Fossil fools?
In a Scotsman article earlier this month Dr Richard Dixon rightly lamented the abuse of human rights and environmental degradation associated with the mining and processing of the many raw materials needed to manufacture wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles, the three poster boys of the so called Green Industrial Revolution that he clearly supports. It is therefore puzzling as to how he reconciles these conflicting aspirations. While he appears to want all North Sea oil and gas extraction to cease (Sustainable Scotland, 28 June) how does he imagine these dilute and transitional technologies will be manufactured and operated in the absence of the high density energy of fossil fuels? Renewables cannot even begin to produce the hundreds of everyday items we are familiar with that come to us courtesy of hydrocarbons.
With his credentials as an environmental consultant I imagine Dr Dixon may have approved of the World Economic Forum’s climate change initiatives in 2021 which encouraged the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to ban the import of fossil fuel-derived artificial fertilisers and pesticides and directed the nation’s two million farmers to go organic. Political and economic collapse swiftly followed, crop yields plummeted and mass starvation and civil unrest ensued. This may be an extreme example but it is indicative of the negative consequences that lie in wait for the global family of up to 10 billion people if we don’t continue using fossil fuels for the forseeable future as we pursue the quest for viable alternatives.
Neil J Bryce, Kelso, Scottish Borders
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