Severnman
Well-Known Member
Well there is nothing like a good old discussion about a proposed barrage to get the hackles up is there..... Alcyone it also staggers me how little informed some people are on this subject. There are so many people out there who seem to think that a barrage will be the panacea to all our energy problems. Let's look at some facts.
The media concentrates (irritatingly so) on a Cardiff Weston scheme quoting a cost of £15 billion. Crap - it's an old figure updated for inflation based on 1980's studies. The true cost - tacitly accepted by consultant engineers Halcrow is about £23 billion. That does not include provision for upgrading line infrastructure, major capital dredging works ( remember Bristol have well advanced plans for a deep draft container terminal), compulsory land purchase and (if it is legally feasible) compensatory habitat approaching 18000 sq hectares let alone port compensation etc etc. There will be those better informed than me to pass comment on the effects of such a scheme to flaura and fauna and their views are well promulgated. I guess you either accept and defend their view or you dont. However even the SDC report 'Turning the Tide' cautioned on this issue of biodiversity. You could introduce species after species to the Arctic Tundra but would your 'experiment' be a success if say it meant losing the polar bear?
This great estuary is an extremely dynamic one - so little work has been done on the geomorphological impacts - stability of the sand banks etc. Proponents often point to the Rance Barrage as a successful example but this need caution. The two rivers are completely different, the Rance being a steep sided estuary with relatively little silt - completely opposite to the Severn. A better comparison would be the Petitcodiac in Fundy. Note Canadian scientists are not pushing for barrages anymore; they are incredulous that we are. Google pics of the Petitcodiac before and after the barrage - interesting changes!
I am all for using the tides to generate power but not at any cost either economically or environmentally or to the detriment of the Bristol Channel ports.
I'll say it again...for 75% of the day a barrage (being an ebb generation scheme) will produce precisely.....zero electricity. Food for thought indeed if you are sitting on the 0745 train out of Cardiff expecting it to be powered by the tidal power of the Severn.....until the guard tells you that High Water is not until 1130!!!
The media concentrates (irritatingly so) on a Cardiff Weston scheme quoting a cost of £15 billion. Crap - it's an old figure updated for inflation based on 1980's studies. The true cost - tacitly accepted by consultant engineers Halcrow is about £23 billion. That does not include provision for upgrading line infrastructure, major capital dredging works ( remember Bristol have well advanced plans for a deep draft container terminal), compulsory land purchase and (if it is legally feasible) compensatory habitat approaching 18000 sq hectares let alone port compensation etc etc. There will be those better informed than me to pass comment on the effects of such a scheme to flaura and fauna and their views are well promulgated. I guess you either accept and defend their view or you dont. However even the SDC report 'Turning the Tide' cautioned on this issue of biodiversity. You could introduce species after species to the Arctic Tundra but would your 'experiment' be a success if say it meant losing the polar bear?
This great estuary is an extremely dynamic one - so little work has been done on the geomorphological impacts - stability of the sand banks etc. Proponents often point to the Rance Barrage as a successful example but this need caution. The two rivers are completely different, the Rance being a steep sided estuary with relatively little silt - completely opposite to the Severn. A better comparison would be the Petitcodiac in Fundy. Note Canadian scientists are not pushing for barrages anymore; they are incredulous that we are. Google pics of the Petitcodiac before and after the barrage - interesting changes!
I am all for using the tides to generate power but not at any cost either economically or environmentally or to the detriment of the Bristol Channel ports.
I'll say it again...for 75% of the day a barrage (being an ebb generation scheme) will produce precisely.....zero electricity. Food for thought indeed if you are sitting on the 0745 train out of Cardiff expecting it to be powered by the tidal power of the Severn.....until the guard tells you that High Water is not until 1130!!!
