Samso Shows the Way

In Robin McKie's excellent description in the Guardian of how the Danish island of Samso has cut its carbon emissions by 140%, it says that to do the same in Britain would cost $1100bn and is therfore impractical. But is it? If we aim to cut 100% not 140%, we get a cost of £432bn. Next let's scrap a few of the government's more crackpot schemes: Heathrow 3rd runway (£13bn), motorway widening (£13bn), ID cards (£18bn), new nuclear (£48bn), clean-up of new nuclear (£80bn). Total £172bn. [Unfortunately the £20bn spent on the Iraq war and the £80bn we'll have to pay for clean-up of existing nuclear, is water under the bridge.] Spread the remaining £260bn over the lifetime of the renewables and we're down to say £13bn per year or about £500 per household .... that's about ten times less than we spend on motoring. But then household bills will go down because we no longer need fossil fuels or expensive nuclear. Following Samso's example or something like it, may well be the cheapest energy strategy on offer.