The Dormouse That Roared

Reading about the electricity generation in Germany for 2018 of 542TWh got us thinking about how that compares with the UK, and the rest of the world, as it all relates to how much resource we are using and the load on the world. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_Kingdom : For 2014 (and we will have to find some later data): electricity generation for the UK was 335.0 TWh total energy used from all sources was 2,249 TWh (equivalent to 193.4 million tonnes of oil, or 1381 million barrels of oil) total energy used per capita was 34.82 MWh (3 tonnes of oil equivalent) electricity demand was 34.42 GW on average, and if we multiply that by the number of hours in a year (365.25*24=8766) we get 301.7 TWh Conversion rates: 1 tonne of oil = 7.143 barrels of oil 1 barrel of oil = 0.14 tonne of oil

This is one of many topics that would not have been on the list of things to find out about before being prompted by climate breakdown. https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4549 The first part of this audio and transcript from 2016 meant a quick foray into the world of carbon-14 and carbon-12. When cosmic particles like protons, alpha particles, etc enter the earth's atmosphere, they occasionally collide with atoms to produce neutrons that can then collide with nitrogen-14 atoms (78% of atmosphere) to produce carbon-14 atoms, which are one of the isotopes of carbon. Carbon-14 atoms have 6 protons and 8 neutrons as opposed to carbon-12 atoms which have 6 protons and 6 neutrons. Carbon-14 atoms are radioactive, with a half-life of about 5730 years. Their rate of creation varies over time, but can be calibrated using fossil tree rings, stalactites, stalagmites, etc. The ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 atoms can be measured, and with calibration, can be used to say how old an organi...

This is a holding text at the moment. Hopefully more facts will arrive soon. As far as we can tell, there are no feedback signals from the National Grid about reducing demand or delaying demand in order to reduce demand in the long term or avoid having to increase carbon intensity by firing up a gas plant or coal plant or oil plant to satisfy demand. Some website provide a red amber green signal for when carbon intensity is high so that consumers might make decisions about switching appliances on later, but frankly this is not going to be enough. What is really needed is a strong feedback system direct from the National Grid that gives feedback on carbon intensity forecasting e.g. at 5pm the news that, between 8-10pm this evening we will be switching on fossil fuel electricity generation unless your demand reduces by 10% or whatever. Here are two examples of third party feedback. Although the ecotricity one looks fancier, we think the second one is a better signal, RED, g...

For us, the journey of discovery into the world of fossil fuels started with coal. This is what happens when you realise that climate breakdown is real, and you have to get involved. You have to start somewhere. So the first question about natural gas is why is it called natural? Natural gas is a fossil fuel which contains methane and other substances. Methane is involved in multiple ways: it is burned as part of natural gas to make electricity with CO2 and other greenhouse gases as by products there has been an increase in the use of natural gas to power electricity generation as way to transition from coal (so from the worst fossil fuel to a less worse fossil fuel) it is stored in permafrost which is being released with global warming, and is one of the potential tipping points https://www.sciencealert.com/the-arctic-permafrost-is-melting-strange-thermokarst-lakes-climate-change-abrupt-melting methane in the atmosphere is a short lived but very powerful greenhouse gas met...

From https://www.worldcoal.com/power/23112015/uk-move-away-from-coal-is-wishful-thinking-3193/

This is part of the German coal story. It's a story of surface #greenwash in which many words of hope and ambition are expressed at the political level. Only when the layers are peeled back, much like the open cast mining for brown lignite coal, does the truth start to be revealed. The story of the protest can be found here: https://hambachforest.org/ This story is what got us thinking about how we perceive messages and pass them on, because news also emerged about the last deep coal mine in Germany being closed down. We have had a deep reluctance to pass on messages of good news because we don't want to make people think it's all going well and they can relax. Here's a perfect example. It's probably economics being played out, rather than the efforts to save the planet from an existential crisis. Politicians are very adept at bending their words to meet the needs of audiences with multiple, different expectations, and in this case there are great opportu...

Whilst searching for details of UK imports of coal, this came to light, on the website of the, up to now, completely unknown, The Association of Coal Importers and Producers . The members of this organisation are: Associated British Ports Banks Group Celtic Energy Drax Power Limited GB Railfreight Hargreaves Services Jera Trading Merthyr (South Wales) Oxbow Coal Ltd Uniper Global Commodities SE Here are desmog in 2016, throwing some light on lobbying by coalimp and the Carbon Price Floor: https://www.desmog.co.uk/2016/08/22/emails-reveal-uk-coal-industry-s-urgent-lobbying-coal-use-falls-and-solar-power-soars