Sir, – I was pleased to read Seán Byrne (Opinion, August 8th) and Donal Kerr (August 10th) who were discussing the problems of our future supply of energy. This is in urgent need of long-term Government planning given the seriousness of the situation.
It is serious for three reasons. We are 90 per cent dependent on imported fossil fuels which often come from unstable sources. These fossil fuels are finite, in fact we have probably reached the peak in oil production and it will get scarcer from now on; and this is at a time when China and India have increasing requirements. Lastly, we need to reduce burning fossil fuels as this is contributing to global warming.
I believe the situation will become so serious that we are going to need every source of energy that we can lay our hands on. There appears to be the notion that renewables, notably wind, wave and tidal, will be our saviour in Ireland. A major problem with these three is that they are all variable which makes it difficult to accommodate them on the grid. Eirgrid has stated that it cannot see ever being able to get more than 50 per cent of our electricity from these renewables. They also need 100 per cent backup generating capacity for when they fail.
I was disappointed that neither author mentioned nuclear power which is being adopted by an increasing number of countries which see its benefits. Currently 29 countries have it and 19 more plan to go nuclear. Amongst these 19 is Belarus, heavily affected by the Chernobyl accident, and Saudi Arabia, which must be worried about its oil reserves.
It is worth comparing a nuclear power station with the equivalent fleet of wind turbines. A nuclear power plant which would occupy an area of a few football pitches, could produce a steady output 90 per cent of the time (load factor) and have a lifetime of 60 years. To produce the same average output using wind would need about 1,000 wind turbines, each the height of the Spire in Dublin, and would cover an extensive area of land. Their lifetime is 20 to 25 years and they have a load factor in Ireland of about 30 per cent.
Please let us consider all the options in a dispassionate and informed manner. – Yours, etc,