Energy Matters

The mainstream media have been remarkably slow in understanding just how serious the Grangemouth strike could become and until today it has been treating the story simply as one of queues at filling stations.  It’s not.  The Oil Drum Blog has been reporting for several days that closing the refinery could close the Forties pipeline and this is now being confirmed by the BBC.

 

This will cost the UK around 700,000 bpd lost oil production and 70 million cubic meters per day of gas which is about 25% of our consumption.  Further, because the network of pipelines and refineries is all so interconnected it is even possible that in time other gas supplies could be affected.  Not surprisingly, gas prices have risen sharply (around +10% yesterday) and with gas accounting for around 40% of electricity consumers can expect further increases in both gas and electricity prices before long.

 

Successive Governments have bunked off ensuring that the UK has adequate gas storage capacity preferring instead to pretend that gas in situ under the sea counted—a strategy that is looking pretty foolish right now.  Moreover at this time of year stocks are seasonally run down.  There may be as little as 6 days reserves in the system before interruptible industrial users and eventually power stations have to start closing.  

 

When will this useless Government get round to developing a coherent energy strategy?

 

Plastic, not fantastic

Normally driving through England in the spring is a delight with trees and hedgerows bursting into the delicate greens of new growth soon to be followed by the blossom of the early-flowering species.  But this year has been different—or at least I noticed it as different.

 

Plastic has taken over.  Even in deeply rural North Yorkshire the trees and hedges are festooned with the wretched stuff and the verges are a sea of abandoned crisp packets, cans and bottles.  More populous areas are even worse.  I stopped at one lay-by on the A1 in the East Midlands which can only be described as disgusting.  There was a small litter bin but it had clearly been full a long time and there was more rubbish round it than in it.

 

Presumably litter works like graffiti; ignore it and it becomes the norm dragging the whole area down into a slum.  Is that really what we want for England’s formerly green and pleasant land?  Will the tourist industry soon have to advertise “Visit our slummy Country”?

 

Coincidentally (or perhaps not) CPRE has just started a ‘Stop the Drop’ campaign.  Apparently the amount of litter has increased by 500% since the sixties and is 70% food-related; the general level has dropped from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘unsatisfactory’ over the last 12 months by the Government’s own measure and litter now costs over £500 million pa to clean up (not including public parks).  It is one of the public’s top concerns as evidenced by opinion polls and letters to councillors and MPs.

 

Picking the stuff up after the event is sadly necessary, but hardly sufficient.  Is it time to legislate for a (say) 10p deposit on convenience and take-away food and drink packaging (yes, including crisp packets) unless it is rapidly biodegradable?  And of course bring in that plastic bag tax the Government can’t quite seem to get round to.