“Is Renewable Energy Affordable?” By Derek George Birkett; Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. (2019). Price £58.99 ISBN (10): 1-5275-2046-3; ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-2046-2

This book is written by a retired grid engineer and deals with renewable sources of energy and the instability of the electrical distribution grid. Derek Birkett carefully goes through the arguments about the electrical supply and the effect of intermittent and variable renewable sources of energy on grid stability. As a result of investment in renewable energy and the increasing costs of carbon taxes levied on fossil fuel fired generation, the government has created a situation which is very expensive for consumers and industry, and is unsustainable. The government has intervened in the energy market and provided subsidies and policy support for renewable energy without considering the consequences for the stability of the electrical grid system. The government has no strategic vision of the future for energy generation and no expertise to draw upon. Consumers experience increasing energy costs, power outages and blackouts which will be costly and hard to recover from. Derek states quite clearly that “ . . . the state should no longer use environmental regulation for political purposes unless there is a clear imperative for national well-being and security.”