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In focus with Sir Bernard Ingham
Up to our ears in debt but value for money still has no appeal
Well, now we know how much Chancellor George Osborne is committed to value for money in energy policy. Not much. True, in his autumn statement he halved subsidies for solar panels but only because their cost has come down substantially. He also brought in £250m energy cost relief for intensive energy users who are supposed to be a prime target for reducing carbon emissions, thereby complicating energy policy still further while usefully helping to retain heavy industry in the UK.
"Jim Mather's recent letter (23rd May) said that nuclear was "neither
wanted nor needed in Scotland" which is pretty clear - currently.
However in a recent speech his commitment to avoiding blackouts is even more clear, He asks for ideas without preconditions & absolutely opposes the option of not building sufficient capacity to replace our ageing generators correctly describing that as "ridiculous". It seems to me that> if those who know make it clear that the alternatives ARE nuclear power or blackouts then, however reluctantly, the SNP would have to choose the former.
They can, perhaps, put off the choice a few years by extending Hunterston's life but, since it takes a minimum of 4 years to build a reactor & Hunterston is due to close in 2011 this is merely stopping the clock at 5 to midnight.
It is the duty of those who know to say boldly that without new nuclear we ARE going to face the loss of 50% of our capacity. That massive blackouts & deaths will be inevitable. The SNP's door may not be open to nuclear but they have specifically committed themselves to not allowing blackouts. It is up to the supporters of nuclear to prove, at least beyond reasonable doubt that we cannot rely on windmills nor other renewables, mostly not even at the prototype stage to replace 50% of our power without a scientific breakthrough in storage capacity, in a few years. The difference between the 3% windmills provide & the 50% we are about to lose is so stark that there is little room now for doubt of a reasonable nature"
