Energy Security

[SPN]

Energy Security is one of the biggest problems facing Ireland at present. A significant percentage of our electricity is generated from Natural Gas, but Europe's Natural Gas supplies are coming, more and more, from Siberia and Algeria, as the North Sea and other fields go into decline.

When the Ukrainians recently started skimming off gas destined for Europe, the Belgians decided to skim off supplies destined for the UK and Ireland so that they could fill their storage facilities to capacity.

This thread is to record media coverage of Energy related issues.


Ireland ‘risks gas shortage if British supplies run low’

IRELAND will have to go short of gas if Britain’s supplies dwindle or hit a problem, Bord Gáis has admitted.

This week Britain's gas chiefs put out an unprecedented warning of a pending shortage of supplies in Britain.

Ireland imports most of its gas from Britain and Bord Gáis has agreed to take the same drastic measures as Britain to conserve stocks if supplies dwindle.

Ireland uses more than 60% of its gas to generate electricity so supplies would be rationed to power stations.

Britain's National Grid, which is responsible for British supplies, this week issued its first-ever "gas balancing alert" a warning of a pending shortage.

U.K. Gas Jumps to a Record Because Supplies May Not Meet Demand

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Natural-gas prices in the U.K. jumped to a record after supplies from Norway were curtailed, French gas workers went on strike and temperatures dropped below freezing, boosting demand.

.....

Gas prices in the U.K., the European Union's biggest market for the fuel, can surge when weather turns colder or when fields malfunction. The Rough gas storage facility, the nation's largest, remains shut until at least May 1, cutting supplies about 10 percent. Gaz de France SA's shipments were slowed after workers opposed to its planned merger with Suez SA seized control of gas import terminals and storage facilities.

.....

``The U.K. is still short of gas,'' Michael Allen, a power and gas trader at Inenco Group Ltd. in Lancashire, U.K., said in a phone interview today. Inenco buys about 400 million pounds of energy annually for customers such as Marks & Spencer Group Plc, the retail chain.

The minimum temperature today in London is minus 1 degree Celsius (30 Fahrenheit), compared with normal for the season of 3 degrees, according to data from Meteorlogix LLC on Bloomberg.

For the 24 hours through 6 a.m. tomorrow, gas supplies in the U.K. pipeline network are expected to fall to 285 million cubic meters from 294 million this morning, National Grid said on its Web site. Demand is forecast at 380 million cubic meters. That's 3 million cubic meters above the gas-balancing alert trigger.

The day-ahead price more than doubled to 165 pence from 59.85 pence on March 10. April gas rose 9.55 pence to 58 pence.

The last paragraph is the most interesting, and it brings to mind the price gouging in California by Enron & co.

Statoil ASA, Norway's largest oil company, said today its Troll A platform in the North Sea was producing 10 percent below its capacity because of unspecified difficulties.

Malfunctions at the platform, which pumps a maximum of 110 million cubic meters of gas a day, had reduced output in February at Troll, the largest gas field in the North Sea. The field, which accounts for about 60 percent of the gas found off Norway's coast, was slated to resume full output on March 8.

Norsk Hydro said last week that production from the Oseberg field would remain at reduced levels during the weekend after faulty equipment curtailed production.

ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, said it will shut its Ekofisk field in the North Sea for four days this week, halting some 600,000 barrels a day of oil and gas production.

About 375,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the Ekofisk area will be shut down in the early hours of March 17, Ingvar Solberg, a spokesman for ConocoPhillips in Norway, said in a telephone interview today. Gas production from Ekofisk and oil and gas from several neighboring fields also will be halted, bringing the daily production loss to about 14 percent of Norway's daily output

Gas warning: not enough to meet demand

The inability of traders to obtain new gas in Europe will infuriate British politicians and give further ammunition to the European commission which last week called for faster deregulation of continental markets. A lack of transparency means it has been hard to discover exactly where the bottlenecks are and why suppliers on the continent are not switching gas to Britain. Yesterday the spot price of gas in the Netherlands had reached 70p per therm. But the Interconnector pipeline to Britain was handling only 8m cubic metres, when it could handle 16m.

'No threat to gas supply'

The price of natural gas was as high as 220p a therm today after soaring from 61p to 255p yesterday as the cold weather continued to put pressure on domestic demand.

The National Grid, which has the job of balancing supply and demand, yesterday issued an unprecedented alert over tight supplies but said it would not be repeating the warning today as demand eased below a key level.

On the other side of the equation, we could start developing an indigenous Energy Industry.

