30 August 2010

And everyones at home.... This perhaps seems a little dramatic to some but in fact this could become a reality. According to Rupert Soames, the chief executive of temporary energy company Aggreko has stated  that if something is not done to close the energy gap the lights could indeed go off.

 

 The coalition government’s testing targets for renewable energy generation are putting Britain at risk of a blackout. Mr. Soames argues that if the government does not take swift action to undo the previous government’s errors, then the UK risks major supply shortages over the next five to ten years. Therefore he argues that the UK must take steps to ensure that the supply of power is constant and in order to achieve this there must be plans in place for the creation of a new generation of power stations.

 It is worth noting however that others in the private sector along with Mr. Soames have also voiced their concerns, warning that so-called “green projects” are often hampered by an element of unpredictability. They should to be backed up with more traditional forms of power generation. Many energy experts also warn that new power stations are required in order to plug the gap when wind farms in particular suffer from unpredictable conditions.

 Peter Hughes, chief executive of Scottish Engineering, backed Soames. "He's absolutely spot on," Hughes said. "Renewable energy is fine and everyone is for it, but there are all of the planning and infrastructure problems that need to be sorted. If we don't also invest in tried and tested forms of electricity generation then there's a very real danger the lights could go out."

 There is clearly a real danger that Britain could find itself wanting in regard to the generation of power if something is not done soon to combat this problem when it arises.

 Although proponents of green energy such as wind, wave and tidal power will be able to cope with the demands of providing power to the UK. However it has been proven the reliability of such power sources such as wind is unreliable. On the other hand the reliability and effectiveness of other methods of power generation such as wind, wave and tidal remain somewhat opaque.

 As the evidence suggests action must be taken before we find ourselves quite literally in the dark.

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