Nicky Marr: I’m warming myself, rather than the house
As I write this, I’m wearing three layers and a scarf, with a hot water bottle stuffed up my jumper.
It’s windy outside, barely 5C, but the washing is drying; wind and a wee hint of solar helping it do its stuff. I’ll probably have to hang it on the pulley later, but at least drying my clothes will have been free.
The heating has been off since its hour-long early boost to remove the overnight chill. This evening, if I’m home, I’ll either light the fire in the living room, or I’ll fill another hot water bottle.
I’m not anywhere near the breadline, but our home energy bills have risen to over £600 per month. I work from home, and it makes more sense to warm myself rather than the whole house.
Despite the Energy Price Cap and Energy Price Guarantee, all our energy bills are set to rise by another 20 per cent in April. I’m hoping the heating will be off for the ‘summer’ by then.
Click here to read more by Nicky Marr
Energy prices have never been as high, or as high on the agenda, as they are now. They’re fixed by Ofgem and the government, which beautifully let Shell off the hook last week when they announced an obscene $40 billion profit.
Shell’s profit relates directly to the increase in energy wholesale prices, those very prices that are driving our bills up, and driving thousands of families into poverty. (Don’t get me started on windfall tax, that’s a whole other column.) With little gas storage left across the UK we are at the mercy of how much is stored – and used – in Europe.
There is no doubt that energy security is a hot topic – the war in Ukraine has brought that into sharp focus. And not one of us who cares about the future of our planet – or of our children and grandchildren – can argue against halting our global reliance on fossil fuels.
It can be hard to know whether we are winning that particular battle, but – and I appreciate it’s not the whole energy picture – website www.carbonintensity.org.uk run by National Grid ESO has some answers. It publishes regular data of how much of each type of energy is travelling around our national grid and breaks down that usage by percentages according to geography, and energy source.
For the week to February 4, the Daily Carbon Intensity of electricity consumed within the whole of the north of Scotland, was zero gCO2/kWh. Which means practically every lightbulb was lit by wind or hydro.
And therefore, nothing at all to do with the wholesale price of gas.
For other regions of the UK, mainly in the south and west, the carbon intensity was as high as 276 gCO2/kWh.
Let me spell that out. In our corner of the UK, where it is colder, our heating needs are greater, and where a vast percentage of our national renewable energy is generated, we are effectively subsidising the carbon-heavy habits of the south. Surely some mistake.
