TIM Farron's article on starting a new green revolution shows a very naive and simplistic view of how industry works (Podium, October 24, 'We need a new green industrial revolution').

He cites the need to create jobs in solar, wind, tidal and hydro sectors as vital, but ignores the means of production of the hardware for these systems.

Gilkes is quoted as a world leader in turbine manufacture, and rightly so, but what are these turbines made from?

Of course, the raw materials are metals, which have to be mined, smelted, refined etc by heavy industries of the kind Mr Farron seems to wish to disappear, given his opposition to a new coal mine, specifically needed for these industries.

Our countryside is increasingly being covered by wind turbines, producing huge amounts of electricity; a real success story. However, these very turbines require large amounts of high-quality materials - they do not simply grow!

Similarly, solar cells require rare earth metals and, as for tidal power, imagine the gigantic quantities of rock, cement and steel required to construct the kind of structure needed to make a viable tidal power generator in our estuaries.

I wholeheartedly support the move towards these "green" technologies, but let us not pretend they will magically solve all the problems giving rise to climate change overnight.

By the very act of producing the hardware, we may well add to the problem in the short term.

It is naive to look at green technologies in isolation; only by adopting a forensic "cradle to grave" investigation can we truly judge the real benefit of any of them.

Mike McVeigh

Milnthorpe