But no debate, democracy should be about preventing mistakes through participatory deliberations, rather than about making heads roll after mistakes have been made. This is one of the reasons why John Stuart Mill saw democracy as “government by discussion” (a phrase coined, along Millian lines, by Walter Bagehot), and this demands discussion preceding public decisions, rather than following them.

One nuclear power station say two reactors two turbines combined output 1200Mh even then something approaching 30% of the time one of the reactors will be shut down. At present often the equivalent of two of our existing stations is shut down, refilling, trips or maintenance. Solar panels on a roof can produce about 3kw per property so you can do the maths, no where near what you claim is it? Secondly if we spent some of the £20Bn promised to build one station, which the consumer will be paying in higher bills on insulation and efficiency we could reduce the demand for electricity, remember electricity is only part of the countries energy demand. The Government in its wisdom has reduced the need for developers to make new homes more energy efficient which is a strange policy, putting up bills and making them less warm. If your figure of ten years to pay back the Co2 deficit for solar panels manufacture compared to the one going environmental impact of a new power station that seems a reasonable trade off as the life of a panel is 25+ years and even after that you would just replace with new ones.

Payback time on solar is about five years now, hence the government cutting subsidies to solar, HM Government announcements. New nuclear, well after eight years and promises of Chinese money EDF have still not agreed to build one. The Government has offered them a guaranteed £96/Mwh plus inflation, when the market price is £34Mh and even then it is too risky.

AlwaysIntegrity…..”The carbon pay back time for solar panels in the UK is at least ten years and fifteen in Scotland,”

Interesting. Any references?

“For biomass we would need to coppice Kent in its entirety to replace a
single modest gas fired plant and particilates remain a big problem.”

Interesting. Any references? & etc

“The answer is lots more nuclear and soon.”

Don’t build them near the sea.
http://www.brusselsblog.co.uk/note-on-nuclear-power-to-mike-weightman-2011/

“PS I am an engineer and scientist and CO2 driven atmospheric warming is
real and terrifying – to address it we need to get real PDQ”

Yes. Don’t fly, eat beef, drive cars build with bricks, concrete and steel and plan our lives in a completely different way. (Absolutely no irony intended.)

http://www.brusselsblog.co.uk/notes-on-the-future-of-cities/

They seem to thrive on the pain and suffering and economic deprivation they are meting out to the poor and none privileged.

I have Iranian and Iraqi neighbours and they are much more friendly than most of my British neighbours. In addition they don’t wee in the street.

Well again it doesn’t seem to be like that to me. Of course some immigrants are drunkards and wee in the streets. Of course a lot of people can’t cope very well with life in one way or another.
The tax burden is impossibly high and I suspect, from the loan shark shop that a lot of financial worries abound.
But there is a majority, I think, who are settling in well and living happy and fulfilled lives.

Well I think that you are particularly fortunate Mike because the Trussell Trust reports that they are serving close on a million food parcels this year which is almost 5x the amount form 5 years ago.

Coming form Lincolnshire myself the Fens have always “in the world but not of it” and I know of many poor people in the Fens who are far too proud to admit their poverty. So it appearas that the policies of these lunatics are working when in fact all they are causing is misery which they appear to enjoy inflicting.

But that is not the plan is it.
We intend, surely, to close down all the “fossil fuel” power stations starting with coal fired ones, which are being closed as we speak and to rely on solar and wind power all the time.
Little batteries! And little fairies in the garden too! We face more closures – aluminium and now steel, later the entire computer network.