Transition Bedford

I have been trying to understand the science behind the proposed Covanta Waste Incinerator at Stewartby.  I must confess, I am perplexed.  I would have thought that, if one burnt carbon based waste, one would generate carbon dioxide (CO2).

According to a Wikipedia article on the subject, combustion, or burning, is a sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant, accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species.  In my understanding, most fuels are carbon based and the gases produced by combustion contain a large amount of carbon dioxide.  I would imagine that much of the waste material to be burnt at the Covanta incinerator would be carbon based too.  I would imagine that burning it would generate a huge amount of carbon dioxide.

I know for a fact that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas.  The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which, before man started to produce it on an industrial scale, was augmented by volcanos and forest fires, has had a profound effect on the earth’s climate since the dawn of time.  When the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increased the earth’s temperature increases.  This effect is known as the greenhouse effect.

Knowing all this, I would have imagined that the proposed Stewartby Incinerator would generate a huge amount of carbon dioxide, along with small quantities of other more pernicious and poisonous gases, and that it would have a very damaging effect on global warming, as well as a very damaging effect on the air quality in Stewartby, Bedford, Ampthill, Flitwick and the surrounding villages.

I would have thought that a giant waste incinerator in Stewartby would do a huge amount of environmental and ecological damage.  The newspaper reports seem to be telling me this isn’t so.  For example:  There was an article in The Independant newspaper, on Sunday 1st August, entitled: UK may have to import rubbish for incinerators.  This article describes the damage incinerators can do.  However, the last paragraph of the article quotes a Defra spokesman who seems to be telling us that generating electricity by burning waste is a good thing.

I would like to say I understand all the discussions of this matter in the media.  Regrettably, I do not.  All I know for sure is that I do not like this proposal.  If I ask myself the question: “If I could afford to leave Bedford, were this project to go ahead, would I do so?”  The answer is yes.  I would be sorry to leave.  I have made a lot of very good friends in Bedford, since I came here in April 2006.  However, I would not trust the air quality in Bedford if I had a giant waste incinerator on my doorstep.  This would especially be the case if the incinerator was working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as this one is expected to do.

What is more, the area around Stewartby and Marston Vale is fast becoming an area of great natural beauty.  Do we really want to see this spoilt with the building of some dark, satanic mill right in the centre of it?  We have the wonderful Millennium Country Park. in Marston Moretaine.  We have the Ampthill Forest and the beautiful Maulden Wood.  These areas are encouraging (and preserving) a wonderful array of native flora and fauna.  These areas could become a wonderful tourist resource, as well as remaining a source of refreshment, relaxation and recuperation for the residents of Bedford, Flitwick, Amptill, Clophill and Maulden.  Do we really want to see this wonderful area of natural beauty destroyed with the sight of, and the fumes from, some gigantic waste incinerator?  I know what my answer is.  My answer is no.

I am not the only one who thinks this waste incinerator is a very bad idea.  Here are some links to other people and organisations who feel the same way, people and organisations who are fighting to stop this plan from going ahead:

The Marston Moreteyne Action Group

The Facebook page for residents against the Covanta Incinerator at Stewartby

Tim Hill – Liberal Democrat Councillor for Wootton, Stewartby and Kempston Hardwick

I would like to join them in opposing this scheme.  I would urge you to do the same.

I have just come across a very intersting article about BP’s Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig.  I found the article on The New York Times Website. I would very much like to share it with you. Here is a link to it:

Workers on Doomed Rig Voiced Concern About Safety

And now there’s more, it seems.  The following is from The New York Times website, taken from an article dated Friday, 23 July 2010:

Oil Rig’s Siren Was Kept Silent, Technician Says

If I suggested it would be a good idea to build a giant incinerator in the middle of one of the most beautiful views this country can provide, you would probably think I had gone mad.

If I were to suggest it might be a good idea to spew filth over a wonderful wetland wild life centre and nature reserve, you would probably think I was dangerously psychotic.

