"Don't put your trust in the thatcher on a windy day."So said Lady Archer, wife of the former Conservative MP and best-selling author Jeffrey Archer, addressing a conference in Dublin yesterday.She was not discussing politics or market economics, however, but energy policy.
"It means get the roof thatched before the wind blows. Think about new technologies before you run out of conventional energy," she explained.
Dr Archer is president of the National Energy Foundation and of the UK Solar Energy Society. She has a PhD in physical chemistry, is visiting professor at the Centre for Energy Policy and Technology at Imperial College, London, and has served on the British government's energy advisory panel.
She was speaking at the 6th International Charles Parsons Turbine Conference, which was held in Dublin this week.
"Regardless of whether conventional energy sources are running out, we're committed to bearing down on carbon emissions," she says. Wind turbines will generate much of the additional power, but there are "issues of visual acceptability. I think they're beautiful, but not everyone does," she added.
The future of wind power lies in fewer, larger turbines, she said.
"The early turbines were large three- and four-megawatt prototypes, but the early commercial turbines were much smaller, around 250 kW. But they're creeping up in size."
The next round of offshore wind warms is likely to involve big turbines, she said. Construction is currently underway of seven 3.6 mW turbines on Arklow Bank, 10 km out in the Irish Sea.
She also said she thinks the turbines will go underwater.
"The power in flowing rivers has been used to drive water turbines from medieval times, and wind turbine technology can be adapted to generate electricity from underwater currents. It's early days, but people have woken up to the huge potential of marine power."
Prototypes are being tested, and there is one in operation off Devon, she said.
"The density of water is much higher, so you get more energy per unit area." The power is also predictable.
"Marine currents flow at a fairly steady speed, with no sudden gusts, and no storms." Underwater turbines would also be much less visible, she added.
There will be underwater energy farms, she said, with many turbines exploiting the same current. "Anywhere between a rock and a hard place, anywhere water has to rush through."
Asked about nuclear power, she replied: "I am not anti-nuclear. The nuclear case is strengthened by concerns about carbon dioxide emissions.
"The economic case is poor at the moment, although the new designs of reactors look smaller, cheaper and safer," she said.