The Euro

[BrilloPad]

Wow, that's an ambitious plan!


Desertec - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and being Germans, they will probably pull it off too, and end up world leaders in manufacturing the parts and selling they rest of us poor scrotes electricity. Assuming they can keep terrorists and disgruntled African/Spanish/French hands off it.

I don't like being dependent on anyone else for fuel. We should be opening coal fired power stations and pushing on with fusion.

[TimberWolf]

I don't like being dependent on anyone else for fuel. We should be opening coal fired power stations and pushing on with fusion.

Sadly we burnt all our coal 100 years ago.

[BrilloPad]

Sadly we burnt all our coal 100 years ago.

Still a few years yet. So we need to get on with fusion fast.

[KimberleyChris]

"Sadly we burnt all our coal 100 years ago".

There's still at least 50 years worth of coal left at the bottom of Parkside colliery in South Lancs.

You can't have it, because (instead of 'mothballing' it just in case we need it in future) they dynamited all the pit-head structures down the shafts for spite, and now you would need to sink new shafts.

[TimberWolf]

"Sadly we burnt all our coal 100 years ago".

There's still at least 50 years worth of coal left at the bottom of Parkside colliery in South Lancs.

You can't have it, because (instead of 'mothballing' it just in case we need it in future) they dynamited all the pit-head structures down the shafts for spite, and now you would need to sink new shafts.

What do you mean by 50 years? It could be 250 years if you scrape the walls hard and long enough. Divide the amount down there by the UK's energy needs and you'll see it isn't 50 years. We've no coal left.

[doodab]

And your point is that this isn't possible?

No simply that Greece is a good candidate for that sort of investment as well. Politically more stable and part of the EU, among other things.

[BrilloPad]

No simply that Greece is a good candidate for that sort of investment as well. Politically more stable and part of the EU, among other things.

Greece is getting ready to blow. At some point in 2012 it will come unless Germany allows money printing.

[KimberleyChris]

It would have taken 50 years to exhaust the new seams that the mine was built to exploit. Obviously only a tiny fraction of the UK's total energy needs, but still a waste.

OK, politics apart, it was maybe uneconomical to mine it then, but wouldn't it have been better to 'mothball' collieries with remaining reserves, in case of long-term national need / war /blockade etc.

They had to bring people over from South Africa to sink those shafts. What a waste.