient turbines) in a few years would double output. But you don't need to do that, since you can expand the existing sites hugely and there are many more potential sites.
How many times more generating capability than the current consumption of the entire grid do you want?
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
I wasn't aware of this until today, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more awareness. That's a crisis comparable to the effects of the war if that can't come back online.
Indeed. But no reason it shouldn't. It's planned maintenance AIUI. Just very poorly timed in the circumstances.
I think the timing is OK - better now than winter.
I suspect that that is the problem with much of Scotland's potential offshore wind capacity. The North Sea is quite a bit deeper and wilder around our coasts. The reason that the largest offshore windfarm will be on the Dogger Bank is that it is relatively shallow. Scotland has potential to generate considerable wave energy, particularly off the north west coast, but it is proving very difficult to do that economically at the moment. I am sure that this will come eventually though.
Scotland has the ability to have a lot of onshore wind but that introduces a secondary issues of connecting them up to the national grid.
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
Maybe I'm overly optimistic - but is it not that the French are doing all the nuclear work over the summer specifically so that they can run them all completely uninterrupted over the winter when we actually need them.
Indeed. A factor which will become increasingly important as the Sahara and Sahel move northwards.
Wet countries are going to be havens for humanity. Norway’s second incredible windfall. Will Scots piss this one up the wall by simply handing over our valuable resources to England again?
There was a nice programme on BBC 4 (still the BBC's greatest adornment along with the World Service) this week about the Tay by the H is for Hawk woman. Quite odd to see the word greatest applied to something in Scotland by the BBC
'Author Helen Macdonald follows Britain’s greatest river over four seasons, encountering salmon, beavers and the microscopic creatures helping to answer science's biggest questions..'
I suspect that that is the problem with much of Scotland's potential offshore wind capacity. The North Sea is quite a bit deeper and wilder around our coasts. The reason that the largest offshore windfarm will be on the Dogger Bank is that it is relatively shallow. Scotland has potential to generate considerable wave energy, particularly off the north west coast, but it is proving very difficult to do that economically at the moment. I am sure that this will come eventually though.
Tidal energy probably has great potential for Scotland. The tidal race through the North East coast and through some of the islands is intense. Also far more predictable than wave or wind.
Tidal was really what I had in mind when I referred to wave energy. We have some of the best sites in the world for that. If only we could build equipment strong enough to not get battered to bits in those waters.
Jenkins is right that the sanctions haven't stopped the flow of money into Russia due to people buying their commodity exports, but they are crippling the wider economy and their military industrial complex. Russia being unable to import electronic components etc due to sanctions is going to have a direct impact upon their war effort regardless of what apologists against sanctions like Jenkins or Cummings may think.
The great strength of the Tory system is that once elected the leader can ignore all those lunatics and concentrate on impressing the voters.
I still find it remarkable that someone who managed to get only 50 of her party's MPs to vote for her as their first choice should win.
I don't think it is. The way to win the contest is to be the first choice of the maddest 1/3 of MPs after eliminations. If you're getting lots of MPs in the first round that's a sign that your positioning is too sensible and you're going to lose if it gets to the members.
I suspect that that is the problem with much of Scotland's potential offshore wind capacity. The North Sea is quite a bit deeper and wilder around our coasts. The reason that the largest offshore windfarm will be on the Dogger Bank is that it is relatively shallow. Scotland has potential to generate considerable wave energy, particularly off the north west coast, but it is proving very difficult to do that economically at the moment. I am sure that this will come eventually though.
Tidal energy probably has great potential for Scotland. The tidal race through the North East coast and through some of the islands is intense. Also far more predictable than wave or wind.
The problem with wave energy is that there is too much of it - waves are extremely good at destroying stuff. Tides are, as you say, lovely and predictable. And by locating sites around the coastline, you can get very good coverage of the whole day.
The tidal turbines that are sited well below the surface, out of the wave action, always looked like a better bet to me.
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
I wasn't aware of this until today, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more awareness. That's a crisis comparable to the effects of the war if that can't come back online.
Indeed. But no reason it shouldn't. It's planned maintenance AIUI. Just very poorly timed in the circumstances.
France normally generates less nuclear electricity in summer than winter for maintenance reasons, but not this much less.
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
Did I read on here a couple of weeks ago, that French nuclear was lower than usual this year, due to heavy maintainance on a number of facilities?
