Another Ban on the way?

[Spectric]

within 5 years they would likely stop producing new gas hobs

That will upset a few chefs, gas hobs and electric ovens seems to be the norm.

 

[HOJ]

imagine a battery bank capable of supplying just a few mega watts

Were getting one with an alleged capacity of 114MW: https://www.edf-re.uk/our-sites/norwich/

 

[selectortone]

Not easy to store huge amounts of power, imagine a battery bank capable of supplying just a few mega watts and yet an average town will use far more.

The real solution is to cut the demand not try and keep matching what people want.

There are battery storage facilities around the world with capacities of hundreds of megawatt hours. Even larger ones of gigawatt hour size are under construction.

Someone really needs to drag you kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

 

[Jacob]

https://www.hydropower.org/factsheets/pumped-storage

 

[Windows]

That should be easy to validate, there were far more open fires and woodburners going back so was there also a much higher rate of death ? Most people born prior to the 70's would have lived in homes heated by open fires, woodburners and things like the park ray that used those shaped coal nuggets.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog_of_London

 

[Terry - Somerset]

That will upset a few chefs, gas hobs and electric ovens seems to be the norm.

Gas is about 25% the cost of electric.

 

[Amplidyne]

Were getting one with an alleged capacity of 114MW: https://www.edf-re.uk/our-sites/norwich/

So at the moment, on a warmish November evening, we're running at around 35gW total load in the UK.
Energy storage is apparently set to be 30,000mW in this country by 2030.
Unless I'm much mistaken, that's 30gW.
So about an hour's storage.
That's before having more electric loads from all electric houses, and EVs.

So in the worst case scenario, we have a freezing cold Winter evening, with no wind, and obviously no sun. A bigger load.
I do hope those nasty dirty gas turbines will keep up with the load.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Gas is about 25% the cost of electric.

Gas ovens dry food out, that's why they're uncommon in commercial kitchens.

 

[Bingy man]

just had my dinner , roast lamb etc - cooked to perfection, slightly pink and rested for 20 mins ( the excess liquid ) went into the homemade gravy .. gas or electric oven has little bearing on the quality of the cooking. It’s all down to the cook ( imho) . Top chef’s add a tray of water or wine to add even more moisture into the oven . As for gas running out I heard that for the 30 + years I worked for b gas . Well before natural gas we all used town gas untill the conversion in the late 60,s early 70,s . At this time there was the gas company and the electric company who both held the monopoly. Nowadays you get gas and electric from the same supplier, and in years to come you will buy a fuel to heat your home and clean air to breathe. Either way it will be via private companies where the only ones to lose out will be the ordinary people who will not have an alternative if they happen to be on a low income..

 

[MikeB1972]

Gas ovens dry food out, that's why they're uncommon in commercial kitchens.

Yes, electric oven, gas hob - best way to cook.
Electric over for precise temperature control and gas hob for instant adjustment.

 

[jetsetwilly]

https://www.hydropower.org/factsheets/pumped-storage

Went round Cruachan last year - very impressive. We need a lot more of them...

 

[ey_tony]

That will upset a few chefs, gas hobs and electric ovens seems to be the norm.

It's the best combination.
We use a microwave/combi oven for economy. Yesterday I cooked home made sausage rolls and a Lancashire Hotpot using the combi, in fact we only use the main electric oven when we have guests or need to cook a full roast dinner. Yorkshire puddings come out perfect using the combi.

For extra economy we use a pressure cooker for most vegetables which means we can have such as carrots/swede and or potatoes cooked and ready to mash in 5.5 minutes cooking time which even allowing for the steamer to get up to temperature, it represents a 50% energy saving.

Regular built n electric ovens take 10-15 minutes to get up to full working temperature. With the combi oven it can be reached in 4-5 minutes so while the regular oven is still warming up, whatever you're cooking is already cooking with the combi.

We're certainly not ultra-precious about saving energy but we have a reasonably efficient regime when it comes to using the energy supply economically. We try to cook once and eat twice where possible which is often cheaper if buying slightly larger quantities which saves both time and 'energy' so it all reduces costs.

