tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post1092159254127330828..comments2024-03-28T22:45:51.014+00:00Comments on Capitalists@Work: Energy Policy: Omnibus PostCityUnslickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929544047783163175noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-5445928816864215562013-10-04T11:02:29.264+01:002013-10-04T11:02:29.264+01:00Interesting article , I'm going to spend mor...Interesting article , I'm going to spend more time learning about this topicself storage websiteshttp://webstor.com.au/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-64826491993147042582013-10-03T15:35:11.255+01:002013-10-03T15:35:11.255+01:00Nick, ta, replied to comment to the effect that we...Nick, ta, replied to comment to the effect that we had gone from Liverpool by '38 and glad of it.Demetriushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17198549581667363991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-56276328048184363252013-10-03T10:22:50.467+01:002013-10-03T10:22:50.467+01:00@ND -we don't have a free maket in energy anyw...@ND -we don't have a free maket in energy anyway, it is just a govt (mis)directed shambles. I merely suggest we do it properly if that is the route this country wants to take. Sebastian Weetabixnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-28054474299260406172013-10-02T23:18:13.905+01:002013-10-02T23:18:13.905+01:00Thanks, Andrew !
Demetrius - and I have dropped b...Thanks, <b>Andrew</b> !<br /><br /><b>Demetrius</b> - and I have dropped by <i>chez vous</i> with a comment<br /><br /><b>SW</b> - you are not alone in your hankering, but I am not with you ! robust, yes - but I think it still is: and it was definitely gold-plated, to a grotesque degree<br /><br />most of my first-hand detailed stories of outrageous gold-plating relate to British Gas (as was, in monopoly days) but I have no doubt whatever the CEGB was just as bad <br /><br />what engineers get up to, armed with a monopoly over something for which everyone will pay any price, is disgraceful (actually, what anyone gets up to in that position is bad...)<br /><br />that is a truly fascinating exercise you've conducted, <b>DJK</b> - would you care to elaborate for us ?Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-51798493939042618732013-10-02T20:54:50.813+01:002013-10-02T20:54:50.813+01:00> civilisation is energy-intensive
Indeed. Fo...> civilisation is energy-intensive<br /><br />Indeed. For my own amusement I calculated the per capita energy usage of GB in 1900 (based on domestic coal consumption) and compared it to the most recent figure I could Google. 1900 and 2006 energy usage was virtually identical, cause that's just what it takes to live a civilised existence in these damp, crowded islands.DJKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-34039509653380864172013-10-02T19:23:29.211+01:002013-10-02T19:23:29.211+01:00Hmm. Personally I hanker for the CEGB days, when w...Hmm. Personally I hanker for the CEGB days, when we had an excellent robust grid with plenty of reserve capacity. Nowadays I am not at all sure we will be able to cope with a truly difficult 1947 or 1963 winter; there isn't enough slack in the system. <br /><br />Of course back then it was all run by engineers, not fuckwits with PPE degrees who weave yurts out of their own pubic hair. Sebastian Weetabixnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-63236288258552483272013-10-02T16:44:06.302+01:002013-10-02T16:44:06.302+01:00Have just blogged today, Wednesday, about Miliband...Have just blogged today, Wednesday, about Miliband's dad, it's where he gets his bonkers from.Demetriushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17198549581667363991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-60330395246930775642013-10-02T16:41:21.790+01:002013-10-02T16:41:21.790+01:00One small issue:
"In other words, there is n...One small issue:<br /><br />"In other words, there is no general consensus or shared understanding on some pretty basic energy market concepts. "<br /><br />>><br /><br />"In other words, there is no general consensus or shared understanding on some pretty basic market concepts. "<br /><br />There. Fixed it for you.andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07311993288675111834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-26897808034069975992013-10-02T15:13:55.658+01:002013-10-02T15:13:55.658+01:00BE - it doesn't matter so much when they made ...<b>BE</b> - it doesn't matter so much when they made sure the few qualified ones get the jobs (see my <a href="http://www.cityunslicker.co.uk/2008/09/brown-and-energy-companies-he-hasnt.html" rel="nofollow">old story about Eggar</a>)<br /><br />but the modern career politico is generally useless (there was a wonderful cartoon in the <i>Graun</i> a while ago starring Gove, who was begging to be allowed to fly a fighter-plane to save the nation against extra-terrestrials, based on the fact that he had strong opinions on aliens and once wrote leader-articles on defence)<br /><br />the only careerist I've met who was really good was, as the blog suggests, *ahem*, Mandy<br /><br />(but that in no way redeems his manifold sins and wickedness ...)