Don’t worry, the windmills will save the day. If there is a case for registration of the population, it should be to identify those that voted green for the purposes of power rationing when the rolling powercuts come about, these folk will of course be in the forefront of those volunteering to have their power switched off.

I am sure Polly will be at the head of the queue.

Basicly the only other option is building large numbers of coal powered generators. Coal is not in short supply, as gas is. Windmills etc are a non-starter on grounds not only that they cost far more & that being intermitent they need full back up from conventional power stations but that, at about 1% of UK power now they are incapable of providing more than token amounts. Doing without ie “conservation” is also a non-starter beyond, possibly, a few per cent of our power – no nation has ever reduced power usage except as a result of massive economic collapse or genocide. A quick & worthwhile lash up would be to build a larger conductor from France, which is already effectively keeping the lights on in the south of England with there nasty nuclear which becomes nice non-nuclear as it reaches our shores.

Over the long term (40 years) fusion, ocean thermal & best of all solar power satellites offer unlimited power but none of these will stop the very real threat of the lights going out in the next few years.

Would any of you consider this as a viable alternative?

Reply: there are other ways forward. It should be judged on the costs, and there should be an urgent competition to see who can come up with the least cost environmentally solutions to generating energy.The governemnt should award the necessary permits to the best schemes, and any subsidy/carbon price they also judged necessary (as with renewables)

Agreed. We should have gone massively nuclear just like the French, who happen to be selling us their cheap electricity, often in the guise of environmentally clean energy. It is of course, but the greenoids would have an absolute fit if they thought their clean energy was actually nuclear generated.

Also because the British government helped to destroy the british nuclear energy industry, we are in a situation where if we decide to build more nuclear power stations they will be French designed and built.

Mr Redwood, I don’t expect you to do requests, but would you consider an article about the financial state of the Labour party, touching on the coincidence of Labour enthusiasm for state funding of political parties?

Reply: Yes, I do respond to readers. I do not know enough about Labour party finances to write a good piece, but you make your point well.

The trouble, of course, has been the unionised labour force in the coal pits and now the global warming rumours. Both make coal out of the question. (Except in China, natch).
Then there is the oil/gas which is running out, as you say and have been saying. Russian oil/gas is totally unreliable and this has been proved in Ukraine. How we can be silly enough to rely on it beats me.
Finally, there is nuclear power which, of course, is anathema to the 1968 generation now in power. Atomkraft? Nie Danke! Last night on the news, the BBC noticed that there are huge piles of nuclear waste which we cannot get rid of. So that’s a no-no then.

Why not emigrate to Jo’burg, where sometimes there is electricity, and see the future here?

The fuel price crisis is caused by us having a transport system dependent on one commodity.

We need to diversify it immediately – that the government has no plan for introducing electric (and hence coal, or nuclear, or CSP powered at our choice) cars is shameful.

A much stronger lead is needed from David Cameron on this or else the political fate of Ted Heath awaits David Cameron. It is key that this is seen as a failure of the current Labour government.

This should be the lead for PMQs.

Including:

1) What is the fastest estimate for buildling the next new-build nuclear power station in the UK?
2) How many Nuclear power stations does the government expect can be built at the same time?
3) When will UK gas storage capability match France and Germany?

In all seriousness, I would like to know what was the long term thinking back then. Surely anyone could see that North Sea gas supplies would not be enough to sustain UK power generation for very long. What was done between then and 1997 to secure long term energy requirements?
(Mr Waller was replaced by Anne Cryer in 1997)

Officials at the European Wind Energy Conference in Milan, Italy, suggested that wind power could provide much of that 20 percent, as well as help meet the 30-percent carbon dioxide reduction goal. Almost half of the target could be met by wind power, both onshore and offshore, said Peter Ahmels, conference chair and president of the German Wind Energy Association. Though offshore is expected to play a vital role, onshore projects should not be overlooked, said Arthouros Zervos, president of the European Wind Energy Association.

“The first step for any country should be onshore,” Zervos said. There are several member states weighing the benefits of each; while offshore provides steadier, higher speed wind, onshore is cheaper and easier to build. Some EU members use the excuse of offshore potential as an excuse not to build onshore, he said.

So, altogether now, down to the beach and have a good fart!!

VAT on domestic fuel & power could be raised to cut usage with the money spent on funding some free units of green energy for the over 60’s . The winter fuel payment could be axed and also used to fund a certain number of units of green energy for the over 60’s . As there are more & more people aged over 60 as a share of the population they need to be encouraged to go green as a major plank of getting the UK onto more sustainable sources of energy . This would curb energy usage , boost green energy usage while not making the over 60’s worse off .

The other point being that we are sitting on vast amounts of coal – why not generate private investment in the necessary technology to make sure that this coal can be cleaner ( i.e. generate much less carbon when being burnt ) ? The irony is that the Tories could revive the coal industry & regain much political standing by boosting energy supplies and thus keeping down prices for consumers and business . Higher VAT on fuel & power and the end of the winter fuel allowance would be offset due to free units of green energy being given to households with at least one person aged 60 or older . The Irish give their old folks some free units of electricity every winter . If John Redwood wants Eire style levels of corporate taxes why not give pensioners free electricity every winter too ? Cash affects behaviour after all – by helping pensioners go green you are being modern & compassionate . Should you want to reduce carbon emmissions the starting with a growing sector of the population might be an idea . If you make going green easy then more will do it – simple as that !

So to state the obvious we do not need energy from a diminishing North Sea Oil reserve or Russia or Iraq – we can use clean coal , decentralised green energy & encourage the growing section of the population ( the over 60’s ) while building essential nuclear power stations if privately funded and if the wste can be cleared up and drilling for oil in places like Hampshire . Where is the need for an energy shortage or a crisis when there are solutions that can be advanced as part of a rational green policy that stops the UK being dependent on unstable places for energy ?

What this means is that we pretty much have to grin & bear the present troubles but should make redoubled efforts to push building of as much nuclear capacity as the country can use (a lot if that meant electricty prices more than halved to what it costs the French), allow refinery building & possibly promote electric cars. It is possible to build a reactor in 4 years but it seems likely it will first take 6 to build the paperwork.

It seems almost incredible to be writing this in the twenty-first century in the UK, but the government has managed startegic electricty supply with all the skill of Thabo Mbeki. He has delivered power cuts, and we may not be far behind. I seem to recall a couple of winter’s ago the government reassuring us there would be no domestic power cuts (so, you know, turn off the power to industry!).

Thankfully, it didn’t work.

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