I WAS concerned by the response from Christian Vassie (Letters, January 21) to my letter questioning the use of solar power.

I certainly do not resist advance in technologies as I fitted solar panels and a voltage optimisation system at my own home more than three years ago and had one of the first hybrid cars in the York area.

It is the case that solar energy can be stored and this can be, for example, by charging of batteries on electrically powered cars.

But the simple fact of our relatively low solar input compared to places such as Seville in the south of Spain, especially in winter, means that it will only ever make a useful but relatively small contribution to our overall energy requirements.

Like it or not, we will have to continue to use a very significant amount of fossil fuels for several years to come.

But there have been significant advances in the technologies of gas and oil use efficiency which coupled with the use of renewable energy has helped to reduce demand and prices.

David Randon, Blue Slates Close, Wheldrake, York.