Why Solar Is Not The Answer.

By Paul Homewood

 

 

There were some good letters, (including mine!), in the Sunday Telegraph today, about the looming energy shortage in the UK.

But I sometimes wonder what planet some correspondents are living on. Take Ruth Jacobs for instance. She writes:-

 

SIR – Coal-fired power stations and fracking pollute the environment. The disadvantages of nuclear power are well known. Oil, gas, uranium and coal are finite materials which will run out sooner or later. We should be planning for the long term.

Different governments have backed the wrong horse and been indiscriminate with their subsidies. We should have stored some of our North Sea gas but are now in the precarious position of depending on supplies from not very friendly countries.

There are many houses and other buildings both here and on the Continent that depend entirely on solar heating and power. Regions of Spain are bringing in regulations to force house builders to fit each new house with solar tiles. We should do the same here, instead of handing out subsidies willy-nilly.

 

Has it not occurred to her that the climate in Spain is just a teeny bit different to ours?

 

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/actualmonthly

 

In January, for instance, when demand for electricity is at its peak, sunshine hours amounted to 37 hours in the whole month. That’s right, barely more than an hour a day.

By all means force people to spend thousands of pounds extra when they buy a new house, just so they can have solar panels fitted. But where does Ruth suggest we get the electricity from, when we are sat in the freezing cold in the middle of winter, and the sun refuses to shine?

Or does she think we should all hibernate?