The Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesman on the environment and sustainability, Mick Bates has called on the government to harness the power of the Severn estuary to prevent millions of families being plunged into darkness through a lack of electricity.
He was alluding to the UK Government’s own figures, which predict that energy demand will exceed supply from the national grid within eight years, leaving the country facing the prospect of widespread power cuts for the first time since the 1970s.
The Montgomeryshire AM said: “For too long the Government has been complacent and dithered and delayed over action into research and development of alternative forms of energy. Now it must face up to the consequences of this inaction and find real solutions to this energy crisis, which could see the UK facing blackouts within the next few years.
“The distraction of nuclear power has seriously threatened our future energy security. The Government has failed to provide serious investment in renewable energy, cushioned by oil and gas reserves and hoping that nuclear would be the answer to bridge the future energy gap.
“We need swift progress to harness the vast power of the Severn estuary and the removal of the planning barriers which hold up the development of renewable energy across the country. If this action and investment had taken place a decade ago, we would already have the energy infrastructure and capacity in place to secure our energy supply for the future.”
Read more here. The Liberal Democrat report A Tidal Solution – the Way Forward can be found here.
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