Pike savages mitigation measures

Britain is preoccupied with minor, almost trivial energy-saving initiatives, rather than addressing the big issue of how to reduce the 80 per cent global dependence on fossil fuels for power, heating and transport, according to the chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Speaking at a public meeting in Shetland, Dr Richard Pike claimed that the beneficial effects of turning off standby lights, switching from bottled to tap water, washing clothes at a lower temperature, or having car tyres at the right air pressure, paled into insignificance when compared with what was happening at the supply end of energy provision.

Dr Pike added that even halving the carbon dioxide emissions of road vehicles in the UK would only reduce the carbon footprint of the country by about six per cent, because other modes of transport (air, sea and rail), industrial and domestic heating, and electricity generation have such high energy demands, relying largely on oil, gas and coal.