Britannia Radio

There were only 31 (undefined!) "experts"asked but their response was 
not reassuring.  Indeed other experts are predicting the certainty of 
power cuts long before 2015.  

Neither the government minister here - 
Mr O'Brien - nor some of the 'experts'  seem to have the least idea 
of the time scale involved in designing , planning, building, 
equipping and commissioning a power station.   

You can't pop round to 
B&Q and buy a few because there is snow and ice forecast for next week.

I'd like to know who these experts were!  Where they by any chance 
including anybody caslled Ross?

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BBC ONLINE   12.11.08
UK experts give blackouts warning
By Roger Harrabin,  Environment analyst, BBC News


Some energy experts asked by BBC News warn the UK could face an 
unacceptable risk of major blackouts in less than 10 years unless 
policy is improved.

They said the government has dithered for too long over policies 
vital to energy security and climate security.

But they added that forecasts of an imminent power crisis were far-
fetched.

The possible energy gap is being created because of the impending 
closure before 2015 of nine of our major coal and oil-powered plants.

This is due to an EU directive on acid rain. The issue is compounded 
by the closure of four ageing nuclear plants during the same period.
We do not claim our questionnaire of 30 experts is definitive. But 
its findings do help to map out the scale of the huge challenge 
facing the new secretary of energy and climate change.

Policy elements
Experts were, for example, asked: "Under current policies there is an 
unacceptable risk of major blackouts in the next 10 years?" A total 
of 13 agreed, nine disagreed, six were undecided and three gave no 
answer.

Some of the experts surveyed in our questionnaire said any short-term 
energy gap would be filled by burning gas, which undermines our 
ambitions on climate change.

Another option would be to lobby the EU to keep the coal stations 
open, which is also harmful to the climate and, experts say, is a 
case of throwing good money after bad.

But others said there was an unacceptable risk of blackouts as key 
elements of policy appeared paralysed or compromised.

Of the 31 experts who took part in our questionnaire, there was a 
feeling that the government's long-term ambitions on nuclear won't be 
achieved due to a lack of industrial capacity.

And many warn that government renewables targets are unlikely to be 
hit thanks to a combination of a lack of political will and 
engineering challenges for offshore wind.

The experts demanded much more urgent action on carbon capture and 
storage from coal, on which the government is due to make a decision 
soon.

They also said the UK had to move much more quickly to improve 
storage of gas in depleted gas fields.

Mike O'Brien, minister of state for the Department of Energy and 
Climate Change (DECC), said: "There are a whole range of options that 
the government has available to make sure we have secure supplies of 
energy - not just for the next few years but also from 2015."

He added: "And we will ensure that we exercise these options to make 
sure we keep the lights on."

However, sources say it is inconceivable that the government would 
allow the lights to go off, even if this means suspending climate 
change targets.