Irish Bioenergy Association

The overall aim of the Irish Bioenergy Association is to promote biomass as an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable indigenous energy resource, and also to promote its non-energy related benefits.
The objectives of the IrBEA are to:
- Improve public awareness of biomass as a realistic option for energy supply
- Influence policy makers to promote the development of bioenergy
- Promote the implementation of bioenergy projects
- Networking and information sharing among those interested in bioenergy development
- Promote the interests of its members
- Liase with similar interest groups

[Sidewinder]

I think it was either Sweden or Finland (or both!) who have made it a policy to get off hydrocarbon fuels completely within the next 40 years? They've got a big research prgramme going on into renewables. We should join in, share the costs, perhaps concentrate on wind, wave and biomass (being a fertile country) while they look into geothermal, hydro etc.

Isn't this exactly the kind of thing would also secure the futures of our farmers? I know I've heard something about the sugar beet industry going belly-up. If our farmers were growing biomass for energy production (both domestic and export) they'd be in a much better position long-term than having to rely on EU handouts anyway.

[SPN]

Our way of life is running on empty

WHAT would happen to our economy if the world started running out of oil? Imagine 40 per cent of Ireland unable to heat their homes, or petrol €5 a litre at the pump, and cheap air travel a thing of the past.

Conventional wisdom says we've got 30 years before this happens, so why does a growing group of petroleum experts believe that it's coming in three years or fewer? Are they just scaremongers or have the rest of us been asleep at the wheel?

.....

Dr Colin Campbell is founder and chairman of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) and lives in Co Cork. He has spent most of his life on the front line of oil exploration on three continents. He was chief geologist for Amoco, a vice-president of Fina, and has worked for BP, Texaco, Shell, Chevron/Texaco and Exxon in a dozen different countries. "The oil won't run out for very many years," the Oxford PhD says. "However, the issue is the long downward slope that opens on the other side of the global peak in production. Oil and gas dominate our lives, and their inevitable decline will change the world in radical and unpredictable ways."

.....

When most of us think about oil, we tend to think first about heating oil and about the petrol and diesel fuels that keep our cars and trucks on the road. What most of us don't realise, however, is that oil does more than just fuel our vehicles and keep us warm in winter: it has become the foundation upon which our entire way of life hasbeen built.

Here's an example: agribusiness is totally dependent on the use of large machines and on artificial fertilisers and artificial pesticides in order to grow, harvest and transport the vast quantities of grain, fruit and vegetables that we enjoy every day. These days, much of our food travels an average of 1,200 to 1,500 miles before it gets to our tables - so at present we need those large machines on the road in order to ensure that our supermarket shelves remain full. Not just that,but fertilisers and pesticides also require oil and natural gas, not only for their distribution but in their manufacture as well.

To add to that, the feed for beef and poultry is heavily dependent on these same fertilisers and pesticides for its production, and, of course, on oil for its distribution. And we haven't even touched on how reliant we are on plastic, another oil by-product.

.....

However, thanks to our location at the edge of the Atlantic, we are also in the fortunate position of having more green energy potential than the rest of Europe. Ireland is actually rich in potential wave, wind and solar energy. In fact, if these resources were properly harnessed, Ireland could become not just self-reliant but also an energy exporter!

The Swedes intend to wean themselves off oil completely within 15 years. There is no good reason why we should not do the same.

[david]

Here's a small project to help with energy security.

[david]

This thread is to record media coverage of Energy related issues.

Maith thú. At last, someone else taking the issue seriously.

[talkie]

Our way of life is running on empty

The Swedes intend to wean themselves off oil completely within 15 years. There is no good reason why we should not do the same.

There would probably be many practical and financial reasons why we can't - (in this sort of time frame anyway).

For a start the Swedes were well ahead of the game. I'm by no means an expert on the subject but they have been investing hugely in researching and implementing renewables since the 1980's (at least ). In 2003, 40% of their energy was from renewables. We have some catching up just to get to that point.

The most important question is how we would finance it. The Swedes willingly pay higher taxes to fund this kind of thing. Are Irish people prepared to do the same?

[david]

The Swedes willingly pay higher taxes to fund this kind of thing. Are Irish people prepared to do the same?

In my personal experience, no. They think they already pay too much for energy, which is a complaint rich as well as poor make.

The day is none too far off when energy will be very expensive. I have always said it is far too cheap and always has been and people are astonished.

Fuel poverty has to be tackled concurrently with energy security. In a rich country like Ireland, no-one should be cold, no-one should be unable to cook food or draw water.

Furthermore, the sooner a personal pollution/energy quota system comes in, the better, providing energy poverty is dealt with.

[david]

Relevant: http://sustainable.ie/convergence/

[SPN]

Our way of life is running on empty

The Swedes intend to wean themselves off oil completely within 15 years. There is no good reason why we should not do the same.

There would probably be many practical and financial reasons why we can't - (in this sort of time frame anyway).

