With the forthcoming ban on petrol and diesel vehicles and gas boilers it is inevitable that demand for electricity will not only increase substantially, but it will also need to be available 24/7/365.
With this in mind, I hope that our politicians and environmentalists will take note of the way the French used the threat of cutting off Jersey’s electricity supply in the recent dispute over fishing rights. Maybe they were emulating Russia who supposedly over a tariff disagreement, cut off gas supplies to the Ukraine,
I don’t know, but if we are always to have an assured supply, it is important that we have total control over its production. Of the Big Six energy suppliers in the UK, four are foreign owned. China has a 33% interest in Hinckley Point C Nuclear power Station in Somerset, with French firm EDF owning the remaining 66%. We import wood pellets from Canada, coal from Poland, and gas from Norway to fuel our power stations, and yet we have banned shale gas fracking and the opening of a coal mine in Northumberland.
But what about wind turbines some will say. Well let’s be honest, they only generate electricity when wind conditions are right.
I still vividly remember the blackouts in 1974 when measures had to be put in place to conserve electricity. Commercial users were limited to three specified consecutive days’ consumption each week and prohibited from working longer hours on those days.
Essential services (e.g. hospitals, supermarkets and newspaper printing presses) were exempt, but television companies were required to cease broadcasting at 10.30 pm.
In this highly volatile world, dependence on outside sources for our energy needs leaves us vulnerable so it is vital that we became self sufficient.
Can you imagine what life would be like in the future if a shortage of electricity meant that you were unable to charge up your car, computer and smartphone, or even keep warm or cool using your air source heat pump/air conditioner?
D Walker
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