'The Britain of my upbringing is barely recognisable today' - Your Letters: March 15

I am now in my 63rd year, facing an incurable blood cancer that has prompted deep reflection. We often take life for granted in our youth, but maturity shifts our perspective.

The Britain of my upbringing is barely recognisable today. Despite significant funding, there is a troubling decline in the emotional well-being of our youth, suggesting we’re missing something crucial. My foundation was rooted in Christian values during progressive liberal change, yet today’s society feels fragmented.

We see a rise in single-parent families, youth violence, and disengagement from the workforce. This raises important questions: Is society happier? Am I leaving the world in a better state? I find it hard to be optimistic. My Christian faith has deepened with age, often in response to this fragmented world. Many seem lost, seeking fulfilment in fleeting pleasures that do not provide lasting satisfaction. The unchangeable wisdom of the Bible may well be worth a glance

Regardless of belief, I assure you that you will reflect more on these questions as you age and confront mortality.

I hope you find peace with your answers!

Martin Bristow, Wolverhampton

HYDROGEN IS NOT THE ANSWER

Peter Lowe asks 'why not go for hydrogen cars'. Hydrogen has to be manufactured, and it simply needs more energy to make it than you get back when it is used. Hydrogen also needs to be stored at very high pressure to get any meaningful amount of energy in a tank small enough to fit in a car.

JCB used hydrogen because it is a lot easier to take a tank of hydrogen into the middle of nowhere to supply their equipment than it is to take a massive battery, and the alternative was to use diesel powered generators to charge an EV digger. The other problem with EV is the downtime required to charge the battery, which means the diggers are unproductive.

Hydrogen can be made from electrolysing water (passing electricity through it) and looking at the ever spiralling cost of UK electricity the cost to make hydrogen gets higher by the day. Hydrogen can be made a bit more cheaply from natural gas, but due to the unreliability of renewables we have to use all the natural gas we can get in gas turbines to stop the grid collapsing.

UK buys natural gas from abroad, despite the fact we have large reserves in UK that are not being exploited. During a cold spell last year when the wind and solar went AWOL for a few weeks the UK was down to 7 days supply of gas... frightening.

Chris Smith, West Midlands

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