Letters (July/August 2009)
A BURNING QUESTION.
Dear Editor,
I read the article "It's Panic Stations for Campaigners" in the June edition of Link, and I write to say that I think these sorts of actions are negative. It is easy to condemn coal-fired power plants as "chapels of death", but what do you put in their place ? Do we all wear fur coats in the winter when the wind does not blow?
As an experienced power engineer I think we urgently need a new coal fired plant at Blyth (Cambois) but there is much more that we need to be doing alongside that. We rely on electricity to run our homes, factories, trains, but we desperately need to cut down on profligate energy consumption, and with that the need to build more and more power plants. As Christians we must ensure that our homes and churches use energy efficiently for heating and lighting.
At the same time we see on television the giant buildings in the city of London “Square Mile”, ablaze with light all night , and a third runway at Heathrow would surely be a monumental disaster. When I go to park in my hospital car park I sometimes can’t get in because there is a massive 4x4 7-seater occupying one and a half parking spots ! Interestingly, President Obama has made it a condition for the rescue of General Motors in the USA that 4x4 “gas-guzzlers” must go - including the “Hummer” which does 15 miles to the gallon.
The most viable form of renewable energy in the UK is wind energy, but it is surely not the answer. Do you remember last winter ? Day upon day of sub-zero temperatures and no wind at all. What if we went to catch a train to London, and the announcer said: “Sorry, no trains today, the wind has dropped”. We must have power at the touch of a button, and not have to wait days for the power to be available. Renewable energy sources cannot replace conventional power plants which deliver secure, instantaneous power. Renewable energy is “top up” energy on an “as and when” basis. Governments have to ensure that “the lights never go out” as they did in wartime. Many people died in the cold winter nights when there was no power.
So do we invest in Nuclear Power ? The question is an ethical one. Admittedly CO2 emissions are negligible, but we would be remembered by future generations for the mountains of radioactive waste and defunct power plants we left behind, a deadly legacy indeed. Also, history teaches that we should never rely on a resource over which we have no control. The Russians have shown that they reach for the gas taps to cut off supplies whenever there’s a difficulty. Much of the uranium to fuel nuclear power plants comes from politically unstable countries such as Congo, Niger, Namibia, and Kazakstan (a Russian satellite). Oil, too, will become a rare commodity.
Instead, we should be looking at the resources the UK still has. We have plenty of coal , and there is plenty in the world, probably about 500 years’ worth. And the technology of coal -fired power plants has moved on. The thermal efficiency of burning coal has increased significantly since the old days of power- plant construction (about 33% to 48%). This means that the same power can be generated with around 50% less coal (hence around 50% less CO2) than the old coal-fired power plants, even without CO2 capture. CO2 emissions can therefore be cut considerably by building new power plants to replace old ones. Sadly, the economics of CO2 capture are not good. About one third of the output of a power plant would be consumed to run the huge compressors needed to liquefy the CO2 and pump it underground.
Finally, we must remember that chiselling away at CO2 emissions from power plants will only affect a small sector of the UK CO2 emissions. Also, in global terms whatever the UK does will have an insignificant effect. The key is to reduce our energy consumption, and concentrate on efficient use to enable the UK to remain a viable country. Perhaps burning coal is not such a bad idea after all.
John Cure,
Monkseaton
To read Dr. David Golding's response to Mr. Cure's letter, click here.
To read the original article, click here.