THE hope was that, as fossil fuels started to run out, and that what was left became more difficult to extract, their rising cost would bring about a reduction in their use. The recent announcements that new methods have been developed that make it possible to extract more fuel from shale and more oil by deeper drilling should fill everyone with dread. We all know the present effects of burning these stored fuels which come in the form of weather extremes, but the worst is surely yet to come when the polar ice caps disappear.

As things stand, I can see no easy way of slowing the damaging effects that the burning of fossil fuels is causing. Hoping that plants will provide an answer seems unlikely, since it took those billions of year to store away carbon in the first place to make the planet habitable.

One wonders if the idea of giving tax breaks to those doing exploration is the hope that they will get the credit for lower gas prices, or is it that they think they will be able to keep the gas fired power stations running longer?

Of all the forms of power, electricity is the one that we are likely to be dependent upon into the foreseeable future, so that searching for environmentally friendly ways of generating must be a priority. Nuclear power is one possibility, but people don’t trust it.

Nuclear fusion has been researched for some time and one wonders if this is the way forward.

Iceland uses heat from the earth’s crust and this must be the ultimate as a source of energy, but at how many points on the globe will this power be accessible? If it is, then the world may need international power grids to distribute it.

DERRICK HOLT Fortnam Close Headington