No to power plant, hydrogen the future Consider project to access coking coal

I WRITE in response to Marcus Hughes’ article in the Western Mail, “Power station will emit 1.5 million tonnes of carbon annually”.

Marcus’ article mentions the controversial plans to convert a mothballed coal-fired power station into a waste incinerator have been denounced by climate change activists.

The Uskmouth power station proposes to generate electricity from waste derived from fuel pellets, creating what is described as a “world first” blueprint for other coalfired power stations to follow.

The fuel pellets would be made from a blend of biogenic materials and plastic – that would mostly end up in landfill. It is proposed that the project would help support the growth of new industries in Newport, save and create new jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support transition to a net-zero economy.

In my opinion, this proposed project would be a complete disaster to a renewable and sustainable future. It would simply add to further CO2 emissions (thus further contributing to global warming and climate change).

The fuel of the future is most likely to be hydrogen. The by-product of hydrogen combustion is water. Hydrogen is not a greenhouse

gas. Hydrogen can be produced from fossil fuels (including coal and oil), without producing CO2. It can be produced from water (by electrolysis); it can be produced by photobiological processes (using algae); by nano-galvanic aluminium alloy (this process turns water into hydrogen immediately – alas, not wine).

A power station using organic and plastic waste as a fuel would be a disaster for Newport and for the planet. I would suggest that city planners consult accredited, expert scientists before “scammers and developers”.

Brian Hayes Bassaleg, Newport

THE controversy to open a coal mine in Cumbria is bewildering because either we do away with steelmaking in the UK or import it.

We either do away with steelmaking altogether and import or we produce only the bare minimum needed for UK requirements.

I am surprised that the Tata Steel company in Port Talbot has not developed its own coking coal plan because the best coking coal reserves are under the plant running out to sea, and are the largest in Europe.

The NCB, many years ago, put forward plans to develop those reserves with two deep shafts, just a little inland from the plant, when coking coal was in great demand worldwide.

A very much smaller and cheaper project, inland from the plant, should be considered, to develop a plan to gain access to the best worldwide coking coal, for only designated steel plants.

If you think we can survive without any carbon please let me know?