Revolt news243 of 29.11.07 and other issues are sent bcc and free. To
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offence which may be inadvertently caused.
1. Opposition to Eirgrid's 400 kV powerline proposals in Ireland is
strong and well organised. I gave a talk 19 November to a meeting in
Trim, County Meath, with a live audience of 3,500, with TV relays to all
public rooms in the hotel and sports complex. There was gridlock in the
town and many couldn't get in. For local news reports see
For several local groups, see
.
2. Eirgrid's web site reports that public consultation meetings
scheduled for 28th and 29th November were cancelled "by the hotels".
Presumably the hotels considered it too sensitive and unpopular to go
ahead.
3. As the proposals in Ireland would extend an undersea DC cable from
Deesside (near Liverpool) to Woodland (near Dublin) by overhead AC
powerlines on through Meath to Cavan and then the interconnector to
Tyrone in Northern Ireland, people are rightly asking about continuing
the DC line underground instead, or alternatively making an undersea
connection roughly from Dublin to Belfast (probably Woodland to Moyle in
Antrim where the Scottish undersea interconnector comes ashore).
4. At the same time there have been grander ideas discussed in Europe
of a DC supergrid, largely under the sea, connecting many points of
mainland Europe and Britain, Ireland, Iceland and Norway, in order to
promote renewable energy. Erstwhile UK Energy Minister Brian Wilson had,
in order to support massive windfarm proposals for the Hebrides,
suggested the government would support an undersea cable from the
Hebrides to the Mersey area, instead of the numerous new powerlines
which would be needed most of the length of Britain. There needs to be a
proper strategic assessment of these possibilities before piecemeal
overhead lines (including Beauly-Denny in Scotland) are proposed or
consented.
5. BBC Ceefax reports 27-11-07, under the headline "controversial gas
pipe completed", that National Grid's £1 bn pipeline from Pembrokeshire
to Gloucestershire is capable of carrying a fifth of Britain's gas
needs. "Campaigners have protested on safety and environmental grounds"
say the BBC. They certainly have, as Revolt knows from its
correspondence.
6. Russell Hinton writes: My wife has a maison secondaire in France.
The EDF bill shows the origin of electricity. Percentages: 85.8
nuclear; 4.7 renewable [incl hydro at 4.2]; 4.1 carbon; 3.2 gas;
1.8 fioul [dictionary: phial, flask]; .4 others. Pretty good on
warming ?
7. A new Dutch pylon design claims to reduce EMFs. The pylons are
slimmer tubular structures like some motorway lamp posts. The new design
arranges the six conductors in a circular pattern, better containing the
fields near to the line. However, in reply to my enquiry, the firm does
not identify any other reason than the usual phase and double-circuit
balance found on double-circuit lines in the UK, so the asymptotic
fields at a distance from the line may not be any more reduced.
Separation between conductors seems to be still around 9 metres.
8. The International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety (ICEMS)
Secretariat is to hold a wrokshop "Foundations of Bioelectromagnetics:
Towards a New Rationale for Risk Assessment" on Monday, December 17,
2007. ICEMS has supported international resolutions confirming the
concern about adverse health effects from occupational and public
exposures to EMFs. Following the Catania Resolution 2002, the Benevento
Resolution 2006 is an updated expression of concern signed by some 50
international scientists and medics.
9. Although it is not Revolt's policy, I have from time to time
expressed concern about population growth in relation to sustainability
and environmental impact, not just in respect of energy and climate
change, but also in respect of other resources and quality of life and
environment. This week's Office of National Statistics updates of
projections now suggest UK population practically doubling by 2081, far
beyond the over-optimistic basis of UN forecasts. I am relieved to see
an apparently responsible body, the Optimum Population Trust, with
recognised and distinguished patrons including, for example, Jonathan
Porritt, chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission,
addressing this almost taboo issue in a practical way.
--
Mike O'Carroll