Sir – The closure next year of Didcot A power station (Report, September 20) is a welcome step towards our low-carbon future. Older, inefficient plants have to close if we are to reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
People are also using less energy as prices rise. Oxford, for example, cut its energy use by about 11 per cent between 2005 and 2009. But even the more modern Didcot B will still be burning non-renewable natural gas and continuing to push harmful CO2 into the atmosphere. For me those dramatic cooling towers have always been an ugly blot on the Oxfordshire countryside. A row of wind turbines, such as those between Faringdon and Swindon, are much more elegant and certainly more benign.
It’s a difficult time for the workforce but owners, RWE, must offer alternative jobs. The future lies with renewable energy, including wind turbines, biomass and solar panels. It is not too early to be planning for the eventual closure of Didcot B too.
John Tanner, Board member for a cleaner, greener Oxford, City councillor for Littlemore and county councillor for Isis
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