'RELYING ON WINDPOWER WILL SEE THE LIGHTS GO OFF' SAYS UKIP

Attending the champagne launch of the Orbis building, the new headquarters for the offshore wind industry in Lowestoft on Friday 7th November, UKIP representatives Professor Stephen Bush and prospective MEP Andrew Smith were seemingly the only delegates who were opposed to the mad rush for wind turbines. These turbines produce electricity for only around 25% of the time at a cost for onshore windmills about 50% greater than for our conventional power stations and more than double this for offshore wind turbines, according to the Royal Academy of Engineering Report on alternative electricity production processes.

The difference is paid for by direct subsidy to the windmill operators and by the Renewables Obligation imposed on the electricity supply companies, both of which are passed onto the consumer. Professor Bush, Emeritus Professor of Process Engineering and Manufacture at the University of Manchester said:

"Pursuing the Government's recently adopted target of an 80% reduction in our CO2 emissions by 2050 and the intermediate target of having one third of our electricity generated by wind in 2020, will put the lives and the livelihoods of the British people in terrible hazard. It will expose us all to power cuts and the dangers of relying almost entirely on the most costly and variable of energy sources, namely wind, and gas imported from politically unstable countries.

In contrast, UKIP advocates an immediate start on a long-term programme to build around 50GW of nuclear power capacity over the next 25 years, devoting the bulk of the nuclear decommissioning budget of £60 billion to this purpose through a new British nuclear company. This programme would run alongside the 6GW new nuclear capacity likely to be built by the French company EDF, over the next 10 years.

This programme would give Britain a major, reliable, nationally owned energy resource to replace much of North Sea oil production. And this programme would also achieve a solid, bankable cut of over one third in UK emissions.

Prospective UKIP MEP candidate Andrew Smith added: "The Government's fantasy target of an 80% cut in emissions was seen apparently by all the speakers at this Lowestoft event as justification for the gigantic and ultimately futile diversion of our nation's resources to the pursuit of the delusion that climate change can be stopped by actions taken in this country. This is madness!"