Renewable energy ‘mirage’ could lead to a crisis

Published on 12/12/2011 00:00

MOVES to increase the use of renewable energy to generate electricity are “unrealistic” and will lead to an energy crisis by the middle of the decade, a report co-authored by a right wing think tank has claimed.

The report, Renewable Energy: Vision or Mirage, published by the Adam Smith Institute and Scientific Alliance, dismissed suggestions that renewable energy can meet the UK’s future energy needs.

It said solar and wind energy had “no prospect of becoming economically competitive” and renewables would be not be able to replace gas, coal and nuclear generation.

There was also a claim that subsidising renewable energy “comes at a cost to consumers” through soaring electricity prices, and that nuclear and gas were the “most viable energy sources” to avoid a crisis in supplies in the near future.

The paper said: “It is difficult not to conclude that the official enthusiasm for renewables has more to do with the power of the green lobby than economics and energy security.”

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