Have we got a viable energy policy?

[acman]

Good analsys I found on a website blog,

'Yes, and if it were not for the economic situation reducing demand then we would probably be facing power cuts already.

Leaving aside concerns regarding waste disposal, escalating costs and decommisioning, it is now too late to build nuclear plants before the lights go out.

Gas power stations can probably be built in time, but of course serious doubts exist about the future price and availability of natural gas. Our natural gas storage capacity is not sufficient for reliable operation of more gas power stations if imports are disrupted.

 

Wind turbines can be built relatively quickly, and in effect save gas but dont help much with peak demands as it might be calm.

 

I expect that we will carry on burning coal. I doubt that new coal burning plant will be built, but I also doubt that existing coal fired power stations will be simply turned off and left to rust when this would result in the lights going out.

 

The building of enough new generating and transmision capacity is going to be vey expensive, and some unpleasant decisions may have to be made as to who pays.

Electricity consumers to pay, or taxpayers ?

 

The day may not be far away when isolated rural areas are de-electrified both to reduce demand and avoid the huge infrastructure costs for serving remote customers.

Rural electricity supply is already a charitable enterprise, or at best a social service, certainly not a business.'

[RJRB]

"THE shale-gas revolution in America has been as sudden and startling as a supertanker performing a handbrake turn. A country that once fretted about its dependence on Middle Eastern fossil fuels is now on the verge of self-sufficiency in natural gas."

 

http://americanshaleenergy.wordpress.com/

 

And look at the speed with which it has been developed and brought into use.Not only that but consumer prices have reducedand American industry is benefitting.

Whilst here we have little action,but endlesss debate on fracking,nuclear power

Wind farms,wave power,solar power etc.

All have a part to play,but someone has to drive the plan forward in the interests of providing adequate and affordable energy for our and future generations.this can only be our government because private companies are content to maximise short term profits for shareholders,and avoiding the massive investment costs.

Meanwhile the consumers are paying a heavy price and being told that the way to reduce bills is to pay out more by constantly switching their providers,and insulating their homes.What a smokescreen.

The only message we are getting is to switch providers ,insulate our homes and turn down the thermostat.

[Kid Sampson]

Perhaps the Tories should have thought about this when they shut the pits down purely to settle political scores.

 

This has got nothing to do with the pits closing, tragic as that was for all the workers. It is to do with the Coal fired plants coming off line soon (which have been working largely on imported Coal for decades now,) with nothing like the required capacity being built to take over.

[geared]

A simple government legislation to force all new built property to install solar panels would be a good step. add in a caveat that the panels must be sourced from a British company and you've got a nice little economy stimulus.

 

It's not a solution at all, but it is a help and crucially it doesn't actually need any planning, government oversight or big budget expenditures and can happen immediately.

 

building new power stations takes ages, costs a ton of money and always comes with problems which is why we're soon to be in this mess.

[Anna B]

A simple government legislation to force all new built property to install solar panels would be a good step. add in a caveat that the panels must be sourced from a British company and you've got a nice little economy stimulus.

 

It's not a solution at all, but it is a help and crucially it doesn't actually need any planning, government oversight or big budget expenditures and can happen immediately.

 

building new power stations takes ages, costs a ton of money and always comes with problems which is why we're soon to be in this mess.

 

Good plan. These are the sorts of thing the government should be doing to help the economy. I can't think why they don't.

[truman]

A simple government legislation to force all new built property to install solar panels would be a good step. add in a caveat that the panels must be sourced from a British company and you've got a nice little economy stimulus.

 

.

 

Doesn't being in the EU mean we can't do that?

[geared]

I expect we probably can't

 

but the government were looking at grabbing some powers back, something like 'buy British' would be nice to see.

[Anna B]

Doesn't being in the EU mean we can't do that?

 

When you are spending your own money you should be able to spend it where you wish.

 

Having said that there may well be some diktat that says you can't. IMO another good reason for getting out of the EU.

[tinfoilhat]

A simple government legislation to force all new built property to install solar panels would be a good step. add in a caveat that the panels must be sourced from a British company and you've got a nice little economy stimulus.

 

.

 

I've been banging this drum for a couple of years now.

[alchresearch]

Speaking of nuclear, there was an interesting article on the Beeb a couple of days ago about Sellafield's plutonium problem:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21505271