Anticipating the publication of a new report into tidal power by the Sustainable Development Commission, the WWF warned that if the Severn Barrage project was to be approved for development by the Government, the spectre of a Pandora’s Box opening and of creating a precedent enabling all kinds of developments to override the protection of key habitats and species would be raised.

In fact, you might invite a “barrage of abuse”! 

Morgan Parry, Head of WWF Cymru said: ‘UK estuaries and coasts offer us a vast potential source of renewable energy, and the Government is right to be looking at ways of harnessing this power.

However, the development of tidal energy resources should not compromise the future ability of these eco-systems to adapt to climate change. WWF urges the Government to consider more economically-viable and sustainable alternatives to the proposed Severn Barrage which could deliver a comparable amount of energy.’

We are well into the conference season and frankly we have never seen so many renewable energy events and conferences as this season. It seems that all the major event players will soon have their own offering.

This is a very last minute opportunity for booking attendance for the NCE (New Civil Engineer magazine/EMap) 1 day conference.

The following is the publicity material issued by the organiser, See it for yourself and make your booking at:

http://www.ncerenewables.co.uk/

In response to the need to reduce CO2 emissions, investment in renewable energy is at an all time high. The EU has recently declared an initiative for renewable energy sources to meet 20% of Europe’s energy demands by 2020. London boroughs are also well under way in implementing the 10% Merton rule. The industry must therefore get to grips with working with renewables as they become ever more prevalent and even a necessity in the UK. Attending Renewable Energy ‘07 will help you to meet this challenge.

This conference aims to equip engineers and anyone else involved with renewable energy with the information that they need to take full advantage of this vibrant and rapidly expanding sector. Tackle policy and technical issues and meet the key players in renewables who are driving the sector forward.

Reasons to attend:

Benefit from valuable advice on best practice in planning and practical information about using microgeneration to power and heat developments
Discover what the future holds for policy and the technological innovations that will drive renewables forward
Learn about the latest developments in wind and ‘wet’ renewables and how these will affect the engineering community
Take advantage of a detailed case study on Dontang, the Chinese sustainable city, providing essential information for those working with renewables on a macro or micro level
Assess how renewables compare against each other and other forms of energy in terms of cost and efficiency

Who should attend:

Engineering firms
Construction companies
Utility companies
Architectural practices
Local authorities and regional assemblies
Environmental and planning consultancies
Product manufacturers and suppliers
Environmental groups
Anyone with an interest in the policy, planning and implementation of renewable energy sources.

This conference has been heavily promoted to UK Chartered Civil Engineers in their free magazine NCE. This magazine is the general civil engineering news magazine and is posted weekly to every member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Therefore, you can expect a good sized contingent of engineers at this event.

Apart from a number of general presentations on the subject, the agenda includes presentations on microgeneration, and small scale heating (as in CHP), but as far as I can see from their handout, there are no papers specifically about Anaerobic Digestion.

Considering the fact that in the 2007 Energy White Paper the UK Government is planning to up the ROCs payment level for this technology (at the expense of wind energy even), and many waste disposal authorites are actively developing AD projects now, this is unfortunate – not to say a huge omission!

Those poor civil engineers are going to be missing out on AD… What a shame! Go to the conference though. The Waster is sure it will be good.

Tidal power generated from more than 200 turbines in a 10-mile long barrage across the Severn estuary, could provide nearly 5% of Britain’s electricity for 120 years with minimal climate change emissions and should be investigated urgently, government advisers have said.

However, what would be Britain’s largest power project and one of the most ambitious civil engineering challenges in the world, would significantly affect the visual and marine environment for up to 30 miles around it and have mixed long-term economic and ecological impacts, said the Sustainable Development Commission.

It would mean the loss of 11,000 hectares of inter-tidal and other protected land, could limit the expansion of shipping in the estuary and would affect miles of beaches as well as the Severn bore. However, it could also provide a much-needed river crossing and be a fillip to tourism and the economies of Wales and south-west England, it said.

Controversially, the advisory body’s report insisted that the £15bn scheme should be paid for by government. “It is imperative that a project of this national importance should be publicly-led and publicly-owned – but, we do not rule out private enterprise partners” – said Jonathon Porritt, chair of the commission.

“The potential for [it] to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy security needs to be balanced against the impact on the estuary’s unique habitat, as well as communities and businesses” – he added.

Read more here..