Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Lights out across Europe

A week ago we were all sweltering in a Europe-wide Indian summer. Now, as the temperatures skip down the thermometer, central heating rumbles into action and power stations feel the pull.
It was a situation that had the lights out across Europe at the weekend.
The worst hit was France - so much for its much lauded nuclear energy policy - but the whole of the continent was ohms away from a complete outage.
It was yet another stark reminder that attitudes to energy as well as energy provision need a drastic rethink. Networks of small sustainable producers tied in to supplement the grid have been mooted down here in Devon, and what better place for it?
But until someone comes up with a bright idea that can traverse the inbred attitudes, we're already in the dark.

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