Let coal help solve energy crisis and reduce our dependency on Russia following Ukraine war – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Hayden Fortune, Wigglesworth, Skipton.

JOHN Hicks (The Yorkshire Post, March 17) points out the gravely serious situation this country is in regarding government energy policy and food production.

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Mr Hicks says “we of course have plenty of gas under our feet”. We also have plenty of coal under our feet and there is such a thing as clean coal technology.

Is the return of coal the answer to Britain's energy crisis?Is the return of coal the answer to Britain's energy crisis?
Is the return of coal the answer to Britain's energy crisis?

In order to keep the lights on, and energy prices affordable, serious consideration needs to be given to the above in the short term.

Then, and only then, the way forward can be decided be it nuclear, wind, wave or solar, but it must be 100 per cent reliable and under total control of our government not reliant on foreign regimes.

From: Dick Lindley, Altofts, Normanton.

SO Boris Johnson went to Saudi Arabia with his begging bowl, how crazy is that?

Is the return of coal the answer to Britain's energy crisis caused by the Ukraine war?Is the return of coal the answer to Britain's energy crisis caused by the Ukraine war?
Is the return of coal the answer to Britain's energy crisis caused by the Ukraine war?
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We ought to have learned by now how stupid it is to rely on any authoritarian governments, who, like the Russian 
leadership, will no doubt 
demand a very high payment for helping us out of the present mess, either financially or morally.

The sooner we wake up and use our own resources – our very own gas from fracking or reopening our coal mines –the better.

Boris going cap in hand to the regimes in the Middle East is embarrassing and as dangerous as relying in President Putin for gas and oil.

From: Michael Carter, Exeter.

RECENT articles by Bill Carmichael and Bernard Ingham attempt to trivialise the issue of climate change. I am always amazed that people tend to focus on pressure groups and their actions whilst ignoring the advice from the likes of the IPCC.

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Both the Climate Change Committee and the Public Accounts Committee have been very critical of the government failure to properly plan to achieve Net Zero.

Given the dire predictions that led the UK to make those commitments, it is no wonder that people concerned about their grand-children’s future feel angry enough to protest.

It is unbalanced to compare temporary disruptions with the outcome of not delivering on climate change which, on a global scale, will exceed the tragic and inexcusable events in Ukraine now, just more slowly.

From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.

WE need to be self-sufficient in energy. We in the UK should be a net exporter of energy, not a net importer.

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We are sat on an estimated minimum of £1 trillion of natural gas, and many experts put that figure at £2 trillion. That value of gas is equal to the size of our national debt.

Instead of buying gas from Vladimir Putin or anybody else, we should be, and could be, producing our own natural gas creating thousands of well-paid jobs.

It’s time we looked at other alternatives to this net zero madness if we are to provide a secure future that we need.

From: Pauline Gibson, Exeter.

WHAT a strange article from Bill Carmichael (‘Time to drop net zero commitments’, The Yorkshire Post, March 11). Weird conclusions based on absurd leaps of logic.

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Cutting energy demand, increasing energy efficiency and developing renewables and energy storage are the cheapest and quickest options to ensure energy security free from foreign dependence and in line with net zero.

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