It often seems to me that UKIP represent a sort of extreme version of a back-to-the past conservative Britain, in energy as in other things, where the old stereotypes of unrealistic hippies and their ideas of renewable energy are obviously ridiculous. Except of course that reality suggests that renewables aren't the preserve of hippies any more and it is fossil fuels and nuclear that are out of date. In world markets renewables installation is now far outpacing the rest, yet in the UK you would struggle to hear this. Of course sensible people just KNOW this can't be true. I am constantly surprised to hear the almost contemptuous attitude from people who refuse believe that renewables are nothing but a peripheral novelty around the world. But the facts speak otherwise - and very loudly!
But her's just a few clippings to illustrate how things are going in the (real) world. One general:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/renewable-energy-growth-outpaces-fossil-fuels-1.2427639
Below I post some coverage about auction results in places like Chile Brazil, South Africa. Now auctions aren't the reason that renewables costs are going down - these auction results just reflect the fact that the costs are declining anyway, and they actually restrict the rate of renewable energy installation, as I say in see http://realfeed-intariffs.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/study-shows-that-renewable-energy.html
BUT, the auctions do give some transparency on the price contest between renewables and other fuels - a transparency that is very much lacking in the UK's rigged-against-renewables market for new power plant. Onshore wind and solar farms are not allowed to compete for contracts to supply energy with fossil or nuclear plans, even though there are several thousand megawatts of onshore renewable capacity with planning consent being effectively banned from the market. Meanwhile nuclear gets special deals and old and new fossil fuel plant get 'capacity payments', although even the capacity payments are not yet high enough to induce new CCGTs to get built.
The message from the UK is that if the truth hurts, hide it!
See some coverage of auction results in Chile, Brazil and South Africa:
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2015/10/29/renewable-energy/chile-goes-100-renewables-power-procurement-auction
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/26-gw-wind-solar-power-capacity-offered-brazils-upcoming-auction-26113
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/01/how-renewable-energy-in-south-africa-is-quietly-stealing-a-march-on-coal
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