Energy security is always an important consideration and green energy security should be foremost in our minds. Climate change and peak oil demand that we have reliable, constant and renewable sources of energy for the future.
A recent newspaper article reported that discussions were ongoing with Iceland regarding its large supplies of geothermal energy and the possibility of connecting it up with the UK to supply us with electricity. Geothermal energy is literally ‘heat from the earth’ and could even-out electricity produced by our wind turbines and when we have excess wind energy, that can be exported in return. So those Icelandic volcanoes are not always bad things!
Plans are already underway to connect several areas of Europe together, thereby ensuring consistent supplies of renewable energy from different sources. This European ‘supergrid’ consists of numerous sea-floor cables called ‘interconnectors’ which can carry high voltage, direct current electricity over long distances with only small energy losses as opposed to the large losses of our alternating current carrying national grid.
It is hoped that by connecting us up to the supergrid, we will be able to access the cheapest energy available at any one time, so keeping household energy bills as low as possible.
It is very important that investment in these sources of energy should go forward despite our difficult economic situation. It would be foolish in the extreme to call a halt to these negotiations when our future energy security depends on them.
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