Tuesday 28 December 2010

Energy security - how saving energy at home and work can help

Mike Pepler, our UK awards manager, recently posted an analysis of the UK gas supply situation on his own blog, you can read it here.

Using publicly available data from the National Grid, he's plotted some graphs comparing the amount of gas the UK has in storage, and comparing this winter to a year ago. Due to the cold weather, and the declining gas output from the North Sea, storage levels are much lower than they were at this point a year ago. This could present a problem if the rest of this winter is colder than average.

UK long range gas storage 2008-9 and 2009-10

If supplies do run low, part of the process to deal with the situation includes a public appeal to reduce gas use. Reducing electricity use helps too, as about 40% of our electricity is generated from gas. A shortage of gas will also push up gas and electricity prices, so by taking action to reduce your energy use you can yourself some money, help improve energy security and reduce CO2 emissions, all at the same time!

Take a moment to visit some of our recent blogs about saving energy:
Nine solutions that work to combat rising fuel prices
Save energy, save money: cavity walls

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