The Scotsman today has a report on the Poverty Alliance apparently warning the SNP on the costs of energy in rural parts, unconnected to the gas grid and where home heating oil has to be bought in bulk in the absence of any price protection. The absence of price protection for heating oil, the regulatory framework for energy markets, and the overall approach to supporting off-grid households are reserved matters.1 Scotland has a higher proportion of homes off the mains gas grid than most of the UK. These households (roughly 142,000 using oil) rely on heating oil (kerosene), LPG, or … Continue reading UK Energy Minister, Michael Shanks, should be warned about Rural Scots trapped in a ‘quiet crisis’

with their bills is on the rise in Scotland according to Consumer Scotland. BBC Reporting Scotland in their regular wee BBC Breakfast inserts go on to suggest, via two brothers, a ‘tribal’ strategy, as they put it themselves, where they, their families and others live in the one house to keep energy bills down. So, it’s just up to us to cope with high energy bills is it? Are you sure we couldn’t do something else like political independence and the powers to tax the energy companies? Does Scotland produce enough energy to meaningfully generate enough tax revenue to then … Continue reading Producing more than half of the UK electricity from wind but Scots will just have to go ‘tribal’ to pay their bills

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: From the Guardian today: Britain’s first new nuclear plant in a generation at the Hinkley Point C site will face further delay, at a cost of €2.5bn to the French utility company EDF. EDF said the first reactor at the site in Somerset will begin operations in 2030, a year later than planned – almost 13 years after construction work began – after a series of delays to the project. The latest … Continue reading French owned Somerset nuclear power station delayed by 13 years with construction costs soaring from £18bn to more than £50bn and to produce electricity costing more than 3 times that of wind power

EBARGOED UNTIL 15 Dec 2025 00:01 Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland, three days ago: In East Lothian, council leader Norman Hampshire has asked UK ministers to draw up a “characterisation” of the Torness power station site in the hope that it could still be considered for a replacement. The Labour councillor says the closure of Torness without a replacement would be devastating to the community in Dunbar and across Scotland. “There’s a lot of jobs… and all of that feeds into the local economy. So, if Torness isn’t there it’s going to be a huge blow and there’s … Continue reading Why the wind doesn’t need to blow all the time – breakthrough in new technology to blow all Scottish Labour arguments for nuclear ‘out of the water’

In the Guardian today: Report detailing risk to UK gas security was not one to bury on budget day – In short, Neso found there is an “emerging” risk of Britain running out of gas if an important piece of kit were to be out of action at a bad moment. It modelled five “pathways” for gas demand out to 2030 and 2035 and tested against a prolonged spell of very cold weather. Here is the key sentence: “In the unlikely event of the loss of the single largest piece of gas infrastructure, gas supply falls short of demand for all pathways … Continue reading Scotland produces 5-6 times more gas than it consumes annually, making it a net exporter.

Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Bernadette Robertson for alerting me to this. In the UK Daily Mail, today, but not on the ‘Scottish’ edition’s front page: The long–awaited solution to Britain’s climate crisis could finally be here. Scientists have identified eight potential sites for the ‘direct air capture machines’ (DAC), which would extract CO2 from the air and turn it to stone. The eight promising locations include Antrim in Northern Ireland, Borrowdale in the Lake District and the Isle of Mull in Scotland. According to the experts, the sites have a wealth of volcanic rock underground that would react with CO2 and … Continue reading Another fracking dangerous technology only suitable for Scotland and the North apparently emits more CO2 than it stores