Bishop Hill Darien II
One commenter on the last thread rather perspicaciously pointed out the parallels between Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond's leap for renewables and the Darien scheme - the disastrous commercial venture at the end of the 17th century that bankrupted the Scottish establishment and led to the country having to go cap in hand to the English and ask for union.
With this in mind, it's useful to notice the report by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers into energy needs for an independent Scotland. As the Telegraph says,
Scotland faces buying power from abroad to keep the lights on because Alex Salmond has no “practical strategy” for delivering his promise of a green energy revolution, a damning report by a leading engineering group has concluded.
Darien II, indeed.
Reader Comments (57)
Mike Haseler: "we're in power now ... now you do what we tell you"
The Scots may want to contemplate this list;
Belarus,Cuba, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Scotland
before handing Salmond control of economic planning of the type enjoyed by the first six on it.
Mike Haseler: "we're in power now ... now you do what we tell you"
Please add Venezuela to your list.
The Scots may want to contemplate this list;
Belarus,Cuba, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Scotland
before handing Salmond control of economic planning of the type enjoyed by the first six on it.
Nov 9, 2011 at 8:07 PM | Unregistered Commentersimpleseekeraftertruth
also add Nicaragua to above list.
Lapogus
Sorry my miss typing should have read "I'm NOT proposing". As an expat from Strathearn it would be the last place I'd flood.
I'll take your word on the technology, although it must be one of the few technologies NOT to have improved in the last half century; I can't think of another still use which hasn't. I would say that there is potential for hydro-storage as a back-up for non-green (for the want of a better word) power generation, when short term demand peaks occur. After 50 years a refurb/rebuild of current hydro might be in order.
Personally my heart sinks every time I see the Braes of Doune when on family visits. Being a skeptic doesn't mean I can't give consideration to the alternatives. Being a cautious skeptic means I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket.
How do you feel about some tidal power (Falls of Lora for instance)? If there is a decision for 100% "renewable" energy you have to go whole hog?
It always struck me as a high risk strategy generating 30+% (38.4% earlier) of your electricty using the same energy source as the majority of households use for domestic heating and cooking.
Thanks
Sandy
oops my mistyping
Just got in from evening class (never too old to learn) although the brain takes longer to recover these days!
Time to start burning the whisky?
You need to understand the SNP mindset is simply to keep in place GB wide institutions when this suits them and the institutions don't press Braveheart buttons.
So the SNP just assume the GB wide electricity system will remain in place "as is". (like the Post office or Social Security admin). They also think E&W will be happy to pay the subsidy because they will still want Scottish wind power.
Partly delusional because they think Scottish wind is competitive (only if you ignore transmission costs) but realistic if E&W wants to meet EU renewables targets and not trash its own countryside.
Of course in the happy event a future E&W government couldn't care less anymore about EU targets then Scottish wind farms are just scrap metal because Scots couln't afford the subsidies alone.