THE “pause” in global warming for nearly two decades is continuing, and
bearing in mind the UK’s tiny proportionate contribution to world
greenhouse gas output and the unprovable, unproven basis for these gases’
impact on climate changes, it is surely justified now to repeal the Climate
Change Acts (2008,9)
We are in national debt, hugely, and continue to overspend, well beyond our
earnings. Uncounted millions, spent after Westminster Parliament votes
which surely reflected “group-think,” and well-meant but ill-considered
policies seeking to minimise global climate changes have had no beneficial,
measurable effect; the earnings of research workers concerned with climate
change do not help the national debts, despite the substantial “green
taxes” for the exchequer.
Wind and seawater-powered electricity generation, with attempts to limit
CO2 output, have caused more harm than good, including financial and
terrible land and seascape damage, yielding but little usable power, only
intermittently. The recent policy announcement to end fitting motor cars
with internal combustion engines, but overlooking the engines of lorries,
many trains, ships and aircraft cannot be more than a token, futile gesture.
That applies both to any impact on cardiorespiratory disease and on climate
changes.
The ancient Greek, Socratic saying that “those whom the gods wish to
destroy, they first make mad” could arguably apply to our human attempts to
influence the world’s climate; the UK is really too small a greenhouse gas
emitter to matter, especially without any worldwide agreement to cut CO2
and the like.
(Dr) Charles Wardrop,
111 Viewlands Road West, Perth.
ALAN Sangster (Letters, August 14) joins a long list of cabinet ministers,
managers of renewable facilities and university staff who outline the
necessity to install wind, biomass or solar generators without stating the
cost to the Scottish consumer.
The Neart na Goithe wind farm comes with £5 million per MW installation
fees, hence 84,000 MW of renewable generation comes with a £420 billion
price tag. Not a single renewable expert can explain how 2.5 million
Scottish consumers can ever repay this bill without a massive increase to
the 40 per cent of Scots living in fuel poverty since electricity is three
times the price of domestic gas.
Can we hope Andrew Wilson will answer the cost conundrum in his soon to be
issued Growth Report?
Ian Moir,
79 Queen Street, Castle Douglas.
ALAN Sangster poses the future of electricity generation as renewables with
storage. It is certainly true that technology improves with time. But I
find it difficult to envisage storage as ever providing for current
electricity requirements except for hydroelectric power. Even then hydro in
the UK can provide a top-up for only an hour or so before depletion.
Mr Sangster ignores the obvious carbon-free electricity generation, and
that is nuclear. As indicated, most useable technology improves with time
both in efficiency and safety as a result of research and understanding.
Liquid salt reactors with fail-safe facilities using thorium that leaves
little waste that anyway decays in a century is an obvious choice. We
already know it works well. Known thorium reserves are sufficient for many
thousands of years. Well before that, hopefully, fusion is tamed and takes
over.
To replace the present generating capacity of Torness or Hunterston by wind
requires at least 1,500 turbines occupying 70 square miles of land compared
to the quarter square mile these power stations currently occupy. Turbines
are known hazards to both birds and bats and to landscapes that people find
up lifting and replenishing. I regard the use of wind as an atavism along
with burning wood in power stations, something that should have disappeared
with commercial sailing ships.
In my view the environmental target should be for mankind to occupy only
half the useable land and leave the rest to nature so that we continue to
benefit from the services the natural world provides. That would help
reduce the obvious damage we have inflicted on both plants and animals. The
continued spread of wind turbines, usually counter to local opinion and
commonly overruled by government, means we have a political class that
cannot see the wood through their ideological trees. The attitude seems to
be that land exists merely to exploit as wished instead of recognising the
priority of curtailing our influence upon it and using the most efficient
means to do so; in this case nuclear power.
Professor Tony Trewavas,
Scientific Alliance Scotland,
7-9 North St David Street, Edinburgh.
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