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"Canal plan to power 45,000 homes"


Kez

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7656748.stm

 

"Canal plan to power 45,000 homes

 

Local communities will be consulted on possible turbine and generator sites

Plans have been unveiled to power 45,000 homes with wind and hydro-electric turbines along Britain's historic canals and rivers.

 

British Waterways want to house 50 wind turbines and additional small-scale hydro schemes on land it owns over the next five years.

 

They say the scheme will raise more than £1m a year, which will be used for waterway upkeep.

 

The exact locations of the turbines have yet to be decided.

 

British Waterways, which is a public body in charge of the waterside land, was praised by its partner in the project for using its resources in an innovative and environmental way.

 

Partnerships for Renewables said the navigation authority was a "torchbearer for others to follow".

 

Yorkshire option

 

The £1m that will be raised will be used to help maintain and repair some of the 2,200 miles of canals, historic locks, bridges and rivers that the organisation looks after throughout the UK.

 

British Waterways' chief executive Robin Evans was delighted that the project will generate income and help with the government's renewable energy targets. PUBLIC SECTOR ENERGY CAPACITY

 

The public sector could host around 3000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity

That would supply energy needs of 1.4 million UK households

Source: Partnerships for Renewables

 

Mr Evans said that, whilst the authority is always protecting the canals and rivers' heritage, they are "proactively looking at how we can use this resource to make a contribution towards the fight against climate change.

 

"If we successfully develop this resource it would mean that the nation's canal network would generate more than 10 times more electricity than it consumes," he added.

 

The public corporation is now looking at potential locations for the turbines and generators.

 

One suitable site could be on the banks of the Aire and Calder navigation in Yorkshire.

 

A British Waterways spokesman told the BBC: "We are looking at radar and environmental issues first and then will engage with the local communities at suitable sites."

 

Environmentalists 'delighted'

 

Partnerships for Renewables, a privately-funded group that works with public bodies on renewable energy projects, will develop, construct and manage all the equipment at an estimated cost of £150m.

 

The private company hopes to create the capacity to power 230,000 homes from electricity on public land within five to eight years and this project would contribute to a fifth of that target.

 

Stephen Ainger, chief executive of Partnerships for Renewables, said, "It is great to see that British Waterways has demonstrated the vision to become a torch bearer for others to follow."

 

Friends of the Earth energy campaigner Nick Rau was delighted by British Waterways' plans.

 

Mr Rau said that "Community-scale renewable energy projects such as hydro-power schemes and wind turbines have a huge role to play in reducing our dependency on fossil fuels and helping Britain to develop a low-carbon economy."

 

The government had pledged to generate 15% of the UK's electricity from renewable sources by 2015, although some studies have shown this target may not be reached by then."

 

 

 

BW putting another strand on the noose.

 

These things are not worth it!

 

Take the set of turbines off of Barrow; they went in and broke because someone had put the wrong oil in and it had damaged the gearbox, so they had to send out for new gearboxes and they broke. The repairmen went out for new ones and got told those ones weren't made anymore and that they'd have to be replaced with a new type of gearbox. They were still replacing them when I was down there last and the damn things haven't made enough power to light half of what they're supposed to.

 

The ones on the Robin Rigg site, delayed for over a year because of poor weather and a 'well, it was his job to get the cranes ordered' attitude.

 

What does anyone else think of BWs plan?

Edited by Kez
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"If we successfully develop this resource it would mean that the nation's canal network would generate more than 10 times more electricity than it consumes," he added.

 

 

See they are full of confidence they can do it.

 

partnerships for renewal say the hope to develop build and manage the project , that is not saying they will pay for it.

 

robin says they are proactivly looking how they can use the canals ect to help in the fight against climate change , british waterways can not save the canal system but now they are looking to save the earth.

 

the money you save on beer with the drink /boating plan can now be taken by bw tp pay the losses this will surely bring.

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"partnerships for renewal say the hope to develop build and manage the project , that is not saying they will pay for it.

 

robin says they are proactivly looking how they can use the canals ect to help in the fight against climate change , british waterways can not save the canal system but now they are looking to save the earth.

 

the money you save on beer with the drink /boating plan can now be taken by bw tp pay the losses this will surely bring.

 

I'm not sure you're right. This from the Partnerships for Renewables website:

 

"How We Work

Each PfR project begins with identifying sites that are right for development. Because we cover all of the development costs ourselves and want to deliver well sited and well designed projects, we take great care screening potential sites and only develop the sites we believe to be appropriate for renewable energy development."

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Another brilliant idea from BW, I have another..

 

Why not convert our 2,000 miles of towpaths into a linear rubbish dump, all local residents can then dump all their household rubbish conveniently out of the view of the majority of people in the country.. A handsome revenue can thus be earned by BW, what if the majority of the rotting material falls into the canal ?

 

Well so what who wants to use a canal that is next to all that stinking rubbish anyway.

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The only thing that worries me is that wind turbines along canals will not be placed in areas of particularly good wind resource: canals tend to run in valleys, not on the tops of hills. There are probably better places to put them.

 

I have no objection to BW expediting investment in renewables, though: forget global warming arguments, gas and oil are finite resources so why not use something else when it is available?

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I am not sure I want wind turbines lining the cut. Spoils the view and remote mooring spots. They can be very noisy. (And what of the dangers of clumps of ice flying off the blades!)

 

However, I have often thought that with today's technology lock sluices could incorporate some some small scale hydroelectric turbine device that would generate sufficient power to recover a significant portiion of the cost of pumping water back up to a reservoir, without slowing down lock operations too much! (One of those thoughts while sitting on the balance beam annoyed at the noise of rushing water blocking out the pleasant birdsong etc)

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I'm not sure you're right. This from the Partnerships for Renewables website:

 

"How We Work

Each PfR project begins with identifying sites that are right for development. Because we cover all of the development costs ourselves and want to deliver well sited and well designed projects, we take great care screening potential sites and only develop the sites we believe to be appropriate for renewable energy development."

 

fair enough , it was not said in the release though.

and below-

 

I have no objection to BW expediting investment in renewables, though: forget global warming arguments, gas and oil are finite resources so why not use something else when it is available?

 

when did bw become a power company ? , my energy bills are very high and the suppliers say part of the reason they are so high is THEY and not bw have to invest in new technoligy.

Edited by gaggle
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When did bw become a power company ? , my energy bills are very high and the suppliers say part of the reason they are so high is THEY and not bw have to invest in new technoligy.

Electricity suppliers have to source a proportion of their power from renewable sources. It used to be called the 'non fossil fuel obligation' but it's something else now. And of course, when they justify their prices to you, the consumer, they must be telling the truth, mustn't they?

 

BW doesn't need to be a power company, in order to seek to reduce its electricity costs by investing in renewables. Any surplus power is sold to the grid so that someone else can use it. BW is no different from any other landowner, manufacturer or service company in that respect: it's just good business sense (something they are not usually praised for).

 

 

 

They can be very noisy.

Really? Not in my experience (and I have stood under quite a few large turbines).

Little ones can make a racket, though.

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The only thing that worries me is that wind turbines along canals will not be placed in areas of particularly good wind resource: canals tend to run in valleys, not on the tops of hills. There are probably better places to put them.

 

You're not kidding. Like in a white elephant museum, or an exhibition of "crap and ineffective ways to generate electricity", to name but two. I did a brief stint working for a firm that traded in renewables and they had a less than high opinion of the technology.

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