LETTER FOR PUBLICATION

Dear Editor

THE POTENTIAL OF GREEN POWER

The Scottish government should certainly maintain its commitment to renewable sources of power and avoid using nuclear power ("First Minister faces calls to accept nuclear-powered future", 9 December).

Research that is reviewed in the November issue of Scientific American shows that renewables can meet 100% of the world's energy needs (not just electricity) and that it is technically feasible to do it by 2030. This is in line with several other reports showing how to decarbonise the world's economies via renewables and improvements in efficiency. For example, the US National Academy of Sciences published a report this year showing that wind power could supply more than 40 times current worldwide consumption of electricity and more than 5 times total global use of energy in all forms. Another report from the European Environment Agency shows that the "economically competitive potential" of wind power in Europe is 3 times projected demand for electricity in 2020 and 7 times projected demand in 2030. Offshore wind power alone could meet between 60% and 70% of projected European demand for electricity in 2020 and about 80% of projected demand in 2030.

These are just indications of what can be done. Apart from wind power, there is great potential in Scotland for generating clean power from waves and from tidal streams. The supposed problem of variability in wind power is much less of an issue than is sometimes suggested. There is a range of techniques available for matching variable supplies with constantly-varying demands.

It is now well-established that nuclear power is one of the most expensive ways of generating electricity. A recent report "Nuclear Subsidies" from the Energy Fair group shows that the real cost of nuclear power is disguised by several subsidies. And nuclear power stations are notoriously slow to build. The nuclear station being built at Olkiluoto in Finland is unlikely to be finished in less than seven years. No nuclear power station in the UK has ever been built on time. In general, renewables are quicker and cheaper.

When the USA entered the second world war, President Roosevelt famously told the car makers to make tanks, not cars -- and, despite initial pessimism, they greatly exceeded their targets. With that kind of can-do leadership, renewables can certainly deliver.

Sincerely,

Dr Gerry Wolff PhD CEng

Energy Fair

Last updated: 2007-08-19 (ISO 8601)