that Russia flaring off gas is a sick joke

[LargeDeviation]

It really sticks in the throat seeing Putin burn off gas just to avoid delivering it to Europe. Not only is it a massive waste, the soot from the flares will fall on the Arctic and exacerbate the polar ice cap melting.

Yes, Michael Fallon was totally inept closing down even the small gas storage facility we have, and generally governments going back decades should have built more strategic storage facilities for oil and gas which can be filled up when the price is low.

But I think too many people are forgetting that the real cause of the huge rise in gas prices is Putin's pathetic war, and he is deliberately using his position in the European gas market to try to dampen support for Ukraine. If his tactics work and we lose the political will for supplying Ukraine with weapons and aid, this game will be played not just this year but again and again and again.

Yes, burning off the excess gas is appalling, but in reality, if there is no market, really hard to see what else they could do with it. Very hard to shut off gas quickly- unlike oil.
The whole war is causing massive pollution, not to mention the nuclear risk.
I wish we would put a tenth of the effort into forcing negotians that we do into slinging in more arms. And I also wish we had no isolated re. sports, arts etc. We need to keep communications open with ordinary Russians, we need them to continue to want what the west and democracy has to offer.

And the war isn't causing unneeded massive pollution?

It's just a joke. Need to stop funding and being involved in a war that isn't ours. Been going on for years. They are all war/pollution criminals.

Sorry, I can't disagree more strongly @strawberriesarenot @GoneWithTheWine1 . If we don't supply Ukraine with weapons then Putin will do this again and again - invade other European countries, and play more games with Nordstream and Nordstream 2.

We need to help Ukraine win the war and at the same time through diversification of supply, improving insulation and efficiency, and increasing gas storage make sure that this is a one time supply shock.

I can't believe there are actually people who want to stop helping Ukraine. You are doing exactly what Putin wants.

I love a bit of planet love but it was going to be burnt off anyway and pollute the planet anyway. Use this as a motivation to push for string climate action.

I guess they've got nothing else to do with it though? They could store it but I guess they don't want to.

@RealBecca There is a huge difference in environmental impact between flaring it at source, and burning it when I'm cooking on my stove. When I use gas on my cooker I don't (directly) cause polar ice caps to melt.

@chillipenguin Well they could send it to Europe as they were contracted to do, but that wouldn't serve Putin's evil agenda.

Oh I thought Europe were boycotting it

I completely agree with you.

@chillipenguin I think most European countries will stop coal and oil from Russia quite soon, but there was no real agreement on gas beyond some non-binding intentions. Germany, Austria as well as several Eastern European countries are highly reliant on Russian gas, or at least they were before the war.

Not what I said at all. Not for a moment.

What is the difference? I mean this genuinely. Is the gas made less damaging somehow?

Thank you for explaining that. Things do look tough in Germany.

Yes, you do.
Of course you do. We all do.

We are all responsible.

Yes you do.

Of course you do. We all do. We are all responsible.

How do you imagine it is any different? That's what the whole message about burning fossil fuels has been about for years.

I agree Russia has o be opposed simply because failing to do so means giving them the green light to expand further into other small european nations and it will embolden them to play games with oil and gas supply for political advantage.

I see it as the wake up call that making ourselves dependent on fossil fuels, especially those supplied from outside our borders is absolute idiocy.

The UK governments lackluster efforts to diversify and move the country to renewable energy sources has been pathetic. The beauracracy involved in opening new wind farms, and tidal energy is hampering efforts. Government needs to inetervene and massively streamline the process so that more wind farms can be built and expanded as quickly as possible. Also, electric network for cars need to be massively expanded. Been talking about it for twenty years but the roll out has been a snails pace.

Taxation on oil and gas manufacturers profits should be implemented and used to offer massive discounts and grants on heat pumps and solar panels for consumer market. That should have been happening for the last 20 years but again...governemnt incompetence and token measures.

No one seems to see the self reinforceing cycle of the Tories saying they will cut tax...but the first ones they talk about cutting are green levies. That's just kicking the can down the road.

Even then the infrastructure is lagging behind. I went two years ago to change from oil heating to a heat pump. It was looking to be a difficult and expensive process. Just before the purchase the company who sells them advised me to check that the electricity network would support a heat pump. Was appalled to be told by electric comapny that no, the electric grid in my area wouldn't support a heat pump. I would have to wait for the area to be upgraded..with no estimates of when that would be. Or pay ten grand to have a step up generator insalled at my house to supply the consant higher power such a heat pump would need. I was already putting myself into debt to make the witch just at the cost of the heat pump, I could never have afforded the extra ten grand.

New build houses should have heat pumps and solar panels as standard by law.

Alas, while government elite are reaping huge dividends from their own investments into oil and gas, that will never happen.

@chillipenguin I am not an expert but if I understand it, the basic difference is that soot doesn't end up on the ice caps but instead on my kitchen surfaces.

Invading and bombing their neighbour isn't too funny, either.

I'm not so sure that Putin DOES want us to stop supporting Ukraine. Why would he? Currently we are spending billions (we don't have) in aid, impoverishing our own population and destroying our domestic economy. All without Putin having to do a thing. I would have thought it's all working out perfectly from a Russian standpoint.

@UrslaB Agree on wind farms and solar incentives, and also, that new homes should be forced to have EPC A rating including heat pumps and solar panels.

I am less sure about heat pumps for existing properties because they need such huge modifications and often much simpler and cheaper insulation measures can make a large difference already.

That makes sense. Thank you again.

When you burn 'clean' fossil fuels such as methane, the methane gas combines with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water (and releases energy in the form of heat and light at the same time).
Everytime you (or I) cook something using gas, we produce carbon dioxide, which is a 'greenhouse gas'. ie a gas which is able to trap and hold heat. (This is why planet earth is warm enough to sustain life). Obviously, excess carbon dioxide traps excess heat and that is what causes global warming and the melting of the polar ice caps.
Soot doesn't come into it to any meaningful extent. Soot is particulate matter (carbon and oils) produced at the breakdown of fuels like coal and wood.

As much as I loathe Putin, there has always been propaganda, PR etc to persuade the populace of the enemy to give up, or that the effort is not worth while.
Flaring excess gas off at a time when the UK has just had an enormous price hike is exactly what Russia would do to erode our support of Ukraine.
We banned Russia from sporting events, took away the oligarchs expensive toys, etc not because it would help Ukraine but to make Russian citizens feel less inclined to support the war.
Both sides do this, in all wars.

No it doesn't make sense.

See above.

Yes, very true.

It's only an opinion, but I think ordinary Russians would be less inclined to support Putin if they were not isolated from the west. In particular, they would have more information about what Putin is doing. Isolating them is playing directly in Putin's hands. Their news is now pretty much undiluted propoganda.