Coal is still plentiful and cheap

Converting coal fired power stations to burn wood is the most ridiculous idea yet: it has to be a joke

I had to check the date on the front of the May issue of PE to make certain that it was not the April edition that I was reading. Converting coal fired power stations to burn wood is the most ridiculous idea yet: it has to be a joke. It is even dafter that than carbon capture, artificial trees, and man made global warming. From the Bronze age, when Britain was mainly forest, wood was plentiful and was the main energy fuel as well as being a major building material. At the start of the industrial revolution and the increased demand for wood as fuel, many large forests disappeared and wood was in short supply. Fortunately, Britain had a plentiful supply of coal to replace wood which also had the advantage of having a much higher calorific value.

Today coal is still in plentiful supply and is relatively cheap, thus most countries including the USA, China, India and mainland EU countries are investing heavily in coal fired power stations. Why is this not happening in Britain? It is a crime that hard working families are being ripped off by the government to subsidise foreign built nuclear power stations and inefficient wind farms.

I am astonished that PE, which is supposed to be an intellectual magazine, still prints misleading articles which use 'politician speak' terms like 'renewable technology' or 'renewable energy'. Energy is not renewable and the use of the term is not only unscientific but also incorrect. Also, incorrect is the assertion the wood is a low carbon fuel. Where did that daft idea come from. Hopefully not from an engineer. It is so ridiculous to think that charcoal, which is pure carbon, is not made from wood.

It is time that the British government got real and stopped coming up with dafter and dafter schemes to meet totally unrealistic self imposed British targets which are financially ruining the country.  

Lets start investing more in coal before the lights go out. 

Paul Shipman, Broughton Astley, Leicestershire

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