We need Innovation, Not Insulation Says Bill Gates

Conservation and behaviour change alone will not get us to the dramatically lower levels of CO2 emissions needed to make a real difference. We also need to focus on developing innovative technologies that produce energy without generating any CO2 emissions at all.

These are the words of Bill Gates about global warming and the global urge to reduce CO2 emissions. Recently we published an article about Mr. Gates quest to find a clean source of energy that will “save us” from the eminent threats of climate change. The man who revolutionized personal computing is now investing millions to stop global warming.

In his article “Why We Need Innovation, Not Just Insulation“, published on his personal blog “The Gates Notes“, he says right now the world has two goals for CO2 reduction – 30% (off of some baseline) by 2020 and 80% by 2050.

The first target seems to be more achievable and it is why we tend to focus on it. According to Bill Gates to achieve the 80% CO2 reduction goal by 2050 we will have to reduce emissions form transportation and electrical production in participating countries close to neutral levels.

But we would still be left with emissions from other activities such as domesticated animals, making fertilizers and decay processes. Not to mention that some countries will still be too poor to invest in new technologies to reduce their CO2 emissions.

That is when the problem grows more complex. As the demand for energy from poor countries increases and it is clear these countries won’t have the money to invest in the latest and green energy generation resources it will be hard to reduce CO2 emissions.

Reason why Bill Gates defends the theory that: “no amount of insulation will get us there, only innovating our way to what is essentially zero carbon energy technology will do it. If we focus on just efficiency to the exclusion of innovation, or imagine that we can worry about efficiency first and worry about energy innovation later, we won’t get there.”

Cutting a long story short, we need an “energy miracle”, a carbon free energy generation resource. Will we ever find it? Do you agree that we need innovations and not insulations to stop global warming? Have your say in our comments section.

If you would like more information on our range of energy services or would simply like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy

Gas Prices Rise as Middle East Unrest Continues

What started in Egypt seems to be spreading all over the Middle East. Popular revolt and political uncertainty is making investors plan for the unpredictable, as crude oil prices continues to rise, which in turn is contributing to higher gas and energy prices.

When the protests started in Egypt crude oil prices were below the $100 mark, more precisely at $98 a barrel. Last Monday the Brent crude oil barrel was traded at $108.  As UK gas prices are tied up to oil prices, prompt and curve gas prices rose too.

Prompt gas contracts for immediate and day-ahead delivery were both up nearly one penny from Monday’s close at 54.55 pence. While winter 2011 gas contract traded at 63.50 pence per therm, the highest level since October 2009.

On Tuesday morning National Grid data showed that the system was undersupplied which associated with a slightly higher increase in demand was also responsible for higher wholesale gas prices.

Since nearly 50% of UK power production uses gas as a fuel day-ahead energy prices also reported an increase of 0.75 pounds and were traded at 47.25 pounds per megawatt-hour. A drop in wind power generation also added to higher energy prices.

If you would like more information on our range of energy services or would simply like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy

Bill Gates Investing Millions to Stop Global Warming

The man who revolutionised personal computing now wants to revolutionise the way we generate energy. After stepping down as the CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates has been investing millions of dollars to fight global warming; his ultimate goal is to find an energy source completely free of CO2 emissions.

Will Bill Gates ever find a way to generate carbon-free energy? Have your say here.

For the past few years Gates has dedicated most of his time and money to projects that range from the development of high voltage batteries to machines capable of extracting CO2 from the air.

As one of the most successful business men in history his words carry enormous credibility which gives more visibility to projects that might not leave the drawing board. Above all Bill Gates is seen as a visionary and if he believes such projects could change our lives, a lot of people will sit and hear what he has to say.

According to Mr. Gates the world needs an “energy miracle”, an energy source that is reliable, cheap and carbon free. He says we shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket and purse every available path to achieve this really big breakthrough.

Around the globe there are many countries generating energy from renewable energy resources that look very promising but not big enough to cause the impact needed to make a change. Tidal energy, geothermal and even wind are all good and clean energy generating resources but we need more than that.

The father of Windows is working on a new nuclear approach called travelling-wave reactor, which uses waste uranium for fuel. That dream is far from becoming a reality but if it does we could have cheaper energy with no CO2 emissions.

To sum things up Bill Gates points out two immediate solutions the American and other Governments around the globe should take note to make the transition towards a carbon free society quicker. Increase investment in research and development of new energy generating technology and a well structured energy plan that considers each option based on the likelihood of success.

If you would like more information on our range of energy services or would simply like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy

Commercial Gas Prices Rise Again

UK spot gas prices rise as Norway’s biggest gas platform Troll shuts temporarily overnight.  Just as UK gas market analysts and gas brokers were talking about how reliable and important Norwegian gas supplies has been to the British gas market this winter. Two weeks of unexpected outages and shut downs due to power cuts in Norwegian gas platforms and gas processing plants made the rollercoaster of UK gas prices move again.

Wholesale spot gas prices hit a season high of 55 pence per therm on Tuesday, up 2.20 pence, after gas flows from Langeled pipeline plunged from 65 mcm to scary 13 mcm and supplies into Scotland dropped from 54 mcm to only 10 mcm.

A brief overnight shutdown of Norway’s biggest gas platform Troll A and then a reduction of 40 percent in exports due to an unrelated power problem from Norway’s second largest export plant were responsible for the plunge of gas flows into Britain.

In the early hours of Tuesday, talks were that the issues in Norway were resolved and Langeled was ramping up again and gas flows would go back to normal over the course of the day.

