The Pylons are coming!
So the Scottish government has finally rubber stamped the power line upgrade between Beauly and Denny: Power line upgrade given go-ahead.
Certainly I’ve seen a lot of passionate protesting about the issue, both around Stirling as well as the Highlands, as people become horrified at the idea of taller pylons marching across the Cairngorms.
The problem as I see it is fairly simple – this isn’t about building a new transmission line to blight Scotland, but instead about rebuilding an existing one to cope with renewable energy production in North Scotland.
Are the existing pylons a beauty feature of Scotland? I doubt many will suggest so. Are taller pylons going to ruin the landscape? Probably little more than the existing transmission line.
Of course, it would be nice to think alternatives – such as running the cabling underground – were viable. This overlooks the point that the Cairngorms would need digging up for the cable, and the result would be more expensive electricity – something few protesters are likely to care for practically.
That may not be welcome, but personally consider it far more preferable to the less visible poisoning of our air, water and land. After all, as a people it’s much easier to sweep problems under the carpet than deal with them, and problems that are not so visible are – well, not much of a problem.
I doubt higher pylons is going to put off the tourists – after all, there will actually be fewer pylons because of the increased size of the new ones required.
Either way, though, no doubt controversy will continue, as we grapple with the consequences of the visible effects of our modern energy-intensive lifestyles.
While cynicism may exist about green energy sources and their efficiencies, the alternatives are neither welcome nor forward thinking.
A wind farm on Dava Moor may spark protests, but a nuclear power plant at Ardesier would be outrageous.
In the meantime, developments in green energy march on, and Scotland has decided to be at the heart of that.
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If the government were prepared to devote as much effort and resources to improving energy-efficiency as they do to subsidising and funding windfarms, nuclear power, and unproven/inefficient renewable sources, then consumption and emissions would be significantly lower and maybe there would be less need for massive increases in network capacity.
A rational energy policy would focus much more on insulation, energy saving and CHP. To provide more electricity, especially in Scotland, we ought (like Norway) to be developing more green and environmentally-friendly hydro power schemes from our lochs, valleys and rivers, rather than looking to the marginal and inflexible contribution that wind and maybe tide might make.
Maybe so, nairnbairn, but with the UK population continually rising, energy demands rise with it – energy efficiency is something the government has tried to regulate (cf Npower’s free energy saving lightbulbs and the EU directive fiasco).
Hydro-electric sounds nice, but is Highland hydro only supposed to light up the Highlands, or is it supposed to be able to export down south where energy needs are greatest?
With or without wind and tide sources, energy use in Scotland alone is very unbalanced – isn’t it the case that with renewables – hydro, wind, wave, etc, – some of that balance is being addressed?
As you say in the informative article above – It’s worth noting that there already are 800 pylons along this route. The project simply proposes building taller ones.
Additionally by increasing the height of the pylons along certain parts of the route from 135ft to 200+ft, the project proposes to reduce the number of pylons along the route from around 800 to around 600.
Speaking as a photographer who hates having pylons spoil a good landscape shot, having less of them around should make Scotlands beautiful landscapes more attractive not less.
Speaking as someone who likes electricity, establishing better connections between the renewable energy rich Highlands and the south seems like a good idea. Renewable energy could and should become Scotlands next major export product. We ain’t going to be running out of wind or water anytime soon and we need an infrastructure capable of exporting what we’re making.
I struggle to understand what all the fuss is about
We all ‘like’ electricity,and it would be unthinkable to go back to times where candles were rationed,people rose at dawn, worked til they dropped and then went to bed when the sun set. However in a good book by Prof David Mackay(see APT web site) he describes the efficiency of different methods of energy production. What he does say is that for all possible combinations of methods used we will still have to reduce our energy consumption. We have schools, hospitals, libraries, medical centres, workplaces and all of these energy to provide us with care and services.
Quite agree Cathy – I’ve seen various notes come up in the news about a push towards decentralised energy production – ie, small scale self-production from wind, solar, etc, in private residences. While it probably couldn’t replace the need for centralised energy production, the hope is that using home renewables would help reduce major consumption with far less environmental impact.
The new pylons will begin as a blight on the landscape, but as with all other things that have been erected against the wishes of the masses, they will be accepted in a short space of time.How easy we forget all that riled us last month or so!!
Looks like some excellent concessions have been won on account of the protests, not least in forcing lines underground through parts of the Cairngorms:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8495210.stm