Tim Worstall
11:04am
An interesting little piece about a new form of tidal electricity generation.
Harnessing the vast energy of the UK's coastal tides could become much simpler and cheaper with a new design for the next generation of underwater turbines.
Leaving aside the technical details (essentially, put it the other way around, vertical not horizontal, as can be done with certain windmill designs) this is good news. Cheaper to build, cheaper to maintain than current designs. All good stuff.
However, this isn't a good argument for immediately investing in installing renewables. In fact, it's an excellent argument for not installing yet.
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Tim Worstall
10:44am
I'm at the UKIP party conference today and just by chance this story turns up in the Register.
A former chief scientific advisor to the government has said that EU renewable-energy quotas will cause widespread fuel poverty. Sir David King believes that European heads of state, in agreeing the targets, may have mistaken electricity usage for total energy consumption - leading to overly ambitious and expensive goals being set.
The question is, how did we end up with a target of 20% of all energy from renewables? Given that almost all renewable generation methods, as well as being horrendously...
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Laura Staples
2:18pm
The Russian billionaires behind TNK-BP must surely be rejoicing as it emerges Robert Dudley has finally given in and says he will step down before the year’s out. He will be replaced by a new Russian-speaking independent chief executive, according to the Times, with several new independent directors joining the board. So for now both sides may have called a truce but I doubt this is the last of the strife we hear from BP’s turbulent Russian venture.
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Laura Staples
12:33pm
The September issue of Spectator Business can now be accessed online by clicking here. This month we have a special report on energy. Take a look at Andrew Kenny’s article on why nuclear power makes sense and then flick over to Matthew Lynn’s piece on why biofuels don’t!
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Tim Worstall
9:36am
Or, the longest working hours in western Europe perhaps:
Britons are among the hardest working people in Europe, with only Romanians and Bulgarians putting in longer hours, according to a new report.
Workers in full-time jobs put in an average of 41.4 hours every week last year - almost two hours more than the average among the 15 original members of the European Union. Only workers in Romania and Bulgaria work longer at an average of 41.7 hours a week.
That's from this report by an EU funded pressure group. The result is vaguely interesting...
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