Mind the gap. A power-hungry world had been counting on nuclear energy to provide a hefty chunk of the world’s growing electricity needs in coming decades, particularly in China and India. The catastrophe at Fukushima may have altered that nuclear calculus but it has not reduced the shortcomings of renewables, which also generate electricity without greenhouse gases.

Supporters of various renewable energy technologies can trot out impressive-sounding statistics: so many megawatts from planned wind or solar installations or that the sunlight falling on the Sahara has enough energy to power Europe. Yet the contribution of carbon-free electricity is modest, even after annual government subsidies of $37bn, according to the International Energy Agency. Projects are capital-intensive, often have to be located far from consumers and do not generate power around the clock.

True, “renewables” contribute