As brought to my attention by the BBC, some politicians think that there are too many applications to build wind farms in Scotland.
So how many is too many?
2500 applications in 18 months is too many for the Conservative Party (the main partner in the ruling coalition that currently governs the United Kingdom).
On the other hand, as anyone who has been there will tell you, Scotland is a pretty windy place.
Also, Scotland's geographical position (to the north of England) makes it not a first-choice site for solar power.
I'm no weather expert, but I would suspect that having the Gulf Stream passing up the west of Scotland, with colder, North Sea, water on the east of Scotland, combined with the relative narrowness of the country (the two main Scottish cities, Edinburgh, on the eastern coast, and Glasgow, almost on the western coast, are just 52 miles (84km) apart) is a contributor to the "breeze".
Lots of oil comes through Scotland.
How much of it is "Scottish" gets into a debate about where the limits of sea territory lie.
12 miles (about 20km)?
or half-way to the nearest neighbour? (England to the South, Scandinavia to the East).
Scotland is right to think about its energy policy.
"Fossil" fuels made Glasgow an unhealthy place to live, long before anyone thought of deep-fried Mars bars.
The Westminster (aka "London" government) has "devolved" powers to an independent Scottish parliament.
What is the point of allowing Scotland to decide local matters for itself (like where to put wind farms, and how many to have), if the Westminster government doesn't want them to make any decisions they don't like.
Also, Scotland needs a more diversified economy.
It's main economic drivers seem to be oil and unemployment.
That's not much of an economic base.
More wind farms would allow exports of electricity at certain times to the "Auld Enemy" - England, producing useful revenues whilst doing so.
Certainly England already imports energy (primarily from French nuclear power stations, via a REALLY big cable under the English Channel, but also from compressed natural gas brought in by sea).
So it is difficult to see why imported Scottish wind power would be bad for England.
There is even a way to store some of it, for use later - the "rechargeable" hydro-electric power station at Dinorwig - yes, I know it is in Wales, not England, but most of its power gets used in "English" places like Liverpool and Manchester.
Sounds to me like certain politicians are trying to make points for the upcoming Scottish referendum, rather than looking at a sensible energy policy.
So how many is too many?
2500 applications in 18 months is too many for the Conservative Party (the main partner in the ruling coalition that currently governs the United Kingdom).
On the other hand, as anyone who has been there will tell you, Scotland is a pretty windy place.
Also, Scotland's geographical position (to the north of England) makes it not a first-choice site for solar power.
I'm no weather expert, but I would suspect that having the Gulf Stream passing up the west of Scotland, with colder, North Sea, water on the east of Scotland, combined with the relative narrowness of the country (the two main Scottish cities, Edinburgh, on the eastern coast, and Glasgow, almost on the western coast, are just 52 miles (84km) apart) is a contributor to the "breeze".
Lots of oil comes through Scotland.
How much of it is "Scottish" gets into a debate about where the limits of sea territory lie.
12 miles (about 20km)?
or half-way to the nearest neighbour? (England to the South, Scandinavia to the East).
Scotland is right to think about its energy policy.
"Fossil" fuels made Glasgow an unhealthy place to live, long before anyone thought of deep-fried Mars bars.
The Westminster (aka "London" government) has "devolved" powers to an independent Scottish parliament.
What is the point of allowing Scotland to decide local matters for itself (like where to put wind farms, and how many to have), if the Westminster government doesn't want them to make any decisions they don't like.
Also, Scotland needs a more diversified economy.
It's main economic drivers seem to be oil and unemployment.
That's not much of an economic base.
More wind farms would allow exports of electricity at certain times to the "Auld Enemy" - England, producing useful revenues whilst doing so.
Certainly England already imports energy (primarily from French nuclear power stations, via a REALLY big cable under the English Channel, but also from compressed natural gas brought in by sea).
So it is difficult to see why imported Scottish wind power would be bad for England.
There is even a way to store some of it, for use later - the "rechargeable" hydro-electric power station at Dinorwig - yes, I know it is in Wales, not England, but most of its power gets used in "English" places like Liverpool and Manchester.
Sounds to me like certain politicians are trying to make points for the upcoming Scottish referendum, rather than looking at a sensible energy policy.
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