Site Prices Update
Last Updated28th June 2022
All calculations on this site are based on current fuel prices, they are checked regularly and calculations are automatically updated.
The costs calculated based on these fuel prices should be regarded as 'good estimates', given that fuel prices vary in different parts of the county and at different time of the year.
The calculations also have different levels of accuracy depending on the nature of the calculation. For example calculating the energy use of a known power output TV is very easy compared to calculating the effect on energy savings when insulating a cavity wall.
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At Confused About Energy we aim to provide practical, impartial advice on all aspects of energy usage, climate change and ways to save money on energy bills.
All calculations on this site are based on current fuel prices they are checked regularly are automatically updated and were last changed on:-
28th June 2022
The costs calculated based on these fuel prices should be regarded as 'good estimates', given that fuel prices vary in different parts of the county and at different time of the year.
The calculations also have different levels of accuracy depending on the nature of the calculation. For example calculating the energy use of a known power output TV is very easy compared to calculating the effect on energy savings when insulating a cavity wall.
Site Calculations
Electricity | £0.271 per unit (1 kWh) |
Economy Electricity | £0.094 per unit (1 kWh) |
Gas | £0.072 per unit (1 kWh) |
Domestic LPG | £0.122 per unit (1 kWh) |
Heating Oil | £0.104 per unit (1 kWh) |
UK Grid CO2 Emissions | 0.233 kg per kWh used |
The main units used in this site are in the table below, For a complete explanation of power and energy Read More.
Unit | Name | Detail |
---|---|---|
W | Watt | Unit of Power |
kW | Kilowatt | 1000 watts |
kWh | Kilowatt hour | Measure of Energy |
L | Litre | Measure of Volume |
Please use twitter to ask a question Message @@EnergyThinking
I recently picked up my teenaged son’s school science revision guide, at the same time asking him if he needed any help. “I'm fine” he said and maybe I should have respected this but I was bored and felt a familiar urge to irritate him without motive because unfortunately that’s the kind of Dad I am (in return I have made an implied promise to leave him half a house when I die and to be fair both he and his brother seem relaxed about this arrangement). So anyway, I resolved to test him on the material in the guide with a view to ensuring that he gets enough qualifications to get him a job that will allow him to escape my tormenting at the earliest opportunity? The subject of the open page of the booklet was “The Environment” and since I didn’t feel inclined to wade through the whole document I decided to play the cards as they fell. “The Environment” it was.
Scanning some of the “facts” presented on the page I declared to Tom... “well that’s wrong; that bit is a little one sided; this bit is complete rubbish” and so on. “Am I helping?” I asked as I noticed him rolling his eyes towards the ceiling in the same way that he does when I comment on his sartorial elegance (or lack thereof). The section that stuck with me most and which prompted this text was the declaration in this guide that “there is only one way to stop global warming”. It declared simply that all that was required to halt global warming was that “we should stop burning fossil fuels”. Does any one else see anything wrong with this declaration in the education of our children?
At a parents evening in our allocated 5 minute slot, I asked how best I could help with my sons studies. The response from the teacher was, encouragement, use of the revision guides and to ensure the liberal use of key words that are used within the curriculum when doing past papers. So just to clarify I asked whether the examiners are interested in any independence of thought or if the they are absolutely only interested in students using key word answers regardless of whether the answers are right or wrong. The teacher knew exactly where I was going, sighed and said “yes just answer exactly as the curriculum requires”. “OK”. That’s fine for passing a test but in terms of the “bigger picture” since my son’s generation are the ones who will suffer most from the effects of global warming then surely it makes sense to teach them the truth about it as opposed to presenting them with a simplistic list of cause and effect situations.
What am I getting at, you might ask. Its probably an age old problem which takes a different hue with each generation. The problem as I see it is the closing of the mind with idealogical and/or political doctrine at the very earliest age. In this instance it has become accepted by most that the only way to stop global warming is to stop burning fossil fuels, because this is what is being drummed into us at all levels. At school they are taught it as the only solution. In fact fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions are regarded as being interchangeable as though they were in fact the same thing. They are not. Further at school and in wider society it is being drummed into us that all renewable energy systems are good and everything else is bad. This is far from true and is a much more nuanced debate.
