Many people fear the lights will go out
According to a survey published by the IET (Institute of Engineering and Technology), a large majority of us fear that the lights will go out as the future demand for electrical energy far outweighs supply. 90% of respondents to the survey said they were concerned about fuel shortages.
According to an article on EnergyLiveNews.com this month, 492 people were questioned at the British Science Festival and a staggering 86% of them said they would be prepared to adapt their energy usage behaviour in order to take advantage of variable tariffs such as time-of-day prices.
Paul Davies, Head of Policy at the IET is quoted as saying: “The UK faces the twin problems of energy security and carbon reduction. The engineering solutions to these problems, such as the introduction of smart metering and electric vehicles, are bound to have a significant impact on the ways people use and pay for energy.”
Happily, 98% of respondents said it was important that some of their energy should come from renewable sources, indicating that energy matters. Mr Davies said that the results demonstrated that many people are aware of the issues and what they might mean to them.
It’s good that people understand the issues and it comes as no surprise that they do. Large energy users are already negotiating hard with their suppliers to even secure the number of Mega Watts supply they require. I know of data centres, for example, that have asked for 2MW and only been afforded 1MW by their utility provider. But being aware of the issues is one thing; knowing what you can do about them is another. We are limited as to what we can do about energy supply to ensuring our supplies are UPS protected and that we have some kind of alternative, temporary back up, such as diesel generators. If you want to know more, there is loads of information on our website. You will also find information about the wide range of Elcos generators that we supply.