Lower nuclear in these current circumstances? What a perfect storm ...
Presumably (!) they’ll have more nuclear online before the winter? Let’s hope so anyway.
If I were running a utility or a factory, I’d be buying up diesel generators at the moment. Could be very useful indeed over the coming winter.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
The Union was only created in the first place as Scotland had gone bankrupt and Scotland's Parliament needed the English Treasury to bail it out!
With the exception of JRM that isn't a bad list of Ins and Outs.
It is odd how the swivel-eyed ones love Truss but still hate Hunt. Hunt is probably the most competent of all the Tory family. The new Tory Party/Blukip clearly doesn't appreciate competence, which is why they liked Boris Johnson
The second is that there is an increasing language coming from the more pro-Democrat commentators that he needs to step down for the sake of the Democrats and / or to stop Trump. The fact Jill Biden is also starting to come in for more criticism from their own side is probably an indication that the pressure is being stepped up (aka if you don't step down, we will go increasingly after your family). Expect also the NYT and WP to come out with more Hunter Biden stories as well.
Needs more carrot, less stick, IMHO - I bet it would be much easier to persuade Biden to step down if he could see an obvious successor who looked like they'd do decently in the next election. Right now nowbody in the field looks all that strong...
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
I wasn't aware of this until today, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more awareness. That's a crisis comparable to the effects of the war if that can't come back online.
Indeed. But no reason it shouldn't. It's planned maintenance AIUI. Just very poorly timed in the circumstances.
I think the timing is OK - better now than winter.
Well yes. Although perhaps better last summer than this.
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
I wasn't aware of this until today, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more awareness. That's a crisis comparable to the effects of the war if that can't come back online.
The issue is that EDF kept putting off regular maintenance for ages (supposedly to fit the political cycle and keep French energy prices low in the run up to the election) and now there's serious risks in some of the older reactors so they had to be taken offline for a longer period for safety checks and prolonged maintenance. France is in a very dodgy position for electrical generation over the next 9 months and, like the UK, will be relying on interconnects and hoping for a mild, wet and windy winter.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
Isn't the snag pretty much that having lots of electric when the wind is blowing isn't very valuable, as the spot price is low, and when the spot price is high the wind isn't blowing?
If it was dispatchable, like say Norwegian Hydro generation, it would be an absolute gold mine, but the ability to provide loads of power when everyone else can too isn't going to be terribly lucrative.
The big money to be made in this is in storage, if someone succeeds to cracking it in a way which both scales and isn't too wildly inefficient - Scotland has the potential for a reasonable bit of pump hydro which might help; I think Dinorwic has almost certainly recovered it's costs many times over!
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
Though without the subsidies from Westminster and of course plenty of scope for wind farms in the Lake District, the Peak District, offshore etc
Hold on, aren't you voting for Sunak with his ban on onshore wind ?
He wants to increase windfarms offshore which is fine provided more solar and nuclear energy too, maybe even a new coal mine or two in the redwall
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
The Union was only created in the first place as Scotland had gone bankrupt and Scotland's Parliament needed the English Treasury to bail it out!
It is kind of astonishing how Scots Nats don't seem to actually understand the concept of the United Kingdom. They are so lacking in self confidence that they think they are currently part of England, when England is no more a sovereign state than Scotland is!
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
The Union was only created in the first place as Scotland had gone bankrupt and Scotland's Parliament needed the English Treasury to bail it out!
Rule one of politics: never believe your own propaganda.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
Not convinced by this on anything other than water. I think England has enough off-shore energy potential. Lucky the North Sea is so shallow.
There's more than enough potential for offshore wind for everyone in the British Isles - and distributed around the coasts.
Even just replacing the existing sites with bigger (and more efficient turbines) in a few years would double output. But you don't need to do that, since you can expand the existing sites hugely and there are many more potential sites.
How many times more generating capability than the current consumption of the entire grid do you want?
Well, given energy costs feed into pretty much everything, keep going till it's not economical to keep putting them in?
From an Indy perspective, there is no-doubt that Scotland can produce more per capita. But that won't matter if rUK is already self-sufficient.
It would depend on how the market would work. Would Scotland sell the energy to England, and then England to Europe? Could Scotland sell direct via that new artificial island they are going to build in the middle of the North Sea?
