I'm not against alternative energy sources, far from it. What I am against is subsidising such things.
The British Motor industry was subsidised and what did we get in return? British Coal and British steel were all subsidised. These companies should have been making money for the economy not consuming it!
If a Solar Array, a Wind Farm, Hydro-electric dam or a Tidal Generator is such a good idea, then by all means use government money to research, design and build such things but there must be a pay-back.
Putting solar panel on your house roof is generally a good idea as you should use most of it in your house. This cuts down on "Grid" issues. What we need, rather than the 50% generated "guessed" to be used by the owner and 50% exported, is a decent meter that measures exactly how much is exported and the owner gets paid the market rate for only that.
By the same token owners of Solar Farms should get the market rate for what they export, no more no less.
A quick look at what has happened in Germany might convince you about subsidies. They are far ahead of the UK in renewable energy and what has happened?
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2c0e8cec-ed6f-11e3-8a1e-00144feabdc0.htmlAs Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s economy and energy minister, made a speech about significant reforms to the country’s renewable power subsidy scheme, a red light began to blink on the lectern. Without missing a beat, the minister glanced at the warning signal and quipped: “That’ll be the biomass people.”
Germany continues to set itself ambitious targets for its shift to renewables, the Energiewende. By 2035, Europe’s biggest economy will generate up to 60 per cent of its electricity supply from clean sources, according to government plans. Last year, about 23 per cent of Germany’s electricity came from renewables.
But the government is anxious to contain the cost of the transition. The coalition of Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats is determined to curb a subsidy scheme that costs businesses and consumers €24bn a year.
Mr Gabriel’s speech in January outlined a bill that was approved by the German cabinet in April. It aims to curb rising costs by scaling back renewable energy subsidies and placing upper limits on new installations. Feed-in tariffs paid to renewable power generators will be cut to an average across all technologies of €0.12/kWh by 2015, down from a current average of €0.17/kWh.
Since making the above speech, Mr Gabriel has said that, "......Germany's emissions targets cannot be met, that its energy policies were putting their basic industries at risk and that it is not possible to phase out coal fired power stations......."
Do we really want to dive into a known financial quagmire, where the sweet innocence of "Green Ethics" is actually being manipulated by big business waiting for never ending hand outs?
