And once again, the Scottish Government drop the pretence of being in any way "green" and show us that they just don't have a clue.
According to yesterday's Scotland on Sunday, the government are to stop their Energy Saving Grants which give home owners up to £4,000 to install renewable energy schemes.
Because there's no critical mass in the industry yet, a lot of home renewable systems like solar panels are still slightly outwith the reach of ordinary people, with long pay-back periods (even with the new feed-in tariffs).
The grants helped people a lot, reducing that pay-back period and stimulating the industry.
So it's nonsensical for the government to remove these grants, with the possibility that they may strangle the home renewables companies close to birth.
Not everyone has an ideological reason for installing a solar panel or wind turbine, a lot of people look at the pay-back. And if the lack of grant means the numbers don't add up, then they won't install the system.
And that leads to more greenhouse gases as they stick with the Caveman Technologies of setting fire to rocks.
It's incredibly short-sighted, but what more do you expect from a government with this track record?
In fact, I'm beginning to suspect that it's deliberate. The SNP were bounced into the 42% by 2020 commitment, but their actions since seem to suggest they're in a huff about it and are doing everything in their power to make sure we don't make it.
3 comments:
Once again, a Green without a clue about the economy. You do know there is no money left for this sort of scheme, don't you?
Nik -
do you know how much money was spent on 'this sort of scheme'?
do you understand that there is always money if something is high enough priority (e.g. Forth Replacement Crossing)?
do you have 'a clue about the economy' or do you just use it as an excuse to be rude?
To answer Malcolm's question, it has cost £7.4 million since 2007 according to the Herald.
In the grand scheme of things, £2 million a year is small change.
Incidentally, the Herald leader today agrees with me - pulling what is in effect a stimulus package from an economy in trouble is madness.
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