The lights are on...

[dilli-theclaw]

We are go g to use nmbys as control rods?

[Ken W]

Originally Posted by AdamD

As much as I love the futuristic visions of a squeaky clean, renewable energy powered country, it simply isn't viable right now

I mean how many solar panels/turbines etc have been put up in the last 10 years, yet, we're still running out of spare capacity?

The only way forward for the time being, is nuclear.

Didcot power station will be shut down next year.

[Sparkle]

To be fair though, does anyone want one of those in their back yard? I live near a wind farm, and though a bit unsightly - I've gotten used to seeing them every time I look out the window. But a nuke station? No thanks.

---------- Post added at 15:54 ---------- Previous post was at 15:53 ----------

Originally Posted by Ken W

Didcot power station will be shut down next year.

Didcot power station is coal/gas fired though.

Originally Posted by Sparkle

To be fair though, does anyone want one of those in their back yard? I live near a wind farm, and though a bit unsightly - I've gotten used to seeing them every time I look out the window. But a nuke station? No thanks.

It's generally possible to build a new reactor next door to an existing one. And the communities that already live with them tend to appreciate them because they bring a shed load of cash into the local economy.

[Sparkle]

Originally Posted by Chris

It's generally possible to build a new reactor next door to an existing one. And the communities that already live with them tend to appreciate them because they bring a shed load of cash into the local economy.

I can understand business owners being happy with the extra business, and perhaps those who moved locally after the powerplant was built (as they knew what they there were moving next to), but I'd hate to think the reaction if a random community where chosen and a nuclear facility constructed. I'd imagine the local community would go bananas.

Quite possibly, however IIRC all the proposed sites for new nukes in the UK are next to existing or decommissioned ones anyway, so it's a little moot.

Interestingly, here in Scotland the SNP has ruled out new nuclear power stations because it thinks we can get all our electricity from wind plus base-load from so-called 'clean coal'. However the plans to build a clean coal plant at Hunterston (which, fortuitously, has both a coal import facility and two existing nuclear power stations, so easy connection to the Grid) fell apart at the seams* because clean coal is a myth. Nobody has yet demonstrated that carbon capture can work on a commercial scale.

So, at present, without even a theoretical acceptance that nuclear power will be required to be built in Scotland, the chances are that our energy crisis could be rather worse than the one down south. It might be alleviated slightly by nuclear power coming across the border on the interconnector, of course, but my understanding is that the Grids in Scotland and England are essentially separate so I'm not certain of how much of a power shortage due to insufficient generation within Scotland can be made up by English electricity.

*boom, boom.

Problem is that the government has announced that we need loads more homes to satisfy demand and yet they fail to realise that all those homes will need power ,it's ok building 100,000 new houses but where's the extra electricity,gas and water going to come from to feed the new homes,not to mention the new shops and business premises that will need services

A small step would be to make it mandatory that all new builds have solar panels aand where possible all older buildings that can have them get them. It is not a solution but if energy is goinng to get as close to the knuckle as it seems it might just make that tiny difference. I get the feeling though it will take something major to kick start any government into actually dealing with the energy situation in this country none of them want to deal with it but they all love talking about it as though they have the aanswer.

Trouble is each government starts off think we have only 5 years.Then if they get re-elected then they can't believe their luck but still can't think more than 5 years ahead.Then if they get re-elected it's probably with a small majority and anything long term that they might have overseen 10 years before can't be implemented because of opposition.

Yeah i think thats the problem with professional politicians they are all too worried about short term objectives they seem incapable of making the decisions regarding long terrm problems and the problem will only get worse before it gets better. Sadly there is so much oneupmanship in politics that any chaance of independent bodies tasked with dealing with these long term issues is highly unlikely.

maybe this is the answer ,i think it's a good idea

Cars, homes and factories could be powered using the air we breathe in the future, according to engineers at a special summit.
British scientists developing the technology say normal air can be used to store energy by cooling it to 190C, turning it into a liquid.

http://news.sky.com/story/991949/liq...-of-the-future

[slowcoach]

There is no alternative to fossil fuels at the moment. To go all nuclear would currently require 10,000 of the biggest generators to be built and then we would run out of known Uranium deposits in 20 – 25 years, so nuclear can only be considered a stop gap at best, remember this is not just a UK problem.

The long-term future of nuclear power lies in thorium, rather than uranium, and there's more than enough thorium about. India has been going hell-for-leather on thorium reactor development and plans to have dozens of them operating in a little over a decade. They claim to be close to having the first one running now.

Everything in this country is too slow. We're never going to get anything done.

[Osem]

It appears that liquid air 'storage' could help the situation a little but it's still clear to me that we need long term solutions to this problem, especially if we're going to see the sort of population growth that's being predicted and the likelihood that migration is going to remain an issue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19785689

Turning air into liquid may offer a solution to one of the great challenges in engineering - how to store energy.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers says liquid air can compete with batteries and hydrogen to store excess energy generated from renewables.