We both know this is only the last few months and it will likely change when one station is switched off. France has a very large power generation and will be leading the energy market while most other countries stop with nuclear energy. Renewables are not enough to support their energy needs so in fact a black scenario awaits if they won't buy energy from France. It is all very clever marketing. Most countries have their citizens paying for green energy while most of it comes from France and is generated nuclear 
The reluctance to nuclear energy is understandable but when everyone switches off nuclear stations there will be one left that will be the only one being able to deliver the large demand for energy and be king of the hill.
A bit more on topic: recently I read here somewhere that a french member had gotten a smart meter that measured kVAh instead of kWh.
The reluctance to nuclear energy is understandable but when everyone switches off nuclear stations there will be one left that will be the only one being able to deliver the large demand for energy and be king of the hill.A bit more on topic: recently I read here somewhere that a french member had gotten a smart meter that measured kVAh instead of kWh.
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Yeah nuclear is the best for now but when things go wrong they go often very wrong. Here coal stations are still being built and I think they are not the right alternative. Wind and solar are by far not enough to cope with demand.
For our situation lowering export and making more use of our own natural gas seems logic but not in the eyes of politicians. If we were really thinking green there would be more than just 5 petrol stations with natural gas delivery.
For our situation lowering export and making more use of our own natural gas seems logic but not in the eyes of politicians. If we were really thinking green there would be more than just 5 petrol stations with natural gas delivery.
I agree.
The variable supply from wind and solar and tidal cannot be relied on for reliable supply when we demand it.
We need base load generation. That could come from pumped storage via Hydro schemes, or from fossil fuel burning, or from nuclear.
Fossil fuel burning is probably the cheapest, next is probably nuclear, pumped storage is very inefficient and as a result of generating and then storing becomes very expensive, but it can be clean.
Wind, solar & tidal are relatively clean generators, but most commentators forget about the pollution in manufacturing.
I fear that the press have ruined our nuclear reputation and as a result we are now having to pay very dearly to buy in nuclear from France and China.
Britain was at the forefront of generating relatively clean and cheap nuclear electricity, once we got past the "bomb making" Magnox. It was the decades of clean up after generation had stopped that moved nuclear from the cheapest electricity to the middle ground.
It is my belief that the world cannot meet it enegy requirement without a high proportion of relatively clean nuclear.
Coal and oil have a small content of nuclear (isotopes with long lifetimes) and all that goes up the chimney to be deposited around the world from what has become our contaminated atmosphere. (I don't know about natural gas, but it may contain similar quantities of unstable isotopes).
Prior to bringing all that fossil fuel to the surface, those isotopes were trapped below ground where they were relatively harmless.
Have we seen data for what proportion of illnesses are caused by fossil fuel burning and what is from nuclear power generation?
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Simple, but wrong. Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain (the island) but it is part of the United Kingdom (the political entity). Northern Ireland is part of Ireland (the island) but not the Republic of Ireland (the political entity).charly666 said:
If it is any consolation to foreigners, we often get it wrong too!
The peculiar thing about our utilities is that we got rid of our government-owned ones, only to have major players in our market for energy and water being French government-owned utilities.
Yes, I agree that we need more nuclear. A well-run nuke deposits less radiactivity around it than a coal-fired station. It probably requires fewer deaths among miners too. I would stop building windmills, as you need other generation as backup for them when the wind is too weak or too strong.
If you guys yourselves can not grasp it it is not that surprising we just call it England, whatever the story is.
Sad to hear that the major players in the energy (and even more disturbing ) water market of England are also foreign. A large foreign company that owns a very large market share in extremely sugared bubbled waters now is buying water companies globally. Throw tap water in bottles and keep some kind of fruit above the bottle and give it a fancy name and earn millions. Needless to say I think energy, natural gas and tap water should be high quality, reliable and government run (by the government of that specific country) and certainly not privately or foreign owned. This switch has been proven te be a big mistake as expensive maintenance is delayed till the company is sold back to the government again.
It feels a bit like selling your kitchen to the neighbour and then discover the food that was promised to be cheaper is more expensive and it tastes different. When the neighbour replaces the stove for a dirty coal fired one you just have to accept. When he lays off your wife (the waiter) you can not do a thing and you have to support your wife financially. When the kitchen needs renovating the neighbour likes to sell your worn out kitchen back to you at a nice profit.
Sad to hear that the major players in the energy (and even more disturbing ) water market of England are also foreign. A large foreign company that owns a very large market share in extremely sugared bubbled waters now is buying water companies globally. Throw tap water in bottles and keep some kind of fruit above the bottle and give it a fancy name and earn millions. Needless to say I think energy, natural gas and tap water should be high quality, reliable and government run (by the government of that specific country) and certainly not privately or foreign owned. This switch has been proven te be a big mistake as expensive maintenance is delayed till the company is sold back to the government again.
It feels a bit like selling your kitchen to the neighbour and then discover the food that was promised to be cheaper is more expensive and it tastes different. When the neighbour replaces the stove for a dirty coal fired one you just have to accept. When he lays off your wife (the waiter) you can not do a thing and you have to support your wife financially. When the kitchen needs renovating the neighbour likes to sell your worn out kitchen back to you at a nice profit.
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DF96: Don;t forget we just flogged the national grid off to Asia.
G. B. National Grid status (with thanks to Mooly who showed me this link) you can see currently we are 38% gas. It's a miracle the grid actually holds together!
G. B. National Grid status (with thanks to Mooly who showed me this link) you can see currently we are 38% gas. It's a miracle the grid actually holds together!
Well in the pre-Brexit world view EDF are not 'foreign' as we are one big happy, over-legislated family
....aren't we? 
I would add public transport to the utilities.
As it happens the UK largest public transport company, Arriva, is owned by Deutsche Bahn. UK taxpayers and commuters are effectively subsidising their german counterparts!
Yes, very good. Public transport also counts just like telecom, health care and broadcasting. Same here. Any foreign company (often with very sexy sounding cover names) can join in and when they are cheapest they are chosen. This means new but cheap and more often failing buses every few years and heaps of discarded buses that are shipped to poor countries. All a waste. Non profitable areas are cut off which is very backward for a modern European country. Wages are of course harmonised. This, my fellow DIYers, is the Anglosaxon model in its best shape. Only money counts. Not pointing a finger as we choose this system over our own. We pay the price ourselves.
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