Whilst we may feel the impact of rising energy prices more directly when we are heating and lighting our homes, there is a much more insidious impact of the rising cost of energy on every aspect of our lives from food production to transport to producing finished goods and the resultant increased cost of living/inflation........that will create real challenges ahead for many people on the bread line.
We have green activists attacking fossil fuel energy companies who are now shying away from oil and gas exploration and opening up new fields, we can expect a very serious energy crisis before too long. The UK will increasingly have to import more gas as the North Sea reserves are depleted and no new fields opened . An absolute perfect storm is in the offing and its impact will most likely fundamentally and irrevocably create a new widespread class of energy poverty in the UK.
I seriously doubt that renewables will rise to the challenge of running our economy and homes in a controlled and balanced way as fossil fuel availability (price point) diminishes over time. In fact, the Government may have to step in an undertake new UK oil and gas field exploration to ensure continuity of supply whilst the transition to renewable energy moves forward. We have neither the resources or the infrastructure to convert our housing stock, industrial base and economy (in the short term) to renewables without experiencing considerable pain in the process.
Even countries like Norway that have massive fossil fuel reserves, hydro electricity generation and a state fund/reserve worth maybe £1m per head of population, is unable to avoid rising electricity costs within its economy and to the accompanying dismay of its population. All my Norwegian friends talk about the rising cost of electricity and its lack of reliability of supply when water levels are low.
I'm reading more reports of the increased cost of running heat pumps....another not quite as well thought through solution.
Last edited by JohnHarris; 14/02/22 10:34 AM.
