Was it always the case though? You should probably roll back to data in the 70’s for wider house appliance rollout. Then if it’s not a thing for a generation, it’s never gonna be a thing. For today, electricity is easier to decarbonate I guess
That’s it. Gas used to be cheaper.
Why do you say that in the past tense? You can see from my figures that in Belgium gas is still cheaper.
This is something that varies from one region to another. In the US, some states have cheaper electric than gas. Electric is less efficient because of big losses in all the conversion steps:
fuel energy → heat energy→ steam → turbine → transmission → heat energy
Gas simply has:
fuel energy → transmission → heat energy
It is important to note that gas transmission is also lossy due to the impossibility of leak-free main lines, but it’s still more efficient in the end. Thus in most of the world gas is also naturally cheaper due to the efficiency difference. It gets inverted in some regions because of pricing manipulations as well as the drive to promote green energy (and rightfully so – social responsibility should be incentivized). And in some regions they cut down on the transmission losses by putting the power plant inside or close to the big city. But in Belgium gas is still cheaper than electric even despite Russia’s war and efforts to get off Russian fuels.
Your mistake is assuming electricity always comes from fuel.
It’s not an assumption. This is how power is produced in Belgium. There is only 1 nuclear power plant and it’s being decommissioned. 3 new fossil fuel burning power plants will be built.
Your statements are inaccurate to a degree that they may as well be false.
Only 30% is gas. 70% is not gas. Renewables are growing extremely rapidly, now at over 25%. In the medium and long term Belgium is aiming to reduce its use of gas as much as possible.
Also, there are two nuclear power plants, not one.
Betting on gas, be it a stove or something else, is just stupid.
Get your facts straight, or update Wikipedia to reflect your understanding:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Belgium
wind + solar + hydro → 20%
80% from burning fuels¹. With 3 new gas-burning plants under construction to replace nuclear, that’s not going to improve things.
Belgium is aiming to reduce its use of gas as much as possible.
Nonsense. I guess you missed the whole “Code Red” march against Electrabel last year protesting the plan to build 3 new gas-burning power plants.
there are two nuclear power plants, not one.
And that’s important why? From wikipedia:
“Belgium decided to phase out nuclear power generation completely by 2025.”
Whether there are 1, 2, or 5 nuclear plants is immaterial when it’s all being phased out, and replaced with gas-burning power plants.
Betting on gas, be it a stove or something else, is just stupid.
Betting in a way that neglects plans that have already been announced is stupid for sure.
¹ recall: fuel energy → heat energy→ steam → turbine → transmission → heat energy
I’ll summarise why this is wrong too
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Ignoring other renewables
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Ignoring French nuclear imports
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Ignoring current state but talking about possible future plans
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Gas ovens poison your home and make you stupid.
That depends on how well vented they are. Most people undersize their range hoods for aesthetics and don’t take venting seriously. Of course recent findings show it’s a bad idea to cut corners on that with gas stoves, and ovens to some extent. But it’s mostly stoves that have the issue you describe.
