Natural selection

Hydrogen and electric-powered cars are generally perceived to be 'green', and the government is looking at renewing our nuclear plants as a way to a greener future.

At least that's the way it's sold to us, but people have to realise that the carbon produced in creating a tank full of useable hydrogen is around the same as would be produced using a conventional carbon-based fuel to cover the same distance.

Or, as Robert Palgrave (Letters, 12 March) observed, 'just how long does a nuclear power station have to run for before it has offset all the carbon emissions used building it in the first place?'

Our planet is subjected to renewable natural resources from every direction — wind, tides, geothermal and solar to name the main ones — and it is these we should be harnessing.

A car or scooter charged with electricity from a solar panel is far greener than one charged by a conventional or even a nuclear power station.

Simon Wright

Design engineer

JCB Landpower