[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by zoombini

IF we start to purchase our power from overseas I can easily see us being held to ransom on it.
Pay up or we turn your lights out!

Nuclear all the way......

We already buy a lot of our power from EdF's Nuclear supplies, this was why there were problems this summer. EdF could not cool their reactors without boiling the rivers they used as the temperatures rose (boiled cod anyone).

Originally Posted by Drudge

I vote to expand nuclear power. On a good day a wind turbine can only produce enough power to boil 120 kettles at once, they are very noisy and have a seriously adverse effect on wildlife and are usually built in some of the most beautiful places of the country. They can only work when the wind blows at a reasonable strength and as electricity cannot really be stored the old coal or oil fired stations have to be kept in operation ALL the time (as they take so long to start up) to cover for when the wind does not blow enough. To produce 20% of our electricity would require an extra 6000 of these turbines to be erected. Where?

This is why we have a resurgence of gas fired power. Quick start is availible.

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

funny , i had a feeling you might pop up , there was one thing i forgot to mention , the people living near the wind turbines are now complaining about the noise , mind you years ago they were complaining about the nuclear power station at the other end of town , ho hum life goes on

But living next to a wind farm is like living next to an airport that is running all day.
I agree, living next to a nuclear power station is not something I would consider a risk, but even the Japanese have become more dubious over the last couple of years.

Originally Posted by towny

I'm all for wind power - I think there's something quite beautiful about the turbines. If we need a huge number of them, why can we not build one or two huge offshore windfarms, far enough out not to bother anyone with the noise or view?

Cost and transmission loss. Look at the cost of Tokyos offshore airport. At present electricity does not cost enough to support the running costs of nuclear, as a result British Energy (the company) is in crisis. Coal is only just profitable, but AES is not doing well on its UK purchases which include Drax, the largest coal fired power station in the UK, which produces 30%+ of our energy requirements (i.e they are the market). How could the costs of building an offshore location plus the equipment for it compete?