UK faces rising energy prices in 2013 caused by an increased reliance on imported energy and closure of many UK power plants and generation capacity could fall by 10% as soon as April
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
In an interview with the BBC he predicted it could lead to a 10% fall in capacity as soon as April.
Older power stations in the UK are being closed over the next few years as they cause large amounts of pollution and are less efficient than their more modern counterparts such as nuclear or tapping shale gas reserves. Many of these do not yet have the final confirmation needed to begin construction and are very expensive and time consuming to put in place.
He also said it is more important than ever that people ensure they are as energy efficient as possible, to minimise energy bills. The Department of Energy and Climate Change added, “We cannot afford to be complacent."
Mike O’Connor of Consumer Focus, warned those who can least afford energy price rises will be the worst hit. He said the government has to take action to “protect the most vulnerable consumers who can least afford higher prices”.
“We need to do more to ensure our homes do not leak energy and we are calling on Government to use the funds they raise in carbon taxes to insulate our houses to modern standards, saving the poorest in society money on their bills, as well cutting carbon emissions and creating jobs”.
The government's only answer to this, however, appears to be talk of needing new nuclear power stations and restarting the program of fracking for shale gas. Renewables are not seen as a viable option and that simply because the UK government is not willing to look at the examples in other countries such as, and especially, Germany.
In that country domestic solar and wind energy modules have produced more energy in 2012 than would have done ten nuclear power stations running at full capacity and those modules did that without interruption, according to reports from Germany.
This is not even considering the commercial units such as the large wind turbines, solar arrays and the power stations operating on landfill and sewage gas.
According to successive UK governments, however, while this may all work well in Germany and other European countries, this could never work in Britain. It could work, absolutely no question about it, but the will is not there to make it work as their would be no backhanders in it for the corrupt elite in Whitehall and the Palace of Westminster. It is as simple as that.
They rather allow brownouts to happen to make a point for what they are paid for by the lobby groups, new nuclear power stations, “clean” coal plants, and such like. On no account, however, clean renewable energy.
© 2013
