Public Must ‘Stop Objecting To Everything’, Says New UK Adviser
Written by NucNet
Friday, 11 September 2009
The UK government’s new energy adviser said the UK could face blackouts by 2016 because the build rate of new energy sources – including nuclear – is not fast enough.*
David MacKay, who takes up his post at the Department of Energy and Climate Change on 1 October 2009, said one of the biggest problems is that the public keeps objecting to energy projects.
Mr MacKay, a researcher at Cambridge University, said the public needs to understand the numbers. “We need to move the conversation on from the ‘Punch and Judy’ show of anti-wind and anti-nuclear to a quantitative discussion. The biggest options for the UK are wind, nuclear and solar in other people’s deserts.
“The problem is the public are against everything. We need to stop saying no and start saying yes to many of these options (for new sources of energy).”
Mr MacKay said “there is a worry” that in 2016 there might not be enough electricity. “My guess is that the market might solve this problem with new coal plants, but that’s not the way we want to go. We need to be upping the build rate of the alternatives.”