Incidentally, someone was asking about nuclear subs - the reactors are in the 150 Megawatt range. Which is pretty tiny for power generation. That plus the output of the sub is mechanical work - using the power to drive a steam turbine to drive the propellor. The actual electrical generation capacity would be tiny.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
Not convinced by this on anything other than water. I think England has enough off-shore energy potential. Lucky the North Sea is so shallow.
There's more than enough potential for offshore wind for everyone in the British Isles - and distributed around the coasts.
Even just replacing the existing sites with bigger (and more efficient turbines) in a few years would double output. But you don't need to do that, since you can expand the existing sites hugely and there are many more potential sites.
How many times more generating capability than the current consumption of the entire grid do you want?
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
The Rolls-Royce SMR reactors (which are a derivative of their nuclear sub reactors IIRC) put out just under 500MW.
Edit; Malmesbury has said the power output of the PWR sub reactors is ~ 180MW.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
The Union was only created in the first place as Scotland had gone bankrupt and Scotland's Parliament needed the English Treasury to bail it out!
Rule one of politics: never believe your own propaganda.
Not propaganda, historical fact post the failure of the Darien scheme
Jenkins is right that the sanctions haven't stopped the flow of money into Russia due to people buying their commodity exports, but they are crippling the wider economy and their military industrial complex. Russia being unable to import electronic components etc due to sanctions is going to have a direct impact upon their war effort regardless of what apologists against sanctions like Jenkins or Cummings may think.
The impact of sanctions is to knock about 1-2% off Western growth rates, and to knock 10-15% off Russia's growth rate.
As a tool of warfare (which is what they really are) they can be highly effective. Blockades of Germany in both World Wars did real economic harm.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
Not convinced by this on anything other than water. I think England has enough off-shore energy potential. Lucky the North Sea is so shallow.
There's more than enough potential for offshore wind for everyone in the British Isles - and distributed around the coasts.
Even just replacing the existing sites with bigger (and more efficient turbines) in a few years would double output. But you don't need to do that, since you can expand the existing sites hugely and there are many more potential sites.
How many times more generating capability than the current consumption of the entire grid do you want?
Well, given energy costs feed into pretty much everything, keep going till it's not economical to keep putting them in?
From an Indy perspective, there is no-doubt that Scotland can produce more per capita. But that won't matter if rUK is already self-sufficient.
It would depend on how the market would work. Would Scotland sell the energy to England, and then England to Europe? Could Scotland sell direct via that new artificial island they are going to build in the middle of the North Sea?
All of the above? The future in that respect seems clear - lots of interconnections across Europe, with countries buying & selling power to/from each other.
A direct connector from Scotland to any country bordering the North sea wouldn't need artificial islands etc - it is well within the scale of existing undersea power cables.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
The Union was only created in the first place as Scotland had gone bankrupt and Scotland's Parliament needed the English Treasury to bail it out!
It is kind of astonishing how Scots Nats don't seem to actually understand the concept of the United Kingdom. They are so lacking in self confidence that they think they are currently part of England, when England is no more a sovereign state than Scotland is!
Indeed less so as Scotland has its own Parliament already for most Scottish domestic policy
LOL, that desparate to attract anyone who might bring some skills or money.
The West should be offering “Green Card” visas to skilled Russians. Scientists, engineers, industrialists, software developers. Let’s see the country hollowed out of key 21st century skills.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
The Union was only created in the first place as Scotland had gone bankrupt and Scotland's Parliament needed the English Treasury to bail it out!
It is kind of astonishing how Scots Nats don't seem to actually understand the concept of the United Kingdom. They are so lacking in self confidence that they think they are currently part of England, when England is no more a sovereign state than Scotland is!
Isn't that one of those easy to say statements and difficult to do. I mean are we deliberately not deporting people who could be deported or is it for reasons that only extra resources will solve?
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
England needs Scotland.
Scotland doesn’t need England.
The Union was only created in the first place as Scotland had gone bankrupt and Scotland's Parliament needed the English Treasury to bail it out!
Rule one of politics: never believe your own propaganda.
Not propaganda, historical fact post the failure of the Darien scheme
Nats don't do history. It is a little inconvenient, particularly how Scots have been such enthusiastic promoters and administrators of the British Empire.
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
The Rolls-Royce SMR reactors (which are a derivative of their nuclear sub reactors IIRC) put out just under 500MW.
Edit; Malmesbury has said the power output of the PWR sub reactors is ~ 180MW.
