Devon Patriot

What Should the Future UK's Energy Policy Be?

Introduction

One of the most serious problems facing the UK in the near future will be the provision of energy to power industry, commercial facilities, transport and homes.   Throughout the later half of the 20^th century Britain has relied on coal, nuclear energy, North Sea gas and plentiful supplies of petroleum products mainly from the Middle East.  As a consequence of the cheap availability of these energy sources folk developed a lifestyle that used these precious energy sources in a wasteful and frivolous manner, with the assumption that cheap energy will be with us forever.   The British National Party must have an energy policy that: provides affordable energy for our future needs; reduces our overall energy use by elimination of wasteful practices and initiating energy saving schemes; changing peoples life-styles so that it is less reliant on the private car and unnecessary journeys.  The following sections of this paper examines the current state of Britain’s electrical supply industry and how it should be developed to meet our future needs

How did Britain’s Energy Supply Industry Develop?

The only energy available to our early predecessors was muscle power, so the amount of work undertaken, or distance travelled, was limited to their strength and stamina.  Probably the first source of energy available to mankind was the ability to harness fire to cook food and keep warm, so maintaining and preserving the energy stored in his body for future use.  As mankind started travelling over water it must have soon become apparent to them that utilising the wind would greatly ease the burden of paddling the boats manually.   Using nature’s resources reached its peak in the early 1700s with windmills being used to grind corn, and the more reliable and powerful watermills being used for the more heavy industrial work like powering spinning and weaving mills.

Steam Power

In the early part of the 19^th century Thomas Newcomen of Dartmouth developed a steam engine that was used for pumping water out of mines.  Newcomen’s engine operated on the principal that a reduction in pressure occurred when the steam within a cylinder was condensed causing the piston to be sucked downwards; consequently its efficiency was very limited, and it could only be used cost effectively if located adjacent to vast supplies of cheap coal.  However, it was truly the first steam powered machine capable of doing effective work.

James Watt’s improvements to the Newcomen engine, and the mechanism to convert reciprocal into rotary motion resulted in a steam engine that could now power mills and foundries.   This enabled fabrics and steel products to be manufactured more efficiently than had been possible when the whole process was done by manual labour.

Electric Power

Steam engines provided the energy to power industry, shipping and the railways; but its power source was coal which was extremely labour intensive to extract from the ground.  Consequently, in the early days of steam power the average person saw very little benefit as they were mostly engaged as virtual slave labour working in atrocious conditions and living in abject poverty.  It wasn’t until Michael Faraday’s scientific discoveries in electro-magnetism with the electric motor and generator that the general public were to get the benefits of energy production delivered directly to their homes.  However, much work had to be done by engineers and scientists before an efficient electrical generation and distribution system was feasible to supply a complete town.  The early generators were DC (direct current) machines which were suitable for use in a small localized area, but were impractical when power had to be distributed over large areas.  The development of AC (alternating current) generators and transformers permitted AC electrical supplies to be transformed up to a high voltage, so reducing power loss in the distribution cables and then transformed down to a low voltage for use in domestic premises.  

When reliable AC generators and transformers became available it was then possible to supply a complete city with electrical power.   The first city to have an electrical distribution system was Buffalo in the USA, which was supplied from hydro-electric generators located at the Niagara Falls.  The utilisation of hydro-turbines to generate electrical power was limited to those locations that had a suitable quantity of water situated high enough to provide sufficient kinetic energy to power the turbine.  So for most locations another form of energy had to be found as the reciprocating steam engine could not rotate the alternator fast enough.  The breakthrough came with the Charles Parson’s invention of the steam turbine in 1884.  It was initially used in ships of the Royal Navy, but as their power increased they were used to power turbine generator sets.  In the UK it was town councils or local private companies who provided electrical generation plants primarily for street lighting, but eventually extended their supply to feed trams, shops and offices; and finally for the lighting of private dwellings.

In 1915 there were some 600 electrical generation companies using a variety of power generation plants operating at various voltages.   The Electricity (supply) Act of 1919 merged these companies into more manageable units with a single power station supplying a large area.  The Electricity Supply Act of 1925 created the Central Electricity Board which established the National Grid (Operating at 132kV, 50Hz supply) that linked the larger generation plants throughout the country.   The Electricity Act of 1947 merged 625 electricity companies into twelve area electricity boards, much as we have today.  Practically all of this generation plant was coal fired, creating steam to power the turbines.  This dependency on coal was to prove disastrous during the 1970s as striking miners disrupted supplies.  A single energy source for power generation was avoided, after this period.   Nuclear generated electrical energy commenced in the 1950s with the building of the world’s first nuclear power station at Calder Hall, after this some twenty Magnox and AGR power stations were built.  The last nuclear power station to be built was the PWR, Sizewell C.  

What is the Current Situation with Regards to Britain’s Energy Requirements?

In the home the energy needs for heating is supplied by gas or electricity; with cooking, lighting and other utilities provided solely by electricity.  Most of our industries are powered by electricity through the National Grid, although some of the larger manufacturers produce their own electricity using diesel or gas generator sets.  Practically all of our commercial organisations are powered by electricity though.   Transportation is still reliant on electric traction and petrol or diesel power.

Power generation is largely produced by coal-fired power stations, with oil-fired power stations making a small contribution.  North Sea gas is used for a large proportion of power generation, but as North Sea production falls this is being replaced by imported gas.   Nuclear power is providing a diminishing proportion of our energy demand, with all the Magnox stations being decommissioned and the AGR expected to be phased out over the next twenty years that leaves only Sizewell C as a long-term energy provider.   Wind turbines currently make a negligible contribution to our energy requirements.

How Should Britain’s Future Energy Requirements Be Met?

