The Proposed Severn Barrage - Good or Bad?

[LilMissHissyFit]

That´s the problem though innit?

Best to worse imo:

less consumption meaning no new stuff needed > small scale energy production (e.g everyone has solar etc generators) > medium sized production (eg small hydro + small wind +small tidal etc) > the lagoon thingies > off shore windfarms > tidal barrage > nuke > fossil fuel

So imo the barrage is actually amongst the worst options (albeit not the very worst)

If the powers that be are framing it in barrage v nuke framework, they are hiding the real issues.

Given that you arent going to get less consumption readily or easily and small scale energyb production is likely to work out far more expesnive to implement than building a barrage
The barrage stil comes out on top when you think about whats both economical and sensible
Im not actually that bothered about the other environmental implications of a large barrage, Its harnessing what happens anyway, which nuclear andfossil most definitely arent.

 

[RubberBuccaneer]

Man has been changing his environment since setting foot in Briton and started chopping down trees.
Hewing great slabs of rock to build solar temple launch pads ( and I bet that was opencast ).

FOE - seems like their bluff has been callled a bit, stinks of NIMBYism now.

I think overall I vote yes, the link to somerset would suit KBT, but I feel overall the environment benefits and could if succesful spark a chain reaction across the world started in the same place that MArconi did!

 

[Col_Buendia]

Man has been changing his environment since setting foot in Briton and started chopping down trees.

And look where that has got us.

FOE - seems like their bluff has been callled a bit, stinks of NIMBYism now.

Why do you say that? Genuinely curious, and I'm not a FOE person. It seems to me that yes the barrage is better than nuclear, but not as good as other options, so why are we only going halfway? If we're gonna harness renewable energy, why not do it the best way possible?

I think overall I vote yes, the link to somerset would suit KBT, but I feel overall the environment benefits and could if succesful spark a chain reaction across the world started in the same place that MArconi did!

FOE actually play up the line about Wales leading the world with tidal lagoons, and it seems like a good line to me:

The appearance of tidal lagoons off the Welsh coast could be a ‘world first’ for Wales as would befit a country with a world-leading sustainable development remit. Observable from space, large lagoons would be a spectacular symbol of a species harnessing natural planetary forces for the protection of the Earth’s biosphere and all the diverse species it supports.

 

[RubberBuccaneer]

Do not try and engage me in any meaniful debate - just tell me the answers

I'm a hunter gatherer as much as the next man, but environment shapes animals and animals shape the environment.

The coastline around Wales has always changed man-made or nature made.

My opinion is that in the long view if we don't curb greenhouse emissions and the sea level rises then the wading birds are buggered anyway.

I think the Severn Bore ( JTG on Cricket ) might be saved anyway as the tide is let in and trapped.

I realise the energy produced is a drop in the ocean but the spark it may light may cause something.

I would also advocate truncating the barrage 10 metres from Somerset so it's totall Welsh

 

[Col_Buendia]

Do not try and engage me in any meaniful debate - just tell me the answers

Well, I wasn't really But I was curious as to why you thought that the FOE position smacked of NIMBYism?

My opinion is that in the long view if we don't curb greenhouse emissions and the sea level rises then the wading birds are buggered anyway.

Agreed. But the thing is do we go for a "good" option, or possibly a "better" option? Why does this country always end up doing things half-arsed?

I would also advocate truncating the barrage 10 metres from Somerset so it's totall Welsh

Couldn't agree more Although it might fuck up the energy-generating potential, but that's a minor detail compared with keeping control of the thing

 

[RubberBuccaneer]

Dear Sir or Madam,
I though you may be intersted in a survey I have done on a local bulletin board regarding the proposed Severn Barrage.

The results show a clear 2:1 majority not in favour of it.
4 in favour
9 against.

I hope this can be of benefit to you when deciding upon it's future.

I would be prepared to address a commitee with these findings if you should wish.

My e-mail...maybe you'd like to contact them too

http://www.wales.gov.uk/servlet/ShowContactJSPServlet?area=assemblycommittee&languageCode=english

Oh well it's sent now.

 

[Snorkelboy]

Absolutely horrendous idea - not really sustainable in the long term even if you're prepared to forget the ecological mayhem.