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Holyrood debates non-conventional gas extraction as wind fails expensively on security of supply

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The Scottish Parliament was today debating the issue of non-conventional gas extraction – largely but not exclusively centred on fracking for shale gas – at a time when the fragility of the wind with which the Scottish Government chose to fill the country’s sails has been underlined yet again.

With security of supply the key issue in our energy delivery policy and with wind quite unable to deliver that security, it has also been shown today that no less than £69 million has been diverted from the heavily hiked take from the energy bills us consumers have to pay – and given to the big profit taking developers as a subsidy. This compensates the developers for having to switch off the turbines at times when our ridiculously unable national grid simply cannot accept the volumes of energy being generated -  ironically, these times are when the wind is blowing strongly.,

So Scotland has hitched its wagon to an energy source that cannot deliver security of supply – that is not there when we need it most – in the periods of prolonged low temperatures which tend to be windless; and when it can produce in generous measure produces more than we can handle. And the impotent consumers pay at both ends of this inability – huddling in the cold and afraid of the coming inevitability of brown-outs; and paying substantially inflated tariffs for power, to allow the topslicing of the subsidy paid to developers for over supply.

In the midst of this expensive insanity, the Scottish Parliament today got around to discussing the extraction of Scotland’s reserves of non-conventional gas, as part of a mixed energy policy.

Local Highlands and Islands MSP, Jamie McGrigor, never one afraid of change, argued that unconventional gas extraction [shale gas and coal-bed methane] has a role to play in meeting our future energy needs as part of such a mixed energy policy -  if the appropriate environmental safeguards can be put in place.

He said: ‘A number of members today have rightly referred to energy security and I want to emphasise the importance of energy security, not least in light of some of the political events involving Russia in the last few months.

‘We cannot ignore the fact that ten years ago the UK was a net exporter of gas, but now we have to import billions of cubic tonnes of gas each year to meet demand; and the chief executive of Centrica, Sam Laidlaw, recently said: “By 2020 we will be reliant on imports to meet 70pc of the country’s gas needs. So when it comes to security of supply, there is a pressing need for solutions.”

‘The Scottish Conservatives have consistently argued that our energy supply must come from as diverse a range of sources as possible and this remains our position.

‘I was pleased last week to host a briefing in Parliament on the excellent work that is being done on nuclear fusion research at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy- a potential energy source in the medium-long term that could be transformational.

‘Given our view that energy should come from a broad range of sources, we therefore believe it would simply not be a responsible or sensible approach to ignore the potential of shale gas extraction and coal bed methane.

‘Rather we should seek to exploit our unconventional gas reserves – as other nations have done so with much success – in a sensible manner and one that ensures the appropriate environmental safeguards are in place.’


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