There are huge contradictions in making the planet sustainable. Dire warnings and predictions face huge inaction as unrealistic targets fail time after time. As far as energy is concerned in the UK renewable forms are in their infancy. At last the Severn looks as if it will become a source of harnessing the tidal flow.
As far as the Severn is concerned there is a debate about barrages which will stretch across the full width of the estuary and turbines more discreetly located on the river bank. The latter it is claimed will have much less effect on the environment and the rich wildlife in that area.
In Germany whole towns can be seen with solar panels, but in the UK they are a rare sight still. Why?
Whatever the argument we have found to our cost that we have once more become reliant on importing much of our energy need. This includes importing coal which is much dirtier than that found in the UK. The valuable methane gas doesn’t come with it either. The President of the National Union of Mineworkers, Arthur Scargill, has always maintained the folly of depending on foreign sources of energy. Nuclear energy is also highly controversial and its waste is a source of great danger. Clean coal technology the government now insists must come alongside any new developments in coal-fired power stations.
Since the introduction and development of new technology is extremely costly private concerns will have to be closely monitored to ensure no loopholes are exploited. Since the country’s assets belong to the state it is totally wrong to allow private enterprise to benefit from essential services where many of the most vulnerable of our citizens go in need.