I NOTE with interest your editorial concerning continued use of fossil
fuels. However laudable your aspiration may be in principle, I’m afraid
that we are a long way from replacing fossil fuels with renewables and this
certainly will not happen “within a few years”.
Wind power is the main so-called renewable, but, because of its random and
intermittent nature, it will never keep the lights on. No amount of wind
power will replace conventional continuous sources of power generation –
gas, coal and nuclear.
A future strategy for reducing power generation from fossil fuel sources
could be based primarily on more nuclear power and more rigorous energy
conservation. Furthermore, if we are serious about other carbon-free
sources of energy such as hydro power, we need to get into this technology
in a big way with, for example, a Severn barrage.
I am aware there are some environmental objections to such a scheme, but
there are also serious environmental objections to the ongoing
proliferation of wind farms, which many people, including myself, consider
to be blots on the landscape.
I would say that a Scotland powered by 100 per cent renewables is a pipe
dream, at least for the foreseeable future. In the meantime we should be
thinking in terms of further extensions to the operating lives of our two
nuclear stations and redoubling energy conservation initiatives in the
industrial and domestic sectors.
Alastair Runcie,
5 Vivian Avenue, Milngavie.
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