I AM keen that Herald readers should have a perspective which is realistic about the inevitable impact on our beautiful, precious and diminishing wild landscapes of the huge wind power development programme which well-meaning but ill-advised politicians of all parties believe is necessary to meet the net zero target by 2050. The level of landscape destruction is hard to visualise and organisations like the John Muir Trust, Mountaineering Scotland and more who are opposing a huge pump storage scheme above Loch Laggan have not recognised that they are now too late.

We have already installed too many wind farms and storage must be provided to compensate for lack of wind. There is an essential inexorable link between wind energy and storage which cannot be avoided. If this scheme does not get approval, an alternative must be found as soon as possible. Except for short-term battery storage (hours), pump storage is the only solution. Moreover it is the only green source of synchronous power which has inherent inertia, vital for system stability.

The reality is even more stark. The Loch an h-Earba scheme is huge, with by far the largest energy storage capacity yet conceived for the UK, at 40GWhrs: enough to keep Scotland energised for 12 hours at present demand. Unfortunately, windless periods are sometimes very much longer and sensible energy planning would require storage for a minimum of at least a week. To plan for a windless week would require 16 schemes the size of the Earba scheme and probably by 2050 somewhere in the region of 40, if the aspiration to divert all transport and heating to electricity is to be achieved with zero carbon.

To transport all this energy to where the demand is needs transmission infrastructure and would result in a vast network of high-voltage transmission lines and switching stations, making the controversial Denny-Beauly line appear insignificant. This is not to overlook the associated access roads, borrow pits and peatland attrition adding to landscape destruction.

Forget hydrogen as a solution. It will have a part to play, but renewable energy is by far the most expensive form of energy, without making it even more so by the electrolysis of water, transporting it and storing at cryogenic temperatures and extremely high pressure.

The country has three options: A, invest in a nuclear programme, B, continue to burn gas, or C, accept load shedding and extended power outages with the distressing consequences. To make no change and continue with the present renewables policy, as all the politicians promise at present, will deliver hellish consequences. The financial outcomes are equally depressing since this policy will ensure that electricity will be unaffordable for all but the wealthy.

There is a place for wind as part of the diverse energy mix which we still have, but only just. Politicians who suggest a cheap energy future are either, ignorant, naive, or mendacious. All we can strive for is to achieve international parity. Pay attention to what the politicians promise in the run-up to the coming election. They want to make you happy, but we need the truth.

Norman McNab, Killearn.

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The cancelling of Carnegie

TOM Lehrer said that irony died the day Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Should he have said the same about Andrew Carnegie? I might have found out more at the sold-out lecture in Dunfermline tonight. A discussion might have ensued about the role of powerful and privileged nations in waging war and enforcing peace. We could have talked about whether the extreme wealth enjoyed by such as Carnegie so distorts our world as to make peace (which also requires justice) less likely.

Now, however, that opportunity will not be possible ("Peace lecture in Scotland by US official scrapped", The Herald, May 29). Do those rightfully protesting against the genocide in Palestine think we have nothing to learn from Carnegie’s life and work simply because he was American? That appears quite dangerous to me.

One thing I do know is that the cancel culture is totally inimical to any hope of peace, anywhere. We need to speak to each other. And most importantly, we need to speak to those with whom we disagree.

Hilary Patrick, Glasgow.

The Herald: Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie (Image: Getty)

Cash poser

THE last two times my wife has gone into the Bank of Scotland in Strathaven for cash she has been advised: “We’re not doing cash today, please use the ATM.” As my wife wanted over the machine limit of £500 and a specific mix of notes, this didn’t suit. My wife said she needed the cash and would like to speak to someone who could provide cash or give a reason why not. It is a bank after all. She was immediately given the cash.

The branch has announced it is closing in December this year. Could it be that by “not doing cash today” the figures of the number of customers actually doing business in the branch are being massaged? When the closure takes place, the bank will no doubt say “we only had very few people using the actual branch". That’s because, even though it’s a bank, it wasn’t doing cash today. What an absurd statement.

I may well be wrong, but what other explanation can there be for a bank that doesn’t do cash?

Graham Andrews, Glassford, by Strathaven.

I enjoyed National Service

LIKE James Scott (Letters, May 29), I am one of the fast-falling numbers who experienced National Service. Unlike Mr Scott, I did not find the reality stark.

Following basic training, which admittedly was neither exciting nor enjoyable, and as someone who had never been further than Troon, Largs, and North Berwick, specialist training allowed me, when not on duty, to enjoy the delights of London's Windmill Theatre (naughty) and more importantly the pleasure of watching Stanley Matthews playing for Blackpool at the age of 41. An 18-month posting to Cyprus when EOKA terrorists were firing from the rooftops of Ledra Street in Nicosia was exciting and enjoyable, with good company, generous time off, and opportunities for taking part in sport. I am not forgetful of the 371 British soldiers who lost their lives in Cyprus, and count myself lucky.

National Service broadened my horizons.

David Miller, Milngavie.

First class?

I REFER to the letter (May 29) from Linda Fitzgerald and have to say that I disagree with her husband Kevin, who states that "all ships should be referred to as 'she' in conversations". There is one class of shipping that can never be called a "she", and will always, no matter what, be referred to as a "he".

This is because this type of ship believes in the poem "Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can, it's never found in woman, but always in a man." That is why it has chosen to be a mail boat...

Stan Millar, Hurlford.