The RR "mini" reactors seem to be following the story of the American reactors for their aircraft carriers. Which after the comedy of the USS Enterprise, took the route of getting the maximum power out of a stretch of the submarine reactor designs, rather than a complete new technology/design.
Incidentally, someone was asking about nuclear subs - the reactors are in the 150 Megawatt range. Which is pretty tiny for power generation. That plus the output of the sub is mechanical work - using the power to drive a steam turbine to drive the propellor. The actual electrical generation capacity would be tiny.
Are the new ones still direct drive, or have they gone for electrical generation -> electric motor like the nuclear powered warships have?
They’re just churning out endless bullshit, the pair of them. The party has gone quite mad. Still nothing substantive about the massive domestic price hikes that are coming, nothing about the obscene profits the energy companies are enjoying. They’re mental.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
Isn't the snag pretty much that having lots of electric when the wind is blowing isn't very valuable, as the spot price is low, and when the spot price is high the wind isn't blowing?
If it was dispatchable, like say Norwegian Hydro generation, it would be an absolute gold mine, but the ability to provide loads of power when everyone else can too isn't going to be terribly lucrative.
The big money to be made in this is in storage, if someone succeeds to cracking it in a way which both scales and isn't too wildly inefficient - Scotland has the potential for a reasonable bit of pump hydro which might help; I think Dinorwic has almost certainly recovered it's costs many times over!
The key advantage might be in what you can do with an excess of electricity. You might provide cheap electricity for data centres, or for electricity-powered steel production.
Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 2h COLUMN: The first European country to suffer a blackout this winter? Don't think about Germany -- the problem is likely to be in France.
Right now 9.22% of all the electricity being generated in the UK is being exported to France:http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
Never seen anything like it. The companies that can use LNG to generate electricity here must be coining it in.
Are France actually needing the energy themselves, or are we exporting it to France in order for it to then be re-exported elsewhere that we're not directly connected to like Germany etc?
I thought France had the highest nuclear baseload in Europe so were most immune to the current crisis, so seems very odd they might be the ones facing blackouts?
I don't know. Now there's a rare confession on here!
Actually gridwatch France indicates that 10% of their production is going on to Germany so it appears that they are re-exporting most of it: http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/
Other way round. 10% is coming from Germany. Some is being sent to Italy, but net France is importing 17.9% of their electricity at the moment.
You're right. That is very weird. They must have a lot of nuclear offline atm.
Current nuclear output is 25GW compared to 40GW last summer. A deficit equal to our wind generation on a very windy day.
I see that the UK is actually sending electricity to Norway at the moment, presumably so they can save their hydropower for the winter.
How much electricity do our nuclear subs generate, and how easy would it be to plug them into the grid?
If the French can't get their nuclear back up I think Europe is in serious trouble over the winter.
The Rolls-Royce SMR reactors (which are a derivative of their nuclear sub reactors IIRC) put out just under 500MW.
Edit; Malmesbury has said the power output of the PWR sub reactors is ~ 180MW.
The RR "mini" reactors seem to be following the story of the American reactors for their aircraft carriers. Which after the comedy of the USS Enterprise, took the route of getting the maximum power out of a stretch of the submarine reactor designs, rather than a complete new technology/design.
Hmm, I'm not so sure because the naval reactors use highly enriched fuel and are only loaded a single time for an operating life of 30-50 years, the SMR design uses lowly enriched fuel which is reloaded on a regular schedule. That is a fundamental difference which requires a lot of changes to the design and operation of the SMR.
Incidentally, someone was asking about nuclear subs - the reactors are in the 150 Megawatt range. Which is pretty tiny for power generation. That plus the output of the sub is mechanical work - using the power to drive a steam turbine to drive the propellor. The actual electrical generation capacity would be tiny.
Are the new ones still direct drive, or have they gone for electrical generation -> electric motor like the nuclear powered warships have?
The Dreadnoughts (which are building now) are turbo-electric, I believe.
Previous attempts at that were limited in performance because of the size of the generators and limitations in electric motor design.
The materials revolution has really shrunk both - you can (just about) pick up the motor for a Tesla....
I do wonder if that’s the price of the first one, or the expected price of the regular production version once they have the line up and running? It’s about 40% cheaper per unit than Sizewell C.
So if that was 1,000 deported in his first year and he stayed as PM for 10 years he would need to deport 512,000 in his last year.....
