What's the Odds on Germans buying Russian gas by end of February,

I'd expect Paddy Powers to already be paying out on that bet

Many countries are still buying Russian gas. The point is that they are buying much less gas than they normally would.

I wonder will Nordstream 1 reopen? Good chance it won't.

It's staying offline for the foreseeable it seems. Gazprom spinning a yarn about an oil leak (must be an intended joke). Germany has dramatically reduced its dependence on Russian gas but we need to go further and complete the transition to renewable energy as quickly as humanly possible. In the meantime we will all need to conserve energy wherever possible. We're an all electric house but we have no problem showing solidarity and making a conscious effort to not waste any energy. Even my wife has given up her hot baths in favour of quick showers. It's literally the least we can do for the Ukrainian people. Their fight is our fight. No changing of borders by force in Europe in 2022.

What's the Odds of them buying Russian gas by beginning of October, never mind the End of February. Sad to say it & the dogs on the street have known this since last March, Putin (and he's a monster) has Europe over a Barrel (No pun intended) simples.

He's run rings around the EU & US, Russia has never earned so much from gas & oil exports & He's just done a Deal with China.

Meanwhile EU economy in Tatters, the Ukrainian crisis exactly were it was 6 months ago & Ireland 😳, well enough said about that.

Utterly Mind Boggling

There is an old saying mind the pennies, the pounds look after themselves.

We will all need to reduce our energy consumption this year whether it's in a car or in the home.

The main way you will save is by small actions. The critical time will be to reduce pressure on the energy system from 5-8 pm in the evening and from 7-10 in the morning.

But even outside them hours actions can help to reduce consumption.

It always amazes me the way a cohort of people think politicians should manage there life for them. The individual makes decision that influence there own life mainly. Politicians are responsible for 10-15% if what happens in your life maybe less

Simple thing like turning off lights, reducing house temperatures, making sure the washing and dishwasher are full before use all help. The biggest misunderstanding is that individual action will not help.

But then we will have someone on that this is an egg and advacado answer. However look at the amount paying for electricity in advance. If you prepay you are paying 140ish euro/year on top of your normal standing charge to pay them in advance and a higher unit price as well. If using average electrical consumption it's cost about 1k more than most discounted plans.

In the last three months I have reduced the speed I travel at when in the car. I drive at 80km/hour. I keep well in on wider roads to let cars pass me. It seldom adds more than 3-4 minutes to most trips. I can see the fuel consumption reading on the car decline by 4-6% on a short journey. On long journeys it's 15% where you use a motorway.

By some margin we are richer than most European countries, it is easier to live here than in many other European countries.

Far from perfect but the poor aul us routine is just self pity.

The thing about hydrogen in natural gas pipes is the tiny size of the particles and some of it leaks.

...

We live in Brandenburg, which borders Poland which borders Ukraine so I can say with some confidence, it doesn't feel like some remote regional conflict here.

We all waste energy to some extent. There are things you can do to save 5% easy. That's a big number if everyone is at it.

I can see a general speed limit coming on the Autobahn as well and personally I'd be happy about it.

I work shifts in a Ukrainian help centre so maybe I am able to relate more to the people affected by this war.

Anyone who thinks Putin wouldn't look at the Baltic States next is a damn fool. They are also former SSRs. Then it would be Russia v the EU and NATO. Still a regional conflict? It should have been nipped in the bud after Crimea. That was a collosal mistake not to take significant action back then. But yeah hindsight is always 20/20.

My wife used to take a bath every day. That's a significant amount of water not being heated I would say. We have also shut off our garden lighting, run our ventilation system at intervals instead of 24/7 and are far more conscious of when the water is heated. We do it in the afternoon when the air temp is highest and the heat pump requires the least amount of electricity to run. Before we didn't care if it ran at 4am.

We're the same with the car, choosing to drive at 100 and not 140 or 150. That makes a huge difference in economy.