For a start the Swedes were well ahead of the game. I'm by no means an expert on the subject but they have been investing hugely in researching and implementing renewables since the 1980's (at least ). In 2003, 40% of their energy was from renewables. We have some catching up just to get to that point.

The most important question is how we would finance it. The Swedes willingly pay higher taxes to fund this kind of thing. Are Irish people prepared to do the same?

The practical and financial penalties we will pay if we DON'T pull our fingers out of our collective backsides, rapidement, and address this issue effectively don't bear thinking about.

The cost of investing now will be much lower than trying to invest in an economy that is being retarded by high energy prices. The benefit for Ireland Inc is that the investment would be in developing indigenous industries, and replacing the money that gets spent on new palaces in the Saudi desert, on new players for Chelsea Rangers, and on social and infrastructure expenditure in Norway, with money that would stay in the Irish economy.

Have a look at what Chevron-Texaco have to say on the issue.


Closer to home, I'd recommend anyone with an interest in the subject to have a read of the minutes of this meeting of the DOEHLG Committee from April 6th 2005

Energy Performance in the Construction Industry: Presentation

and also this article from Construct Ireland Magazine, which shows clearly how political change can be effected when Politicians put their minds to it.

Fingal Commits to Sustainable Building

There's lots of stuff being done on the ground, but until we get a Minister for Energy there won't be enough focus given to this important issue at Cabinet level.

[david]

Government complacency over energy efficiency criticised

The record number of new homes built in recent years will leave Ireland with a "legacy of cold houses for coming generations" because of their "very poor standards" of insulation and energy efficiency, according to an Austrian expert.

Dr Christian Rakos, director of the Austrian Wood Pellets Association, who spent a year working with Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) in Bandon, Co Cork, said all of the 80,000 new homes built last year could have been much better insulated at very little cost.

Noting that Ireland has one of the highest levels of fuel imports in the EU, Dr Rakos said he was "astonished" by the complacency of Irish policy-makers about the emerging energy gap. "They need to be given a hard shake to recognise these realities", he declared.

Although the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is responsible for energy policy, he noted that the word "energy" is not even included in its title; this in itself indicated an "amazing lack of interest in such an important area". With the prices of oil and gas rising, Dr Rakos said the department should be looking at the "enormous potential" of bio-fuels such as timber to bridge the energy gap and reduce Ireland's dependence on imported fossil fuels - currently in excess of 80 per cent.

Otherwise, he warned, "it will be extremely difficult to cope with energy shortages". Already, according to an SEI estimate, Irish householders are spending a total of €2.2 billion a year on energy - including electricity and heating oil, gas or coal.

"There is very serious potential in Ireland to switch over to bio-fuels on a significant scale", according to Dr Rakos. "Wood pellets are 70 per cent cheaper than oil and 45 per cent cheaper than gas, and it's going to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

"We are looking at a crisis with oil supply, and we can address this either on the traffic side or on the heating side. My belief is that it's much easier and more economic to address it on the heating side - and switch to a fuel that's a lot cheaper.

"You can get the job done in a few years if policy-makers decide this is an issue they want to address, and you would be able to create exponential market growth if it's well co-ordinated. But it needs a kick-off of financial incentives to get going".

James Kennedy, chairman of the Irish Wood Energy Association, said even though Ireland was "starting from a very low base" a major switch to renewables would offer "huge opportunities for job creation" as well as cutting down on fossil fuels.

He blamed "lack of joined-up thinking" in Government for Ireland's failure to embrace renewable energy. "We're just not at the races. We haven't even started in this business. And this is in the context of spending €7 billion a year importing oil, coal and gas".

Mr Kennedy said one of the real problems was that the focus in Ireland on renewable energy was almost entirely on wind power to generate electricity - "yet that accounts for only 20 per cent of total energy, while heat [ for buildings] amounts to 40 per cent".

The EU's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive - due to be implemented here in stages from January 1st next - will have an impact, he believes. But it needed to be backed up by a co-ordinated plan to make buildings in Ireland more energy-efficient.

Tim Cooper, former director of buildings at Trinity College Dublin, said the Government should be giving householders carbon credits or some other incentive to encourage them to change their heating systems from burning fossil fuels to burning wood chips or pellets.

Like Dr Rakos, he believes there is great potential in farmers growing willow as a short rotation crop for use as a fuel. "The nice thing about biomass is that you can grow it in winter, harvest it in spring and dry it in summer, on a three-year cycle. It's like making hay".

At present, only one company in Ireland - Balcas, near Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh - produces wood chips and pellets. However, because of the lack of demand here at home, most of its annual production is exported.
Frank McDonald
© The Irish Times

Why am I not as 'amazed' as the good Dr Rakos?