A BBC article projects that because of rising costs of natural gas and electricity, one fourth of British households may be forced to turn off their heating sometime during the coming winter.
A survey by uSwitch.com, a consumer price comparison and utility switching service showed that last winter 20 per cent of its customers had turned off their heating regularly during the previous winter — one in which unusually cold weather hit the British Isles.
There are many places in the world with winters much harsher than the United Kingdom, and higher fuel and electricity prices are going to have a major effect on almost anyone who needs to heat their home in cold weather.
From all accounts, if there’s one thing that Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat does well it is to produce heat — in fact heat is the only thing that the E-Cat produces. Rossi has said that the initial cost of the power the E-Cat produces will be 1 cent per kW/h which would be a tremendous savings compared to current heating fuel costs.
Below is a chart from the British site, Biomass Energy Centre showing the bulk purchas prices of various fuels. Note that this does NOT indicate the cost of fuel delivered, which depends on such things as boiler or stove efficiency Prices are shown in pound sterling currency (1 US cent = approximately 0.6 pence)
| Fuel | Price per unit | kWh per unit | pence per kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood chips (30% MC) | £80 per tonne | 3,500 kWh/t | 2.3p/kWh |
| Wood pellets | £185 per tonne | 4,800 kWh/t | 3.9p/kWh |
| Natural gas | 3.9p/kWh | 1 | 3.9p/kWh |
| Heating oil | 63p per litre | 10 kWh/ltr | 6.3p/kWh |
| LPG (bulk) | 52p per litre | 6.6 kWh/ltr | 7.9p/kWh |
| Electricity | 13.0p/kWh | 1 | 13.0p/kWh |
If Rossi is to be believed, the price of heating using the E-Cat would be at least one fourth of the cost of the cheapest heating sources shown here (wood chips), and up to twenty times cheaper than the highest heat source (electricity).
Even if Rossi’s technology proves to be all he says it is, this won’t mean it will be immediately available. But if the general public can see the potential the E-Cat provides there will be a huge demand for the proliferation of this technology, and market and political forces would very likely go to work to ensure its speedy availability.
