Britannia Radio

While we fiddle with windfarms on the continent politicians are 
lining up to produce proper power generators and are being 
increasingly lobbied  to water down all climate change policies.  

As  Open Europe reports "AFP reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel 
faced calls from fellow conservatives yesterday to water down the EU 
package until the economy gets moving again. 

"The carbon dioxide  reduction targets at the EU level must be organised so they do not 
endanger jobs," said Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer, whose state is 
home to such German automakers as BMW and Audi.

Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, in an 
interview with Le Monde, said of the climate package: "It is good to 
take into account what is being asked of the big industrial sectors 
in Europe. It doesn't do anyone any good if companies, and along them 
jobs, leave Europe, only because overseas there are no climate 
protection directives.""

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INDEPENDENT   24.11.08
Britain 'faces rising risk of power shortages'
Downturn likely to hit investment in renewables
By David Prosser, Deputy Business Editor

The UK is closer to facing major power shortages than at any time for 
20 years, a report from the consultancy CapGemini will warn today, 
with Britain still no closer to solving the dilemmaof how to meet 
higher demand whilereducing carbon dioxide emissions.

CapGemini's report will warn that the real margin, the amount of 
power available over and above the demand for it, has now fallen to 
2.2 per cent, from 7.9 per cent last year, the lowest figure for 10 
years.

CapGemini will add that the credit crunch and recession is likely to 
give the power sector some respite, with demand falling back as 
economic activity slows.

However, the downturn will also act as a major brake on investment in 
new generation capacity for the future, leaving Britain facing an 
even more difficult problem once the economy picks up again.

Investment in renewable energy supply and nuclear power is likelyto 
be hit hardest, according to CapGemini, presenting an additional 
environmental difficulty once economic activity increases.

"Security of supply and carbon dioxide emissions curbing issues will 
be exacerbated after the crisis," said Colette Lewiner, global leader 
of energy, utilities & chemicals at CapGemini. "To avoid this, 
utilities and governments should keep their investment plans in zero 
carbon generation investments."

An investment of ?1 trillion in European electricity and gas 
infrastructure is needed over the next 25 years if demand for energy 
is to be met, CapGemini said.

The consultancy said there was some evidence of utilities continuing 
to invest in new capacity, but warned that most have weighted 
development towards fossil fuel-based power generation. Almost 60 per 
cent of new capacity currently planned for Europe will be fossil 
fuelled.  [But Brown is obsessed witgh useless windfarms and the 
Greenies are stopping us following suit -cs]

While there has been some modest investment in renewable power, most 
of the money has been spent on wind technologies, which do not yet 
produce reliable supply at peak hours. This is one reason, warns 
CapGemini, why the security of power supply has now begun to 
deteriorate.

Nevertheless, if European governments want to hit their climate 
change targets [But they don't! If they did they wouldn't be building 
the very power stations we need but are not building.-cs]    , they 
have no choice but toinvest in renewable sources of power. 
CapGemini's figures show that carbon emissions have been broadly flat 
over the past 12 months, but have not yet begun to decrease in line 
with targets.