UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged his social media followers to 'join him' and sign a wind turbine as an energy crisis continues to grip the country.
Mr Johnson issued the appeal to his 3.6 million Twitter followers on Wednesday, just hours after he delivered a key address to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.
He said: “Join me in signing one of SSE's magnificent wind turbines to call for ambitious global climate action.”
SSE, one of the UK's largest providers of renewable energy, launched the petition to deliver a message to world leaders before the crucial Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow later this year.
Signatories will have their name emblazoned on the world's largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank, which is currently under construction in the North Sea.
The prime minster's message comes as households across Britain face soaring energy bills caused, in part, by a collapse in wind power.
Wind turbines typically provides around a quarter of Britain's energy needs. However, dwindling wind speeds have resulted in energy crunch, sending demand for some fossil fuels, such as gas, to record highs.
Officials sought to reassure consumers that Britain's infrastructure will be able to get enough gas into the country to see it through the winter.
National Grid Gas Transmission said that Great Britain will have a “positive supply margin” — that is to say it can access more gas than is being used during peak demand.
It said that the country has access to flexible supplies of gas from abroad, including liquid natural gas (LNG), which is brought in on ships, and gas pipes from Europe.
This will be enough to meet all the scenarios of peak demand that National Grid experts have predicted could happen from October to the end of March.
It comes despite a major rise in world gas prices, which was caused by high demand from reopening Asian economies, among other things.
But as in previous winters, gas sellers will “require a positive market price differential in order to flow to Great Britain from both European and global markets,” National Grid said.
It means that British buyers will have to compete with international buyers for their gas.
“We have a positive gas supply margin in all of our supply and demand scenarios, and there is a positive storage position as we enter the winter,” said Ian Radley, director of gas system operations.
“We have a range of tools available to manage any operational requirements that we might encounter.”
Meanwhile, the National Grid Electricity Electricity System Operator (ESO) said the electricity system's capacity should also cope with the winter.
“The Winter Outlook confirms that we expect to have sufficient capacity and the tools needed to meet demand this winter,” said ESO boss Fintan Slye.
“Margins are well within the reliability standard and therefore we are confident that there will be enough capacity available to keep Britain's lights on.”
The gas system operator also said that it expects demand to be just 49.4 billion cubic metres (bcm), down from 50.7 bcm to 53.3 bcm over the last five years.
This drop in demand is in large part down to a drop in demand for gas for electricity production, as more wind power is built.
National Grid Gas Transmission has the task of providing the gas grid across Great Britain and occasionally stepping in to ensure the system is balanced.
However it does not itself supply gas into the grid.
Around half of Britain's gas demand is used to heat homes, another quarter is used to generate electricity.
Responding to the prime minister, social media users said Britain's green energy plan is off-course, while other pointed out their energy costs have almost doubled in the space of a few weeks.
When completed, Dogger Bank will provide enough energy to power six million homes across the UK and is a crucial piece in helping Britain achieving carbon-neutrality by 2035.
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Episode list:
Ep1: A recovery like no other- the unevenness of the economic recovery
Ep2: PCR and jobs - the future of work - new trends and challenges
Ep3: The recovery and global trade disruptions - globalisation post-pandemic
Ep4: Inflation- services and goods - debt risks
Ep5: Travel and tourism
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MATCH INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
