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Green living

Catherine Deshayes

British Waterways has unveiled plans to power 45,000 homes with wind and hydro-electric turbines along Britain's historic canals and rivers...

The Government had pledged to generate 15 per cent of the UK's electricity from renewable sources by 2015, although industry experts are saying that this target is looking unlikely to be hit.  

Hydroelectric power currently supplies around 10 per cent of the energy used in the USA, and the UK is keen to smash this number with the introduction of a new scheme along Britain's waterways.

Flowing water creates energy that can be captured and turned into electricity, which is known as hydroelectric power. The most common type of hydroelectric power plant uses a dam on a river to store water in a reservoir, and water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spins and activates a generator to produce electricity.

British Waterways, which is a public body in charge of the waterside land, want to house 50 wind turbines and additional small-scale hydro schemes on land it owns over the next five years, with the capacity to generate enough electricity to power 45,000 homes.

The locations of the turbines haven't been decided upon as yet, but one suitable site could be on the banks of the Aire and Calder navigation in Yorkshire.

Eventually it is hoped that the scheme could generate more than 10 times more electricity than it consumes.

The scheme is aiming to generate £1 million each year, which will be used for waterway upkeep.

The money will be used to maintain and repair some of the 2,200 miles of canals, historic locks, bridges and rivers that British Waterways looks after.

British Waterways is working with Partnerships for Renewables to create the scheme, which has been lauded as a ‘torchbearer for others to follow.'

Partnerships for Renewables, a privately-funded group that works with public bodies on renewable energy projects, will develop, construct and manage all the equipment at an estimated cost of £150 million.

British Waterways' Chief Executive Robin Evans was delighted that the project will generate income and help with the Government's renewable energy targets.

Mr Evans said, "Whilst we are always protecting the canals and rivers' heritage, we are also proactively looking at how we can use this resource to make a contribution towards the fight against climate change.

"We believe that our waterside land could host around 100 megawatts of renewable energy capacity - some 219,000 mega watt hours.

"If we successfully develop this resource it would mean that the nation's canal network would generate more than 10 times more electricity than it consumes," Mr Evans added.

Gordon Miller, Editor of Sustainable Development Portal whatgreenhome.com told TheMoveChannel.com, "British Waterways plans are very exciting and much needed if Britain is to have any chance of meeting its commitment to produce 20 per cent of its electricity requirements from renewable sources by 2020.

"To date we are falling lamentably short in getting anywhere near to being able to reach that target with only around two to three per cent of our current electricity needs being produced from all renewables, including wind, solar and hydro sources," added Mr Miller.

Across the pond, environmental green roofs are being advocated, with incentives being offered to those considering installing them.

Green roofs, which are usually covered with water absorbent plants, can save around 15 per cent of energy, as they are excellent insulators, improve urban air quality, prevent the urban heat-trap effect and limit storm water run-off.

The roofs do cost more to install but Washington's Urban Land Institute says that the extra cost of installing such a roof would be recouped in five years, such are the energy savings.

Homeowners in New York and Cincinnati are set to receive grants and tax credits if they go ahead and install a green roof on their own property.

Picture by burge5000