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RarelyReadReplies 1 day ago +54

The silver lining for this whole thing could definitely be that it reminds us all how important energy independence is. The best way to accomplish that is usually green energy.

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Seabreeze_ra 1 day ago -51

Use the green energy and then lose the energy independence to China?

-51

iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +33

Technology isn't like Fuel. Tech can be stolen and reverse engineered. (Like what China did with a lot of Western tech) Honestly, the way fossil fuel supporters treat solar tech like it's "hoardable" fuel is just so dumb.

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Catprog 1 day ago +9

They don't. It is even worse. They think it being in another country means China still owns it.

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iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +4

> French physicist Edmond Becquerel is credited with discovering the photovoltaic effect in 1839, the principle behind solar cells. However, the first true solid-state solar cells were built by American inventor Charles Fritts in 1883, while the first practical, high-efficiency silicon solar cells were developed at Bell Labs in 1954.

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Seabreeze_ra 1 day ago -2

But here is the thing, tech is not everything, today's west is not short at technology but the ability of production and supply chain.

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iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +9

Energy is very important. Like Agriculture-level important. It's just a very good idea for countries to be energy producers, and that includes energy tech. 'Sides, a lot of people don't want energy to be like a subscription service with sudden price spikes.

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Catprog 1 day ago +14

Once it is built how does China control it?

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Seabreeze_ra 1 day ago -16

If everyone have to buy it from China, then it is controlled by China.

-16

Quazimojojojo 1 day ago +9

Are your clothes controlled by China? When there's a big spike in lithium prices, do you need to send some extra money to the store for the phone you already bought 3 years ago? Sure, if you don't have the facilities necessary to recycle stuff, you'll need to go back to China when you need to replace things. But the West has recycling facilities. The only reason they're not bigger, is because not enough batteries have failed yet. Pretty much everything built since 2019 still works.

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Aktanith 23 hr ago +5

Just the other day, I made a comment disparaging Xi Jinping, and my socks disappeared.

5

Quazimojojojo 20 hr ago +3

I said Taiwan was a country during dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and suddenly the hot pot disappeared from my stomach.

3

Apprehensive_Pin4196 16 hr ago +1

Soft brain.

1

Prerentav 1 day ago +6

This war might be the push green energy needed

6

gadget80 1 day ago +12

Great news. Really frustrating when the news does some vox pox on the pain caused by high fuel prices: people always beg for gov help they are never asked if they've looked into this. For the cost of two refils of his oil this guy got a brand new heat pump and it was done within 5 days. Used EVs are cheaper than equivalent ICE cars. There are solutions that dont involve the government subsidising fossil fuel use...

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Triggerh1ppy420 1 day ago +4

But there's a lot of people here in the UK, myself included, who are feeling the pain from high fuel prices and don't have the money to buy their way out of the problem. I do a lot of miles each month, between commuting to work and doing 100 miles each weekend to drop off and pick up my son. Each full tank is costing me £12 more than it did before the whole Iran situation, and that's based on my last fill up a week ago, so that would have increased now. 3 to 4 full tanks needed a month means I'm between £30-50 worse off when I was already struggling. I would love an electric car, but where I live in a flat I have no easy means to charge it, and if I rely on public chargers I'm not going to be saving enough to make the move to an EV worth it. I know a bunch of people in similar situations too. So yes I wish the government would help out somehow. A good example would be really encouraging (perhaps even forcing, or at least giving financial incentives for) employers to let staff work from home where possible. I'm fully capable of working from home and would save a decent amount of money by doing so, but my employer is against it. Another example would be temporarily reducing fuel duty slightly. This would go a long way to help the people who are probably being hit the hardest by these fuel costs.

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gadget80 1 day ago +5

I get it but 1) There already is a "temporary" fuel duty reduction of 5p from the last crisis. 2) Even public charging likely saving quite a bit compared to current fuel prices. Particularly eg lampost chargers overnight which are popping up more and more. (I also got a 25% d******* yesterday as it was v windy)

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Triggerh1ppy420 1 day ago

I have not heard of any such fuel duty reduction. I know the government has extended the current fuel duty cut from 2022, but this isn't the same as cutting fuel duty, and does nothing to reduce what people are currently paying at the pumps. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for making the switch to EVs, but I don't feel like the infrastructure is there yet, it's great that more and more lamppost chargers are appearing but it's going to take a long time before they are widespread, and there is clearly a lack of public charging available. My city of 250k people boasts about having 73 public EV chargers available, like that's something to be proud of. Local to me there are just 8 chargers, and it would be safe to assume one or two or those will be faulty or out of action. Also these chargers are just 4kw, which if I am correct is barely more than you can pull from a 13amp socket at home. Slow charging means cars charging for longer and less availability for others. A full charge on one of these is going to cost around £30-35 for 200-250 miles, which is around 40% cheaper than I am paying for petrol. However I would need to actually buy an EV, and the cost of that will negate any savings for many years I imagine. I guess what I am trying to say is, at the moment it is absolutely not feasible for me, or anyone living in an apartment, to get an EV unless they are lucky enough to have decent charging available to them.

0

AlexShipman 1 day ago +5

The problem with cutting fuel duty is that just reduces money in the government coffers which are already strained, whilst the private fuel companies still make the same / increased profit. Same for any talk of energy utilities relief. I really hope the government start to take a longer term strategy over energy security and public holdings.

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LordAnubis12 23 hr ago +4

For all their failings, I think everything that Starmer and Milliband have been saying the past few weeks suggests they are fully on board with the fact that this is a great reason to get off of oil and why we should be focusing on renewables and net zero

4

ForestElf3 21 hr ago +3

I agree with remote work, if not completely then just to to the office once a week.

