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Let's get the best from Severn tidal energy

'A council vote for blind acceptance of a barrage will be foolish' says Green councillor

14th October 2007

For immediate release

A council resolution ^{[note 1]} welcoming the Severn Barrage has lost the backing of Bristol's Green Party councillor Charlie Bolton.

At Tuesday's full council meeting the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Mark Bradshaw, will seek all-party support for his motion welcoming the barrage, repeating a 1989 claim that it will bring 35,000 jobs and economic prosperity to the region.

Charlie Bolton thinks differently.
"The case for a barrage is based on dodgy forecasts ^{[note 2]} made nearly twenty years ago. We've moved on since then. I want real council support for harnessing the estuary's natural energy, but on Tuesday we're being asked to back a half-baked, badly written ^{[note 3]}, narrow, ill-informed ^{[note 4]} position that actually commits the council to nothing at all" ^{[note 5]}

"As it stands, it's just more of the meaningless greenwash that the other parties love to splash over themselves to disguise their inaction. In the last few weeks they've made thoughtless commitments to biofuels, carbon offsetting, and cornstarch bags.[note 6] Now it's a barrage. All without looking at the real costs."

"There are vital things that should be included in any strategy to draw energy from the tides.

• The use of subsea turbines and lagoons, offering a more flexible energy source than a barrage
• the impact on the Port of Bristol at Avonmouth
• the strong recommendations of the government's advisors, the Sustainable Development Commission, whose study ^{[note 7]} was published only last week.
• a clear commitment as to what the council will do.

"The motion says none of these things. In fact there's so little in it that it's a waste of the council's time. Instead of giving priority time to this, we should get on with the decisions on the important issues that we do have control over."

Notes

1. The motion reads (with their spelling, not ours!):
    

   Council endorses the announcement by the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of a fresh feasibility study into the building of a Seven Barrage and notes the Sustainable Development report on Tidal Power in the UK. Council believe that the opportunity to produce 5% of the nation's electricity from this renewable energy source should not be missed. Council believes that as well as making a substantial renewable energy contribution for 200 years, the Seven Barrage construction would provide employment for 35,000 workers over a seven year period and would offer economic prosperity for the region.

 
2. The original claim of 35,000 jobs is for the peak employment in the third year of the project. It first surfaced in the 1989 study (govt. summary here) and has been faithfully repeated since, despite changes in civil engineering practice. Even so, the motion asks councillors to 'believe' this level of employment would be maintained for all seven years.
3. The motion appears to endorse not just the announcement of a study, but to prejudge its outcome - in favour of a barrage solution.
4. The motion doesn't recognise that since the Minister's announcement, he's told the papers that a study will include other types of tidal energy recovery, not just a barrage.
5. The motion requires the council to only to 'endorse' the ministers announcement - arguably meaningless, and certainly pointless. Otherwise it's just a statement of 'belief'. So what purpose does it serve?
6. Growing crops for biofuels or for cornstarch bag manufacture requires unsustainable use of land and fertilisers, while reducing food supplies. Carbon off-setting is generally recognised as a cop-out, encouraging conscience free pollution.
7. The SDC is the government's own advisor on sustainability issues. Its report is the only recent study of the UK's potential tidal energy resource. It concludes that a Severn barrage should be conditional on:
   • Public funding and leadership of the project
   • Restorative environmental measures to compensate for loss of habitat
   • A pilot scheme to test the viability and impact of tidal lagoons in the estuary
   But the motion doesn't endorse this report, it only 'notes' it.

Contacts

Cllr. Charlie Bolton, Tel. 0117 966 1639
Glenn Vowles, Tel. 0117 971 7023