The environmentalists overlook several important factors. They happily tell us how many homes a renewable source will supply - usually based on maximum outputs and not on average figures but they forget that the number of houses quoted will be approximately halved when everyone has to recharge their own cars.

Then they tell us how cheap renewables are while claiming it will create jobs. So, are they not proposing to pay the people doing those new jobs? Wind is free, they say, but so is coal and gas. The costs are incurred when you try to convert that "free" source into useful energy.

Then there is the tax issue. Currently, fossil fuels are taxed everywhere: mining/drilling equipment, access to drilling sites, vat, special fuel taxes, transport industry etc. All that loss in revenue will need to be made up somehow. All that will increase the cost of any renewable.