Energy independence

If we have too greater dependence on renewable weather reliant sources of energy, given how variable these resources can be, we could be at the mercy of which ever European country has excess production at that time and is willing to sell it to us. We would have to pay whatever price they asked

Currently the wind contribution to our energy production can be as low as under 5% but can be as high as 50 %. At the moment (this evening) it is 35%

We could be at the mercy of overseas producers of rare metals, needed for batteries of all sorts of appliances from phones to cars. We do not mine any of these metals in this country.

Renewables is more than WIND Monica its wind and water and solar and it is certainly possible to power the country on remewables alone.Sadly Bojo disagrees so he'll likely hand over the Nuclear staitons to the Chinese to uild as per his original plan .Please dont forget Chernobyl and Fukushima and the one nuclear power station in Scotland that already shows cracks.
We need to get on board with afully renewable programme as soon as we can and stop Bojo making more expensive mistakes

All day OH and I have been walking around the house shouting at each other in a silly voice whenever we pass each other "but what happens when the wind doesn't blow" and then dissolving in fits of laughter.

In 2020 Scotland generated 97% of its energy requirements from renewables. UK could do fine, if only it would stop listening to the vested interests.

paddyanne I am aware of that, but as things go far too much of them are wind turbines. Solar is no better than wind, cloud thickness can reduce the output from solar farms.

When I hear about all the possible dangers of nuclear, I think immediately of the million and millions of people who across time and continuing today are killed by coal generated power, polluted cities, respiratory illnesses and who far, far outnumber those damaged by the fallout from nuclear power, even Chenobyl.

The 97%, M0nica?

paddyann54

Renewables is more than WIND Monica its wind and water and solar and it is certainly possible to power the country on remewables alone.Sadly Bojo disagrees so he'll likely hand over the Nuclear staitons to the Chinese to uild as per his original plan .Please dont forget Chernobyl and Fukushima and the one nuclear power station in Scotland that already shows cracks.
We need to get on board with afully renewable programme as soon as we can and stop Bojo making more expensive mistakes

I agree with you paddyann

Hinkley C is already over budget and behind schedule
And more of an eyesore than offshore wind turbines.

Wind and sun might be a bit unreliable, but what about the tides that go in and out, in and out, day after day after day?

we've been running Hydo electric power stations here for decades ,with a combination of all renewables it is possible to power the whole country ,however it needs funding and Bojo 's government cut the funding ,more than once Despite that Scotland is forging ahead with the programme and Aberdeen has Hydrogen powered busses on the road showing another source of power.
Too many people say its not possible ,well back in the day many said it wasn't possile to send men into space ..last night the space station flew above us with Russian cosmonauts on board ,so if thats possible renewable power is a dawdle

www.orkney.com/news/orbital-grid#:~:text=The%20world%27s%20most%20powerful%20tidal

Tidal power in Orkney. I posted this on another thread earlier.

The Severn Barrage is now back on the agenda too, it was cancelled because the government thought it was a waste of taxpayers money. It has the potential to generate 10% of the UKs total electricity requirements.

Oh, thank you.
Does that mean another expensive feasibility study, meetings, protests?
I think we might have the booklets from last time, DH keeps everything.

We were told there were some odd goings-on with the finances last time it was proposed. Ordinary people invested and lost thousands.

This is where I saw it Callistemon21 - it probably means all the studies being repeated by the sounds of it. What made me laugh was the name of the Newport Council leader is Jane Mudd - which is quite apt.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/08/severn-estuary-tidal-energy-plan-back-on-agenda-amid-ukraine-crisis

Thanks Casdon
Yes, very appropriate as some of the protests are going to be about the mud flats!!

This thread, by a uni politics lecturer on rational policy making is rather pertinent her, I think:

In the 3rd yr undergrad course on policy making I teach at @ShefUniPolitics we discuss how the ‘rational’ model does not capture well how policy is actually made. The government’s new energy strategy will provide me with a helpful case study for years to come

Continued...

mobile.twitter.com/michaelujacobs/status/1512073474990170121

Delighted to hear Severn Barrage is being revivied, How about reviving the plans to build tidal lagoons all the way down the south welsh coast to provide even more reliable virtually 24/7 power.

Tidal barrages only work in areas where there is a very large difference between heights of low and high tide. That is why the South Wales coast is being targetted.

The French have a tidal power station at Rances in Brittany. It was built in 1964 and opened by General de Gaulle. It is still fully operational and is likely to be so for the foreseeable future.

The Orkney barrage works by tapping into the energy of the water flowing beneath it, so a large difference between high and low tide isn't necessary. It's a different technology.

We have plenty of coal beneath the UK we could be largely energy independant, we are not using because environmental damage is caused and in the short term it’s easier to import energy. We even pay foreign companies to provide our energy infrastructure, can you imagine in your wildest dream the French allowing their infrastructure to be run by others.

In the scale of wars Ukraine is small yet it is having a big effect, a major conflict with China would be devastating because so much of our everyday needs is provided by China.

We are mad to be so dependant on others.

I did not mention Orkney, but having looked it up it is not a tidal barrage. In the words of their web site www.orkney.com/news/orbital-grid
The 74-metre device arrived in local waters in May after being built in Dundee. It is now anchored at EMEC's Fall of Warness test site and connected to the local electricity network by a subsea cable.

A 74-metre device is not a barrage. Barrages are dams with power generation equipment placed in or on them and the power is generated by water passing through the dam as the tide rises, as the tide falls, the water is held behind the dam and released through the dam to generate electricity. This form of power generation requires area with a high tidal rise and fall.

I know they have been trying to develop tidal power devices for many decades with little success. I am delighted that one has at last reached commercial operation level. But the technology developed for tidal power is a very different thing to a tidal barrage and works in a totally different way