Energy infrastructure

data from 2017, but its overwhelmingly dependent on fuel for space heating (heating homes)

Electricity represented a paltry 4% of total space heating by energy - given that electricity heated homes may be better insulated, there may be a higher % of homes using solely electric heating, but that data isnt easily accessible.

https://www.seai.ie/data-and-insights/seai-statistics/key-statistics/residential/

The Gulf Stream (AMOC) has been slowing for at least a thousand years and started slowing more rapidly in the mid 1800's, so it's not as a result of AGW from inreased atmospheric CO2. Furthermore, there seems to be a 400 or so year hysteresis effect between changes in the AMOC and major climate effects.

The Paleo record indicates the AMOC has always been very variable and closely associated with glaciation events. There is no way it's past variability had anything to do with human activity so blaming any current change, excuse the pun, on humans now, is horse manure, particularly since there is likely a 400 year lag the other way between climate and it's effect on the current.

I do think that we are more likely heading for the next glaciation event than heading for a global rising temperature catastrophe. Mind you, from a human standpoint, a glaciation event cooling would be a catastrophe wheras a few °C rise in global temperature wouldn't and would see in more good times as per the Medieval and Roman warm periods when humanity flourished and times were good.

Honestly , batteries can do most of the peaking... Allowing combined cycle to be the most efficient back up - but chances are any new back up will be open cycle gas-

That does leave us very exposed to both gas price and gas supply ... I hope they'll just mothball moneypoint and tarbert with fuel on hand - just as an insurance policy .

Japanese weather balloons recorded it in the 1920s,

Get the notion EU will gift Putin Ukraine in exchange for fixed gas price,Merkel gone and the new guy seems weak

I found a dissertation that put the Norwegian use of domestic heat pumps at over a quarter of housholds, which of course means that more than half, don't, so what are you basing your claim of 'most' on?

"Heat pumps’ energy efficiency has also helped them to become desirable as consumer items. The number of heat pumps installed in Norwegian homes has greatly increased over the past decade. Over a quarter of households in Norway now own some form of heat pump, the majority of which are air-to-air pumps (Halvorson and Larsen 2013:4). Despite the theoretical benefits of heat pumps’ energy efficiency there is still debate about whether their use in domestic settings actually leads to a net reduction in energy use. A recent study published by Statistics Norway found that the actual energy-savings of homes with heat pumps was close to zero (Halvorson and Larsen 2013), and a study conducted in Denmark produced similar results (Christensen et al. 2013). Studies like these are raising difficult 2 questions regarding the actual, as opposed to theorised, effects of heat pumps on domestic energy consumption. "

Hmmmm so we are 50% reliant on importing gas at ever increasing prices and the other 50% is a dwindling resource but we may develop Barryroe which would keep us at 50% self sufficient.

That sounds like increasing gas prices to me going forward.