Energy considerations
My stance on energy is an open one: I am for a mix of available technologies. Oil will remain a key component of transportation energy for years to come Coal should be wound down (very slowly) Gas and shale gas are interesting agents for energy balancing Nuclear should be the key base energy driver Renewables should be part of the mix but should nor cannot become dominant sources Local energy (on houses or in communities) are interesting distractions from the energy requirements of whole countries Efficiency drives are necessary (and result in fascinating technological challenges in themselves) but should not return us to the dark ages I will come back to each of these as I develop my own knowledge base. My key sources of information are the now classic Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air by Prof David MacKay and Prof Barry Brook's Brave New Climate blog, which was a key resource for me in becalming the media panic that surrounded the Fukushima Dai-ichi crisis.