Renewable energy AND nuclear energy are the future of Britain's power
Given the sunshine that the nation basked in last week, it might not surprise people to hear that on Friday solar power accounted for more than 24 per cent of the electricity generated in Britain.
On Friday solar power accounted for more than 24 per cent of the electricity generated in Britain
In fact, solar generated more power on Friday than the nation’s eight nuclear power stations combined.
Throw in biomass, hydro and wind and almost 40 per cent of output came from renewables that day, a fact environmental campaigners were eager to point out.
While that is certainly to be celebrated, it does not mean that Britain should back away from nuclear, far from it.
The problem with solar power is that Britain is not sunny. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Britain is also not always windy, rendering it also unreliable as a power source.
As things stand, wind and solar are a welcome addition to, rather than replacements for conventional, existing sources of energy.
Solar generated more power on Friday than the nation’s eight nuclear power stations combined
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Renewables will become increasingly important in the long term as we move to a lower carbon and, hopefully one day, zero emissions world.
They will really come into their own when battery technology to store excess power generated by solar, wind, tidal and others has been developed.
The problem with solar power is that Britain is not sunny
In the interim we need a stable, reliable source of power, one that helps cut damaging emissions, such as nuclear.
Given the creaking state of Britain’s power network, we need to get a move on and build more nuclear plants before the lights go off.