This diagram, based on American data tells a very important story. The deep green bars are the full life cycle cost of electricity generation. It shows that gas (first column) and coal costs will remain constant but that wind and solar will both show a dramatic reduction in cost of production over the next 35 years. All sources are cheaper than nuclear with the exception of the current solar costs, which will drop substantially by 2050 and the future costs of coal if the carbon costs are included. The graph was produced by BP’s agency, Technology Outlook and along with a more in depth article can be found here. It would be helpful to have this sort of data for the UK readily available, particularly if it was available from an Independent source and accepted by a range of agencies. Arguments are much easier to understand when the data is clear and reliable. On this basis we would pour R&D investment into solar rather than investing so much in nuclear, and we would make a case for onshore wind to be treated more seriously. It would clearly be helpful to see offshore wind too. So where is our diagram?