We launched the report on the impacts of the Scheldt storm-surge barrier this morning (see previous blog for headlines).
Opposite the Treasury (how appropriate - any investment in a Severn Barrage must be prudent!), two members of the Netherlands agency the Rijkswaterstaat, Eric van Zanten and Leo Adriaanse, described the damage done to the eastern Scheldt estuary by the building of a storm surge barrier across the mouth of the estuary.
What struck me, as a layman, was the big changes that occurred even though the storm surge barrier is a wall with lots of holes in it! The holes are only completely closed a few times a year when high tides and unfavourable winds threaten the Dutch coast. This is miles away from a barrage and yet the impacts were large.
The audience of a couple of MPs, a member of the House of Lords (actually a Lady), some NGOs, some people interested in barrage building, a consultant or two and representatives from DECC and Defra seemed impressed by the insight this report gives.
Although all estuaries are different, the point was made that the Scheldt is in many ways quite similar to the Severn.
Our two Dutch friends are now, at 1545, giving their presentation to an audience in Bristol - they are having a busy day. I couldn't give a technical presentation in Dutch - could you?
I'd started the day with an interview on the Radio 4 Today programme. Usually I do these sitting at Sandy with headphones and a microphone but today it was in the studio in London with Jim Naughtie and John Humphrys across the table - much more fun! The interview can be reached through this link for the next few days - I thought it went quite well (and 'Thank you!' to Prof Roger Falconer for his kind remarks about the RSPB!).
Hi Mark has the RSPB said which renewable energy it will back?
Sooty - do have a browse through the RSPB web site - lots of information there. We support wave, tidal and wind energy - but they'd have to go in the right places where they would do little harm, and getting that to happen is sometimes tricky.
Had to laugh there Mark,think sometimes tricky may be the best I have heard for a long time,talk about understatement.Don't think I am the only one baffled by renewable energy as even scientists seem to find it difficult to agree on anything and sensible solution seems as far away as ever.For sure wind turbines make very expensive electricity and amazingly chop birds up in the process,makes me genuinly fear for Sea Eagles and makes me wonder if several have succumbed to them already and the wind turbine owners kept very quiet about it.Suppose I will be in trouble for that but it would explain some strange things and been proven that they have killed Eagles in Norway(think it was Norway anyway)
I've just been looking at some wind farm issues - and discovered that there are something like 400 pairs of Sea Eagle in Germany - and they don't seem to have any overwhelming problems.
Renewable energy is complicated - and may be more expensive than fossil fuels, but its worth remembering the former is new and getting more efficient all the time, the latter is going to run out.
We seem to live in age where there has to be one solution to every problem and people are always promoting their idea as the only one - it just isn't like that with renewables - there are a range of alternatives, all or several of which will contribute - so when the wind isn't blowing maybe the tide will be rushing in or out, and at least you can burn some biomass. And, coming from the other end is energy efficiency - wood could heat 250,000 of taodays homes - but over 1 million where energy efficiency has been increased by 80% which more and more really good modern buildings are achieveing.
Sooty and Nightjar - you are both right! Wind turbines can pose big problems for white-tailed eagles - they did on the island of Smola in Norway. See this link from the Times of 28 January 2006 www.timesonline.co.uk/.../article721400.ece for the type of problems that can be caused. The Smola windfarm was a daft idea - Norwegian conservationists said so at the time - the windfarm was built right on top of one of the densest eagle ppulations in Europe. But more generally it seems as though, as Nightjar writes, birds, including eagles, and wind farms can get by. So it is that tricky issue of getting the turbines in the right places. The RSPB objects to about 10% of windfarm applications - those are the cases where we are worried about the impacts of a windfarm development on birds. Some think that 10% is a lot, other think it is a llittle!
Nightjar is definitely right to say that we are going to need, indeed we need now, a mix of renewable energy solutions if we are to come anywhere close to meeting the 80% grenhouse gas emission target by 2050. That'll mean energy from wind, tide, wave, sun, hydro and other sources. It'll also mean cutting down on energy use.