Green energy can help Britain kick its reliance on imported fossil fuels

SIR – Government subsidies are given for a whole host of enterprises, encompassing not only renewable electricity generation but also fossil fuels, agriculture and industry (“Green tax adds £150 to home energy bill”, report, August 2). We should also remember that nuclear power will itself be subsidised from electricity bills.

One need only look at the National Grid status website to see how wind and solar power are now contributing a significant percentage of UK power. Surely this is the way forward if we want to avoid returning to a reliance on coal power, or becoming dependent on imported gas. Michael Miller

Sheffield, South Yorkshire

SIR – British Gas has announced a 12.5 per cent price increase in electricity prices, just after the Government revealed that we will all be forced into driving electric cars in the near future.

How will we be able to afford to run these cars, and – more importantly – how will any government be able to afford to run the country when it will lose so much tax revenue, as people buy fewer cars which use petrol? Philip Moger

East Preston, West Sussex

SIR – Judging by the Telegraph correspondence on the matter, it appears that the Government has made the commitment to ban new diesel and petrol cars by 2040 without proper thought and consultation. Kevin Platt

Walsall, Staffordshire

SIR – Peter Owen (Letters, August 1) suggests that power generation would need almost to double to meet the future requirements of electric cars.

Most users of electric cars can (and do) charge their cars at home overnight, when the existing power system is unloaded. Additionally, there is a growing trend for electric car owners to combine roof-mounted photovoltaic panels with local battery storage for car-charging, thus requiring no external infrastructure.

The Government is right to set a deadline for banning polluting petrol and diesel vehicles and should seek to encourage the swifter uptake of electric vehicles. Keith Roy

The Narth, Monmouthshire

SIR – If green energy levies were really adding £150 to annual electricity bills, which I doubt, we would be decarbonising one of this country’s major contributors to global warming for the cost of a pint of beer each week. Christopher Clayton

Waverton, Cheshire

SIR – Given the sudden enthusiasm for electric cars, it seems bizarre that the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, has cut back on electrification projects, favouring trains which carry the dead weight of diesel engines and fuel from London into Cornwall, South Wales and the North West. Charles Allen

Wrexham