I am not a global warming denier, nor do I deny the influence of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses like methane. The evidence is clear, these emissions are warming the planet. The problem I have is that because only one solution is doctrine all other solutions to the problem are heresy. Here are the most important simple truths as I see them:-
There is already far too much CO2 in the atmosphere - It will take generations to naturally reabsorb it to pre 1950's levels even if we totally stop burning fossil fuels today.
We are not going to stop using the most economic sources of energy so we will keep burning fossil fuel all over the world - Projections of population growth their access to renewable and nuclear energy and the remaining availability of fossil fuels indicate that fossil fuel use will actually increase until 2050, then slowly decline as resources are depleted.
Unilateral moves from fossil fuels are useful but not a solution - CO2 does not need a passport, Chinese, US or Indian CO2 is just as happy bobbing around over Blighty as it is where it was emitted.
Even the most optimistic projections on fossil fuel use (you notice I do not say CO2 emissions) is that it will continue grow until 2050, and that it will begin to slowly decline over the 50 years beyond this as it becomes too expensive to mine. If you believe the only way to stop runaway climate change is to stop burning fossil fuels than you have already lost, pack your bags and get on the next rocket out of here, pity there is nowhere to go.
If you reconcile yourself to the fact that fossil fuels are going to be used around the world for a least another 100 years and you do not want runaway climate change then you have to find a way to remove the CO2 or alleviate the symptoms of the CO2. Amongst many Environmental groups this view is heresy. It is stop burning or else! 7 or 8 billion people in the world regardless of this view will still need to keep warm, cook their food and get about to earn a living.
Finally as a local UK initiative and perhaps a bit too radical for UK government, legislate (with grants) to compel homeowners and landlords to insulate their lofts and walls (mind you, they would not be able to get in mine for all the junk, must deal with that one day). Energy wise this makes much more sense than sticking a solar panel on the roof of a house in a rain blessed territory like the UK.
Hello, I agree with the declaration made in the text book. The purpose of secondary school education is to motivate your son to feel passionate about something to choose to further his studies. If all he had to learn about at school was global warming then teachers and textbooks would have space to go into all of the detail you talk about. But amongst art and french, maths and english the statement stop burning fossil fuels makes a great start and if it catches your son's attention maybe he will choose to further his studies into this field and find a long term solution to global warming that works scientifically and politically.
The margins between Education and Indoctrination are fine. Teaching one stance is in my view wrong. Point is taken regarding the extent of the curriculum however. Thanks for the comment...
World Climate Change Metrics
(2021)
↑
Annual
+11353 TWh↑
Decade
2040 149000 TWh to 171000 TWh
(2021)
↑
Annual
+2.6 Gt↑
Decade
2040 36 Gt to 46 Gt
(2021)
↑
Annual
+835 million↑
Decade
2040 8.45 billion to 9.5 billion
(2021)
10+Gt CO2
↑
Annual
+1168 TWh↑
Decade
2040 10000 TWh to 13000 TWh
(2021)
↑
Annual
+24 ppm↑
Decade
2040 450 ppm to 500 ppm
(2022)
↑
Annual
+0.26°C↑
Decade
2040 1.5°C to 2.5°C
(2020)
–
Annual
+46.5 mm↑
Decade
2040 150 mm to 200 mm
(2020)
↓
Annual
0.95 million km2↓
Decade
to 2 million km2
2040 2 million km2
to 0 million km2
(2020)
↓
Annual
-1600 Gt↓
Decade
2040 -7000 Gt to -10000 Gt
(2020)
↓
Annual
-2500 Gt↓
Decade
2040 -7000 Gt to -10000 Gt
Each Decade
↓
Decade
(2019)
↑
Annual
+2169 TWh↑
Decade
2040 9000 TWh to 12000 TWh
(2018)
↑
Annual
0.96 Gt↑
Decade
2040 5.4 Gt to 7.2 Gt
≅4.6 GtCO2 emissions prevented
Example 50% gas power generation substituted with renewables
≅2 GtCO2 emissions prevented
≅3.7 GtCO2 emissions prevented
Example 50% gas power generation with CCS
≅1.6 GtCO2 emissions prevented
(2017)
↑
Annual
543 TWh↑
Decade
2040 1250 TWh to 2200 TWh
(2015)
↓
Annual
0.336 million km2↓
Decade
to 39.7 million km2
2040 39 million km2
to 39.5 million km2
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