The Germans abandon Nuclear Power ….

Well, everyone goes through their potty cycle, and the Germans are certainly going through theirs at the moment:

A) They gave up the Deutschmark after a promise made by the EU that they’d NEVER have to bail out feckless over-borrowers AND that entry to the euro would ONLY go to those with smaller than 3% of GDP deficit AND that the rules would be strictly obeyed. Pretty stupid to fall for that load of lying tripe, eh? Hardly had the euro got under way when France went over 3% saying that the rule “was only intended for small countries”. Greece of course was never UNDER 3%.

B) They slagged off the Spanish for their infected cucumbers and caused them to lose MILLIONS in revenue when there was NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that the Spanish were at fault. Now we’re told it’s German beansprouts that caused the problem … THANKS ….. I switched from cucumbers to a massive intake of German beansprouts thinking that they must be safe, being (1) German and (2) not cucumbers …… this could therefore be my last post ….. WHO CAN I SUE?

C) They have given up nuclear power ….. this DESPITE the fact that:

1) the last tsunami in Germany was around 90,000 BC and modern nuclear plants are vastly safer than the one that blew up in Japan, where they put the cooling generators BELOW the waterline of a possible tsunami. The Japanese are normally so clever, but nobody’s perfect ……

2) they CANNOT replace nuclear with bleedin’ wind turbines

3) the trillions of new wind turbines they’re going to build don’t WORK half the time because there’s no wind – and getting power from the North Sea down to the car factories in Stuttgart and Munich will mean vast power lines through pristine forest …….

4) the wind turbines they DO install will not be replacing CO2 emitting coal, but CLEAN nuclear fuel

5) they’ll need to import electricity from DIRTY power-stations in Eastern Europe and HA HA FRENCH NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS.

As I said, potty …… Oh, AND their increasingly-clearly-incompetent Chancelleress has agreed to bail out Greece AGAIN, despite the fact that it’s pointless. Greece WILL default eventually – I read today that the Boche are only doing it to put off the time when Greece defaults in the hope that the resulting hit on their own banks won’t be as bad as it would be today.

“I weep for the future.”

 

Rising Oil Prices

You can’t have it both ways. Either carbon emissions are OK OR they are bad for our survival.

If they are BAD, then the higher oil prices rise the better. The US and other countries will only take alternatives AND economies in energy use seriously when they HAVE NO CHOICE. As soon as the oil price rises, there is a flurry of interest and investment in alternatives to high fossil-fuel consumption. As soon as the oil price sinks again, the incentive wanes once more.

To save the planet and to rid ourselves of dependence on fascist oil-producing states we need a change of lifestyle. Like any habit, the oil-consuming one won’t be easy to kick. In fact, we’ll only kick it when we have no choice, but then you’ll see human invention and flexibility as we evolve to survive, as we always have and as every organism does. Unless it dies, or – in our case – chooses to commit suicide.

 

Dam Folly?

Well, the Severn Barrage is shelved ….. the dream of endless free tidal power has been abandoned so that resources can be put into WIND TURBINES ….

One assumes that every scientific and economic aspect of this has been studied. After all, the government has many thousands of  advisors and experts to call on. And yet – on past experience – does one really trust the wisdom of government decisions? From where I sit, the following points need to be made and questions asked:

Against wind-turbines?

• Wind-power is notoriously ineffective. I personally suspect it is a bit of a PC-greencoloured faddishness. Turbines only work when it is windy; they cost a lot to erect and maintain and their carbon footprint is very high. Apart from that they are a noisy eyesore.
• Export? Every man and his uncle is making wind-turbines. Spain has taken a world lead. And how on earth are we going to compete against China once they start mass-producing them? The UK as major exporter of wind turbines? I don’t see it.

For the barrage?

• A Severn barrage would cost a lot, of course. But the tidal power it would provide would be free and endless. It is exactly the sort of long-term infrastructure project that we should be building for the sake of future generations
• The employment it would provide over a decade would be very high. This considerably reduces the cost through the taxes paid and unemployment and other benefits saved.
• Massive cuts are being made in frivolities and current expenditure – great, but we should not cut major long-term infrastructure expenditure; our future depends on it.
• It would reduce the dangers of severe flooding in the Severn, which has in the past caused devastating damage.
• A Severn barrage would produce at least as much power as two nuclear power stations. I myself see the latter as essential if our current way of life is to be maintained, but anything that reduced their number in such a tiny country as the UK would be welcome.

Against the barrage?

• It would be very expensive; we haven’t got the money now. But the money doesn’t all have to be spent at once. And in any case the start could be delayed a year or two.
• The Greens have banged on about the ecological damage, but this is a red-herring. Wildlife is extremely tenacious; if the habitat along the barrier changed most species would just move on somewhere else. If you’re going to abandon every major building project because it would damage the environment then nothing would get built at all. No doubt if you razed London to the ground and returned it to nature then within a few years it would be teeming with wildlife. So what? In the end, we have to cut carbon emissions or our species will die, and a lot of other species with us. A Severn barrier would have produced a vast amount of power with almost ZERO carbon emissions.

My feeling is that this is the wrong decision, but I’d love to hear counter-arguments.

All in all, the government shows no sign at present of developing a coherent power-generation strategy for the UK. Existing nuclear power-stations are running down slowly, but the government has said there will be no public money for new ones. Yet everyone seems to agree that private industry could not build new ones WITHOUT public money and in any case the Lib-Dems are dead against nuclear. The boat is going round in circles as we approach the rapids, and I see no rabbit about to be pulled out of the hat.