On 14/12/12 13:45, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Nightjar wrote:
On 14/12/2012 12:05, John Williamson wrote:
...
In the '70s, '80s and '90s, we could have used the leeway that our
massive reserves of coal, oil and gas gave us to institute a programme
of nuclear power and some renewable sources.

Instead, we had the "dash for gas", used up all our resources building
gas fired power stations and stupidly closed the coal mines for
political reasons...

They were going to go anyway. It was cheaper to ship coal from Australia
than to get it from British mines.

And is this still the case?

Certainly coal form the USA and IIRC poland is very cheap.

Oil used to be $25 a barrel. It's rather unwise to plan ahead on the basis
of what any type of imported energy costs at one point in time.
Of course it would be naive to think any politician is interested in the
future beyond the next election.

there is an awful lot of coal in the USA. worlds biggest reserves, and
most of it open cast too.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.