energy

Nuclear Fusion power – how long will we have to wait ?

Brendan Heading on December 29, 2022, 2:42 pm | Readers 2077

Just before Christmas, it was announced for the first time that researchers at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US had successfully achieved “ignition” within a nuclear fusion reaction. This generated a lot of excitement in the press, not all of it well-informed, so I thought it might be interesting to explore this topic in more detail. What is nuclear fusion ? Why was this news so significant ? When will we begin to benefit …

Supposedly we will get our £600 payments in January…

Brian O'Neill on December 19, 2022, 12:01 pm | Readers 11754

person wearing red jacket walking near tree during winter

Quite a difference in the weather today. It was 14 this morning in Belfast. The BBC reports that we should get our £600 energy payments in January, but I will not hold my breath. From the report: The UK government confirmed electricity firms will be funded for the payments, with direct debit customers receiving the money into their bank accounts. Other customers will be sent a voucher to redeem the payment. The money is intended to help with energy bills …

Nuclear Fusion Energy Breakthrough…

Brian O'Neill on December 14, 2022, 10:57 am | Readers 1406

Fusion energy has been promised for decades now. I remember watching BBC Horizon documentaries about it in the 1990s; it was always ‘just around the corner’. But now it seems we have an actual breakthrough. For the first time, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California could generate more energy than it took to start a reaction. Fusion is different from nuclear fission. It is a very clean energy source, with none of the pollution and greenhouse gases …

Electric prices down substantially today…

Brian O'Neill on November 1, 2022, 11:11 am | Readers 3402

Yesterday my electric tariff was 38p per unit. Today it is down to 17p, which is quite a drop, and not far off the 14p it was last year. The reason is the new Energy Price Guarantee scheme has come into effect. The scheme will cap the price for a unit of gas and electricity until April 2023. Bills will be reduced by up to 19.9p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity and 4.8p/kWh for gas. The Consumer Council have …

Revisiting Nuclear Power : Part 1 : how it works

Brendan Heading on July 24, 2022, 9:17 pm | Readers 1153

It can have escaped few of us that the effects of the war in Ukraine and the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the ongoing issue of climate change, have led to renewed interest in the possibilities offered by nuclear power and how it can help to solve the problems governments around the world are facing. This is leading to a re-evaluation of the case for nuclear, and, hopefully, objective consideration of its strengths and weaknesses. I believe that it …

Home heating oil now over £1000 for 900 litres…

Brian O'Neill on March 12, 2022, 11:13 am | Readers 12472

Get your thermals on, the price of home heating oil continues to soar. I was looking at the prices of my last 2 fills of 500 litres: 9th Sept 2021 – £210 18th Feb 2022 – £315 Now the same oil quantity would cost me over £600, nearly 3 times the price of 6 months ago. Every week we survey home heating oil suppliers to provide you with the average cost of 300L, 500L and 900L in your local area. …

Nuclear power – the solution to our energy needs?

Am Ghobsmacht on November 6, 2021, 8:56 am | Readers 2806

The following is a compilation of trivia that I often drop on commentators during the various environmental discussions. It is not a ‘The Case for Nuclear’ but rather an attempt to add some badly needed balance to what has turned into an almost emotional debate I am in no way an expert, just an interested onlooker who thinks that nuclear power might not be having a fair hearing (and because the Guardian never print my letters, so I’ll vent on …

The geothermal energy potential of Northern Ireland…

Soapbox on October 29, 2021, 8:26 am | Readers 2739

power plant, geothermal, geothermal energy

On the 3rd February 2020, the Northern Ireland Assembly declared a climate emergency and called for immediate measures to tackle it. One such measure outlined in the New Decade New Approach agreement is the new Energy Strategy for Northern Ireland. This strategy is being led by the Department for the Economy (DfE), with the purpose of achieving net zero carbon and affordable energy for all. This new Energy Strategy signals the beginning of our energy transition, during which we will …

Closure of Kilroot – or how NOT to manage a ‘just transition’ to a low carbon energy economy

Queen’s Policy Engagement on March 7, 2018, 12:25 pm | Readers 1707

This is not how you plan a transition from a high to a low carbon energy economy. The announcement a few weeks ago that the operator of Kilroot coal fired power station had lost out in the auction process within the all island Single Electricity Market (I-SEM), and the company announcing it will close the gates in May is not only a disaster for those workers, contractors and communities affected. It is also a major setback for the managed transition …

Northern Ireland gets a new electricity company

David McCann on June 25, 2015, 10:35 am | Readers 1417

Northern Ireland will have a new electricity supplier from this August. Open Electric pledges to be the most “socially aware” power company with promises to reward its customers with a share in any profits made. The company will be run by local entrepreneur Marc Norris who set out his rationale for wanting to set up electricity provider; For far too long, energy customers in Northern Ireland have found themselves at the mercy of suppliers which have put their own interests …

Basil McCrea: Fuel, Poverty and Politics

Soapbox on January 21, 2015, 7:01 pm | Readers 1097

The rising poverty rates in the Western world have been hitting the headlines. Writing for Slugger the NI21 Leader, Basil McCrea writes about what can be down about this issue President Obama has been criticised for plans in his State Of The Union Address aimed at introducing tax benefits for childcare, college education and retirement. His crime? The initiatives would be funded by raising funds from banks and rich families and pumping the estimated $300bn. raised into initiatives which would …

North-Southery? Build a wall or a bridge?

David McCann on March 3, 2014, 11:15 pm | Readers 91

I remember reading through old government documents from the 60s being perplexed at seeing members of the Northern Ireland government referring to their southern counterparts as members of the ‘republican government’ who were on the other side of the ‘frontier’ (that’s the border to me and you). But what was more disturbing about that period were proposals like co-operation in tourism and trade which had benefits for Northern Ireland being turned down because of political concerns about the integrity of …

And then there were four….

Mick Fealty on August 16, 2011, 11:10 pm | Readers 4

Interesting it seems to have taken so long to get even a modicum of competition in the energy market place here. But it seems the monopoly enjoyed by the company formerly known as NIE Energy is to face hefty competition from three others… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. …