Britain's future power shortage could spill over on Ireland

[wombat]

Unfortunately, development of the Canadian Tarsands will have minimal effect on Irish energy costs. As I see it, we are stuck with windpower and the SoI proposal is an attempt to make it work. I am sceptical about their claims but their proposal is a huge improvement on the current plans for one off windmills built by the people who brought us the property bubble.

[Civic_critic2]

The point I was making is that the Irish people appear to have no say in how are natural resources are used /abused at EU level or indeed government level: the EU's disastrous fisheries policy being a case in point

Fair enough. Printed solar panels amongst other things are likely going to kick all this talk about energy shortages to touch over the next 20 years anyway.

[feargach]

We'll see how the compressed-air energy storage people do in Iowa.

As far as I can see, there's nothing wrong with using windmills to generate electricity. Use the electricity to compress air, and have a Compressed-air energy storage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia system

[wombat]

We'll see how the compressed-air energy storage people do in Iowa.

As far as I can see, there's nothing wrong with using windmills to generate electricity. Use the electricity to compress air, and have a Compressed-air energy storage

Compressing air requires energy, not all of which can be recovered when its expanded, I doubt it will be a practicable way to store energy.

[patslatt]

Pie in the sky? Don't worry - Nuclear's buggered. No private firm will invest in it.

Government owned utilities may take up the slack. India just announced billions for it.

[patslatt]

Alarmist nonsense. The world is awash with oil and gas as evidenced by the collapse in price of both(particualry in gas). The price of oil is being kept artificially high by speculators and should be under $50(according to an expert on Bloomberg - indeed he said there could be a "devastating" glut with prices collapsing to $20 depending what happens with demand in the US over the next year, and most projections are for a continued increase in already overflowing stockpiles as demand remains extremely sluggish).

New oil/gas pipelines like the Baltic interconnector and the Nambucco pipeline will bypass trouble spots and allow European consumers access to the vast gas/oil fields of the Caspian region as well as Siberia. There are also plans to pipe majour finds in North Africa directly into Europe. In any case it looks like Britain at least is going "nuclear"

You will be very rich soon from your short seller positions in oil futures! But maybe the market is looking ahead at the unexpected deterioration in production in Iran,Nigeria and Venezuela.

[patslatt]

I stand corrected. They've been treating the Irish sea like a chemical and radioactive toilet for more than a century and it has me quick to point the finger.

Incidentally, parts of WW1 and WW2 chemical weapons wash up on Antrim coasts on a daily basis as a result of the Beauford Dyke between Antrim and Scotland.

What has me worried is a future venture between BNFL and the ESB and some PPP consortium leaving us with a Nuclear timebomb in the west of Ireland.

Irish trade unions can't be trusted to guarantee uninterrupted service from a nuclear power plant,hence energy security can't be based on it.

[patslatt]

Fair enough. Printed solar panels amongst other things are likely going to kick all this talk about energy shortages to touch over the next 20 years anyway.

That's a good solution for countries with access to year round strong sunshine. The US Sunbelt states,for example.

[patslatt]

We'll see how the compressed-air energy storage people do in Iowa.

As far as I can see, there's nothing wrong with using windmills to generate electricity. Use the electricity to compress air, and have a Compressed-air energy storage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia system

What are the costs of the energy generated? That's critical.

[fiannafailure]

What are the costs of the energy generated? That's critical.

Compressed air storage is about 15% less efficient than pumped hydro, there is now a compressed air project underway in Larne in the north.

The latest on Britains energy crises

Britain's energy crisis: How long till the lights go out? | The Economist

This is a huge opportunity for Ireland to export energy, we have a low national demand and huge renewable energy resources.

Wind power, supplied through hydro reservoirs, to enable the energy to be sold at the the highest prices i.e. at peak demand, would earn the country billions in revenue. And the jobs provided would be in the high tens of thousands.