Monday, 8 July 2013

An exercise in futility.


I was at work a few days ago, and it was early morning. The sun was just up, and looking across the Thames from Gravesend, I could see the four new wind turbines on the Port of Tilbury site. The Port say they will generate half their annual electricity requirements, well this day must have been one of the 182 days that the lights would be off, the air was still and they weren’t moving. Presumably, if they had wanted to open the lock gates, they would need an alternative supply.

Looking down, I could see the river flowing, it was a spring ebb tide and the water must have been doing 4 knots (that’s 2 metres a second) and it will continue to do that until slack water, then it will come back in at 2.5 knots etc. etc.  Twice a day forever. Or at least until the moon disappears.

And I thought to myself, if only they had turned the turbines upside down and stuck them in the water!

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