The definition of a crime and nationality would have to be loosened somewhat. I better warn my Scottish wife about those parking fines as otherwise she will be off.
And that's the problem with this election- Truss's positioning as "Johnson without (a) Johnson" is an easy comfort blanket for a hefty slice of the party. As we're seeing, a lot of Conservatives still don't get why their Boris had to go.
Sunak-Mordaunt would have been messy, but both acknowledged, in different ways, that the status quo was untenable.
Sunak resigned because BoZo was a useless nutter.
Now that Truss is going to win, he should withdraw for the same reason.
I suspect that that is the problem with much of Scotland's potential offshore wind capacity. The North Sea is quite a bit deeper and wilder around our coasts. The reason that the largest offshore windfarm will be on the Dogger Bank is that it is relatively shallow. Scotland has potential to generate considerable wave energy, particularly off the north west coast, but it is proving very difficult to do that economically at the moment. I am sure that this will come eventually though.
Not all the long until floating turbines can operate in deep water, probably, since floating platforms would open up huge areas for development across the globe. A decade perhaps ?
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
Isn't the snag pretty much that having lots of electric when the wind is blowing isn't very valuable, as the spot price is low, and when the spot price is high the wind isn't blowing?
If it was dispatchable, like say Norwegian Hydro generation, it would be an absolute gold mine, but the ability to provide loads of power when everyone else can too isn't going to be terribly lucrative.
The big money to be made in this is in storage, if someone succeeds to cracking it in a way which both scales and isn't too wildly inefficient - Scotland has the potential for a reasonable bit of pump hydro which might help; I think Dinorwic has almost certainly recovered it's costs many times over!
The key advantage might be in what you can do with an excess of electricity. You might provide cheap electricity for data centres, or for electricity-powered steel production.
Electricity for electrolysis of water and storage of energy as hydrogen or used for compressing and storing air as a liquid which can drive turbines when it is decompressed. An energy surplus is no big deal and with the second method it opens the door for net negative as we can tap the liquid CO2 from the liquefied air and put it into long term storage underground in disused mines or oil and gas wells.
#Ukraine: The first video of a British-supplied 🇬🇧 M270B1 multiple rocket launcher in action in Ukraine - also accompanied by a British FV103 Spartan armored personnel carrier, which is apparently used as a command vehicle.
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
Hmmm. A little simplistic imo. Capacity: In *resource* terms perhaps capacity is greater (numbers not to hand). In installed capacity terms - no. On a per-head basis - yes.
I think a cross-Europe market works better, as we have now. Not sure what would happen to the market after Sindy cut itself off - UK pays market prices on interconnectors, not with added subsidies.
And Scotland currently gets a far larger share of renewable subsidies than it's population would merit. Where would this be funded from?
Indy Scotland - not very clear; what would Sindy do with it? For export, there'd either be 10s of billions to invest in new interconnectors, or transmission fees to pay. It would need a serious piece of work to determine.
I suspect that the data adjusts somewhat as costs reduce. How - not sure, but probably enough to change some of the balances.
"Most parts of England have not had drought measures implemented for move [sic] than a decade."
Maybe it's a false memory, but I seem to remember hosepipe bans being very common not too long ago, and happening earlier in the summer than this. Am I imagining it?
Only two by-elections, so not much movement. Good win (defending) for Labour in Derbyshire, not much happening in Colchester, although the LibDems seemed pretty confident in the latter last night on social media, so probably a disappointment for them
#Ukraine: The first video of a British-supplied 🇬🇧 M270B1 multiple rocket launcher in action in Ukraine - also accompanied by a British FV103 Spartan armored personnel carrier, which is apparently used as a command vehicle.
LOL, that desparate to attract anyone who might bring some skills or money.
The West should be offering “Green Card” visas to skilled Russians. Scientists, engineers, industrialists, software developers. Let’s see the country hollowed out of key 21st century skills.
We already do. Look at any university maths department and there will be a couple of Russians.
Only two by-elections, so not much movement. Good win (defending) for Labour in Derbyshire, not much happening in Colchester, although the LibDems seemed pretty confident in the latter last night on social media, so probably a disappointment for them
Can I ask how these numbers are calculated and what they actually mean?
"Most parts of England have not had drought measures implemented for move [sic] than a decade."
Maybe it's a false memory, but I seem to remember hosepipe bans being very common not too long ago, and happening earlier in the summer than this. Am I imagining it?
