Mankind has been changing the visual landscape for 1,000s of years - if we want the trappings of modern life we have to accept some changes.
Surely nuclear power stations do not damage the environment as much? Horrible going for a drive and it it is like window shopping looking at wind and solar farms! Which is more impurtent, food or energy?
Apparently all the new land based wind farms are destined for Scotland , the Clyde basin , Renfrewshire etc. Obviously a peace token for closing down one of the UKs largest oil refineries.
I think Border Billy will be ok, not going that far South😉
I think Border Billy will be ok, not going that far South😉
There's two major problems with nuclear power - they need to be situated on the coast for a plentiful supply of cooling water with long unsightly power lines taking the power 100s of miles to where it's used - and disposal of the radio-active material after use.
Aren't we Sassenachs having a couple of east coast interconnections coming south from the new Scottish farms. Makes sense now the oil is running low, but at present we look okay for water; well in the winter months anyway.😂
Without energy there would be precious little food. The days of the peasant tilling the land have long gone.
Country side is covered in powerlines, motorways and deforested hills. None of which are natural.
Agreed but most blend in with the local environment unlike several tall towers.
Have you seen Hinckley Point ?
A bigger blot on the landscape I can't imagine.
As for Nimbys, near me there is a decommissioned power station site that it is planned to use as a link into the grid from an offshore wind farm. The cables will make landfall across the other side of the estuary and travel underground to the site. This will mean disruption for another village, they will lose part of their car park for up to a year during construction and there will be a small building erected about the size of a sea container.
The screams of anguish from all the local Nimbys are deafening, so much so I have my doubts it will get built. Maybe those that object should have their electricity rationed to say two days a week.
Similarly a power connector from France has been ditched because Nimbies in Lee on Solent objected to the construction of the shore facility. Yet it would have provided further resilience to our grid.
It amazes me that people can be so selfish and stupid😱
But there again maybe it doesn't .
I am talking about power to homes and not energy from the sun! Thought it was obvious, but seems it went over your head as too technical?
If you look out over the patchwork quilt quintessential English farmland you are looking at a man made vista. Over time we have made massive changes to the countryside to suit human kind. We have also ignored the huge damage we have unintentionally inflicted by using the finite resources we have extracted from the ground to produce easy energy.
We are at last beginning to see and understand the damage we are responsible for, and we are also looking at ways we can reduce future contamination by switching to renewables, which can reduce the inevitable negative environmental impact of human life, compared to traditional** irresponsible use and wastage,
**Traditions should always be challenged to prove they are still the best way of achieving an outcome. Its lazy and irresponsible to use a tradition without reviewing its relevance.
We are at last beginning to see and understand the damage we are responsible for, and we are also looking at ways we can reduce future contamination by switching to renewables, which can reduce the inevitable negative environmental impact of human life, compared to traditional** irresponsible use and wastage,
**Traditions should always be challenged to prove they are still the best way of achieving an outcome. Its lazy and irresponsible to use a tradition without reviewing its relevance.
Totally agree.
My concern is we should never become dependant on another Country like France for our power.
I read recently the average windmill remains inert for approx 75% of the time generating nothing 😥
We have woken up and are developing new Nuclear power stations ready for 2050?
One was I believe announced this week. Not sure if it’s one of the latest smaller units that seems to be preferable to the massive Hinkley Point.
Four new nuclear types have been agreed and I hear progress to build is well in hand.
Makes you wonder where Germany stand having burnt their bridges with Russia and now reopening a number of coal fired stations🤔
I suspect our real problem has been the total lack of afore thought by opposing HMGs over the last 25 years!
No it didn’t go over my head at all, could it be loose phraseology? Farming of various types uses electrical energy both on the farm and in the manufacture of supplies to the farmer.I am talking about power to homes and not energy from the sun! Thought it was obvious, but seems it went over your head as too technical?
I believe there are 58 coal fired power stations in Germany. Some still burning lignite. The target is to close them all by 2030.
We are no more dependent on France for power than they are to us. 12 months ago when their nuclear plants were under maintenance and some then had problems Britain exported electricity to France on a regular basis. France isn’t the only connector that links us to Europe. As well as other electrical connectors aren’t we around 50%
reliant on Norwegian gas. It only requires one “careless” captain to “inadvertently “ drag his ships anchor and break the pipeline and our lack of reserve storage capacity would become very apparent.
The new nuclear stations plus other non CO2 sources have to be ready well before 2050 as there simply aren’t the materials, skill and resources to do a “ big bang “ changeover. There has to be a transition to achieve the target at 2050.
Only in this mess because of the previous massive campaign by the greens to close all the nuclear power stations.🫣
There has been pressure from many political directions not just the "Greens" about the use of nuclear, and what to do with the radioactive waste. It's a glowing hot potato which successive governments have not taken a clear action about preferring to leave the problem to future governments.
We are going to have the same issue with wind and solar farms at some point in the future as I believe their effective lifespan is only 20 -25 years?
Come on now removing a solar farm or wind farm and remediating the land is dead easy compared to removing a nuclear power station. Look how successfully old coal mines and large power stations and steel works have been removed and re-used for other purposes. Although if wind and solar are removed and not replaced where will their contribution of energy come from?
There are currently 22 decommissioned nuclear submarines sat around awaiting disposal in Britain. They have been de fuelled and the fuel residue sent to Sellafield for storage and to await a decision on how the UK intends to safely store its large stock of radioactive waste.
The submarines present no risk to the local vicinity and await agreement to start cutting them up. Again some of the reactor plant arising will be radioactive but not like fuel arisings. But these will stilll need to go to the repository at Sellafield.
I was involved once in studies to dispose of ex nucs and based on Soviet experience in loosing active boats in the deep ocean I quite favoured taking a defuelled submarine into the deep ocean and sinking it. Corrosion is minimal as are currents and since its active radiation elements are at Sellafield the lower grade radiation in its reactor compartment metalwork is minimal and relatively short half life. That suggestion didn’t garner much support 😂
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