Crumbs @AnnieS & @Omah . You two are the warm up act at a wake!!
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I think we fail to realise the challenges that face us in the pursuit of energy. Burning polluting fossil fuels is by no means the end of the story, lives have been lost in the name of progress, and lives are still been lost. The only difference is, that now the mining of rare earth metals for batteries and solar panels means that the lives lost or polluted live in countries far away from the comfort of suburbia. Also, the laws concerning health and safety in the manufacturing industries has made it too costly to produce things here, so just about everything now comes from China or Asia where no such health and safety laws apply.
Apologies to OGF ⊠this was intended to be a general reply and not directed at you ⊠I hit the wrong button ⊠
Liz Truss slammed after being quizzed about fracking in Lancashire
Prime Minister Liz Truss hasnât ruled out bringing fracking back to Lancashire in a âdisastrousâ interview on a regional radio station.
Ms Truss was quizzed by BBC Radio Lancashire presenter Graham Liver in the âpainfulâ interview and says she has never even visited Lancashireâs former fracking site on Preston New Road.
In the interview, which aired this morning (September 29), Ms Truss said: âWe will only press ahead with fracking in areas where there is local community support. Fracking is carried out perfectly safely in various parts of the world and the business secretary will make sure that any fracking that takes place is safe. We have to be very clear about why we are doing this. The UK has become dependent on global energy prices. Weâve seen through Vladamir Putinâs appalling war in Ukraine how energy prices have shot up and Russia has used the fact that it produces gas as a way of exerting pressure on other countries I want to see more home grown energy in the UK. That means using more resources in the north sea, more renewables and more nuclear and it also means fracking in areas where there is local support."
Graham Liver then asked, âwhat local consent looks likeâ, and said Fylde MP, Mark Menzies, asked her to outline how local consent will be given. Ms Truss did not have a clear explanation.
She said: âWell⊠the energy secretary will be laying out in more detail exactly what that looks like, but it does mean making sure there is local support to go ahead.â
âIt sounds like you donât know,â Graham said.
Graham said fracking hasnât received backing from local MPs and said, âthe science behind it hasnât changedâ.
He asked: âWhy canât you tell us there wonât be a return to fracking in Lancashire?â
Ms Truss said: âI donât accept the premise of your question. We need to explore where there is and isnât local consent and we are still doing that work. I donât think we should rule out the whole of Lancashire.â
Graham then asked if the Prime Minister knows where the Preston New Road fracking site is.
Liz said: âI donât think Iâve been to that site in the pastâ
âShouldnât you?â Graham asked.
After a short period of silence Ms Truss said: âWell⊠as Iâve said we will only go ahead with projects where there is local consent I am very clear about that. If there is a concern about a particular site those concerns will be looked at and taken into account.â
Blimey, I know that LT is thick-skinned (alternative descriptions available on request) but a day of fractious interviews like that will surely leave her fraught ⊠
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When asked, at a Tory conference event, if he would allow fracking in the back garden of his home in Somerset, Mr Rees-Mogg said âyes, of course I wouldâ.
âI would be delighted, particularly if I get these royalties,â said Mr Rees-Mogg, whose Somerset residence is Gournay Court, a Grade-II listed building in the north of the county.
Well, he would say that, wouldnât he.
RM knows that there is no chance of his estate being disturbed:
https://www.somerset.gov.uk/waste-planning-and-land/oil-and-gas-development/
To date, we have not received any planning applications for oil and gas development â there is no fracking taking place in Somerset.
Hi
We have the technology to deal with the worst pollution, the problem is the cost of doing so
We want cheap goods and low taxes p, having both means pollution
Energy always comes at a price Swimmy, no matter how we generate itâŠ
And contrary to popular belief, no energy is sustainable.
Which is why it makes total sense to maximise what one can get for minimal damage.
Which method of energy production would you say was the least damaging Dex?
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As you are aware foxy, anything that doesnât involve continually having to set fire to things is my starting point. Trouble is that we canât always rely on, not properly utilise the âfreeâ things yet. Tidal would be a somewhat obvious choice in terms of predictability, but this isnât quite as simple to harness energy as one might hope.
I donât think we ever will Dex. Because we need so many wind turbines, the manufacture, replacement and maintenance use up massive resources (and they need oil for the gearboxes, and lots of copper etc) not to mention the burning involved in producing the structures (alloys etc) not to mention the pollution produced during the production methods.
And all this for an unreliable energy source. And solar panels are not much better.
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Indeed. Thatâs also a significant issue with tidal power, since the sea has this rather annoying habit of wrecking (or chemically destroying ) things that we put into it.
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I once watched this scientist geezer on telly Connect a wire to an old rusting motor car submerged in a pondâŠand it generated electricity due to the reaction of the decaying metal. I suppose it was just a battery by any other nameâŠZink - Carbon and a saline solution.
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Sorry Omah. Digressed.
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Hi
In a nutshell I donât think JRM understands much at all about ordinary life, including fracking.
Yes other Countries compensated local people when they built open cast coal mining and a huge power station next to it.
The one in Poland for example they built two brand new villages big new houses so neighbours could stay together and a new swimming pool, sports centre and school.
They paid for the movie and new furnishings and gave them all well paid jobs.
I donât think this is what JRM has in mind for the UK
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I donât either ⊠
But come on Swimmy, fracking only takes up a fraction of the land that open cast coal mining does. And a coal burning power station with land for ash and coal supplies storageâŠ
I lived just about one mile from the largest coal fired power station in Europe when it was completed, and it consumed an enormous amount of land. We now have an experimental fracking site near here and since they planted trees around it, you donât even know its there.
Thats the thing though. There are concerns that it creates damage on a far wider range though.
Well if it should happen, then people should be handsomely compensated Dex.
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What with? New houses, schools and shops?
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