The SNP’s misguided energy policies would threaten the lifeblood of the nation
IT is vital that Paul Sheerin’s prescient article (“Bad news does not get
any better with age, so talk soon”, The Herald, October 17) is assimilated
and understood by our political leaders and that the decisions on our
engineers with appropriate knowledge. It should not be directed by vested
selfish interests or articulate but ill-informed commentators.
At present we are pursuing a dangerous and short-sighted obsession with
wind power, driven by politicians and facilitated by venture capital and
power companies whose boards are focused on immediate share value,
inappropriate subsidies, and profit protected by constraint payments and
Contracts for Difference. Wind power has a role in a balanced energy mix,
but should be a minority player. Contrary to popular belief it is an
expensive source of energy because it lacks all the important attributes of
an energy resource.
Most people appreciate that wind’s major handicap is its unpredictable,
intermittent and variable output. What the lay person cannot be expected to
understand is that it has no intrinsic physical characteristics to support
grid stability and has to rely totally on conventional thermal generation
to provide this essential feature as well as supporting the national grid
when the wind is lacking. It is currently inconceivable that sufficient
energy storage, whether hydro pump storage, batteries (electric, thermal,
hydrogen or inertia) could be provided to replace the current thermal
generation plant, even if this was physically possible, without making
electrical energy based on wind utterly unaffordable.
It is reprehensible for the SNP to suggest independence would deliver lower
energy costs for Scotland. It is also a culpable negligence of duty to
Scotland’s population that the Scottish Government opposes nuclear energy.
It is the only route to a far less costly, secure and carbon-free future.
Failure to make appropriate decisions years ago means that we are entering
a period of extreme risk. Already there have been numerous occasions when
Scotland has been saved by Torness, Peterhead and large imports from England.
We are all acutely aware of the ineptitude of the current Westminster
Government. For the SNP to criticise Westminster is incredible since it is
hardly better and, in terms of energy strategy, entirely deficient. The
SNP’s simplistic and misguided policy is a major threat to Scotland’s
prosperity. Should it be successful in selling, through ignorance, false
but enticing information to the Scottish people, we can look forward to a
future far bleaker than now. Energy is the lifeblood of a country. To
threaten it economically and structurally is unforgivable.
Norman McNab, Killearn
0 Comments