That is, with one proviso…

They can only be carbon free, and therefore a good thing if the hydrogen can be produced from a power station that isn’t carbon polluting. Wind, solar and wave power might do that one day, but for the moment its going to have to be nuclear. Sorry folks, nuclear is the only option to stop us quickly from belching out nasty fumes into the atmosphere. Then, and only then, might we have a chance of abandoning oil-based fuel for all surface transport (road, rail, sea).

The villager’s have been opposing the incinerator, but really, why? The site that was chosen in Ardley, Oxfordshire is next to the present tip/recycling centre, and next to the busy M40. It seems like an excellent place to put such a facility. What’s more, burning what would otherwise become landfill and in the process providing a source of energy (the emissions will be required to be filtered, cleaned, and carbon captured) seems like an excellent way of reducing landfill and our dependence on gas and oil etc.

I can understand that villagers might not want it in their village but its not like they haven’t lived with development already for years!

It’s also the scene of my earliest distressing memories. When going for a walk at Cove Hithe I remember, aged about five, losing my piece of lud (a small piece of soft cloth, similar in purpose to Lionel’s blanky in The Peanuts) off the cliffs when it blew away in the wind.

The church at Cove Hithe is so nice, made of flint, it is a small church built inside of the ruins of the original, larger church, for when the community was much larger. I remember it being miles from the sea, and I remember the road shortening between almost every visit, and now it is just a couple of field’s away. I remember seeing one house going over, so I can imagine what the man in today’s article is going through.

And also, come on Marks and Sparks, make a real difference and stop using quite so much plastic packaging in your store. Is it really necessary to vacumn wrap all your fruit and veg?

Yes, I know it seems like an unpopular thing to say, but the truth is, if we are stand any chance of stopping the planet rise in temperature by the crucial 2 degrees (as it is, highly unlikely because it has already risen by .7° and forecast to go up another .7° shortly) then we have to end our reliance on the carbon-polluting energy sources – and end it soon.

There’s not much we can do about alternatives to aircraft fuel, sadly, apart from hike the prices up to their ‘real’ levels and make people fly less (particularly when there is a land (London to Edinburgh) or virtual/web-conferencing (that hour long meeting in the US office) alternative.

We can do something about all other forms of energy. Bio-fuels are of limited use because of the quantities in which they would be needed. I forget where I read this, but apparently in order to fuel all the cars in Britain, you would need to carpet every inch of the UK in oilseed rape.

Renewable energy should play its part, and we should look to developing all forms of this but at a local level. Estuary barriers and huge escarpments of wind farms are not the answer, but wind farms around and on industrial centres or local solutions for local needs should be highly encouraged. We should be aiming to power all forms of electricity by non-carbon means. And then there are cars. What can we do about cars? Clearly renewable energy (in its current form) can’t solve the problem entirely, and so we have to revisit nuclear. With nuclear energy, yes it has its downsides, but it isn’t carbon-polluting, and its reliable. It can also produce hydrogen fuel cells. And with hydrogen fuel cells we can power all our cars, buses, lorries, trains.

Quite simply, it might be leave a sour taste in the mouth, but nuclear is (at the current) time, our only option. And it’s not just me that thinks so.

The future of Lundy island as a visitor attraction and one of the remotest places in the UK to live was cast in doubt yesterday as it emerged that its only road is crumbling away. Heavy rain and high seas have left the mile-long Beach Road, which winds from the jetty to the top of the granite outcrop in the Bristol Channel, in a desperate state.

An appeal to raise £250,000 to save the road, a lifeline for the 26 people who live and work on Lundy, has been launched. Derek Green, Lundy’s general manager, said: “Without it the future of the island as we know it today would be in doubt.” Nigel Dalby, who runs the island shop, said: “It’s our main and only artery.”

The Beach Road was built in the first half of the 19th century to enable safe access to the top of the island, 120m (400ft) above the jetty. Today, birdwatchers, divers, climbers, plant enthusiasts, archaeologists, geologists and tourists wanting to get away from it all traipse up it. Food, fuel, farming and building materials are also transported to the top of Lundy, which is three and a half miles long and half a mile wide, via the road.

Repairs had been planned in phases over the next five years. But following last winter’s exceptionally high and heavy seas, the repair programme has been brought forward as sections of the road are fast becoming unusable.

Lundy’s cliffs are home to the largest seabird colony in southern England, with kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and shags competing for space. Puffins and Manx shearwaters nest in burrows. Lundy also claims to be the most important site for archaeology in Devon and Cornwall, with 44 monuments from the Bronze Age through to Victorian times.