Why can’t we utilise the flow of our rivers and weirs and build an electricity supply network? - Yorkshire Post Letters

I read with increasing frustration about the proliferation of wind farms both on and off shore. Apart from ruining the views in many beautiful parts of the country we are constantly being told that if the wind doesn’t blow there is no electricity produced.

They cost an inordinate amount of money to set up and run so I fail to understand how they can be a viable option.

We could use the rivers and canals which no one has seemed to notice but which run all over this country. Scotland has had Hydroelectric power for years. I remember seeing science programmes at school many moons ago, about the Scottish scheme.

Granted, we do not have so many high mountains but there are various schemes in England which use water wheels and Archimedes screws to supply electricity to local enterprises and there are existing windmills in Norfolk which now produce electricity.

Why can’t we utilise the flow of our rivers and weirs and build an electricity supply network?

We have seen television programmes about various types of turbine related to wave power but they never seem to go any further. Water is constantly being moved along the canals by the use of the locks. It should be possible to install some sort of turbine into the channels where the water runs to fill and empty the locks.

Similarly, has no one noticed that the tide rises and falls twice a day and could provide us with an endless supply of electricity if someone would fund the engineering?

My husband is of the opinion that a couple of desalination plants on each side of the country would give us an endless supply of fresh water so that we need not flood acres of land and beautiful valleys to provide water for the big conurbations.

This brings me to another point. The proposed use of huge areas of productive farmland to set up solar panels seems a completely insane idea.

Apparently the land is ruined for years beyond the contracted 25 years or so. What is wrong with making all the huge warehouses and new industrial buildings being required to put solar panels on their roofs?

The money which is currently being used for wind turbines and solar panel “fields” could be diverted to develop such schemes but I suspect that those who are making pots of cash would not support such ideas.

It would be interesting to know who is behind wind turbines and “solar farms”. The farmland would look much better and so would the most beautiful parts of the country.

Also, can someone explain why the cost of electricity is linked to that of gas, or vice versa? Why cannot the connection be severed to make costs more sensible or is it another case of vested interests wanting to maximise the profits?