Some interesting conversations during my visit to UK prompted me to take the argument to first base. Two questions seem to dominate the debate, firstly just how much of global warming is caused by the increase of atmospheric CO2 and how much of the increase in CO2 is caused by rising temperature. The question is to do with the direction of travel to net zero leading to my interest in gas usage in the Netherlands. To really get to a hard base on the statistics is rather hard, particularly for a non academic such as myself. As a starting point I wondered what the balance of gas use is between power generation, heavy industry and domestic. the following happy little link would seem to show all in the garden is thriving but I am sceptical.
https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2023/07/natural-gas-consumption-in-2022-at-lowest-level-in-50-years
With higher gas prices consumption is likely to decrease but it struck me that the alternative fossil fuel use might be increasing so I started to look for some numbers.
https://www.enerdata.net/estore/energy-market/netherlands/
This link seems to show all is well but the included statement rings alarm bells.
Coal Consumption
Coal is mainly consumed for power generation (63%), followed by industry (28%). In 2021, coal consumption increased by 43% and remained stable in 2022 at around 9 Mt.
The last link is to seek some headline data on Netherlands electricity generation by energy sources so I searched for some sources and found (as you might) that the top searches showed all is rose tinted with all the numbers showing green attaboy’s. So turning to Wikipedia I found this page from which I extracted a possibly more realistic picture. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_the_Netherlands
So, the debate must be modified to focus on what benefits might accrue from consumers investing in electric cars and heating when the inevitable losses in efficiency caused by generation are taken into account and further how and can all this new electricity be produced?
Consume with a smile!
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/01/electricity-grid-capacity-shortage-now-threatens-households/
Good points Robin. As I understand the trick in electric driving is the braking energy recuperation, causing EV’s to be beneficial even when charged with the current grey/green mix. Modern electric heating with a heat pump is unbeatable because of the COP of up to 5. Generation and transmission losses are more than compensated.
In any circumstance burning gas is preferable to coal as it creates less CO2 for the same power.