A cautionary tale

Just imagine this scenario. Some nutjob state (eg the UK) under orders from a higher authority (eg the EU) hooks up a small town to 100% renewables. Because of a newly elected Green council (high on rhetoric, but painfully low on facts) they want to prove their commitment to clean energy and zero emissions, so rely entirely on wind and solar, as one of their older members refused to pass the law if nuclear was included (despite being on their approved list).


What their lack of application allowed through was to include the local hospital on to this grid. Soon after the coal fired station was bulldozed and a statue of Stalin erected on its rubble one of the council leader's elderly parents suffered a heart attack and had to go on life support. That night (ie the solar panels, like most of the people, were sleeping) the wind increased (ie not stopped or dropped below the threshhold) so much that it breached the maximum working limit on the windmills (how many people know it has that?) and as built, they cut out to stop the system overloading. As the only two sources of power had run out within minutes the whole town went dark, and as the old hospital backup generator, used during the power cuts of the 70s had been disconnected when the law was passed as it ran on dangerous diesel, every machine in the hospital suddenly ground to a halt, and within a couple of minutes the woman was dead, as were all the other patients on life support.

In an interview the following day the councillor said that 'Although of course I deeply regret the death of my mother, the cost benefit of lives saved now and in the future from climate change mean far fewer people will die overall from this policy than have died last night. As a result we will continue with our policy for the sake of the planet.'

How long will it take before each of these scenarios becomes reality?