I am not saying that nuclear is the only answer—of course it is not. There are renewables, energy efficiency and everything else.
Hansard 14 June 2006 Column 764
So why if is and Jack McConnell the Scottish First Minister do we read today that a renewable energy firm is in danger of closure due to lack of orders.
Some people have complained that all we ever seem to have on the renewable agenda is wind farms yet here is Camcal doing great work to harness wave energy under threat of closure. Where is the promise to a balance portfolio of renewable resources? Is Camcal just the tip of the iceberg? Is the Prime Minister's nucleur myopia going to have ramifications on orders for the renewable energy industires that are trying to make a difference to how we generate our power?
There needs to be a real, radical and very public debate about energy use and the various sources of energy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, to get the ball rolling there needs to be a carrot and stick approach at every level of energy use and production. I would ensure that every new house built has solar panels, new estates are designed to share energy and recycling facilities and finally the debate about renewables needs to change from cheap energy to a debate about energy use as a whole
Quite true. New houses should be sold with low energy bulbs fitted as standard. We need to pahase out the standby option on videos, DVDs, set top boxes TVs etc. With Sky Plus and other services this is becomeing more of a reality.
ReplyDeleteCalcam are doing wonders in the field of wave energy generation I was at a fringe meeting at conference in Bournemouth in 2004 where the discussion was that wind had the lead but the others were at the stage wind was at 20 years ago. Given the proper incentives and investment the other sources should progress more rapidly than wind did to become a major supplier and many should be able to provide sustainable reliable provision ie wave, biomass, geothermal etc.