View the Article: http://www.mistergreen.co.uk/news/energysecurity-31.htm
The reported spike in wholesale gas prices due to problems with the pipeline in Europe brings home again the issues of energy security and energy mix. In the early years of gas, it was produced and stored locally private companies like the Gas light and Coke Company in London were locally-based and gas holders were a common sight in every town and city. The local storage provided a buffer against peaks and troughs of demand and disruption in supply. The same was true of water supplies, the unreliability of supply in the 19th century in the UK meant that water companies had regulations to buffer supplies by requiring every house to store hundreds of litres in tanks in the attic and regulations to prevent contamination from backflow is where supplies were interrupted. Those old enough will remember to switch from 'town' gas to 'natural' gas in the early 1970s, which entailed the wholesale conversion of gas appliances to deal with different characteristics of natural gas. But even then there was some security of supply, since the gas was 'stored' under the North Sea and brought ashore at Bacton in Norfolk. As householders we have limited opportunities to ensure security of supply of energy An outage of gas or electricity supplies leaves the householder helpless. Governments have a duty to be proactive in ensuring security and diversity in energy supplies on behalf of their citizens; homeowners have duty to use less of it.
