Houses that are roasting inside during the summer, yet freezing during the winter
Why? You need to look no farther than your own home.
Homes in the UK were not intended to withstand temperatures like this. Neither are your shops or offices, nor do you have any trains or tracks.
The majority of residential and commercial buildings in the UK are designed to retain heat. Because the weather in the UK tends to be on the cooler side, you spend the most of your energy trying to keep the property at a comfortable temperature. Therefore, it has traditionally made more sense to retain the heat rather than allow it to escape.
The dense urbanisation that characterises cities is responsible for the formation of what are known as urban heat islands. Because heat islands are able to retain heat, they effectively cause the temperature of the ground’s surface to be higher than that of the surrounding air.
Not only will it take more time for the temperature inside your house to drop, but the scenery that surrounds you also acts as a heat trap.
You can point the finger at the oil shock of the 1970s for that particular problem.
As the price of energy rose, fewer people were able to afford to keep their oil heaters running.
It resulted in a revision of the building standards and led to the installation of insulation between the exterior walls of buildings. Additionally, even though it was not required, double-paned windows became increasingly popular among people who had the financial means to purchase them.
Affordable and suited for long-term storage
Let’s go back even deeper in time and look at what happened.
Before the recent drop in oil prices, the United Kingdom (UK) was increasing its level of exploration in the North Sea. Exploration for hydrocarbons such as oil and gas was promoted by the Continental Shelf Act, which was passed in 1964.
In 1967, an enormous natural gas field was uncovered in the North Sea, and its discovery did not take very long at all.
Even before it was revealed that the United Kingdom had vast oil reserves, the new gas field had already begun to shift the direction of history.
Because of the discovery of additional natural gas deposits offshore, the United Kingdom was able to switch from using “town gas” to natural gas. For the benefit of those who are too young to recall, in the past, coal-fired power plants produced town gas, which was then piped to the houses of residents. Natural gas and town gas have the same chemical make-up, however natural gas originates from rock formations deep beneath.
It all made sense after that. In 1970, gas contributed only 5.4% of the primary energy consumption in the United Kingdom. The argument was made that natural gas was “safe, cleaner, and a green way” to consume energy, which was made by the few people who did use gas heating.
I was able to find the Gas and Electricity Bill that was presented to Parliament in 1968 thanks to the marvels of the internet. The bill discussed the advantages of switching the population of the United Kingdom from using town gas to natural gas. At the time, the Minister of Power, Mr. Raymond Gunter, made the following statement:
“However, on the longer term, it will be cheaper to convert everyone to take North Sea gas “neat” rather than to put up the additional reforming plant that would be required to convert all of this gas to towns gas. This is because converting everyone to take North Sea gas “neat” will take less time. ” In addition to this, because natural gas has a higher calorific value, the amount of gas that can be transported through mains and stored is significantly enhanced. Although the people may have been influenced by the argument that natural gas is cleaner and more environmentally friendly, the fact remains that the price of natural gas was lower.
In point of fact, it was substantially more cost-effective for homeowners in the UK to heat their houses with natural gas as opposed to keeping the coal-fired power plant operational.
Gunter further pointed out that this particular kind of gas was better suited for storage.
However… that is going to become a concern as well.
The shortage of available energy is picking up speed.
The heat that is currently stifling you inside of your house will feel like a distant memory come November.
The construction of homes that were designed to resist extreme cold was contingent upon there being an abundant supply of low-cost energy available to keep the homes warm.
Even if the energy crisis of the 1970s prompted rational policy actions, successive government policies have slowly chipped away at this achievement.
The price of energy had already been steadily climbing for some time before the invasion of the Ukraine. The field of renewable energy has received a disproportionately large amount of investment capital in comparison to that of the North Sea. Renewable energy is a relatively new technology that only accounts for a small portion of the total energy requirement during the winter months.
In addition, the governments of the United Kingdom shut down massive storage facilities on the grounds that a reliable supply could be obtained from amicable trading partners.
In addition to all of this, there is the additional issue that renewable technology is not yet completely reliable. For solar electricity to be produced, there must be sunlight, and for wind power to be generated, there must be gusts. Worse still, China is the world’s largest producer of solar panels, and a single factory is responsible for producing the vast majority of these panels.
Even if international relations are stable, a hypothetical blaze at one of the main facilities may wipe off a significant portion of the available supply.
All of the supports that were supposed to be in place are disintegrating, which means that we are going to have to deal with issues that the governments that were in power fifty years ago were trying to avoid: a shortage of energy.
Even though the worst hasn’t happened quite yet, investors should get their finances in order. The chance will present itself shortly.
