12 Comments

Great read--would just urge you to look at storage volume (or days of demand/storage) as well as % full. France and the UK have very little storage relative to their gas consumption, partly because they have reliable LNG inflows, so the % indicator is not as meaningful as the German number.

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If Europe is serious about replacing ICE’s with EV’s, coal has to come back in a big way to be able to power all those machines. Two big selling points for coal are it is relatively easy and safe to transport and store on site and it is only exceeded by nuclear in terms of energy density.

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Jul 11, 2022·edited Jul 11, 2022

You may want to read up on the energy densities of hydrocarbon fuels. Coal is less energy dense than oil (both by unit weight and volume) and natural gas (by weight), and produces far more CO2 for each unit of energy.

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I think we’re way past the point of worrying about carbon emissions.

Given modern sophisticated coal plant exhaust filtering systems are able to capture majority of emissions, especially the dreaded particulate matter, it’s not a question of why but when can we bring back coal.

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Tell the pols. I am just stating facts.

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would be interesting to read a post-mortem now that the Euro winter is over

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Great piece! With numbers too! I can't see how Europe replaces 13.7 bcfd from Russia. Even if they magically get new LNG terminals.

US shale drillers are the only ones who can ramp up production quickly, but even they might have takeaway problems (interstate pipelines to port).

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nice graphs. clean information......but what is your point? personal take:

did EU really think they could handle this? ra ra rally round the flag! we will show them! like we need their gas.......No we follow the vassal state unusa. advice and give Ukraine guns and money.....

Sorry Advocate, i dont understand what you are saying......the stats were apparent in March....so what is the news

+

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Good article, there are however a few things i would like to highlight in regards to germany.

First, germany is burning gas in gas power plants to create power, but very soon instead of doing gas -> power, coal will be used instead. That means less gas draws until summer, hopefully that helps a bit with building up more gas for the winter.

Secondly, i would except a more focused media campaign to "save energy" starting soonish, i.e. conserving gas but also convering power. Again, that will possibly help with a gas build up.

Third as a counterforce for 2023, right now 3 nuclear power plants generate electricity but are scheduled to permanently shut down end of 2022. That power will have to replaced, hopefully by coal and not by gas. Even better yet there is still a small change they scheduled closure might be rescheduled.

Generally speaking, interesting times and shit will probably hit the fan. As to the exact extent, thats to be seen.

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Why does Spain have an LNG import terminal smack in the centre of the country?

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Genuinely happy every time I see new blog post in email. Thank you for sharing!

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What are the chances of increasing nuclear capacity in Germany, surely an option ?

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