Coal : UK Energy Crunch Solved

The UK’s energy future is simple...

Nuclear power will best serve our long-term energy needs. Coal will bridge the gap till it’s ready.

Now I’m not against alternative technology - solar and wind can complement any energy plan.

But I don’t think a world panacea will come out of it before our North Sea oil runs out. It’s wishful thinking.

Coal is dirty, there’s no getting away from it... but it’s back because we don’t have an alternative.

Investors who recognise that will be much better off over the next 10 years. I’ll tell you why in just a moment.

The question posed in the meantime is: Can we make coal cleaner? And if we can, do we want to anyway?

A report released from a think tank this morning reckons we do.

Policy Exchange said that the UK government had missed an opportunity by going cold on carbon capture and storage (CCS). The think tank gave CCS a glowing report card. They claimed that, as well as cutting our own emissions, CCS would help clean up carbon-intensive industries in the developing world.

Sounds great. But guess what... I’m sceptical

CCS claims to ease global warming by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from large sources such as power stations, and storing it instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.

The technology that exists can capture the carbon dioxide gas, but it has never been applied to a full-scale storage operation. The idea is to store the CO2 either in deep geological formations, deep in the ocean bed, or in the form of mineral carbonates.

The problem is that this has never been done before and no-one knows the implications. Storage under the ocean could even lead to acidification of the seas (think fizzy pop) - and mass extinction of an essential food supply.

Then there’s land based geological formations. Who knows what would happen to the stored gas in 10, 20, 30 years time?

For once, I agree with Greenpeace

Supporters say CCS could capture up to 95% of the CO2 pumped out by coal and gas fired power stations. It sounds well and good. I say, prove it!

Policy Exchange argues that a commercial CCS industry was needed to develop the technology further. It wants the government to stump up the cash. "Either we can stop burning, or we can fit CCS; neither is happening," it said.

The main problem is that the technology is only at the demonstration stage... there is no guarantee it will work.

Surprisingly, I find myself aligned with the environ-mentals at Greenpeace when it comes to this - we share the same conclusion but for different reasons.

Greenpeace is unhappy with proposals to use CCS technology. It reckons the process is just like "burying money." It argues the technology is not yet 100% ready and it won’t be until 2030.

The organisation also claims that CCS wastes energy: about 10%-40% of the energy produced by the power plant would have to be used to store that carbon.

The only way to bridge the energy gap

Of course, Greenpeace’s solution is for us all to change to renewable sources of energy, like solar or wind turbines.

This is the unthinking dogma the organisation always spouts. But wind and solar are unlikely to ever be able to fulfil all the world’s energy needs.

Most assessments of CCS (including the one by Greenpeace) conclude the technology won’t be ready until 2030 or so... but by then it will be too late.

By 2030, I hope Britain has followed France and generates 80% of electricity from nuclear.

We won’t need coal then - and we will be virtually CO2 free. Investing in CCS storage is a waste of money. We should use that money to train nuclear engineers instead.

It’s not often I praise this government (particularly when it comes to its energy strategy) but it made a savvy move this week.

Immigration rules have been relaxed for the nuclear power industry... the skills are now on the "national shortage" list - including several nuclear specialisms such as reactor physicists and nuclear design engineers.

This is a move in the right direction. We do not need to be distracted by unproven, theoretical technologies such as CCS.

And Greenpeace needs to accept that dirty coal is the only way to bridge the gap to a clean-energy future. Otherwise our future prosperity will be in jeopardy.

Coal: A great investment to buy today

Here at Smart Commodities UK we’ve long believed in the return of coal over the next 10 years.

That’s why we’ve been well positioned to profit from this trend since last October. Already it’s showing an impressive gain. But I believe there are much more to come.

If you’d like to know the details of this opportunity, follow this link.

Regards

Garry White
Editor
Smart Commodities UK

Note: Past performance and forecasts are not a reliable indicator of future results.

P.S. If you enjoyed this article then sign up for Smart Commodities UK. It’s dedicated to searching out the investment trends that could provide our biggest profit opportunities for the next decade…

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Coal : UK Energy Crunch Solved

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Coal : UK Energy Crunch Solved