eckerslike Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 The Tories closed the industry down in an act of class war, against its own people. We are a net importer of gas though. More than half of our gas comes from overseas. Some might argue that we sold our energy security down the river when the pits were closed. We could have used the coal to generate electricity and kept the gas for other purposes. We are about to enter into a "relationship" with Gazprom which should to cause everyone concern. Still... that showed Scargill. But why did 2/3 of the remaining pits close under Labour if these were the ones that even Maggie had deemed viable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greybeard Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 We're still paying subsidies - these days it's to wind farms. It was more than £1billion/year in 2005/2006...the current amount is probably top secret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vague_Boy Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Coal we used to produce ourselves.... At a loss, both then and now. UK Coal announces 2009 financial losses UK Coal losses grow along with debts UK Coal plans land sale as losses deepen And this despite the increased cost of fuel. The coal industry & the fishing industry where horse-traded in the EU, probably in exchange for keeping our financial sector. Evidence? Citations? Links? Theres plenty of coal in Britain .. How much exactly? Links? But surely there's no defence for shutting down pits just because they aren't economically viable. If a pit is losing money, it needs to be subsidized. The coal industry is no longer a nationalized industry and UK Coal are not a charity. They're losing enough money as it is (see my links above) North Sea Gas hasn't run out. We still generate half our electricity using the stuff, and my gas fire still works OK. Britain 'was four days away from running out of gas during February's cold snap' [2009] The amount of hyperbole, disinformation and misinformation on this thread is astonishing. No wonder Churchill once said: "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eckerslike Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Britain 'was four days away from running out of gas during February's cold snap' [2009] The amount of hyperbole, disinformation and misinformation on this thread is astonishing. No wonder Churchill once said: "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter". Thats nothing to do with the North Sea running out of gas. That story relates to the amount of gas stored on land for immediate useage. The amount of hyperbole, disinformation and misinformation on this thread is astonishing. No wonder Churchill once said: "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sibon Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 If a pit is losing money, it needs to be subsidized. The coal industry is no longer a nationalized industry and UK Coal are not a charity. They're losing enough money as it is (see my links above) . Indeed they do. As do Nuclear Power stations. I've not seen an analysis of the profitability of wind farms, but I guess that they don't break even either. Surely our energy security is more important than profit. We've got at least 400 000 000 tonnes of the stuff under our feet. Yet we are in the process of mortgaging our future to the whims of Gazprom and similar companies. That seems crazy to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchresearch Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Lets not forget ever tightening pollution regulations. Much of UK coal was too sulphorous to be burnt, which is why we had to move to imported coal. Yes, there is still loads down there but it can't be burnt in our power stations - at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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