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
I wonder why a positive aspect of an indy Scotland isn't much discussed on here?
Innocent face etc.
Hmmm. A little simplistic imo. Capacity: In *resource* terms perhaps capacity is greater (numbers not to hand). In installed capacity terms - no. On a per-head basis - yes.
I think a cross-Europe market works better, as we have now. Not sure what would happen to the market after Sindy cut itself off - UK pays market prices on interconnectors, not with added subsidies.
And Scotland currently gets a far larger share of renewable subsidies than it's population would merit. Where would this be funded from?
Indy Scotland - not very clear; what would Sindy do with it? For export, there'd either be 10s of billions to invest in new interconnectors, or transmission fees to pay. It would need a serious piece of work to determine.
I suspect that the data adjusts somewhat as costs reduce. How - not sure, but probably enough to change some of the balances.
@Theuniondivvie I don't understand why the SNP don't make more of it?
People talk about the lack of "positive case for the Union", but the SNP line is usually just complaining about stuff UK Gov is doing, the Tories, Johnson etc.
Let's hear the positive case for independence more. Wind potential is an obvious one.
Only two by-elections, so not much movement. Good win (defending) for Labour in Derbyshire, not much happening in Colchester, although the LibDems seemed pretty confident in the latter last night on social media, so probably a disappointment for them
Tories blamed LD for building houses. Nimbyism pays off.
Russia’s ambassador to Ireland has welcomed the intervention of Sabina Higgins, wife of President Michael D Higgins, who has called for a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine.
Yuriy Filatov warned continued support for Ukraine will only mean more Ukrainian deaths
"Until the world persuades President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and negotiations, the long haul of terrible war will go on. How can there be any winner?"
Truss is currently not popular with the voters she needs to win back
Id say yes and no to that. Shes not popular with those that have moved to Labour but she is with Tory inclined who are currently undecided. So shes not going/likely to pull off a 2019 but she might pull off something in the 2015 to 2017 result area
"Most parts of England have not had drought measures implemented for move [sic] than a decade."
Maybe it's a false memory, but I seem to remember hosepipe bans being very common not too long ago, and happening earlier in the summer than this. Am I imagining it?
So if that was 1,000 deported in his first year and he stayed as PM for 10 years he would need to deport 512,000 in his last year.....
I wonder by what methods he'll encourage an increase and scaling up of crimes in order to be able to have enough people to deport?
Assuming of course that anybody 'official' knows where they are!
And good morning all; bit late this morning but it's been an exciting morning. Had some new furniture delivered which will enable two elderly people to get up from their chairs without struggling!
"Most parts of England have not had drought measures implemented for move [sic] than a decade."
Maybe it's a false memory, but I seem to remember hosepipe bans being very common not too long ago, and happening earlier in the summer than this. Am I imagining it?
There were drought measures in some places in 2018. Northern Ireland was the first on June 29-30 iirc.
Russia’s ambassador to Ireland has welcomed the intervention of Sabina Higgins, wife of President Michael D Higgins, who has called for a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine.
Yuriy Filatov warned continued support for Ukraine will only mean more Ukrainian deaths
"Until the world persuades President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and negotiations, the long haul of terrible war will go on. How can there be any winner?"
Russia’s ambassador to Ireland has welcomed the intervention of Sabina Higgins, wife of President Michael D Higgins, who has called for a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine.
Yuriy Filatov warned continued support for Ukraine will only mean more Ukrainian deaths
"Until the world persuades President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and negotiations, the long haul of terrible war will go on. How can there be any winner?"
One thing about an independent Scotland that isn't much discussed, it's wind power generation capacity is > England on an absolubte; and way way way better on a per head basis. Independent Scotland would be well set energy wise, whereas it would be a big problem for rUK long term.
Isn't the snag pretty much that having lots of electric when the wind is blowing isn't very valuable, as the spot price is low, and when the spot price is high the wind isn't blowing?
If it was dispatchable, like say Norwegian Hydro generation, it would be an absolute gold mine, but the ability to provide loads of power when everyone else can too isn't going to be terribly lucrative.
The big money to be made in this is in storage, if someone succeeds to cracking it in a way which both scales and isn't too wildly inefficient - Scotland has the potential for a reasonable bit of pump hydro which might help; I think Dinorwic has almost certainly recovered it's costs many times over!
