Dark Green

Britain was given a stark warning that the lights will soon go out unless the nation builds some serious power generating capacity. Not giant bird shredders, but real power stations; coal or preferably nuclear.

A growing obsession with global warming and “renewable” sources threatens the stability of our supply. Derek Birkett, a former Grid Control Engineer who has a lifetime’s experience in electricity supply throughout Britain, warned that the cost of the crisis could match that of the recent banking collapse. And he claimed that renewable energy expectations were now nothing more than “dangerous illusions” which would hit consumers hard in the pocket.

“We are going to pay a very heavy price for the fact there has been a catalogue of neglect by the former Government which has focused on renewable energy sources,” Mr Birkett said. “We need a mix of sources and this takes time. Renewables have the problem of being intermittent, particularly wind, and we need more back-up capacity. By having all our sources in one basket we are risking disruption.

“There is a lot of over-enthusiasm by governments to push global warming, which makes me very suspicious.” Less than five per cent of our energy comes from renewable sources but the “disproportionate” cost of implementing green technology runs into many millions of pounds, he said.

I wrote about this almost a year ago. Since then the UK has had a change in government, but development of new nuclear stations are stalled in red tape while the Cameron coalition is still talking about a country covered in windmills. A year wasted when there is no time to waste is more than a shame, it’s a crime.

The old joke used to go that would the last person to leave England please turn out the lights. The new punchline may need the last person out to blow out a candle.

Mini-update: Some lights are already being turned off.