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Jun 15, 2022Liked by epimetheus

Sweden could be self-sufficient regards electricity.

Why we aren't? It's spelled neoliberal Chicago&austrian economics and dependency on the communists and the Green party.

Plus the EUSSR.

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Well, 'self-sufficiency' would be a function--consequence--of (the rate of) consumption at any given point in time, eh?

If so, at what level (and rate) of consumption would Sweden be 'self-sufficient', my good sir?

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In 2020, we produced 508 TWh domestically.

Time was we had 12 reactors, originally supposed to have been 24 with 8-10 of those as a strategic reserve and redundancy, plus hydro (used to be between 1/3 to 4/10 of need), that's what I'm comparing against. A time when a power outage was fixed inside the hour, even in widwinter, when terms like "We can't fix it becuase we haven't got the parts from China yet" was unherd of because what we didn't produce we had in stock, and where anyone suggesting rolling blackouts for whatever reason would be gently led to a psychiatrist because stuff like blackouts was for 3rd world pits.

But to give some hard numbers: every year we waste 88 TWh (not chump change, is it?) by not using the heated water from the nuclear plants to heat buildings but instead pumping it into the sea. That's more than the total produced by hydro (72 TWh). Wind gives 27 TWh, and that's yearly average discounting the days when the plants stand still. Bio makes up 140 TWh (forest industry, food waste, that kind of stuff) - that's as much as the remaining nuclear plants put out. There are more but you get the picture? We can produce all the electricity we need and want, plus exports (about 25 TWh 2020) - yet still the price per KW has been raised several hundred percent, starting this fall. Why? Because profit. Profit for the few, rather than power to the people.

Hydro used to make up much more but the Greens forced shutdowns of smaller installations (which they are lobbying hard via EU for Sweden to be forced to demolish). Nuclear is from the remaining three reactors, we used to have 12 as mentioned.

Counting from 1970 we have lowered our use of petroleum products for energy by more than 70%, not bad eh? By the by, gas including so-called city-gas (domestic production from waste treatment facilities) comes to about 14 TWh.

14 TWh. That's how important russian gas is to Sweden. We could re-start one reactor and have power to spare, say selling it to Germany.

Hence, self-sufficient, since we can produce much more than we use, but then that would mean lowered profits for the little clique of politically affiliated businessmen owning the power companies. Artificial scarcity, and hey, it's not them has to choose between the power bill and the mortgage, is it?

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We in Australia are having the very same issue. "Coincidence", I know. Inflation. Electricity authority asked us to conserve energy tonight, if SAFE (I thought they had deleted that word from the English language) to do so, and tomorrow.

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author

Oh my, isn't Global Capitalism simply awesome?

Or not.

Also: is it 'safe' to 'conserve energy'?

And, as a follow-up: how are you supposed to do so?

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It is not global capitalism per see. Australia is girt by seas. We generate our own electricity. Why the sudden problem now and not three years ago?

We waste much energy. Sometimes in broad daylight the street lamps are still on!

Turn off the lights in the commercial buildings and those fancy advertising signs. We can reduce the lights on the highways and big roads with total safety.

Turn off the TV!

Use lower-voltage lights in homes and elsewhere.

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I agree, it's 'Capitalism', perhaps with a (tm).

Same here, with regard to energy use (waste), perhaps a bit less so per capita (we also don't live in semi-arid settings). And, yes, electricity prices were far lower until last year: why now?

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"And, yes, electricity prices were far lower until last year: why now?"

Exactly. And why would they appear to rise around the same time in totally disconnected places?

They are playing at an Olympic standard, for keeps.

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Case in point: a moment after I replied to your comment, I received an email by my electricity provider--they are going to increase transmission fees, as of 1 July.

No reasons given whatsoever.

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Sometimes silence is all you need to know about something.

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Jun 15, 2022Liked by epimetheus

We’re coming, again, full circle: EU leadership, in its apparent infinite wisdom, has declared an embargo on Russian hydrocarbons, hence it allows the same EU leaders to determine that there’s a ‘likely…significant deterioration of the gas supply’.

Hahahahaha!

If I was the national socialist director of Austria I would cut off Berlin!

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And Brussels.

Then again, this particular Hydra has, unfortunately, many more heads to chop off…

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True enough!

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