Britain has a variety of options it can pursue to meet our future energy needs.  What follows is a list of the options available together with their feasibility, costs and practicality.

Coal will play a very important part in Britain’s energy demands for at least the next 30 years, when newer and more efficient power generation processes become available. Therefore it is essential that all existing coal-fired power stations are retained in reserve to cope with peaks of high demand, and as a safeguard in the event of possible oil and gas shortages.    

Mining coal may soon become redundant as another way of extracting its energy is by the method of Underground Coal Gasification.  Think of it as drilling for coal energy instead of mining for it.  It involves baking coal while it is still underground while channelling the CO₂ up through turbines to harness the fuel.  Using controlled fires and the pressure of gravity, experts predict that coal seams once deemed inaccessible can be turned into fuel.  To fill the holes left in the earth by once-present coal?  Miners would inject stabilizing carbon dioxide into the void. 

Oil and associated products are too important to be used as the base fuel for generating electricity, and should be reserved for transportation needs.  Oil should only be used for standby generators during mains power supply failure, or in providing temporary power supply back-up during periods of high demand.

Fracking is another method of obtaining gas, but there are problems associated with this extraction method (such as the creation of earth tremors and the poisoning of water courses) that need to be addressed before gas can be extracted.  Even if fracking is found to be a safe method of gas extraction, it is thought that the resources available will only last for 5 to 10 years; so it will not solve Britain’s energy requirement over the long term.   

Britain led the world in developing energy from nuclear power; however, over the past 25 years governments of all varieties have failed to invest in research and development (R&D) that would have maintained the UK at the forefront of this technology.  All of Britain’s nuclear and power station manufactures have been sold off to French (EDF and Alstom), German (Siemens) and Japanese (Hitachi) companies.  Consequently, all of Britain’s R&D, design and manufacturing capabilities (together with its patents and intellectual property) were sold off cheaply to foreign companies who in most cases closed down the manufacturing facilities and moved production to their own countries.  Until new sources of power generation become available, nuclear power is absolutely essential to meet our energy requirements for the next 50 years.

Wind power is a costly failure, promoted by the Blair government to tempt Green Party voters to switch their allegiance to Labour.

Solar power is certainly useful for some applications, such as lighting and remote telecommunication power supplies; but is not really practical for applications that require high energy demands, such as ovens and electric heaters. For domestic application it certainly needs to be backed up by the mains power supply. 

It’s unlikely that wave power will ever be a major provider of electricity in the UK, but in certain locations may provide a useful addition to our energy demands.  

The Severn estuary is the only real site where a tidal barrage can be erected, but this has been rejected by the government as it is deemed too costly, even though it will produce 5% of Britain’s energy requirements based on current population levels.  

This form of energy production must be the most environmentally damaging of all types currently in use.  It beggars belief that anyone could be stupid enough to believe that any form of power generation that burns wood could be carbon-neutral!   It should be noted that Britain was one of the few countries to sign the IPCC (Intergovenmental Panel on Climate Change) protocol; China and the USA, both bigger polluters than the UK did not sign.

Apart from a few locations in Scotland and the Lake District, Britain does not have sufficient high altitude lakes to provide the power source for pumped storage hydro-electric power generation.  Consequently, hydro‑electric power generation will never be a major supplier of electricity within the United Kingdom; but it is useful in supplying peak-load demand for electricity.

Geothermal energy may prove to be a useful addition to Britain’s energy demands, but many more geological surveys are required to ascertain whether the costs involved make it a feasible option.  However, heat extracted could be used for area domestic heating schemes where high temperatures are not required.

Thorium must be the answer to Britain’s long term energy demands, and it is essential that money is spent on research and development (R&D), such that the technology and expertise remains the property of the British people, and is not sold on the cheap to raise money to cater for the welfare needs of the immigrants invading our country. 

If ever nuclear fusion becomes a reality it will certainly transform the world’s energy needs. Progress is being made in the development of this technology, but it’s unlikely to become a viable option within the next 50 years.  In the meantime progress continues on the research and development of nuclear fusion. 

What Should Britain’s Future Energy Policy Be?

The manner in which the labour government under Tony Blair destroyed the country’s energy generation capacity in pursuit of the green agenda will leave Britain facing frequent power cuts in the not too distant future.  Can this crisis be averted?  If so, then how?

The Actions that Must be Taken to Avert an Energy Crisis

·        Withdraw from the EU and declare as null and void any treatise concerning CO₂ emissions and global warming signed on Britain’s behalf by the Labour government of Tony Blair.

·        Re-instate all coal-fired power-stations recently closed or due for closure.

·        Build new British designed and manufactured nuclear power-stations.

·        Stop all new developments of wind turbines.

·        Set up a R&D establishment with a British workforce to design and develop a range of thorium reactors such that the building of new thorium power-stations can commence within ten years.

·        Continue with the R&D associated with wave and tidal-flow energy generation.

·        Fund R&D into geo-thermal energy extraction.

·        Continue with funding of R&D associated with nuclear fusion.

·        Investigate the extraction of gas by fracking to ensure that it can be achieved without polluting water supplies.   

·        Fund R&D into methods of storing energy, such that it can be used when energy demand is high.  

Other points that must be addressed concerns that of energy usage; which can include:

·        Loss of heat energy through poorly insulated dwellings.

·        Unnecessary use of private cars for pointless journeys; such as the school-run.  Children would be a lot healthier if they were made to walk to school.

·        With the internet more people can work from home, so saving immense amounts of energy on commuting costs – furthermore, people work more efficiently within their own homes without the distractions of open-plan offices.

Clearly, there is a lot that needs to be done to prepare the nation for the forthcoming energy crisis.  What has been detailed in this article high-lights only a few of the problems envisaged together with some of the recommended corrective actions that can be taken - whether this proves to be adequate, only time will tell.