by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
London, Friday June 27, 2008 – Only last week the Renewables Advisory Board (RAB) have warned that the nation is going to miss its renewable energy targets under current government policy and that even with 100bn investment that the very best that the UK could realistically hope for is to generate 14% of its energy from sustainable sources by 2020. The EU, however, has set Britain a target of 15% renewable energy generation by then.
While other countries will easily achieve such targets, such as Germany, for instance, so it is said, Britain, as per usual, is lagging behind, often due to the fact that there just is not the political will there to implement technology that was not invented and thought of in this country. The UK seems to be struck with this colonial mindset still that, unless it was invented in the UK, it cannot be any good.
Despite, however, the Renewables Advisory Board announcement that the nation is going to miss its renewable energy targets under current government policy Gordon Brown in a speech at the Low Carbon Energy Summit, announced yesterday a £100 billion plan which he says is “the most dramatic change in energy policy since the advent of nuclear power.”
In his speech at the Tate Modern museum Brown said that the North Sea has passed peak for oil and natural gas and will be now turned into “the equivalent for wind power of what the Gulf of Arabia is for oil.” Mr Brown added, “And this is the biggest prize of all: the chance to seize the economic future—securing our prosperity as a nation by reaping the benefits of the global transition to a low carbon economy.”
£100 billion investment to generate 30-35% from renewables, and this in spite of the experts' findings that it cannot be done.
Under the new proposals, which will include a new public advertising campaign to educate people about ways they can reduce their energy and fuel bills, the UK will generate 30-35% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. An estimated 160,000 new renewable energy jobs will be created directly as a result of the program.
This is a dream and it would appear as if our Prime Minister, as per usual, is not living on this planet but in cloud cuckoo land. Experts that the government itself employed, basically, tell him it ain't gonna work and he ploughs ahead still claiming that it will. Much more is required to do that. We are in 2008, and in the very middle of it and we are going to miss the target for 2020 by miles for it is doubtful if even the 14% can be achieved but he still thinks that we can have one third of all our energy needs – energy needs for electricity, that is – met by wind, wave and solar, with a few small CHP generating plants thrown in? Someone get this PM a rather large alarm clock or strike a big gong.
The Think Tank says 100bn ain't gonna cut it Gordon and he carries on regardless. But then, that is what we have become to expect of this PM with the “I know best” attitude. Not that his predecessor was any better in that.
Mind you, in order to achieve this he is going to send along the “carbon police” and will force householders to reduce their bills through energy-saving incentives due to be announced later this summer, said Brown. Within a decade he said he wanted every householder able to do so to fit loft or cavity wall insulation, install low-energy light bulbs, and use low-energy consumer goods.
Dear Mr Brown, how do you think this is going to work. Especially not with those on the poorer income level, as I wrote in a previous article. They cannot afford to purchase the low-energy consumer goods, such as fridges, freezers and washing machine with the “Energy Star” markings, who all seem to be one third at least more in cost than the “ordinary” ones.
Our biggest and fundamental problem in this country is that Brown doesn't do 'green'. Instead he would rather urge oil producers to extract more oil than invest in technologies that will actually save CO2 emissions now. At the same time he is also playing with the nuclear lobby.
While, and I have written about this before too, fission is not a real option, simply because of the nuclear contaminated waste, we should invest, and indeed should have long ago, into research and development of fusion reactors. The Soviet Union announced well before its collapse that they had succeeded with nuclear fusion reactors. Well, time to take a look at that as, apparently, there is said to be not contaminated waste material.
The truth is that we have never looked at fusion is simply that lack of contaminated waste. No reprocessable spent fuel rods to play with for the military and therefore no interest.
Greenpeace described the new strategy as "visionary", but the environment group warned that ministers had promised much before and had so far failed to deliver.
John Sauven, the group's executive director, said: "If the government actually means it this time, then Britain will become a better, safer and more prosperous country. We could create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and use less gas, and in the long run our power bills will come down. But it won't happen without real government action."
Philip Wolfe, the executive director of the Renewable Energy Association, said: "Government have produced an energy strategy, not just an electricity strategy. This shows a new maturity in approach, getting away from the soundbite policy-making of the past and looking carefully at the role of renewables in buildings, heat, and transport.
"The key missing factor is a greater sense of urgency. We have only 12 years left and government still wants to use two of those talking about it."
Martin Temple, the chairman of the Engineering Employers' Federation, said: "Moving to a low-carbon economy will create significant business opportunities for the UK, but we will need to move quickly and decisively. Businesses around the world are alive to the massive opportunities and a number of governments are making their exploitation a national priority."
© M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008
British Prime Minister unveiled new renewable energy plan
