As a resident of North West England, I have just become subject to a hosepipe ban, despite record rainfall and flooding only 6 months ago. This is the most persuasive evidence that natural resources are unreliable. We cannot rely upon natural rainfall for our water, nor the sun for our light nor the wind for our electricity.
Wind power is about 50% more expensive than nuclear or fossil electricity, but even if it were an order of magnitude cheaper, its unpredictability would continue make it unattractive to operators of the national grid, where it is embedded as negative demand in the Low Voltage distribution network.
National Grid despatchers must maintain mains frequency and match the electrical power generated to the diurnal and seasonal variations in consumer demand, with great precision every hour, 365 days per year. This requires a range of generation sources, but all controllable and reliable. Superimposing subsidised, renewable power sources with their engineering limitations, out of some misconceived belief that carbon emissions will be reduced will imperil our high levels of power security. Moreover, the resulting higher power prices will make many industries uncompetitive.
