Letter to George Monbiot.

I have just written the following email to George Monbiot, environmental and global justice activist and author.

I am relatively new to your works, having only read Age of Consent and Heat in the past couple of months. Let me say that I am largely in agreement with you and think that you express yourself eloquently and logically.

That said; there are two points of contention I can find. The first regards your economic proposals in Age of Consent. You argue that "fair trade" would be achieved if poor countries had the right to impose economic tariffs, but rich ones did not. The problem I see with this is that while poor countries no doubt should be allowed to protect their indigenous industries from cheep imports from the rich world, would they not harm one another's economies if they enjoyed the right to impose tariffs upon one another? Equally, why should rich countries not be allowed to impose tariffs upon one another, to protect their indigenous industries?

My second point relates to your proposals on renewable energy in Heat. You propose that offshore wind power is the primary source of energy we should look to. I agree, but I have one concern. As the climate shifts, one prediction is that wind levels may drop on the Atlantic coast, due to the melting of the Arctic. If this happens, much of your proposed investment may be wasted. However, if wind levels did drop, the climate would get sunnier, thus it seems logical that, in addition to building wind turbines, we should also build solar power stations, as backup. These could also function on a day-to-day basis, in an unchanged climate, as when the wind is not blowing it is generally sunny. On those occasions when it was both sunny and windy, perhaps surplus electricity could be used to create hydrogen, which could then be burned for electricity on those rare occasions when it was both overcast and still. No doubt there would not be enough hydrogen to meet all our needs during these times, but as you said that a gas fired power station can burn fuel that is 15% hydrogen, without any change in design (I think I remember correctly, I don't have the book on me!) surely this would result in a significant drop in CO2 emissions from backup to renewable supply?

I freely admit that I cannot cite any scientific research on this matter, but it seems worth investigating. Please let me know what you think any way.

Sincerely, Laurence Winch-Furness.