Doing the sums on renewables

THERE has been a flurry of energy announcements of late and it’s clear that the Scottish and English energy paths are starting to diverge. advertising The French nuclear company, largely state owned, has hoovered up British Energy and has pledged to build four more nuclear power stations in England, a move enthusiastically supported by the UK government. The UK government’s story is that it’s simply impossible to deliver the required EU target of 20 per cent of energy coming from renewables by 2020 and so a mix of nuclear and renewables is required to fill the gap. And right on cue, investment in renewable energy has largely dried up in England. It’s hardly surprising. A new nuclear programme can only go ahead with significant state subsidy, certainly as far as decommissioning and waste disposal costs are concerned. What... [read full story]