energy

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Just a very short update from Kingsnorth:

The chimney crew are all down; they were arrested when they reached the bottom. The conveyor belt team were held overnight and most of them are still in police custody, although I've just heard that five of them have been released. We reckon the rest of the conveyor belt team will be released in the next few hours.

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After spending a full day locked onto conveyor belts inside Kingsnorth coal fired power station - potentially the site of the first new coal plant in the UK for over 30 years - most of our volunteers in the conveyor belt team were arrested last night, after E.ON served an injunction.

The small team at the top of the chimney (above) spent the night 200-odd metres above safe ground. They’re still up there but, having placed the ball firmly in Gordon Brown’s court on whether the UK faces a new coal rush, they’ll be starting the long climb down soon. It sounds as though spirits are high, if a little exhausted.

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Anyone with vertigo, look away now. This was taken a couple of hours ago, as climbers at the top of the chimney at Kingsnorth coal fired power plant finally went over the edge of the 200-odd metre high chimney. There's a knee-wobbling video of this moment on Moblog.

As I write, the climbers are still painting the side of the 200-odd metre high chimney. By first light, there'll be a message urging Gordon Brown not to give the green light to the first new coal fired power station to be built in the UK in over 30 years.

So far, two people - from the conveyor belt team - have been arrested, with the rest of the team likely to follow one by one (it's a slow business).

More updates to follow in the morning - in the meantime, here are a few of my favourite images from today:

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I've just spoken to Jamie, our intrepid webbie inside Kingsnorth power plant, which we shut down in the early hours of this morning.

While the team scaling the chimney just keeps on climbing (several hours and counting), the team down at the conveyor belt are coal-covered but comfortable - even finding time to wind down after a pre-dawn start this morning.

The police have arrived, assessed the situation and put up a cordon around the plant, and there's some speculation that they may bring cutting equipment soon. We'll see - it's a waiting game now for the conveyor belt team now.

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We've taken over Kingsnorth coal fired power station in Kent to send a message to Gordon Brown: don't bottle it on climate change by giving the green light to the first new coal plant in the UK for over 30 years.

Just after 5am this morning, 50 Greenpeace volunteers took over the plant. One group immobilised the huge conveyor belts carrying coal into the plant then chained themselves to the machinery. As I write, a second group is climbing a 200 metre ladder up the chimney, with supplies to hold it for several days and force it off the National Grid.

Why are we there?

Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels; it just isn’t fit for purpose in the 21st century. No new coal fired power station has been built in the UK in over 30 years but now Gordon Brown may be giving the green light to a new coal rush.

Manchester was at the heart of the industrial revolution. Now it could take the lead in the next energy revolution. While national energy policy flounders, towns and local authorities can do an enormous amount to achieve the emissions reductions we so urgently need.

So, as part of a series of nationwide events, we're hosting an evening of discussion (and the regional launch of our film, The Convenient Solution) at Manchester City FC – soon to be the first UK sports stadium to be powered by its own 85m wind turbine.