Just renegotiated my gas electricity, and realised that at present time, you could use gasoline to heat your home...
Gas is 3.6c/MJ, unleaded has 34.8MJ/L - makes the energy equivalent cost of NG $1.25/L, which is virtually comparable, as when used for heating, the transport excises shouldn't apply (no means of getting it back, but diesel and heating oil have a rebate programme for home/industrial heating).
Coupled with electricity at $0.26/kwh, ($2.50/litre equivalent energy), and I can see from my kitchen window, the number of open coal fires that are starting to come back into existance.
Australia is about to start unprecedented Natural Gas exports, to the point that contracted export sales are, in the next few years to be 4 times domestic consumption...and we are the only country in the world who doesn't reserve some of it for us.
http://www.domgas.com.au/pdf/Subs_pres/Curtin - July 2012.pdf
We are losing jobs and industry hand over fist...
And this week it was announced that domestic gas tarrifs are due to rise 17.6% mid year...that's the same as the retail price of gasoline complete with taxes.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-23/household-gas-prices-going-up-176-per-cent-in-nsw/5406752
Federal Government think tanks say it is a good thing, as with customers exposed to the "real" market cost of energy, they will make wiser choices...
We have, we've dropped our household energy use by nearly 40% over the last 15 years...and been rewarded with 30% higher bills in the process. As a bit of a hedge, I bought some shares in small cap energy explorers, who I believed were onto a good thing, with great fundamentals...they were, and as soon as they find gas, they are bought out by the majors.
It's at the point where this is happening...
http://www.stanwell.com/Files/Stanwell_M...bruary_2014.PDF
Built and touted as one of the most flexible and efficient plants in the country, it's now shutting down and it's workers retrenched, because the gas rights that the power station has are worth more in the gas market than the electricity.
At a strange juncture in my household at the moment, in that we need to decide on how to heat the place into the future...heat pumps worked at 15c/KWHr (only a few years ago), gas was working, albeit with a flued wallmount that doesn't heat the whole place
One thing the feds DID get right is that people are talking about it.
One neighbour buys firewood, one has dropped back to coal (it's filthy, but hey are on a tiny fixed income, so neighbours don't grizzle, another is buying bottled propane (very expensive, they want $35-50 to fill a 20lb bottle these days, and automotive gas is $1/l), and one is thinking of converting his gas furnace back to oil.
The interesting thing that is appearing 'though is that people are going to more expensive options so that they feel in control...pay $150 for a ute load of wood, and ration it, buy bottled propane and ration it, buy a tank of heating oil...rather than get a $1,500 gas bill at the end of a winter quarter.
Gas is 3.6c/MJ, unleaded has 34.8MJ/L - makes the energy equivalent cost of NG $1.25/L, which is virtually comparable, as when used for heating, the transport excises shouldn't apply (no means of getting it back, but diesel and heating oil have a rebate programme for home/industrial heating).
Coupled with electricity at $0.26/kwh, ($2.50/litre equivalent energy), and I can see from my kitchen window, the number of open coal fires that are starting to come back into existance.
Australia is about to start unprecedented Natural Gas exports, to the point that contracted export sales are, in the next few years to be 4 times domestic consumption...and we are the only country in the world who doesn't reserve some of it for us.
http://www.domgas.com.au/pdf/Subs_pres/Curtin - July 2012.pdf
We are losing jobs and industry hand over fist...
And this week it was announced that domestic gas tarrifs are due to rise 17.6% mid year...that's the same as the retail price of gasoline complete with taxes.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-23/household-gas-prices-going-up-176-per-cent-in-nsw/5406752
Federal Government think tanks say it is a good thing, as with customers exposed to the "real" market cost of energy, they will make wiser choices...
We have, we've dropped our household energy use by nearly 40% over the last 15 years...and been rewarded with 30% higher bills in the process. As a bit of a hedge, I bought some shares in small cap energy explorers, who I believed were onto a good thing, with great fundamentals...they were, and as soon as they find gas, they are bought out by the majors.
It's at the point where this is happening...
http://www.stanwell.com/Files/Stanwell_M...bruary_2014.PDF
Built and touted as one of the most flexible and efficient plants in the country, it's now shutting down and it's workers retrenched, because the gas rights that the power station has are worth more in the gas market than the electricity.
At a strange juncture in my household at the moment, in that we need to decide on how to heat the place into the future...heat pumps worked at 15c/KWHr (only a few years ago), gas was working, albeit with a flued wallmount that doesn't heat the whole place
One thing the feds DID get right is that people are talking about it.
One neighbour buys firewood, one has dropped back to coal (it's filthy, but hey are on a tiny fixed income, so neighbours don't grizzle, another is buying bottled propane (very expensive, they want $35-50 to fill a 20lb bottle these days, and automotive gas is $1/l), and one is thinking of converting his gas furnace back to oil.
The interesting thing that is appearing 'though is that people are going to more expensive options so that they feel in control...pay $150 for a ute load of wood, and ration it, buy bottled propane and ration it, buy a tank of heating oil...rather than get a $1,500 gas bill at the end of a winter quarter.