Scotland Shuts Down Last Coal Powered Plant

[tay]

The Fife-based plant – the biggest of its kind in Britain – has been generating electricity for a quarter of Scottish homes for almost half a century but has bowed to a mixture of old age, rising transmission costs and higher taxes on carbon.

“Coal has long been the dominant force in Scotland’s electricity generation fleet, but the closure of Longannet signals the end of an era,” said Hugh Finlay, generation director at ScottishPower.

“Longannet has contributed more electricity for the national grid than any other power station in Scotland’s history, and it is a sad day for everyone at ScottishPower,” he added.

Six new onshore windfarms with investment of over £650m are currently in construction, and over £500m will be spent this year strengthening the network of cables, power lines and substations that keep the lights on for 2.5m homes and businesses.


Last November Amber Rudd, the energy and climate change secretary, unveiled plans to close all British coal-fired power stations by 2025 as part of a plan to reduce the country’s carbon emissions.

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Longannet power station closes ending coal power use in Scotland | Environment | The Guardian

 

[Curious Cdn]

I'm sure that Watt and Parsons are revolving in their tombs.

 

[Blackleaf]

So dopey Rudd is going to plunge Britain back to the Dark Ages by closing all coal-fired power stations in order to "reduce the country's carbon emissions" despite the fact that China is currently building 155 coal-fired power stations and even Germany is opening new ones therefore rendering as completely and utterly pointless dopey Rudd's policy of closing all British coal-fired power stations, which do no damage at all to the environment.

I'll tell you straight: the Greens are going to ruin us all. They'll not be happy until we're living by carbon-producing candlelight and travelling everywhere by horse and cart, with horse manure all over our streets.

We need MORE coal-fired power stations. We shouldn't be closing them down and replacing them with expensive but useless windmills which blow up when it gets too windy.

 

[Curious Cdn]

We don't burn coal here, anymore either ... it's half nuclear, half hydro and "others" ... NG, sunbeams, bird farts, etc. I live in place that is directly downwind from the Ohio Valley, though and despite our province trying to change the world, our atmosphere is quite polluted. Imagine moving Manchester just down wind from the Ruhr Valley ... or some dirty belcher in a place like Bulgaria or Hungary.

 

[Nick Danger]

So dopey Rudd is going to plunge Britain back to the Dark Ages by closing all coal-fired power stations in order to "reduce the country's carbon emissions" despite the fact that China is currently building 155 coal-fired power stations and even Germany is opening new ones therefore rendering as completely and utterly pointless dopey Rudd's policy of closing all British coal-fired power stations, which do no damage at all to the environment.

It always amazes me that the default position of so many, when accused of doing something nasty, is to point their fingers at others doing the same nasty as if that is some sort of justification for them to keep on doing the nasty thing. They present it as reasoning when in fact it is just deflection, and thus not a credible argument at all.

"No damage at all" ??? Not even going to go there. It's my experience that arguing with stupid is an exercise in futility.

 

[Ludlow]

I think someone should invent a way to convert methane into a reliable source of renewable energy. There is no shortage of the smelly gas that comes from humans and animals and all anyone would need to light up there house would be a taste for Mexican food.

 

[petros]

How much is the taxpayer forking over to go NG?

 

[Angstrom]

Someone please post that meme of the rock applauding!

 

[Blackleaf]

I think someone should invent a way to convert methane into a reliable source of renewable energy. There is no shortage of the smelly gas that comes from humans and animals and all anyone would need to light up there house would be a taste for Mexican food.

Nothing wrong with coal, gas and oil. There's plenty of it about.

China is to build 155 new coal fired power stations, the equivalent of opening a new one every week for the next three years.

Mrs (or is is Ms?) Rudd's decision to close all of Britain's coal fired power stations is completely and utterly pointless and useless as well as ludicrous. It will have virtually zero effect on reducing the amount of natural, life-giving plant food CO2 going into the atmosphere and will make Britain overly reliant on useless but expensive "green" energy like windmills (which don't work when it's windy), which will produce nowhere near the amount of electricity that Britain needs to keep the lights on in the coming years. The enviroMentals will keep doing what they want to do until Britain's lights go out as a result of their loony policies and then, after people like me have said "Told you so!", only then will we start having a sane energy policy and start building more coal fired power stations and get fracking all those trillions of cubic feet of shale gas lying underneath Northern England alone.

 

[taxslave]

It always amazes me that the default position of so many, when accused of doing something nasty, is to point their fingers at others doing the same nasty as if that is some sort of justification for them to keep on doing the nasty thing. They present it as reasoning when in fact it is just deflection, and thus not a credible argument at all.

"No damage at all" ??? Not even going to go there. It's my experience that arguing with stupid is an exercise in futility.

Fact is coal burns just as clean as NG and is a lot cheaper to produce and store. Orders of magnitude safer than nuclear. Not dependent on the sun coming out or the wind to blow the right direction and time of day either. DOn't let facts stand in the way of you goofy theories though.

 

[Walter]

Ah, yes, the former economic power-house is becoming more and more impotent.