The key advantage might be in what you can do with an excess of electricity. You might provide cheap electricity for data centres, or for electricity-powered steel production.
Electricity for electrolysis of water and storage of energy as hydrogen or used for compressing and storing air as a liquid which can drive turbines when it is decompressed. An energy surplus is no big deal and with the second method it opens the door for net negative as we can tap the liquid CO2 from the liquefied air and put it into long term storage underground in disused mines or oil and gas wells.
The thermodynamic loses of electrolysis and compressed air storage are huge. On the lines of throwing the power away and keeping a percentage….
Filling an ex power station site with 1000s of shipping containers of batteries would be cheaper - you’d get 90%+ of the stored power back, for a start.
"Most parts of England have not had drought measures implemented for move [sic] than a decade."
Maybe it's a false memory, but I seem to remember hosepipe bans being very common not too long ago, and happening earlier in the summer than this. Am I imagining it?
I think it was 1976, when there was a hosepipe ban, when we were awakened by strange noises coming from the garden next door. It was shortly after midnight and the man next door was watering his hydrangeas, of which he was very proud, and which were wilting without water
Comments
Sunak-Mordaunt would have been messy, but both acknowledged, in different ways, that the status quo was untenable.
But no reason it shouldn't. It's planned maintenance AIUI. Just very poorly timed in the circumstances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zgwiQ6BoLA&t=530s
We've got some very powerful computers at the MET, UK energy generation ought to be a solvable problem with mostly wind.
The first is the state of the man, physically and mentally. He is having more mishaps in both cases and sounds more incoherent. The attempts to explain this away by saying "he's always been muddled" are increasingly desperate attempts to bat away the obvious.
The second is that there is an increasing language coming from the more pro-Democrat commentators that he needs to step down for the sake of the Democrats and / or to stop Trump. The fact Jill Biden is also starting to come in for more criticism from their own side is probably an indication that the pressure is being stepped up (aka if you don't step down, we will go increasingly after your family). Expect also the NYT and WP to come out with more Hunter Biden stories as well.
My guess is that he will be eased out in the next 9-12 months with Harris taking over but effectively having to promise she will step down for 2024 i.e. we will let you be the first female President and so you can get in the history books but then you can retire.
Even just replacing the existing sites with bigger (and more efficient turbines) in a few years would double output. But you don't need to do that, since you can expand the existing sites hugely and there are many more potential sites.
How many times more generating capability than the current consumption of the entire grid do you want?
https://twitter.com/dpatrikarakos/status/1552906293026988033
'Author Helen Macdonald follows Britain’s greatest river over four seasons, encountering salmon, beavers and the microscopic creatures helping to answer science's biggest questions..'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006gz1
Jenkins is right that the sanctions haven't stopped the flow of money into Russia due to people buying their commodity exports, but they are crippling the wider economy and their military industrial complex. Russia being unable to import electronic components etc due to sanctions is going to have a direct impact upon their war effort regardless of what apologists against sanctions like Jenkins or Cummings may think.
The tidal turbines that are sited well below the surface, out of the wave action, always looked like a better bet to me.
This Reuters article indicates that the problems are unusual, and may not be fixed quickly.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/fixing-edfs-reactors-corrosion-mystery-take-several-years-french-regulator-warns-2022-05-17/
If I were running a utility or a factory, I’d be buying up diesel generators at the moment. Could be very useful indeed over the coming winter.
Although perhaps better last summer than this.
If it was dispatchable, like say Norwegian Hydro generation, it would be an absolute gold mine, but the ability to provide loads of power when everyone else can too isn't going to be terribly lucrative.
The big money to be made in this is in storage, if someone succeeds to cracking it in a way which both scales and isn't too wildly inefficient - Scotland has the potential for a reasonable bit of pump hydro which might help; I think Dinorwic has almost certainly recovered it's costs many times over!
From an Indy perspective, there is no-doubt that Scotland can produce more per capita. But that won't matter if rUK is already self-sufficient.
It would depend on how the market would work. Would Scotland sell the energy to England, and then England to Europe? Could Scotland sell direct via that new artificial island they are going to build in the middle of the North Sea?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ98hGUe6FM&t=1890s
Head to 5 minutes in.
Fully automated luxury communism.
https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1552924229242441729?s=20&t=v5rNfYxwHZOCwMrGQ00D-g
Edit; Malmesbury has said the power output of the PWR sub reactors is ~ 180MW.
