Western countries such as the United Kingdom and the United
States of America are faced with disintegrating and old
infrastructures. The power network is increasingly over
extended with its inevitable consequences; the disruption
to millions of lives. A lack of investment in the
infrastructure has reduced the ability of the UK and USA to
meet their electricity requirements.
The need to make a quick buck has not helped either.
Investors no longer invested in statutory undertaker to
make a small but steady profit but tried to maximise their
returns while minimising their outlay or investment.
Boards of directors and compliant management along with the
lure of stock options were only too eager to jump onto the
bandwagon.
Electricity generating companies have no legal obligation
to provide electricity and because regulators and
governments do not produce electricity themselves, they
cannot guarantee the future supply of electricity.
Consequentially, in countries like the United Kingdom, the
planned decommissioning of older nuclear power stations is
suspended indefinitely i.e. the 1,250MW Torness nuclear
power station is currently set for 2023, but its operator,
British Energy, is already talking about an extension to
its operating life.
To ensure that the future generating capacity can meet the
demand, new generating capacity and/or further energy
efficiency measures will be required beyond 2010. It is
estimated that British families will face an extra
£700 a year on their energy bills to replace Britain's
aging power stations.
The United Kingdom imports/exports electricity from France
through a 2GW high voltage direct current link under the
English Channel. In 2004 the UK imported 9,784 GWh of
electricity and exported 2,294 GWh.
In addition there is a 500 MW connection between Northern
Ireland and another 600 MW connection between the Republic
of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Even though renewable energy has been around for a
reasonable amount of time its exorbitant price has more
than often stopped most of us from pursuing its use. In
2004 3.6% of all electricity generated in the UK came from
renewable energy of which 12.25% came from onshore wind
farms, 1,4% from offshore wind farms and only 0.03% from
photovoltaic cells. And let us not forget that to balance
the losses and gains of energy from wind turbines, back-up
gas and oil turbines are constantly being throttled up or
down leading to their inefficient use.
Interestingly enough the 'world's leading solar power
generator' is not in sun soaked regions such as California
or southern Spain. It would probably surprise you to learn
that that title goes to a country whose climate is not
exactly famed for its blazing sunshine and one which is not
so different to Britain's: Germany.
At the time of writing, Germany had over 300,000 solar
panel systems generating over 200 times more solar energy
than the United Kingdom. Within four to five years,
Germany will generate as much of its electricity from solar
power as the United Kingdom currently generate from nuclear
(around 20%).
As Germany does something concrete regarding renewable
energy the United Kingdom Government policies helps the
climate-industrial complex to appropriate yet more money
from their captive consumers by means of excessive gas and
electricity prices.
In the United States the picture is just as bad. When the
American Clean Energy Security act (ACES) passes it will
cost the average American family $1,241 per year because as
the Wall Street Journal put it, "the whole point of cap and
trade is to hike the price of electricity and gas so that
Americans will use less. The effect of ACES will show up
not just in electricity bills or at the gas station but in
every manufactured good, from food to cars.
An analysis carried out in Britain found that the average
UK family is paying nearly $1,300 a year for the so-called
carbon-cutting programs introduced there just a few years
ago.
In both the USA and the UK government policies are to hike
up the price of electricity and gas to get you to use less
energy instead of promoting solar energy and assisting home
owners to generate their own electricity. I think that
this is contemptuous when those pushing these policies know
that ultimately the cost of these policies will be passed
onto the consumers in one way or another and that
reductions in consumer spending will ultimately mean a
decline in production and lead to the loss of jobs.
----------------------------------------------------
Alain Prudhomme is interested in the various technologies
that allow for the micro-generation of renewable energy for
homes and the freedom such technologies avail the ordinary
person. He also writes about the contentious and
controversial issues surrounding global warming and climate
change. You can find more resources at
http://www.renewablehomeenergysolutions.com
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