Is there a case for fossil fuels?

Partners:

Countries around the world, including the UK, are struggling to deal with rising energy prices. The main cause is the wholesale price of natural gas, which has rocketed thanks to a resurgent world economy and supply constraints. Green commentators have argued that the crisis makes the case for renewables stronger because wind and solar power would make the UK less dependent on imported fossil fuels. But others point to the lack of wind, which has forced the UK to burn more gas to produce electricity.

But perhaps we should step back from the immediate price rises to look at the broader picture. Governments have been striving to phase out fossil fuels in favour of renewables, particularly in the past decade, to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. But renewables are intermittent and unreliable. So how can we get secure supplies of energy that are reliable and affordable? Have we been too hasty in phasing out fossil fuels? Is there still a place for them until a new technology, like nuclear fusion, can easily supply all the energy we need? Or is climate change such an immediate danger that we need to learn to live without coal, oil and gas?