Image Credit : Baby Creative
Over the last couple of years, almost everything I have been involved with, the E.On Energy supply company has sought to get its big coal-dust grubby hands on. It seems. The latest twist in this saga involves the Claverton Energy Research Group.
The Claverton “church” is very broad. The central aim of the organisation is to further the development of the Energy industry through sharing high quality information and experience. All of this is conducted with a strong emphasis on the changes required by Climate Change, and an acceptance of (eventual) Peak Oil.
At Claverton conferences, you can hear the chinking of china tea cups as Nuclear Power engineers hobnob with Wind Power developers; and the Clean Coal-ers try to assert, yet again, that Coal mining has no environmental impact at the point of extraction, so with Carbon Capture and Storage, Coal must be OK, then.
No, it’s all very gentlemanly and polite, and I’ve learned some fascinating things about the Energy “revolution” from Old Clavertonians : particularly about the high value of Poo Power (BioMethane) and Low Carbon, flexible sea defences.
This year the Conference 8 will be sponsored (or is that “hijacked” ?) by E.On, and I sincerely hope people take their involvement with a strong pinch of smelling salts.
Here’s where E.On have been following me :-
Bournemouth Climate Change Conference 2nd April 2008 :-
“Climate Change Conference : Reducing the carbon footprint of Bournemouth and Poole. This conference will be on 2nd April 2008 and invitations should be going out shortly. Powergen may sponsor the event…”
https://www.poolepartnership.info/ReducingourcarbonfootprintinBournemouthandPoole.htm
“Close the roads and have a street party : 7:00pm Thursday 3rd April 2008 : By Stephen Bailey : A TRANSPORT guru urged Bournemouth and Poole residents to close their roads and hold two-day street parties. That was just one of several radical suggestions from John Grimshaw. He gave an entertaining and outspoken speech that was the highlight of a conference held at Bournemouth University on reducing carbon emissions…”
https://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/Residents/Environment/_newdraftplan.asp
https://www.changecollege.org.uk/html/coal_salers.html
“E.On are sponsoring, of all things, a Climate Change Conference at Bournemouth University on 2nd April 2008, hosted by the Poole and Bournemouth local governments. Meanwhile they expect approval on their Kent Coal enterprise in May. Zero Carbon Britain https://www.zerocarbonbritain.com have been asked if they want to have a stand at the conference exhibition. Err, maybe not…”
The Guardian Climate Change Summit 2009 :-
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Guardian_Climate_Change_Summit_2009
https://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/17/eon-carbon-capture-kingsnorth
https://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Environment/documents/2009/06/09/programme-june.pdf
In an e-mail to one of the Claverton Bunch, I wrote this :-
“… have a great conference…and don’t let e.on suck you into their
universe entirely – they took over the bournemouth climate change
conference i was involved with earlier… – and the guardian
climate change conference etc etc…take the corporate shilling, but
don’t support their coal-infested propaganda !”
It is time to ditch Coal. The IPCC recommends “fuel switching” : out of Coal, and into Natural Gas; out of Natural Gas and into CHP Natural Gas; out of Natural Gas into BioMethane and BioMass…the emissions benefits of fuel switching could be the largest chunk of what we need to achieve.