Fuel: The fear of a crisis that created a crisis

What is happening today with the so called 'fuel crisis' is that fear of a potential crisis that produced a crisis. Suddenly, there are queues of motorists and traffic jams.

Those who really need fuel find themselves stuck and unable to get the fuel they need and this has an escalating effect. Knee jerk reactions at the top level of governance in the United Kingdom is extremely damaging and has long lasting consequences.

Regarding other fundamental energy issues, the announcement that two private companies invited to develop two nuclear reactors have finally decided that they would not have the necessary resources to develop the said reactors is a clear indication of the role the public sector will have to play to develop nuclear reactors.

A few years down the line, up to a quarter of Britain's energy needs would not be met and the national authorities seem to lack the necessary will, capacity and commitment to solve Britain's energy problems. For all the talk in the Houses of Parliament, little is being done. They put all their trust in the private sector and the reality is that the private sector has been unable to come up with viable solutions.

Let us remember that about 10 of 16 nuclear reactors will be coming to an end of their life and that there are huge costs involved not just in the building of new reactors but also in making non operational nuclear reactors safe. Eolic energy - namely wind turbines - have proven to be totally innefective and unable of meeting Britain's energy needs. Only a few months ago, two wind turbines caught fire in Scotland because there was 'too much wind'.

Without abandoning the idea of wind turbines, we must persevere to try and make this energy alternative more efficient and safe. Solar energy panels would have to be improved a great deal before we can trust solar energy as an efficient and viable energy supply. We should not abandon this idea either.

We should try and developed improved technologies. For ideological reasons, the Conservative Party seems totally unable to accept reality. When it comes to extremely expensive projects, the private sector is very much unable to cope. Nuclear energy are still the only viable alternative to fossil fuels. When we think about electricity, even electric cars very much depend on electricity produced burning fossil fuels.

Nuclear incidents in Japan, produced by an unexpected natural event, cannot and should not be used as an excuse to oppose nuclear energy developments. Much of France's electricity is electricity produced with nuclear energy and Britain depends on electricity generated in France by nuclear reactors. At the end of the day, the more potential alternatives we have the better. Instead of ideology, we must focus on pragmatic solutions, rational solutions, to deal with energy issues.