This post bears great relevance at the end of the week that saw the announcement that renewable energy now accounts for 20% of UK Energy. Having been part of one of the first generations of schoolchildren educated extensively on Climate Change, greenhouse gases and renewable energy, I'm encouraged by this new statistic, glad to see that we are powering ourselves a different way; I'm also quietly happy to see that Liberal Democrat "green" attitudes are making this coalition environmentally friendly!
However, this is good news, not fantastic news. Fantastic news would be if the UK was powered by renewables 100% with a view to exporting energy. Considering what we know about Climate Change, (and yes it is a scientific fact, not a made up concept designed to terrify the human race for no reason as some on the right may wish to stipulate) there is no reason we should not be pushing to make, at the very least, the majority of our energy production based on green, renewable sources. The choice of methodology available is varied and bountiful, and we are not investing in enough of the right options.
Taking one particular example, tidal power, we can see how we massively underuse and underinvest in some green energy sources. First of all, the UK has more than double the coastline of France, but La Republique produces 200 times the amount of megawatts in electricity through tidal power that the UK does. Clearly this is one source we should be utilising to our evident advantage. This is especially poignant when research shows that if such a scheme were set up in the Pentland Firth in Scotland, half of the nation that Alex Salmond wants independent from the UK could get its electricity from said scheme. Any complaints of the expense of building tidal power stations seem, to me, to be redundant on the basis that waves will not leave the shores of Britain any time soon, so the investment in tidal would inevitably get its return in capital.
We should also look at renewable energy in a more personal, familial way. I recently discovered my 70+ year-old grandparents have had solar panels installed on their roof for the obvious self-supporting reasons. If people of that generation can go solar, why shouldn't we all? Your house provides its own energy just by standing still and catching the rays, how hard can it be?
There are, of course, one or two drawbacks to solar energy's potential. The UK is notoriously wet and overcast much of the year, so without substantial sacrificial offerings to one sun deity or another, Brits may not be able to get the same level of return on solar panels that residents of Spain, Australia or Jamaica might. Also, the installation can be expensive for some, and may not be viable to some families with whom short-term financial commitments may come first. Why not, then, pre-empt this issue, and build all new homes with solar panels on them and make them mandatory for new-build houses? They aren't terribly unsightly on modern houses; its hardly ruining a thatched cottage roof with a giant satellite dish.
This would, naturally, increase the purchase price of said new property, which is not quite the point when there is a chronic shortage of affordable housing in the UK today. Nonetheless, the taking out of a mortgage and buying a first home is a type of investment whichever way you slice it so why not take the investment seriously.Though the house may be more expensive with solar panels already on it, the long-term benefits of renewable energy, self-support and a potential small financial return (which people often get with solar panel electricity) provide a good basis for a potential future family home. Making your own electricity means you require less from non-renewable power stations and the energy companies, thus saving on your energy bill. We would not, therefore, need to go with Labour's ridiculous "energy price freeze con" but instead, reduce people's energy bills without superficially macro-managing the energy market.
Finally, the growth of British renewable energy would reduce our dependencies on gas, coal and oil from Russia, Saudi Arabia and other places abroad, which, in an abstract way strengthens the hand of the Foreign Office when dealing with these nations. With more green sources of power the market would not suffer as much when there are Russo-Ukrainian tensions or yet another crisis in the Middle East.
People of my generation are the ones schooled vociferously on Climate Change and greenhouse gases, and those in charge and the other older generations are finally listening, but the pace is still too slow. Why should we have to wait for our generation to take office and make the world greener when today's office holders can get on and do it now. Going green isn't just environmental sense, it's economic sense too.
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