As a tool of warfare (which is what they really are) they can be highly effective. Blockades of Germany in both World Wars did real economic harm.
A direct connector from Scotland to any country bordering the North sea wouldn't need artificial islands etc - it is well within the scale of existing undersea power cables.
The West should be offering “Green Card” visas to skilled Russians. Scientists, engineers, industrialists, software developers. Let’s see the country hollowed out of key 21st century skills.
Previous attempts at that were limited in performance because of the size of the generators and limitations in electric motor design.
The materials revolution has really shrunk both - you can (just about) pick up the motor for a Tesla....
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_SMR
I do wonder if that’s the price of the first one, or the expected price of the regular production version once they have the line up and running? It’s about 40% cheaper per unit than Sizewell C.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/29/southern-water-announces-hosepipe-ban-amid-uk-drought-fears
The whole point is to shift building them from being 1 off unique project to something that is (continually) repeatable with few surprises.
Now that Truss is going to win, he should withdraw for the same reason.
A decade perhaps ?
@UAWeapons
#Ukraine: The first video of a British-supplied 🇬🇧 M270B1 multiple rocket launcher in action in Ukraine - also accompanied by a British FV103 Spartan armored personnel carrier, which is apparently used as a command vehicle.
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1552945803039309825
I think a cross-Europe market works better, as we have now. Not sure what would happen to the market after Sindy cut itself off - UK pays market prices on interconnectors, not with added subsidies.
And Scotland currently gets a far larger share of renewable subsidies than it's population would merit. Where would this be funded from?
Indy Scotland - not very clear; what would Sindy do with it? For export, there'd either be 10s of billions to invest in new interconnectors, or transmission fees to pay. It would need a serious piece of work to determine.
I suspect that the data adjusts somewhat as costs reduce. How - not sure, but probably enough to change some of the balances.
Westminster Voting Intention:
LAB: 40% (-1)
CON: 33% (+1)
LDM: 12% (=)
GRN: 6% (=)
SNP; 4% (=)
Via @techneUK, 27-28 Jul.
Changes w/ 20-21 Jul.
Maybe it's a false memory, but I seem to remember hosepipe bans being very common not too long ago, and happening earlier in the summer than this. Am I imagining it?
Truss is currently not popular with the voters she needs to win back
Lab +71
Con +36
LDm +2
Adjusted Seat Value
Lab +1.2
Con +0.6
LDm +0.0
Only two by-elections, so not much movement. Good win (defending) for Labour in Derbyshire, not much happening in Colchester, although the LibDems seemed pretty confident in the latter last night on social media, so probably a disappointment for them
People talk about the lack of "positive case for the Union", but the SNP line is usually just complaining about stuff UK Gov is doing, the Tories, Johnson etc.
Let's hear the positive case for independence more. Wind potential is an obvious one.
Nimbyism pays off.
Yuriy Filatov warned continued support for Ukraine will only mean more Ukrainian deaths
https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2022/07/29/russian-ambassador-praises-sabina-higgins-letter-calling-for-negotiated-settlement-in-ukraine/
This was the letter:
"Until the world persuades President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and negotiations, the long haul of terrible war will go on. How can there be any winner?"
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2022/07/27/war-in-ukraine-a-moment-of-moral-choice/
So shes not going/likely to pull off a 2019 but she might pull off something in the 2015 to 2017 result area
10 Jul 2018
After countless days of sunshine and high temperatures, a hosepipe ban has come into force across parts of the country.
And good morning all; bit late this morning but it's been an exciting morning. Had some new furniture delivered which will enable two elderly people to get up from their chairs without struggling!
And in parts of England from mid-late-July:
https://www.countryliving.com/uk/homes-interiors/gardens/a22016362/hosepipe-ban-2018-uk-summer-heatwave-where-affected/
So we have a better start as we are month further on. Drought predictions are currently mainly for August.
Betfair next prime minister
1.12 Liz Truss 89%
9.6 Rishi Sunak 10%
Next Conservative leader
1.11 Liz Truss 90%
10 Rishi Sunak 10%
Filling an ex power station site with 1000s of shipping containers of batteries would be cheaper - you’d get 90%+ of the stored power back, for a start.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11053899/75-Democrats-want-Biden-run-president-2024.html
Could be mid term blues I guess, but food for thought for those wanting to bet on Biden running.