Potential vast solar farm in Oxfordshire

[Jay_Benson]

To be fair it would screw up a vast area of mudflats (as the energy would come from maintaining a tide differential across the barrage) and require at least 2 or 3 new 400kV overhead lines going East so the impact is non-trivial - the much smaller French one at La Rance has been operating for over 50 years and is basically a desert for wildlife

I am not convinced that it would destroy the mudflats. The tide would still go in and out to the same levels and at the same frequency - without the tidal ebb and flow the turbines aren't working. Anyway, the rising sea level will definately destroy the mudflats - though they will move upstream gradually and be recreated.

[MarkA]

To be fair it would screw up a vast area of mudflats (as the energy would come from maintaining a tide differential across the barrage) and require at least 2 or 3 new 400kV overhead lines going East so the impact is non-trivial - the much smaller French one at La Rance has been operating for over 50 years and is basically a desert for wildlife

We visited a decent sized hydro electric plant a few years ago. The flooded area behind the dam went way beyond what could be seen. At least it generated enough electricity to supply most of one country and a decent chunk of another.

[Chrisch]

I am not convinced that it would destroy the mudflats. The tide would still go in and out to the same levels and at the same frequency - without the tidal ebb and flow the turbines aren't working. Anyway, the rising sea level will definately destroy the mudflats - though they will move upstream gradually and be recreated.

These sorts of installations change the ecology they do not destroy it. The fossil fuel industry and its apologists want to paint a doomsday picture so they can kill the next generation of homo sapiens. As you correctly point out rising sea levels will be more problematic. The La Rance is not remotely like a "desert for wildlife" and some species have benefitted from it, although its effect overall is probably somewhat negative.

There are always objections to any kind of change from doom mongers who generally turn out to have been talking bollocks. Unleaded petrol for example.