UPDATE: Twenty-five climate campaigners were arrested at 5.30pm today after ending their two day occupation of one of Britain's dirtiest power stations. One of the volunteers Ben Stewart said, "Since being here we have halved Co2 emissions from this power station by stopping coal entering the facility. We've forced Tony Blair to answer direct questions from us about his climate trashing policies and shown that there is a cleaner, more efficient way of generating energy."
Yesterday Greenpeace climate campaigners shut down one of Britain's dirtiest power stations.
Ten protestors spent the night on top of Didcot power station chimney, another 15 spent the night chained to the station's coal conveyor belts.
Coincidentally, Tony Blair was in the area last night visiting a local science centre. Using a cell phone link from the top of the power station chimney, Ben Stewart managed to ask him the following question live on the local ITV Cental News programme:
Today Tony Blair is supposed to talk to the German Chancellor to facilitate international leadership on climate change, but here at home he is still allowing outdated inefficient dinosaurs like Didcot to emit millions of tonnes of CO2 every year. He talks the talk but since he came to power UK CO2 emissions have gone up and coal burn has increased.
Under Tony Blair:
- The use of coal for electricity generation has gone up from 47.3 to 52.5 million tonnes a year;
- Between the second quarters of 2005 and 2006 coal-burn for electricity rose by 10.5%; and
- UK Co2 emissions have risen since 1997, from 549 million tonnes Co2 to 561.5 million tonnes of Co2. Co2 emissions in 2005 were only 5.5% below 1990 levels, way off the government's target of a 20% cut by 2010.
We want the government to phase out inefficient coal fired power stations like Didcot and instead back more efficient localised - or "decentralised" - power generation
Most British power stations waste two-thirds of the energy they generate in the form of heat escaping up their cooling towers. By locating smaller generators close to where energy is used, the heat created in power stations can be captured and used to heat our homes. So-called 'decentralised energy' is already working in many European countries and powering cities like Copenhagen and Malmo . Along with a range of renewable energy technologies it is the key to modernising the electricity industry and slashing its massive contribution to global climate change. Woking Council has reduced its carbon footprint by 77% by employing decentralised technologies.
Podcasts from the power station:
 | Campaigns director Blake Lee-Hardwood talks about his night on the coal conveyor belt. |
 | Ben Stewart talks about the view from the top of the tower. |
Download this poster as a pdf
