The Oil Machine

• HOW does Dan Carrier always hit on the most appropriate thing to review? Is he a thought reader?

I particularly liked his introduction to modern stoicism (The good life… Review, October 20). I thought it was just keeping a stiff upper lip.

Last week he touched on the engineering skills we exercised in the North Sea while exercising our stupidity (The Oil Machine, November 3).

Given our skills, I have often wondered why we do not cover the deserts with solar panels and rent the land to help aid the needy countries.

Presumably you could use hydrogen technology to split the excess water released from the melting ice caps and use the gas to semi-store it while coincidentally distributing the energy / water to good effect.

Watch out for the hydrogen, dodgy stuff, it can self-ignite if it escapes through a leak, and memories of the Hindenburg airship disaster are not that old.

Can I suggest Dan covers Small is Beautiful (Schumacher) for the benefit of north London readers as he could distil it better than me; and some youngsters may think I refer to the racing driver?

NICK SHARROCK
Arlington Avenue, N1