Green Living: Changes to come

By Giles Broadbent on January 21, 2010 12:36 PM |

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By Andrew Williams

The past few weeks have seen the mercury falling to record levels as the Wharf shivered its way into the New Year. Coming back to work after Christmas is bad enough at the best of times, but when you're knee deep in slush and powerless to move in a force 10 gale it's really no fun.

Of course many people see the bad weather as proof that global warming isn't happening. After all, how can we be chattering our teeth at -5C when the planet is getting hotter?

Alas, most scientists will tell you that freak weather conditions are a very real symptom of climate change. The more carbon we emit, the more frequent these events are likely to become.

A byproduct of the poor weather was that the national grid came very close to running out of fuel. A high percentage of gas used in the UK is imported and if supplies are limited we could face an increasingly erratic pattern of fuel delivery.

There are a number of renewable energy projects under discussion, including inland and offshore wind farms. The problems associated with these are fairly well known - opposition on aesthetic grounds, irregularity of supply, and how to store the power when it's not needed. If we can fix these issues then renewables such as solar, wind and tidal power could play a vital role in our energy security.

Even if we dramatically reduce CO2 emissions in the near future it's likely we'll still be affected by extreme weather events. Increasing the independence of our energy supply through greater investment in research and development of renewable energy may turn out to be a necessity rather than window dressing.

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