 

[flying haggis]

Why bother with a pressure cooker for spuds if you have a microwave? We haven't cooked spuds any other way than in the microwave for thirty plus years!
Pound of spuds 6 minutes.

 

[ey_tony]

Why bother with a pressure cooker for spuds if you have a microwave? We haven't cooked spuds any other way than in the microwave for thirty plus years!
Pound of spuds 6 minutes.

Perhaps so but we also cook other veg like swede & carrots at the same time as the potatoes and then briefly cook greens like sprouts, green beans, cabbage, broccoli etc so for us a pressure cooker works best.

 

[Dabop]

Not easy to store huge amounts of power, imagine a battery bank capable of supplying just a few mega watts and yet an average town will use far more.

The real solution is to cut the demand not try and keep matching what people want.

Actually it is- pumped hydro is being used in several states here in Australia already, and with more coming online every year...

The Tesla 'mega batteries' (actually there are several different manufacturers around) are in the hundred plus megawatt range (150MW output capacity, 200MWh of storage at the rather famous Hornsdale facility in South Australia) but are more suited for 'spike leveling' for pumped stored hydro systems (which take several seconds to 'spool up' when demand increases)
The Snowy 2 is likely to be completed now in 2026, and here in Qld there's already several in use (including one using an old open pit gold mine as the storage in north Qld!!!)- although the change in state government here is likely to turn renewables off for the next four years (The bloody Libs got in- it took a decade of Labor to fix up the mess they left the state in last time- and the bloody ***** Queenslanders went and voted them back in again...)- the braindead moron that is the new deputy premier just labelled renewables a 'Labor hoax' and just killed the new pumped hydro storage facility dead in its tracks (literally the very first thing he did as deputy prem...)

 

[Scruples]

It's those damned Marxist doctors at it again.

ps How does this constitute 'news'? It's been on the cards for years.

Wood burning fires/stoves have been on the increase for a while. So it's news when somebody has the balls to stand up and tell it like it is.

In my youth, coal fires where the norm but as the years went by the smog and soot became less toleralble so 'smokeless' zones appeared. At about the same time, gas boilers begain to emerge to replace the old coal fired-back boilers and so the air quality began to improve. Electric heating, too, made an appearance along with off peak tariffs.

So, here we go again, sucking up the attractiveness of the log-burning stoves and failing to see the down sides. The smoke, the polution and the use of any wood that'll burn irrespective of whether it's stained, painted or treated, just so long as it's 'free'.

I would welcome a ban, if only to be able to enjoy my garden without the stink and the smoke.

 

[Scruples]

Funnily enough I’ve recently been exposed to similar reports but not on the same subject. We had a short break away a few weeks ago and the Mrs was blown away with how amazingly responsive and controllable the gas hob was where we stayed having many times berated the sub standard ceramic hob fitted at home. We’ve had gas before but it was quite a while back and there’s also an issue with reinstating it at our current property so we started researching possible alternatives that would keep her happy. Turns out , according to media , that gas hobs are killing us all silently with their increased levels of pollutants in the household!!!
Of course the cynic in me suspects that our ‘tech’ has maybe been influenced by discreetly deposited cookies and has subsequently attracted attention from the far out sales wing of applicable appliances.. long story short, she’s very happy with her new induction hob

Your wife should try an induction hob. It is, without dounbt, more responsive and less wasteful than either gas or ceramic with elements, as the energy produced only heats the pans, which heats the food, and not the surroundings.

 

[Scruples]

The joke in Zimbabwe - what did you use to light your house before you had candles? Electricity.

Which is why all the clever Africans migrated north when they got the chance.

 

[Norman Boyes]

Your wife should try an induction hob. It is, without dounbt, more responsive and less wasteful than either gas or ceramic with elements, as the energy produced only heats the pans, which heats the food, and not the surroundings.

Maybe you should exercise restraint by resisting commenting before you have read to the end of the author’s comment.

 

[Scruples]

Maybe you should exercise restraint by resisting commenting before you have read to the end of the author’s comment.

Perhaps I should. But some commenters write without paragraphs, or adequate punctuation, and some readers, like me, lose interest part-way through.
My advice to some would be to break up your longer comments, use a few more sentences, commas and, perhaps, a few less exclamation marks. and make them appear more digestible.