Quote from Bob111:
i bought some UNG around 10.5 for exact same reasons. US will follow..expecting demand to rise + if oil stay this high, i'm pretty sure there will be a lot of cars in US running on nat gas.
Installing a natural gaz engine into a typical sedan is relatively inexpensive and given the oil prices can pay for itself in a year or 2. The problem is to place a bulky gas tank the car owner usually has to sacrifice the trunk, which deprives the owner from a lot of convenience in having a car.
I would expect commercial vehicles like vans and lories to move to natural gas faster. Most ordinary people will likely wait till gas tanks are icorporated into design by mainstream car manufactureres, which may take 5-10 years, or with more economical "hybrid" engines may never happen.
Quote from jprad:
This is a classic case of political pandering. My guess is that within a few years Germany's going to completely reverse this move.
I am of the same opinion. Given it's planned in over 10 years, there is plenty of time for one of the next governments to reverse the move.
Notice that nuclear plants have a limited operational period anyway after which the reactor and lots of infrastructure should be completely replaced to keep it safe. To me this moves sounds just like not building new reactors. The existing ones will be just taken out of service as their useful life naturally expires.
Quote from jprad:
But, because they consume around 550TWh it means that the loss of those reactors could put them at a net deficit. If that's the case then come the summer there will be rolling blackouts.
Quote from AK100:
Same re the blackouts which are just a matter of time coming in the UK.
Quote from futuman:
Germany is a northern country and the electricity consumption is lowest during the summer months. So, why do you expect blackouts then?
I agree with Futuman. Because surely a few people use electricity for heating in winter, the consumption in summer is bound to be lower.
Another point to consider is like with availability of water the government has measures in place. Say, when there was a drought in England a couple of years back, hose ban was sufficient to ensure whole areas didn't stay without tap water. Same with electricty... mandating that offices should switch off non-essencial computers at night may be enough to aleviate minor electricity shortage.
Quote from AK100:
Too true. Nuclear is THE only option for the future, like it or not.
That is if you are sceptical regarding
abiotic oil