3

Ultra_Metal 23 hr ago +1

Leftists who are protesting against the war should make better use of their time and go get electric vehicles and install solar panels on their homes. Stop using fossil fuels if you care about climate change as much as you claim to care.

1

xBabepentel 1 day ago +3

Are the government subsidies actually covering the installation costs now,or Is this just pure desperation?

3

FickleBumblebeee 1 day ago +11

Government subsidies for a lot of it. Particularly if you're low income or live in particular areas of deprivation- you can get solar panels, heat pumps, installation and batteries all paid for by the government.

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rebeccawithgoodhair 1 day ago +26

Just had it done, I live in a village with no mains gas connection, am a single parent and low income so ticked all the boxes. Lucky me! But this was amazing, I now have solar panels, heat pump, water cylinder and new radiators throughout scaled to work with the heat pump. From being absolutely freezing my house is now just temperate all the time. I don’t need to do anything as it’s just constant warmth. The difference is unbelievable and this was all done under the warm homes scheme. I genuinely can’t recommend it enough. Not just the scheme itself although that was a lifesaver as I couldn’t afford to heat the house, but the actual result. I’ve got an old 40s place with fairly poor insulation but everything was designed to work with it. So I think it’s worth looking into whatever type of property you have. Honestly it is an insanely amazing scheme and I’ll always be grateful.

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The_Artist_Who_Mines 1 day ago +3

Hell yh :D

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LordAnubis12 23 hr ago +3

Honestly please spread the word and tell everyone you know about this. There's still so many myths floating around about it not working in old properties which isn't true, but people only believe it when they hear it from people they know

3

rebeccawithgoodhair 22 hr ago +2

Believe me I do!! I’ve invited other people from the village round to feel how warm it is and I bang on to people at work. I’m very boring about my heating 😁

2

No-Anything-7291 1 day ago +2

Now only if it gets sunny in Great Britain. I kid I kid.

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LordAnubis12 22 hr ago +7

Appreciate you are joking, but for anyone else reading this 20% of the electricity for the grid is coming from solar right now \[15:30\] [https://grid.iamkate.com/](https://grid.iamkate.com/)

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EnvironmentalEgg2925 1 day ago -21

Good luck for 3/4 of the year.

-21

iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +13

> Sun Exposure & Reflection: Despite the cold, the high altitude/Arctic environment, **combined with sunlight reflecting off snow and ice**, can lead to increased skin pigmentation and tanning. More snow more light reflection. One of the reasons why solar panels at 90-degree incline still works.

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IrishWarhog 1 day ago -3

Since when did the UK get so much snow as to give people darker skin and power solar panels We get snow that lasts for a day then shitty slush if anything You live here right or am I against a yank pulling up Google?

-3

iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +7

the snow example is to showcase to you that light "bounces" around, and not just off white color solar panels do not require perfect conditions to work, and even some energy savings is better than nothing waiting for "perfect investments" is stupid

7

IrishWarhog 1 day ago -1

I'm not arguing against solar, I truly want solar, but I'm near Scotland with a north facing roof, at some point you have to admit defeat

-1

iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +5

the article says "green energy" it's not just solar systems being talked about in the article

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[deleted] 1 day ago +1

[removed]

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iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +2

I posted about snow because of what the commenter I was replying to said if you actually read the article, you'll see another "domestic" green energy thing in there

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IrishWarhog 1 day ago

Get on Google then and tell us the answer, estimate our weather as glorious all year round and every direction is east-west Then do a cost benefit on the price of those panels and battery and scaffolding and installation versus the energy you get back

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iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +1

dude or duddette, the article is not behind a paywall

1

EnvironmentalEgg2925 1 day ago -9

Who told you that? A solar company from China? lol.

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iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +4

It's one of the reasons why Eskimos have dark skin.

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EnvironmentalEgg2925 1 day ago -5

Hah did you just say Eskimos? lol

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iwantboringtimes 1 day ago +5

cause you gave the impression that solar panels only work in sunny areas also - the title says GREEN ENERGY, not just solar panels. It ain't just solar systems that are selling out in the UK

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GhostCanyon 1 day ago +14

I love that people think that because it’s cold the sun doesn’t exist. Solar still works in the winter

14

EnvironmentalEgg2925 1 day ago -9

It’s called thick cloud. Look up sunshine hours in the UK. Abysmal.

-9

FickleBumblebeee 1 day ago +3

Probably half the year realistically. I have solar panels but they were useless in February. They work in cloud but not when there is really thick cloud cover

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Quazimojojojo 1 day ago +1

Good thing that the wind blows all year, usually harder at night and in winter. And good thing that nuclear and geothermal work year round. (advanced geothermal can go pretty much anywhere now. The first commercially successful plant has been in operation for.... a year now? 2? It's very new, but it works.) Good thing batteries exist and sodium batteries barely loose any capacity in the cold (they're new on the market since late last year, but CATL is scaling it up pretty fast). And it's a very good thing that no government anywhere is trying to rely entirely on 1 single technology to fix everything, because that would be stupid. Even fossil fuel grids haven't replied on 1 single fuel source since the 1950s, if not earlier.

1

EnvironmentalEgg2925 1 day ago

Sounds about right. Not sure what everyone else is getting upset about. They don’t work all the time in certain weather and that’s just facts. The UK isn’t known for its sun.

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Astandsforataxia69 1 day ago +2

There is also nuclear

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EnvironmentalEgg2925 1 day ago

Nuclear panels! 🤣 I’m here for it!

0

Record number of homes in Great Britain turn to green energy as fuel prices soar | Energy industry

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