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UK braced for flooding as high tides peak

Severe flooding is expected in parts of the UK as high tides combine with heavy rain and strong winds later. The Environment Agency has issued 21 severe flood warnings – which mean "danger to life" – affecting south-west England, Gloucestershire and Wales. The Met Office has warned of flooding in Scotland and Northern Ireland. On Thursday, Environment Minister Owen Paterson said "exceptional weather" would hit the UK on Friday and over the weekend. Many of the severe flood warnings relate to the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, with the highest risk of flooding expected for two to four hours either side of Friday morning’s high tides. High water is expected at 05:42 GMT at Penzance, 06:54 at Plymouth, 07:05 at Barnstaple and 07:57 at Weymouth in Dorset. Waves more than […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Britain faces storm chaos and outages

Gales and Heavy Rain Threaten Festive Getaway Britain has been hit by a fresh band of stormy weather, with more than 17,500 homes thought to be without power and rail services across the south of England disrupted. Winds of 102mph hit parts of Britain on Thursday night, adding to the difficulties caused by storms on Christmas Eve which brought chaos to the train networks and left hundreds of flights grounded at Gatwick airport. Gusts of 102mph were recorded in the Welsh village of Aberdaron, while wind speeds of more than 70mph hit parts of Yorkshire and Scotland, the Met Office said. Tony Glover, of the Energy Networks Association, said conditions for those without power were “horrendous”, but that network companies were working “incredibly hard, around the clock” to get them reconnected. He added: “The flooding is a major issue for us and getting a cherry picker out into a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Winds of over 100mph batter Britain

Gales and Heavy Rain Threaten Festive Getaway Britain has been hit by a fresh band of stormy weather overnight, with further flooding expected and more than 17,500 homes thought to be still without power. Winds of over 100mph hit certain parts of Britain on Thursday night, adding to the difficulties caused by storms on Christmas Eve, which caused chaos to the train networks and left hundreds of flights grounded at Gatwick airport. Tony Glover, of the Energy Networks Association, said conditions for those without power were “horrendous”, but that network companies were working “incredibly hard, around the clock” to get them reconnected. He added: “The flooding is a major issue for us and getting a cherry picker out into a flooded area is one hell of a challenge with the fact that the weather itself continues. There is debris and roads are blocked.” By Friday morning, the Met Office […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Warning of fresh floods and storms for UK

Travellers and families at home for Christmas should expect further disruption over the next two days from widespread flooding in parts of the UK, the Environment Agency warned on Thursday, with heavy storms expected overnight. Tens of thousands of homes were left without power on Christmas Day and nearly 1,000 homes were flooded after bad weather caused chaos across southeast and southwest England. The Environment Agency said it expected another band of storms to hit most of the UK on Thursday night and Friday morning, which could bring 2.5cm of rain and winds of up to 70mph. Tim Field, head of public affairs at the Energy Networks Association, said staff were out in greater numbers than usual attempting to repair fallen power lines. He told BBC Radio’s Today programme: “Way more people have been working on this than would normally be working in any average week . . . It’s the last thing […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Scotland Struggles to Keep an Energy Lifeline

Highway travelers heading west at night from Edinburgh soon see a constellation of lights and glowing plumes of steam emerge from the darkness. It is the vast petrochemical complex at Grangemouth, which has become a shimmering symbol of Scotland at an economic and political crossroads. In mid-October, some of those lights went dark when James A. Ratcliffe, the chairman of Ineos, a Swiss multinational giant that owns much of the Grangemouth operation, ordered it shut down. Mr. Ratcliffe, during labor negotiations, was trying to shock the work force into “accepting changes to bring the site into the modern world,” he said in a recent interview. After the union quickly backed down and accepted some of the pay and pension changes sought by Mr. Ineos, the plant reopened. But the episode made clear the vulnerability of Grangemouth as the capital of the Scottish petrochemical industry. Although that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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British official: Shale could reduce Europe’s dependence on imports

British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey said shale natural gas may help reduce the European energy sector’s dependence on Russia. It’s unlikely European countries would duplicate the U.S. shale progress because the geology and regulatory regimes are more complex "but exploiting shale gas Europe-wide has the potential to contribute significantly to energy security whilst reducing dependence on imports from outside the European Union, most notably from Russia," Davey said Thursday at University College London. Shale natural gas won’t be a "silver bullet" for members of the European community but will add diversity to the base of energy resources, he said. European consumers get about 20 percent of their natural gas needs from Russia. The British government this week published policy guidelines meant to provide energy companies with the information they need to exploit the country’s fledgling shale natural gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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British official: Shale could reduce Europe's dependence on imports

British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey said shale natural gas may help reduce the European energy sector’s dependence on Russia. It’s unlikely European countries would duplicate the U.S. shale progress because the geology and regulatory regimes are more complex "but exploiting shale gas Europe-wide has the potential to contribute significantly to energy security whilst reducing dependence on imports from outside the European Union, most notably from Russia," Davey said Thursday at University College London. Shale natural gas won’t be a "silver bullet" for members of the European community but will add diversity to the base of energy resources, he said. European consumers get about 20 percent of their natural gas needs from Russia. The British government this week published policy guidelines meant to provide energy companies with the information they need to exploit the country’s fledgling shale natural gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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British energy minister publishes shale ‘roadmap’

British Energy Minister Michael Fallon said Tuesday shale natural gas is part of his country’s energy future but it must be extracted responsibly. Fallon published a regulatory roadmap outlining ways in which oil and natural gas, including shale deposits, could be exploited in the country. "The government is keen to explore the potential for shale gas in the U.K., which could bring major benefit in terms of growth, jobs and energy security," he said in a statement. "However we must develop shale responsibly, both for local communities and for the environment." The British Geological Survey estimates there may be enough shale gas inland to last the country more than 40 years though only a small fraction of land is open for exploration. The 49-page report outlines ways in which oil and natural gas is regulated in the region. It says each application needs to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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British energy minister publishes shale 'roadmap'

British Energy Minister Michael Fallon said Tuesday shale natural gas is part of his country’s energy future but it must be extracted responsibly. Fallon published a regulatory roadmap outlining ways in which oil and natural gas, including shale deposits, could be exploited in the country. "The government is keen to explore the potential for shale gas in the U.K., which could bring major benefit in terms of growth, jobs and energy security," he said in a statement. "However we must develop shale responsibly, both for local communities and for the environment." The British Geological Survey estimates there may be enough shale gas inland to last the country more than 40 years though only a small fraction of land is open for exploration. The 49-page report outlines ways in which oil and natural gas is regulated in the region. It says each application needs to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Britain opens up much of countryside to fracking

An area more than two-thirds the size of England is to be opened up to shale gas drilling and other forms of exploration under plans set out on Tuesday that ministers said could produce thousands of jobs and other economic benefits. However, if fracking companies rush to exploit shale deposits, some areas may also experience “significant negative effects”, according to an environmental assessment of the move by the Amec consultancy, including a “substantial burden” on wastewater treatment plants. Depending on how many sites are eventually drilled, towns and villages could see lorries hauling water and other materials along their roads up to 51 times a day, the consultants said, adding that up to 150 shale gas licences could end up being awarded around the country. In addition, fracking companies could consume nearly a fifth of the water currently supplied to energy, water and waste industries each year. These impacts […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple