Thursday, February 02, 2006

MPs generate enough Hot Air

The Italian Government has called upon Italians to turn down their thermostats by 1 degree centigrade. John Hemming MP the Chairman of the Independent Energy Scrutiny Panel has said that "we should consider what the Italians are doing."

"I shall be writing to the Seargeant at Arms to ask for the temperature to be turned down on the parliamentary estate. After all MPs generate so much hot air themselves I wonder if we really need that much heating."

"The government do not want to admit that there is a gas problem. There have been some adverts running on the TV talking about turning down thermostats. It is important that the government come clean and admit that there is a danger that the UK could be short of gas. If they are honest with people then there is a greater chance of a public response."

"One degree centigrade can reduce demand by 20 million cubic metres in a day. Yesterday's demand was lower than forecast at 392 mcm, but it was still a record for this winter. Today's forecast demand is 20 mcm greater than that. We coped yesterday in part by reducing the amount of gas in the pileline by 7.3 million cubic metres. We did take 14 mcm from medium term storage as well as the maximum from Long term storage."

"Today's predicted demand is 413 mcm, but we don't know as yet what it will end up as. This will only be clear by the end of the gas day which is 6am tomorrow."

"It remains possible that the government will get through this winter without having to admit the truth. They are "in denial" about the severity of the situation which is on a knife edge. If I were to bet on an evens bet as to which way things would go I would think that we will cope. However, the risk is not worth taking."

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