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Post by John on Mar 21, 2014 11:38:38 GMT -5
Looks like it's time to nationalize the coal industry again, at least what bit there is, Putin is liable to shut the natural gas off and stop exporting coal to the UK. The UK is at the mercy of foreign energy... Might be a future for former coal miners again...Damn, most would be in their fifties now, but at least they could train a younger generation to be miners..
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Post by tygwyn on Mar 21, 2014 12:17:10 GMT -5
If the UK follows Obama with sanctions i reckon Putin will turn the tap off,
And to be honest,who can blame him.
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Post by andyexplorer on Mar 21, 2014 12:31:42 GMT -5
I posted a similar item elsewhere and was told we that is the UK do not rely on much Russian gas , But mainland Europe do , with Germany taking 35% of their gas from Russia i was told most of ours comes from the far east in liquid form as for the EU sanctions they are a total waste of time What about this idea "Gasification ? It involves setting fire to the coal reserves and drawing off "Syngas" The Coal Authority has granted two licenses according to last nights news www.westkirby.org/underground-coal-gasification-coming-to-west-kirby/One for under the Dee estuary and the other under the Severn estuary (i think) All looks pretty dangerous to me IMO Governments of any colour will do anything and everything not to re introduce deep mined coal extraction
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Post by tygwyn on Mar 21, 2014 13:11:58 GMT -5
Andy, The UK has gas pipelines under the channel from Europe also under the North sea from Norway,and the liquid gas pipeline from Pembrokeshire to Gloucestershire which last winter was to expensive that the electricity generators choose to use cheap coal.
We import a lot of coal from Russia.
Gasification has been proposed for Swansea and Carmarthen bays and the Loughor estuary,but nothing has come of it as yet, The Severn estuary project was banded about a while back,but then there was planning for a large off shore windfarm by one of the German companies,but they have since pulled out,so maybe the reason Gasification is back on the table.
I agree with you about no deep coal mining by any of our governments,it would take something like Putin turning off the Gas to wake the bloody lot of them up.
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Post by andyexplorer on Mar 21, 2014 15:27:40 GMT -5
There was a piece on BBC (north west) last night about the Coal Authority granting two licenses for those projects the Loughor @ Dee Estuaries and all the hoo har as the Dee estuary (dont know about the other one )is a big nature reserve/ wild life sanctuary and the impact on it it was accopanied by a really good old bit of footage of coal mining in that area Some good charts here , we dont seem to use any Russian gas but our use of Russian coal is rising The coal graph is quite pitiful really www.carbonbrief.org
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Post by tygwyn on Mar 21, 2014 15:38:41 GMT -5
Carbonbrief link not working Andy,404 not found comes up.
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Post by Wheldale on Mar 21, 2014 15:54:05 GMT -5
The problem we face (what I think) is from the environmental groups. Fracking, Coal bed methane, Underground Coal Gasification, are all means of helping us secure our energy needs. The environmental groups have a lot of power to stop these from happening. I was reading recently about friends of the earth, they were giving out flyers recently at a proposed fracking site, they were scaremongering, the flyers were full of rubbish, if this site is fracked you will turn blue and your toes will drop off etc. At the enquiry about the proposed site friends of the earth were forced to admit that there were mis-informing people about potential fracking problems.
I've read also that the Americans want to build a huge gas export terminal on the east coast. Its perfect for exporting gas to Europe but the environmental groups are kicking off about the effects of climate change from the use of gas. The export terminal is being delayed.
We could open up some old mines in the UK. Selby has 6 unfilled shafts that we could use, I think trentham was another colliery were the shafts were not filled. The latest thermally efficient coal power stations are very clean and so efficient that CO2 output is reduced even moor. The trouble is environmentalists will not accept the use of coal. In 2009 E-on proposed to build a new coal power station in London, Friends of the Earth kicked up a fuss so the project was stopped.
The issues with Russia/Ukraine should be raising concerns with the energy supply issues but I think our governments will dither about too much until its too late, more and more coal plants are closing, gas prices are going up. I think the lights will go out.
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Post by andyexplorer on Mar 21, 2014 16:26:28 GMT -5
Carbonbrief link not working Andy,404 not found comes up. I'll try again www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/04/decc-energy-statistics,-march-2013/ The only way i can access it is go to carbonbrief.org then put in the search box "Gas from Norway Coal from Russia" it works i have just tried it (it says "unavailable" but if you click on it it works )
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Post by tygwyn on Mar 21, 2014 17:29:23 GMT -5
Thanks Andy, Must be something wrong with my PC,i went in the back door, Very interesting website,interesting article about the UK and the EU drawing up plans to wean off Russian gas,with plans to import gas from the US and Iraq.
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Post by colly0410 on Mar 21, 2014 18:33:36 GMT -5
I wonder if the eco lot & green-peace will be blamed if/when the lights go out & we all go cold? Bet the energy companies will get the flak. Agree the un-elected eco lot & green-peace wield too much power..
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Post by andyexplorer on Mar 22, 2014 2:15:19 GMT -5
Well i for one wont be going cold , it will just mean the local park will have a few less trees LoL and as for the lights going out , i have enough Oldham head sets and safety lamps to light a small town That should pee off the greens , when there's no trees left to hug:D
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Post by tygwyn on Mar 22, 2014 5:25:14 GMT -5
Will they be solar charged Andy when the lights go out?
I`ve still got a drum of carbide in the shed from the 50`s when my Father still used carbide lamps underground,wish i`d kept the lamps now.
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Post by John on Mar 22, 2014 5:58:07 GMT -5
Will they be solar charged Andy when the lights go out? I`ve still got a drum of carbide in the shed from the 50`s when my Father still used carbide lamps underground,wish i`d kept the lamps now. We used to make carbide bombs when I was a kid and toss them in the River Trent...LOL I'm going solar and wind, not because of the possible shortage of electricity caused by the first black President declaring war on the US coal industry, but because electricity prices could go through the roof in the next few years. Almost a week without power in mid winter taught me how vulnerable we really are, I bought a new 16Kw PTO generator after that, the diesel tractor can be the stand by power source. Nice and stable power should we need it in an emergency. The solar/wind will consist of 16 high power solar module supply a pulse charge controller charging 5 banks of four large batteries. (24 volts) Already installed in the battery house, together with two 4Kw pure sine wave inverters. I have one "double" wind turbine capable of 1.5Kw in a stiff wind and one 800 watt turbine. My water is well water, (550 foot borehole) with 1.5HP pump at 500 feet...This is my only source of water other than catching rainwater. Nearest town is 10 miles away, more like a large village with less than 1000 population, nearest large town is 60 miles away. We love rural living, I have a large veggie garden, which will be getting turned over soon and planted for this years food. Heating is via wood from wood I either cut or the wife brings home, I love on 80 acres with something like 25 acres under wood. No coal that I'm aware of under our feet, but hundreds of feet of limestone..The only coal I know of in Missouri is up in the north west of the state. Pity we don't have any, or I'd be hewing some if it wasn't too deep. Yes mineral rights down to the centre of the earth belong to us. But back on rails, could look very hard for Europe and the UK if Putin goes his own way. I remember when Britain had a fuel policy that didn't rely 100% on foreign sources, far better for national security.
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Post by andyexplorer on Mar 22, 2014 19:32:53 GMT -5
Will they be solar charged Andy when the lights go out? I`ve still got a drum of carbide in the shed from the 50`s when my Father still used carbide lamps underground,wish i`d kept the lamps now. no but assuming we still have petrol they can be charged with a generator
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