MP Kawczynski warns of Ironbridge power station jobs threat
Thursday 14th October 2010, 11:04AM BST.
Some 200 jobs are under threat at Ironbridge power station because of new EU emissions targets, an MP has claimed.
The Ironbridge plant could be forced to shut down unless it converts to clean coal-technology or biomass, Daniel Kawczynski told Parliament.
EU legislation imposes tough new limits on power plants and demands they either convert to green technology or “clean” the use of fossil fuels by storing carbon emissions to prevent them entering the atmosphere.
The Shrewsbury and Atcham MP has now urged the Government to help secure the long-term future of plants like Ironbridge by helping them convert to greener technology.
Spearheading a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament on the future of coal-burning power stations, he warned: “It would be a travesty, a calamity, if that power station was forced to close as a result of EU directives.
“I hope that everything can be done to support the continued production of electricity at that plant,” he added.”
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This comes from an MP who’s party wants to cut everything in their power. Why don’t you cut your own job Daniel, everyones fed up of you now.
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A lot of people would be quite happy if it shut down!
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oh right well then they knew the risk when they moved to that area kelly. if you don’t like power stations then don’t live by them its simple.
the people that want it shut down are more than likely tory voters and of the ‘upper classes’
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Kelly, If that power station closed and the cost of your electricty increased i dont think you’d be happy, ALL our power has to come from somewhere and we take it for granted when we flick a switch but happy for establisments like this to “shut down” We cant have it both ways
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It won’t just be 200 people at the power station that will lose their jobs. There is train drivers who bring the coal in. Truck drivers that take the ash away. contractors who are on the site on and off throughout the years plus all the other people who supply the power station right down to the guy who supplies nuts and bolts.
Another case of EU beurocracy.
We need an alternative to the ugly wind powered generators that are taking up thousands of acres of beautifull countryside, which have yet to prove themselves
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I disagree that wind farms are ugly, I think they fit into the landscape quite nicely without detracting from it but I do agree that it remains to be seen whether they can really contribute towards producing alternative energy in quantities large enough to have any significant impact.
I also think this MP should shut up spouting off all the time, he doesn’t seem to really contribute much to anything at all regardless of which party he’s for. He switches subjects like the wind and doesn’t seem to really throw his weight wholeheartedly behind any particular cause.
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I thought a date for closing this station was set some years ago. 31st December 2015 at the latest. Has Demanding Dan done his homework?
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EL, don’t know what planet you come from, saying that wind turbines fit into the countryside quite well.
Regardless of how much countryside is ruined by these wind farms, power stations still have to be retained for when the wind does not blow.
So called clean energy, wind farms, use carbon based energy to create them and then the power stations generators are still running at a certain capacity to take over when the wind is either to weak or to strong, so we are using fossil fuels all of the time and not using it when the wind is blowing.
What a waste of money these wind farms are.
One answer, Nuclear power is the way forward, yes there is the downside of spent fuel but technologies in the future will be able to rid future generations of our legacy.
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but it is always windy some where in the UK mate, that is why we have a ‘national’ grid, if its not windy in shropshire it will be windy in scotland or norfolk coast and vice versca
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The last government signed up to the EU emissions targets. Unless we can use our existing power stations over a longer period either by ignoring the targets or by converting them e.g. to biomass or other carbon friendly fuels , You need not worry about pollution because nobody will be able to afford the energy produced new builds. We are not talking about millions but billions. Gas is controlled by Russia really secure. The wind well as a viable generation is a joke long term the only reason power companies build them you the tax pay subsidise them. The ordinary work man could not afford the energy produced by them.
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Danny boy moans about the EU wanting it shut due to emissions and that it will need to convert to bio-mass or clean coal, yet goes onto say he wants the Government to help secure the long-term future of plants like Ironbridge by helping them convert to greener technology.
Its a private company, its big enough to help itself, whilst public services are being ravished by his ilk.
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isnt this the same MP who wanted to stop the shrewsbury incinerator because of its air pollution? So why does he want to keep a dirty burning polluter open in telford?
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So he fights bitterly against an energy from waste plant in Shrewsbury but he is quite happy for a huge power station to pump out tonnes of pollution over Telford? Nice, cheers Dan.
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yeah lets keep it open and all get cancer and asthma and do nothing for climate change
nice one daniel
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For so many years I have heard that the air is clean in the gorge, nothing to worry about, the respiratory problems are not related to the power station. Now I find out that the station does not comply with the required health standards. The mind boggles!
Cant they turn it into a nuclear station or something?
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what respiratory problems..
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Its well document and you can search for it online:
“Examination of the Office of National Statistics (ONS) data for years 1998 – 2005 has shown that electoral wards that are downwind of the Ironbridge Power Station had an average infant mortality rate three times that of the upwind wards”
“Furthermore, the 2005 Shropshire Asthma Survey showed that the percentage of children in years 3 to 6 bringing inhalers to school for asthma in the downwind wards was more than three times higher than the upwind wards.”
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A coal station runs at a higher thermal efficiency than nuclear, so while the river would be enough to cool a nuclear station, the water returned to the river would be a fair bit warmer, which would not be good. Which is why most nuclear plants are by the coast. More and colder water.
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Could we pipe the hot water out though? I am sure that the whole of ironbridge and coalbrookdale wouldn’t mind having free heating! I would even run some pipes under the road in front of my house to keep the frost off in winter.
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Nice idea but I don’t think it comes out hot, just some degrees warmer than the river. You’d probably struggle to get the laying of pipes from the station to your drive onto the cost benefit analysis of any Ironbridge nuclear plant proposal.
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You’re asking for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) / District Heating, which is only available to forward-thinking, green-minded nations, like Sweden.
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“One answer, Nuclear power is the way forward, yes there is the downside of spent fuel but technologies in the future will be able to rid future generations of our legacy.”
Got to love an optimist.
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For information, the Ironbridge Power Station is planned to be ‘decommissioned’ in 2016 and site redeveloped. This will probably include some element of ‘renewable’ power plant. Not sure what implications for jobs will be.
Check out the Shropshire Core Strategy Examination In Publicu, which begins November 18th. Contact the Council for details.
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well make it eco friendly and turn it into an incinerator
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