Riding the alternative energy wave... minus surfboards

Oh dear. A plan to utilise wave energy off the Cornish coast runs into opposition... from surfers.

John Baxendale, a chartered physicist and engineer who runs a surf forecasting agency, said it could ruin the coastline's renowned surfing. He told BBC News: "It is fairly obvious to me that any barrage of energy extraction would create a wave shadow because it would remove the energy from the surf.

"It will not just affect the height, it will also affect the quality of the surf.

"Surfers voting for this are like turkeys voting for Christmas."

This seems to epitomise a malaise we have in the UK toward alternative energy sources. We all agree action has to be taken on carbon emissions, but no one wants nuclear (especially because the government refuses to rule that option out, and quite rightly, too). Renewables are great, except for the NIMBY brigade (Not In My Back Yard). Wind farms are great, but look unsightly and no one can agree on whether they affect bird life.

Well, as the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. We've plundered the environment for our endless thirst for energy too long - now it's time we start paying. If a few surfers lose out, so be it.