Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008
God Bless New Labour for they have also driven us to this situation
BBC: Britain 'faces power cuts threat'
Industrialists warn about a "fearful void" in this countries energy policy and that, "The current credit crunch is a head cold compared to the double pneumonia this country will suffer if we don't implement an energy policy urgently".
Posted by enuii @ 10:22 PM (629 views) Add Comment
10 Comments
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1. little professor said...
Just some lobbyists trying to say something controversial to get their voices heard. Ignore them.
The report, by nuclear supporting Fells Associates...
2. mark wadsworth said...
LP, I am as nuclear-skeptic as the next man (it's a black hole for taxpayer subsidies) but ask yourself, why are we facing this potential shortfall in the first place?
As the BBC reported in January - it's largely down to the EU's European Large Combustion Plants Directive.
We are a small, windy island in the North Atlantic built on coal. We have centuries' worth of the stuff. What's not to like about coal-fired power stations?
All this green stuff, windmills and the like, is being pushed by yet another band of subsidy-hungry lobbyists who have hijacked the global warming bandwagon. They are just as bad as the nuclear lobby.
End of.
3. enuii said...
LP for your information I have no interest in any of the self serving UK political parties and as an engineer have many colleagues in the generating sector who a severely alarmed at:-
1) the state of the UK's older Power Stations.
2) The fact that the first generation of CHP plants are at the end of their design life.
3) Existing Nuclear stations are at the end of theirs.
4) Many of the existing coal fired stations have dodgy boilers (there is a 5 year waiting list for new ones and only 3 factories in the world that make them). 6) Parts of the distribution system date back to the 1950's.
It is people like you LP in government with their anti this anti that popularist sentiment that have driven the UK's energy policy and not pragmatic engineering folk, which is why we have this issue. Imagine what would happen in down at heel UK city areas if there was a prolonged overnight power outage, looting would be the least of anyones worries!
The principles behind the article are sound, the UK needs a robust electricity generation and supply system not a private sector cash cow or a governmental eco-ego trip, lives literally depend on it!
Statement of fact over.
4. enuii said...
Mark is also right about the new EU Large Combustion Plants Directive which for example has resulted in a typical UK coal fired power station like Rugeley in Staffordshire being effectively reduced from a 1000MW station to a 800MW station at the stroke of a pen by its currently being installed FGD (Flue Gas Desulphurisation) system. Until this system is up and running the station is effectively banned by European regulations from running at more than half capacity (500MW) no matter how cold the winter gets.
The UK is a wet, windy, dark and sometimes cold little country not suited to one regulation to suit all style United States of Europe government. Before anyone accuses me of being anti-europe I am not interested, I am only interested in living in a decent country, ruled by decent sensible members of our society who have the best interest of their citizens in their heart's and not their own personal and their political parties ambitions.
5. mark wadsworth said...
Enuii, I'm glad I got that half right.
As to politics, may I point out that being "anti-EU" (which I most avowedly am) is quite distinct from being "anti-Europe" (which I am not - it's a great continent, I'm half German and I love going to all these different countries on holiday).
6. gardeniadotnet said...
FWIW: There's a large open-cast mine, visible from the M6, just past Haydock Island.
Today I noticed activity there, after years of lying 'fallow'.
7. little professor said...
Just switching italics off
Sorry about that :(
8. little professor said...
Ennui (3) - I've always been pro-nuclear power, and do believe we need to bring more nuclear power stations online - I get as frustrated as you with the "anti" brigade who want to block such moves without suggesting any reasonable alternatives. I just dismissed the credibility of the source of this report, as it was so obviously biased.
9. Phdinbubbles said...
Ian Fells is not biased, just speaking the truth about the need for nuclear and has been for decades - everyone else is catching up now we're falling into the hole he predicted. Do some research yourself and look at his profile with regards to renewables:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Fells
10. inbreda said...
lp - I think there are alternatives that have been suggested that are perfectly viable, but generally ignored. Much like us harping on, a coupl eof years ago, about the things the government should be doing (e.g. land tax, second home tax, first mortgage subsidy, removing tax breaks for BTLs etc) which were never going to happen because the masses were too preoccupied working out how much their home had earned them.
If they banned or heavily taxed items where more efficient equivalents were available (light bulbs, inefficient fridges, 4x4s etc etc etc) and properly promoted energy efficiency, we could quite drastically reduce demand - to the point where renewables might actually be worth doing.