Within a day gas prices had eased to 54.70 pence by 1120 GMT, while gas prices for Wednesday eased from highs of 54.25 pence to 53.25 pence after Troll operator Statoil said the shutdown had been due to a “false alarm,” which should mean more gas coming to Britain yesterday afternoon.

Despite below average demand for this time of the year, the UK gas market was apprehensive as flows into eastern England and Scotland remained at low levels, late Tuesday morning.

The good news was that inputs from LNG terminals and Britain’s biggest gas storage site Rough compensated for some of the lost supply from Norway.

If you would like more information on our range of Commercial Gas services or how we compare gas prices, or would simply like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy

Commercial Gas Prices Ease – While Energy Prices Remain Steady

The ups and downs of UK commercial gas prices continue, while energy prices remain steady, thanks to the restart of nuclear reactors over the weekend. Right now several factors are influencing British wholesale gas prices.

Last week fear that the turmoil in Egypt could close the Suez Channel, made gas prices go up by a couple of pounds at the end of last week.  Disruptions in the supply from the Langeled pipeline due to power failures in Kollsnes gas processing plant, also had it shares of guilt in higher gas prices.

According to National Grid data, on Monday night imports from Norway dropped to levels below 20 mcm, a plunge of 70 percent in supply. But on Tuesday morning flows returned to 70 mcm and Kollsnes, the Norwegian gas processing plant returned to full capacity after the unexpected outages due to power cuts.

With the unexpected drops in supply from Norway storage sites had to increase their flows which helped to maintain tranquillity in the UK gas system.

“Storage reacted to the drop in Langeled flows and demand is off so (we have a) comfortable system,” one gas trader said.

Despite a four day delay, the Al Mafyar LNG gas tanker finally birthed at Britain’s South Hook terminal yesterday morning which helped to keep commercial and business gas prices low.

Spot gas prices on Tuesday were traded at 54.00 pence per therm, down 3 percent, and today’s spot gas prices were traded yesterday at 53.90 pence, down 1p.

Curve contracts followed the bearish prompt lower, and softer oil prices also weighed on long-term gas contracts. Traders also said that a strong sell-off in March contracts had a knock-on effect on prices further out.

March fell 0.65 pence to 53.85 pence ($8.67 per mmBtu) per therm, while front summer gas prices dropped 25p and were traded at 52.62 pence.

Meanwhile energy prices remained steady despite the ups and downs of wind power generation. Storms boosted wind farms output well above 1,000 megawatts (MW) over the weekend, but a drop in wind speed yesterday resulted in wind power dropping to just above 500MW.

Day-ahead power prices gained 60 pence to 46.85 pounds per megawatt-hour (MWh). Front-month March fell in line with weaker gas prices as it traded at 46.40 pounds, 70 pence below the previous session.

If you would like more information on our range of Commercial Gas services or how we compare gas prices, or would simply like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy

Energy Market Report February 2011

Our monthly analysis of the UK gas and power markets is now available on line for the month of February 2011. The service is intended to keep you up to date with all the major news in Europe’s gas and power markets. It is also designed to keep power executives focused on market activity in an easy to digest format.

Your find our February 2011 report here and all historical energy reports can be located here.

If you would like more information on our services or would like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy

Can a Possible Oil Crisis Affect UK Commercial Gas Prices?

The answer is yes, but right now despite oil prices peaking at its highest level in 28-months that is not the case,  thanks to an oversupply of commercial gas from Norway. High oil prices are affecting the far curve; traders are very concerned that the crisis in Egypt could interrupt oil shipments through the Suez Canal.  British wholesale gas prices fell on Monday and early Tuesday as Norway kept the UK gas system oversupplied cutting dependence on storage and LNG supplies.

Gas for delivery on Tuesday fell to 52.65 pence per therm by 1000 GMT, down about 0.85 pence from close on Monday, while contracts for Wednesday dipped to 52.55 pence and the new front month contract March fell to 52.60 pence.

So far the rise in oil prices was not reflected in spot prices, but contracts for the second quarter of 2011 and beyond showed signs of increase, especially after rumours of Egypt disrupting oil supplies through the Suez Canal.

Such rumours were then dismissed after risk consultants and intelligence agencies stated it is unlikely that Egyptian leaders of any stripe would cut off an income stream worth £3.1bn a year to the Egyptian state.

Speaking to The Telegraph Neil Roberts, a senior technical executive with the Lloyd’s Market Association, said:

“We are not seeing anything that would give us any particular cause for concern at this stage. There is no direct to threat to ships that we can see and it would be counter intuitive for the Egyptians to do anything with Suez that would stop their flow of trade,”

The Suez Canal is responsible for 8pc of global oil shipments and the majority of that oil is directed to continental Europe.

That is when a possible oil crisis caused by the interruption of oil shipments through the Suez Canal could affect not only UK gas prices but also power generation costs.

Overall European gas prices are tied to oil prices so are British prices, which means if oil prices rise in continental Europe so will UK gas prices. For a better understanding of the volatility of commercial and business gas prices in the UK please read: Understanding the Fluctuation of UK Gas Prices.

For now, the steady and strong supply from Norway drove down inputs from LNG terminals resulting in lower withdrawals from our storage centres which helped ease the concerns of gas brokers over supplies for the rest of the cold season. This doesn’t mean the UK gas market is shielded against a possible oil crisis and the rising crude oil prices.

If you would like more information on our range of Commercial Gas services or how we compare gas prices, or would simply like to find out how this could benefit your business, simply call our energy team today on 0870 710 7560 or request a call back at time to suit.

Follow us on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook

Or you might want to subscribe for further updates direct from our site.

Name:

Email:

We respect your email privacy