Some monkeys have done some sums and come up with a price to replace Europe's current electricity supply entirely with wind generation at a cost of £40 billion, plus the cost of a few thousand turbines. The plan can be made reality in 3-5 years, presenting an incredible opportunity to do something cost-effective and practical about the looming threat of climate change.
The UK government- the elite of climate change denialists- have, of course, declined to participate despite the increasingly unequivocal nature of the problem. This means that the government are actually acting against our interests, invalidating the reason for their existence. Do the public know this? Probably not. Too busy watching Ugly Betty or East Enders. Fuckers.
It's not just wind that would benefit from the supergrid (I think Monbiot outlined this in his book Heat) - solar thermal power offers an exciting opportunity to diversify renewable energy sources.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already read it, The Lazy Environmentalist has a good piece on it.
Thanks for the link, dude. That looks like a quality piece of blogging.
ReplyDeleteI wrote about concentrating solar before, if you're amused by my ranting.
http://punkscientist.blogspot.com/2006/08/concentrating-solar-power-gives-me.html