“Can we please shed the political paranoia about ‘saving the world’, and, focus instead on practical energy? The failure of our political parties to be realistic about future energy demand could be catastrophic. I do not want to see the economic success of the UK falter because of ‘green’ whimsy. Drop the cant and energise Britain.” (Philip Stott, ‘It’s this simple: wind farms the size of London, or safe, clean nuclear plants’, The Times, April 12, 2005, p. 18).

The real front page story yesterday was not the hauliers’ protests against unfair vehicle and fuel duties [see: ‘Labour’s Long Haul To Fairness’, May 27], serious though these issues undoubtedly are, but rather the UK blackout as the National Grid issued ‘a demand control imminent’ warning, with no fewer than seven to nine power stations collapsing, including Sizewell B, the nuclear power station near Leiston in Suffolk [‘Blackouts hit thousands as generators fail’, The Times, May 28; ‘Blackouts affect thousands in Britain’s worst power shortage in four years’, The Daily Telegraph, May 28]. Such blackouts have sadly been predicted again and again on these pages, and in my earlier commentaries in The Times.

Threat To UK Economy

On April 12, 2005, I wrote in The Times [‘It’s this simple: wind farms the size of London, or safe, clean nuclear plants’, The Times, April 12, 2005]:

“Political correctness is warping energy policy. Predicating policy, through the doomed Kyoto Protocol, on unpredictable environmental concerns is disastrous. It will slow economic growth, dull our competitive edge, deny much-needed energy expansion and expose us to political turmoil overseas. The result will be a Britain in which the lights go out by 2020, if not earlier, while billions of people in the developing world remain energy-starved.”

Then, again, on July 13, 2006, I pointed out in my column in The Times [‘And, finally, there was heat and light’, The Times, July 13, 2006, p. 21]:

“During the past 40 years, governments have tried short-sightedly to pick winners in the energy stakes, be they coal, gas, nuclear or, as in the blinkered and overoptimistic 2003 review, ‘renewables’ such as wind. Moreover, until recently, governments have been cushioned against energy realities by the resources of North Sea gas and oil. These are now squandered and declining, while our coal and nuclear power plants are ageing, so that by 2025 there will be, potentially, a 30 to 50 per cent shortfall in generating capacity.

Urgent action is required ... If no action is taken, it will be Hobson’s choice, and we will be increasingly dependent on up to 90 per cent imported gas from unstable states, with little or no control over price. We will, effectively, become a second-class energy state, with diminishing political clout.”

Political Scandal: Hobson’s Choice

But no urgent action has been taken, and as The Times reports today about yesterday’s blackout, the problems are now endemic:

“Hundreds of thousands of people were hit by electricity blackouts yesterday when seven power stations shut down. The unscheduled stoppages were regarded as an unprecedented sign of the fragility of Britain’s power infrastructure.

Operations were cancelled, people were stuck in lifts, traffic lights failed and fire engines were sent out on false alarms. Householders were unable to use any appliances or make phone calls as the blackouts hit areas including Cleveland, Cheshire, Lincolnshire and London.

It was unclear last night why the power stations had failed. As the cuts escalated, the National Grid was forced to issue the most serious possible warning - ‘demand control imminent’ - and urged suppliers to provide lower-voltage electricity to meet demand.”

I am unable to express the depths of my anger over this abysmal failure of political will with regards to energy in the UK. I know hundreds of bitter civil engineers who share my rage. It is one of the great scandals of the day, and politicians of all parties are implicated. As The Daily Telegraph concludes in its report:

“Analysts said the shortage of power was symptomatic of under-investment in Britain’s energy generation infrastructure.”

The rot must stop now. The energy grid lock must be broken. There can be no more delays, no more pandering to “green whimsy”, and whipped-up fears.

It is Hobson’s choice. We need new coal-fired, new gas-fired, and new nuclear plant as quickly as is physically possible.

If not, Britain will decline into a second-class state, and that will be no laughing matter.

We are on the brink.

It depends on the bravery of our politicians as to whether we can drag ourselves back from the edge of disaster.