Local people making their corner of rural Britain unique
This week
Saturday 6 December
Repeated Thursday 11 December
Matt Baker is in the Yorkshire Dales finding out how 3000 year old technology is being used to harness the power of water in tackling 21st Century problems and asks can everyone involved win?
For centuries man has harnessed the incredible power of water to create the energy needed for his daily needs. Corn mills, cotton mills and hydroelectric plants are all part of our industrial heritage and today it seems hydroturbines could become at least a part of our carbon neutral future too.
River weirs were constructed in their thousands and generated mechanical power for the industrial revolution. However, this time round, they’ll be used to develop electrical energy instead of mechanical energy. At Linton Falls near Grassington a 100 year old power house is being refurbished by owners JN Bentley with two Archimedean screws. These will be turned by the tumbling waters of the River Wharfe and the plant will generate about 510,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, saving around 216 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions compared with fossil fuel power generation.
At the same time it means that the structure is maintained and brought back to life for it's original purpose. Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and English Heritage are so keen to use other buildings under their care to tackle climate change they are already looking into new projects.
At Settle in the Yorkshire Dales the concept has been taken one step further with a proposed hydro turbine being funded by the people and for the profit of the people who live in the area. Water Power Enterprises have already set up one hydro turbine using the Archimedes Screw mechanism at New Mills in Derby. There the community involved are set to see the profits made on the energy they sell back to the National Grid being ploughed into community projects of their choosing. In Settle there are other problems to consider. The River Ribble is one of the countries best migratory salmon rivers and the Ribble Fishing Authority are concerned that fish may get stuck at Settle weir if there is not enough water to flow through both the fish pass ,which allows fish to move further up stream to their spawning ground, and the hydroturbine. It's up to the Environment Agency to decide but its something that everyone involved hopes to resolve for the future of hydroelectricity to achieve its full potential.
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