Energy

We all know the old puzzle about which came first, the chicken or the egg.  Well, this could be a real conundrum if you were thinking about poultry-related food production.  Would you get some eggs in order to produce chickens? Or would you get chickens in order to produce eggs? …

Over the weekend Npower announced that it was shedding 2,500 jobs in the UK after posting a £48 million loss for the first nine months of last year.  Yesterday E.On posted a 7 million euro loss.  And there are signs that the other four big energy suppliers – EDF, SSE, …

For most of us, petrol and diesel at less than £1.00 per litre can only be a good thing.  Not only are we spending less on our personal travel, but the transportation cost of the goods that we buy has been falling too.  But economists and politicians have breathed a …

A report from the parliamentary energy and climate change committee claims that the dramatic shift in UK energy policy since the Tories were elected last year has cost UK energy consumers an additional £3.14bn in interest payments on investment. According to committee chair Angus MacNeil MP: “Billions of pounds of …

Following the National Grid announcement that Britain faces an energy deficit next winter, the government have brought forward the capacity auction scheduled for January 2017.  The capacity auction process had been under review, with a public consultation not due to end until April 2016. The announcement comes on the back …

We know that electric cars are good for the environment.  And with improvements in efficiency, the latest generation of electric cars can provide a range of 200-300 miles… more than enough for almost all of our journeys.  With battery technology improving, electric car sales are starting to take off. Since …

With no end to the global oil glut and the consequent price slump, US fracking companies are turning to research and development to provide a way out (at least one that doesn’t include mass bankruptcies) according to Reuters. When oil prices rose above $100 a barrel following the 2008 crash, …

With the world already oversupplied, and with oil prices well below most countries’ break-even price, Iran has added to the misery by promising to add another million barrels per day to the glut. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia explained that: “We do not …

While much of the public concern about hydraulic fracturing has been with the toxic chemicals deployed and the potential for increased seismic activity, less attention has been given to the impact of increased transport. Transport problems associated with fracking are likely to be a particular problem in the UK, where …

For the past three years, National Grid has been warning that the UK’s energy generation margin has been extremely tight.  With each passing year, the risk of the lights going out has been growing.  This winter (2015/16) saw the margin between what we generate and what we consume fall to …