Sunday 5 October 2008

Living Without Electricity

We recently wrote about the prospect of an electricity shortage in the UK from about 2012 onwards (see post). It now appears that we might have been a litle optimistic in our thinking. A recent article in The Independent On Sunday tells us that:

"The majority of the [nuclear] power stations are in dire trouble, and their failure is leading to the most acute concern in years that the country may run short of electricity this winter." (See article).

What are we to do? As a family, we have taken the view that energy shortages could well be a feature of our immediate future. We have installed an open-hearth fire so that we can keep warm in atleast one room. Actually, we installed it in the summer of 2007. With the way that gas prices have risen this year (up 50%), we expect the installation to pay for itself - from savings on our gas central heating - after the winter of 2009. As a precaution for the winter of 2008, we are also stocking up on candles.

Isn't that romantic? An open fire by candlelight, listening to a battery powered radio. This certainly brings some upside to a potentially dark future.

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