This morning on Radio 4 they were interviewing a climate protestor who was in support of the planned attack on a coal station. They want all coal power stations closed down immediately because of damage to the climate. Which sounds great, but if done overnight then where are we going to get our power from? There seems little question that we need to move away from fossil fuels, but we can only do that when an infrastructure has been put in place to take up the needs. Otherwise we don't have enough power. And without enough power, people will die. It isn't exactly a thought through policy.
As it is they are targetting EON, and blaming the company. Actually EON have a green option, we are on it, and it ensures energy comes from renewable sources. But the thing is, not enough people are willing (or able) to pay the extra. Don't blame the company for supplying what is demanded, first you need to convince the public of the need. Once the public are paying for the green policies then the companies will follow. They are simply reacting to market forces, and the biggest demand is currently for fossil fuel power.
1 comment:
I think sometimes you need the legislation in place to change people's behaviour. I don't think we have time to wait for everyone to want to pay extra for renewable energy, I think energy companies need to be required to produce a proportion of their energy from renewables, and for that proportion to increase each year. I know limited supply is an issue which needs addressing, but the climate is not an issue which can be left to market forces.
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