Without having hard numbers, this reliance on Oil is mainly due to the Transport sector, given that all the PIIGS have been modernizing their Electricity infrastructure and consolidating balanced energy mixes there.
How about heating? Before the 70ies oil crises Sweden had lots of oil heating. Sweden of course has large heating needs, though countries with lots of heat tends to have poor insulation making their heating needs larger when it is cold. A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!
large families helped each other stay warm huddled round the fire in winter. august afternoons can be merciless.
the winters... what tao said about PT. lots of room for improvement there. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
That's for old houses; more recent construction hasn't been so careful, especially during the years when cheap and abundant energy was the prevailing paradigm. Special mention to the buildings and houses built during the 60s and 70s that should be just demolished... Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
Special mention to the buildings and houses built during the 60s and 70s that should be just demolished...
In my experience they do that all by themselves.
There's a lot of room for improvement, especially in places with extreme temperature swings like desert areas. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
The winter in Portugal is extremely uncomfortable in-house: all the houses that I know require extensive amount of heating and are still cold. Contrast this with my place in Liverpool: DOES NOT NEED WARMING IN WINTER AS LONG AS I KEEP CLOTHES ON.
Granted, this is one anecdotal example (and I can think of cold homes in the UK), but I think it honestly reflects the reality: Much energy, wealth (and comfort) escapes through the (uninsulated) windows and doors in PT.
Ah... and don't get me started with cars. I've read somewhere (lost reference, sorry) about something like having the biggest number of cars per capita in Europe for PT. Normally this goes with a justification of "public transport is bad". Who had endured the public transport in London versus Lisbon knows that, at least where most people live, this is utter bull. It is mainly a status symbol, and a symbol of not being prepared to do anything for the common good.
I think I may be able to distil some numbers on this matter to get a clearer picture. Vencit omnia veritas.
I would be nice to have a quantitative grip on how much energy is lost.
EarthTrends: Data Tables - Energy and Resources
Energy and Resources DATA TABLES Select a data table from the list. Energy Consumption by Sector 2005
The "residential" category should give some clues. Though the tables are in total energy/country and then divided in percentage of that total. So to compare one would need to get the absolute number for residential and divide by population to get residential/capita. And it is getting late in Sweden so I will not get the spreadsheet out now. A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!
