Editorial comment
Last month the BBC sent a questionnaire to energy experts to gauge their views on the current energy situation.
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Last month the BBC sent a questionnaire to energy experts to gauge their views on the current energy situation. On the basis of the responses it received, the broadcaster reported that the UK faced an ‘unacceptable risk of major blackouts in less than 10 years unless policy is improved.’ EU directives on acid rain require the closure of nine of the UK’s major coal and oil-fired power plants before 2015, which may well account for the projected energy gap. However, respondents to the questionnaire also accused the Government of having ‘dithered’ over deciding which technologies would replace the generating capacity currently scheduled for closure. The root of this delay could well be the Government’s attempts to balance the sometimes conflicting priorities of energy security and climate change, an unenviable task.