Britain must accept the need for fossil fuels until other options are viable

sir – The National Grid’s online data for the electricity generated by Britain’s 11,000 wind turbines showed that, in the year up to mid-september, they contributed an average of only 17.6 per cent of what the country required. Sometimes the daily or even weekly rate was as low as 3 per cent.

Why can’t our politicians just look at the figures and accept that there is no way these turbines will ever supply reliable power for households and industry?

Even doubling the current number would hardly make a difference during weeks or months of low winds (and, ironically, global warming itself might be making this natural resource less reliable).

We need to use gas, coal and nuclear power for the immediate future or the country will grind to a halt.

Malcolm Kirk Craobh Haven, Argyll

sir – In the spring I cancelled my membership of the Conservative Party, citing its insane energy policy. I did not receive a reply. Now we are seeing the results of this policy, I wonder how many others will walk away too.

Nigel Burn-murdoch Hurst, Berkshire

sir – Among the solutions being proposed to the energy crisis are fracking, nuclear power and tidal energy. None of these can be delivered within a useful time frame.

The issue at hand is a global shortage of gas, which is likely to be resolved in the middle of next year. We also have an electricity system that is too reliant on wind. Our nuclear power stations are ageing and increasingly unreliable.

Gas prices are driving electricity prices up, but so are these vulnerabilities. To address this, the Government needs to get the mothballed Calon Energy gas power stations back up and running and expand the use of our remaining coal power stations. The price cap should be abolished to prevent further chaos in the supply segment, while green levies should be moved from energy bills to general taxation, which would benefit those on low incomes who typically do not pay income tax. VAT relief over the winter is another option.

The alternative is ending the winter with just a handful of large suppliers, and the main objective of privatisation would have failed.

Kathryn Porter London E14

sir – Power companies have a responsibility to put shareholders first.

As someone who worked in the electricity-generation industry for nearly 40 years, I saw the current situation arising after the demise of the Central Electricity Generating Board. There has been no strategy to replace the closed-down coal plants or the elderly nuclear or gas plants. Unfortunately, neither wind nor sunlight are always available.

The electricity and gas industries should be renationalised immediately, and a proper energy plan put in place.

Steve Rutter Blackrod, Lancashire