Energy reckoning

I refer to your article regarding the Ineos legal challenge to the fracking ban here in Scotland (‘Fracking ban goes to court over ‘misuse of power’ by government’, Scotsman, 10 January).

I suppose it is a sign of the times when Mary Church of the Friends of the Earth says it “reeks of desperation”. It used to be accepted that if a company had received, in this case, a paid for licence to carry out work and it is terminated without compensation, then it has a right to compensation.

If such recompense is not forthcoming, the company is then entitled to seek redress in the courts. Perhaps not so in the minds of some people. That, surely, is the true measure of “desperation”. Mary Church and her supporters, as well as the Scottish politicians, are entitled to their views, but it would be desirable if the whole picture is revealed when they attack anyone not on the renewables bandwagon.

The big problem for the supporters of wind and solar power is the inherent lack of reliability of these sources of energy, that do not necessarily produce any energy when it is most needed.

As an example, I refer to the Nationalgrid’smeasurements of demand and their contributions in the last couple of days. On the morning of 10 January, the UK demand was 44.69 GW and wind contributed 1.6GW or 3.58 per cent. On the morning of 11 January, the demand was 44.59 GW and wind contributed 0.59 GW or 1.32 per cent. Needless to say, it is not worth even mentioning the sun’s contribution. Coal, gas and nuclear kept the lights on as usual. It would make no difference in these situations if all thewindturbinesweresimply switched off the grid.

So perhaps those like Mary Church would be kind enough to explain to us doubters, who do not agree with her and her ilk, on how Scotland is going to fare without coal, nuclear and gas powered energy. Rely on Westminster to show sense before it is too late?

Currently the UK has just short of 18 GW of operational wind energy installed (Renewableuk). What is the point of installing even more when we struggle to get even 1GW during the deepest of winter, with no sun contribution either? It is quite clear that we cannot manage as part of the UK grid or alone without a full complement of dispatchable energy unless we are prepared to accept power cuts when it is least desirable.

Who is thinking about the elderly, many of whom are already struggling to both keep warm and be fed? Each household is currently paying £200 per annum towards renewables obligations and this is set to double within the next few years as even more unreliable wind and solar sources are added at the same time as dispatchable energy provision is shut down. There will come a day of reckoning if this policy is continued.

JOHN PETER Monks Road, Airdrie, Lanarkshire Cumberland (The Butcher) exacted a terrible revenge on the Highlands and the Jacobite supporters.

The elite feasted while the common man suffered in the spring of 1745.

I wonder how much has changed in 2018?

Our public servants and the political elite have high salaries, big guaranteed pension pots and jobs for life. In