The energy crisis

This country has really got itself into a pickle, through lack of foresight.

We put a moratorium on fracking, a gas production process that I agree with, we have significantly reduced our gas storage, something that I talked about a while ago and have not prepared for the closure of the nuclear power stations, as they come to the end of their useful life.

And, of course, we have gone crazy with net zero. I strongly believe that Boris Johnson is so weak of character that he has taken on board the biased green views of his wife, Carrie. It is so clear that she has influenced government policy to a great extent.

The two of them have absolutely no clue what real hardship is, so they merrily slap a 25% levy on energy usage, a huge and unreasonable tax that so many cannot afford; but they do not care a jot.

There is absolutely no joined up thinking. Let us take wind energy. Last September, wind energy production dropped to 2% but the government did not think the obvious “what if?” question. You cannot rely on a single source of energy and not allow for contingencies; no fracking and no gas storage.

But what if the wind blows so hard that the energy produced exceeds demand. To protect the cable network, they have to “turn off” the windfarms so that they do not produce electricity; what a complete waste.

Again, no joined up thinking. What they should do is to set up hydrogen production plants so that when there is excess wind, hydrogen can be produced, which can be liquified and easily stored, as it is very difficult to just store electricity.

The government knew years ago that the big nuclear power stations were starting to come to the end of their useful lives but they did nothing. Now, it is too late as the production of SMRs (Small modular reactors) is in its infancy and it will take years for the SMRs to have any real effect. The government grant is literally peanuts.

We are in an energy war and if the government had foresight, we would not have had to heavily rely on gas. We would not have to rely on external market forces so that our energy costs are going sky high and many people with low incomes, as well as many small businesses, are suffering.

But there is a far more important reason for self reliance in energy; there is the geo political issue to consider. Germany ditched its nuclear power stations and so now, they are heavily reliant on Russian gas and Russia have now weaponised the gas supply, to the extent that Germany has shown a lacklustre response to the build up of troops on the Russian/Ukrainian border.

That is the real reason why Angela Merkel resigned as Chancellor; she saw it coming and had realised that she had made a grave mistake in cutting out nuclear. So, she resigned/retired and literally just passed the buck to her successor.

That is the main reason as to why I want Boris Johnson out. He is now obsessed with net zero, no doubt encouraged by his wife. Yes, he is a populist PM but he is scruffy, untidy and continually lies to both the people and to parliament. He does not have my respect ( I will not vote again, until he is gone) and I am sure that many foreign leaders do not have respect for him either. I would go further and say that he is the most scruffy MP and the most unreliable country leader on the world stage.