<br /><br /><b>Timbo</b> - glad you got something from it !<br /><br />the subject of the extent to which localism / self-sufficiency is the right answer, is one that I used to debate endlessly here with our old friend Sackerson (we now do it over a pint ...)<br /><br />I am 100% with you on encouraging efficiency & eliminating needless waste: but remember Loverlock's wise words - <i><b>civilisation is energy-intensive</b></i>, and some of what can be described as waste by a swampy-green who doesn't mind living in a cave, could also be described as 21st century civilisation by others<br /><br />accurate (and spiky !) price signals have an important role to play in squaring this circle via market mechanisms<br /><br />and I really believe in free trade, which 99% of the time is definitely the most efficient way of allocating scarce resources (despite what Budgie says about johhny foreigner being untrustworthy when it comes to trade at critical moments) <br /><br />[old story: the USA is short oil and has a surplus of food, so it very wastefully turns corn into fuel; the Saudis are long oil and short food, so they very wastefully turn oil into food (via desalination); and the better answer is ...]<br /><br />but I still don't have an answer on 'what is the optimal degree of self-sufficiency'<br /><br />it's a bit like 'what is the optimal height for a dyke in Holland' - do you build for the 50-year wave, or the 100-year wave ? because the extra cost of the bigger dyke is very great indeed<br />Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-27240029708984938522013-10-02T14:53:15.894+01:002013-10-02T14:53:15.894+01:00Hi ND, Well I've read it 3 times and think I a...Hi ND, Well I've read it 3 times and think I am getting the gist of marketeers who need a liquid market, generators likewise and the vertically integrated who don't because they generate their own or 75% of it and so visit the market less often... and decrease the liquidity because they withhold their capacity for their own obligations. Something that I now understand better - thank you:)<br /><br />As for Ed Millivolt well yes it just a putting off of the inevitable rises that would come later and in a surge that would probably blow a few fuses! As an aside I'm wondering what happened to Camerohms "cheapest tariff for all". Seems to have lost its power source somewhere. <br /><br />But I think BQ and I were discussing, or differing, on the fundamentals of the oil-energy age and if not its end, then the obvious effects on food of say $200 and above oil. We all know what happened last time it was $140. So maybe we are too reliant on it. We should be thinking and planning now for ways of growing, travelling etc without it or with a good deal less of it. That's where localism comes in. <br /><br />Also WHY do we expect continuous always available electricity? probably for TVs, computers and phones. Lights are nice too! But the power requirements of all the foregoing are reducing quite quickly (Flat screen TVs, LED lights, processor/circuitry miniaturisation), leaving us really with the heavy lifting of space heating, hot water, washing machines, cooking, hoovers etc. These things are not being made more efficient very quickly. But one thing they do have is a choice of <i>when</i> to use them. Storing hot water for instance is pretty much the same as storing the power to heat it, hence the attraction of solar (flat plate) hot water rather than PV. If every one had just that, around 30% of water heating power (gas or lecky) would be saved.<br /><br />People will have to become more efficient in their use of power. It sounds like my parents from the 60s I know, but leaving 60 watt light bulbs on in empty rooms and similar waste must become a thing of the past.Timbo614https://www.blogger.com/profile/14671168026195402267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-8239811313674441902013-10-02T14:39:15.653+01:002013-10-02T14:39:15.653+01:00Thanks for the namecheck :-))
I find all this fas...Thanks for the namecheck :-))<br /><br />I find all this fascinating. I am not entirely sure why - I have never actually worked in the energy industry. I think it may have been because I was born into a strongly Thatcherite home and invested some pocketmoney in the National Power/PowerGen privatisation. I must have been about 12...<br /><br />Anyway then I followed things in the business sections and remember the discussions about whether vertical integration should be allowed. <br /><br />I think in retrospect not, and one of MiliE's points was that he would row back on it which I found ironic for the reasons you mention and vaguely encouraging. Vertical integration should not be a problem for competition in a market where a newcomer can enter relatively easily. Can someone quickly build a new power station if returns get perky? If bloody only!<br /><br />I want to ask a deeper question. Why do administrations end up with so few members who understand the very basics of business and competition? <br />Blue Eyesnoreply@blogger.com