Peter Rhodes on bird wars, deadly batteries and a long wait for a rabbit
How will the Chancellor pay for her U-turn on the winter fuel allowance? Apparently we will not be told until October in the next full Budget. What sort of magician is it who strides on to the stage, flourishes a top hat and then waits four months before extracting the rabbit?
Talking of magic, you may have noticed that Britain's nuclear energy programme, unveiled this week, includes nuclear fusion, a source of energy which, for at least half-a-century, has promised limitless cheap energy but has so far failed to deliver. Enthusiasts say the big breakthrough is just a few years in the future; cynics say the big breakthrough will always be in the future. One industry expert has described the UK's latest investment in fusion as both a “groundbreaking step” and a “monumental bet.” And who's providing the stake money? Look in a mirror.
It seems there is always a snag in chasing the dream of clean, green energy. The latest generation of long-life scooter batteries have a tendency to burst into flames, as seen in a recent fire in the Champagne region of France. It started from a battery-powered electric scooter and spread quickly into a 10-story housing block. Four people perished. An e-bike battery was also blamed for a fire in Coventry last year which claimed two lives.
