In deference to the The Daily Telegraph the top story on this morning’s BBC Radio Four flagship Today programme was the estimated £50 BILLION Boris Island Airport folly. The Lord Mayor was accorded the prime 8.10am interview slot to substantiate claims that ‘George and Dave’ (the Chancellor and his Prime Minister) now ‘understand the logic’ and that international ‘sovereign wealth funds’ would stump up the cash at the drop of a hat and this will mean that London will be able to ‘supply the flights’ necessary to ensure that it remains a ‘key financial hub’ and will be able to compete with ‘growth centres’ like France and Germany. All that needs to be done is to ‘scope the idea out’ and crack on with it despite Greenies whinging on about ‘bird life and that kind of thing’.
It took Boris Johnson less than ten minutes to deliver this delusional and environmentally catastrophic piece of hyperbole – and in that time he also delivered a metaphorical karate chop to the ‘Heathrow recidivists’ (arguing for an unnecessary third runway at Heathrow) and found time to casually admit that the entire story was a fabrication and that Dave and George had not, in fact, ‘rung’ him on the matter and that those who argue it will take many, many, years to build are short-sighted idiots who are cannot see beyond their own life times.
Where to start?
I believe it is safe (and logical) to predict that in the years it will take to build Boris Island (or Peninsula) there will be a steep reduction in air traffic globally; the Euro will have disappeared; and there will be a footnote in London Mayoral history recording that the unsustainable vision that Boris is hard-wired to enact was one of the reasons he was beaten in the 2012 contest by Ken Livingston (or will there be a new face in the race?).
I also like to think that my proposal for the harnessing of the Thames via turbines linked to a revamped Battersea Power Station will also be quietly spinning out of harms way.
Boris Johnson is a great Etonian fool and a dangerous one too. My suggestion to the Today programme is that they invite their old Green Etonian friend Jonathan Porrit and Boris Johnson back on to the show as soon as possible for a real humdinger of a debate in which Mr Porrit knocks the blond haystack out in less than 5 minutes. Caroline Lucas and Steve Trent in the green corner – Dave and George in the blue.
How embarrassing is this whole time and money-wasting episode to passionate and scientifically-minded green-liberals like my local MP, Julian Huppert? More to the point: when will this anti-green Coalition break?
On yer bike, Borrie!
Here are two responses to blog I posted here on this subject in October 2009:
regarding harnessing the tidal Thames for energy
thewere42.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/turning-river-current-int… Cached
earth. http://nickwardscenarios.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/boris/ …
bdoza.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/a-dailys-crusade-to-save-our-… Cached
Posted by: nickwardscenarios | October 21, 2009
Boris…
Message for Boris Johnson regarding harnessing the tidal Thames for energy…
Thanks for looking in. The idea of harnessing the Tidal Thames for energy came to me when I was working as a boatman at Furnival Sculling Club in 2007.
Even as far upstream as Hammersmith the tidal range and power of the water strikes you – and the channel is deep, though narrow (as racing rowers know as they battle for the ‘stream’). So a pilot scheme should be tried further downstream. It would work something like this.
The turbine wheels would be anchored and framed within concrete blocks and the tide would turn the wheels. There would be a stopping point, obviously, as the tide changes direction (imagine the Stefano Tartarotti model with flat, reversible, blades, to get a picture of my design concept). The height of the wheel would be calculated to lie safely below the hulls of boats, again, for obvious reasons. There might be a funnelling effect caused by the turbines’ housings – to increase the volume of water moving through. Why not?
Website for this image: thames.me.uk
The flow of the river would not be noticably impeded, even if there were turbines stretching from the mouth of the river up as far as, say, Battersea Power Station.
Everything, including the power cables, would be out of sight. Hard to calculate just how much electricty could be generated until pilot prototype has been tested, but the potential is enormous. Having lived and worked so close to the river it often strikes me how little we use it. What does that tell you?
I worship it! Now, there’s a confession. Also looking forward to having a chat about my proposed marathon sculling race for male and female scullers to chime in with the Thames-friendly Olympic Opening Ceremony in 2012, which I blogged about separately on this site. http://nickwardscenarios.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/marathon-sculling-log-1/It’s going to require careful management of Sir Steve Redgrave’s diary because he can’t be in two places at the same time.
An early start coupled with some late night festivities could be the way to go with Steve’s official duties in the Olympic Arena as the meat in the sandwich. All good.