Why is it then, I wonder, that when a company, a company named Covanta, suggests the same thing, instead of being laughed out of court they are taken seriously?   This is madness surely.

Please may I ask you to visit the Marston Moreteyne Action Group website to find out more about this scheme for a dark satanic mill in the middle of our wonderful bedfordshire countyside?  Please may I ask you to consider signing their petition to oppose it?

I would like to draw your attention to Naomi Klein’s article in The Guardian for Saturday 19th June 2010.  The article is entitled:

A hole in the world

In the article, which you can read by clicking on the above link, Naomi Klein discusses the recent disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the way in which this disaster is so intimately associated with the hubris at the heart of capitalism.

If you enjoy the above article, and would like to know more about Naomi Klein’s work, you can see her giving a talk on YouTube, by clicking on either one of the following links:

Naomi Klein discusses Disaster Capitalism

Naomi Klein discusses her recent book, The Shock Doctrine

I would like to draw attention to the following website

The Prince’s Rainforest Project

There is now a quick access, Transition Bedford Links Page, which will help you to access other websites concerned with environmental matters in Bedford and beyond. You can find it here:

http://www.thetransitionbedfordlinkspage.webs.com/ 

Please remember to bookmark this page for future use.

How would you like to see Bedford change in the next 10 years?

What would make Bedford a better place for the people who live here?

What would make Bedford a good example of sustainability to the rest of the country and the rest of the world?

What is there about Bedford which should be highlighted and made more of? Our beautiful River Great Ouse for example: Is this asset being fully exploited as a source of relaxation and spiritual renewal?

What is there about Bedford you would like to see changed?

As we look forward to Bedford 2020 on Saturday 15th May, what do we want to celebrate about our town? What do we want to deplore?

Why not use the comment section on this post to let us know your views?

Would you like to know more about the Transition Towns initiative?   Then why not check out: transitiontowns.org ?

I am not sure if this is entirely appropriate, but I would like to use this opportunity to praise some of the very fine businesses we have here in Bedford. In particular, I note that we have some very good restaurants. There is Casa Del Tequila and Saffron in Tavistock Street.  There is also The Orchid Bay and Indiya in The Broadway.

We have The Swan Hotel, The Embankment Hotel and Eat Fish on the Embankment near the town bridge and we have the fabulous Barns Hotel and The Kings Arms in nearby Cardington.

We even have a Lebanese Restaurant,  Reem in the High Street and, opposite it, we have our very own Casbah, which means that one can sit in the Casbah and watch the world go by, without even leaving Bedford!

Yesterday, I visited Harpurs for the first time. I was so impressed, I have written a very positive review of the place on my website. If you are interested, you can find it here:

www.richardgillard.webs.com/GeneralLinks.html#Harpurs

Finally, surely no review of Bedford Cafe Society could be complete without mention of our most excellent Real Ale Public House, The Wellington in Wellington Street.

On the subject of Foraging, as mentioned from time to time by TB people, what’s the general opinion on Yew Berries? Are they a useful food source or a deadly poison?

If I look on the World Wide Web, I can find both points of view. Most sites say that every part of the tree is brim full of cyanide, one of the most deadly poisons around.  Other websites say that while the pips are deadly, the flesh of the berries are edible.

Has anyone on Team TB ever investigated the matter of Yew Trees?

Some time ago, Bedford received an Age of Stupid award.  This happened because planning permission was rejected for a proposed Wind Farm in the Bedfordshire village of Podington.   The whole issue was covered, in some detail, in a movie called, The Age of Stupid.   In that movie one could see the residents of Podington campaigning against the wind farm.   The campaign against the wind farm came across, in the film, as a very NIMBY (not in my back yard) affair, with campaigners affirming that they were concerned about climate change but making it very plain that this form of renewable energy would not be tolerated in their own neck of the woods.

So the question arises.   Did Bedford deserve its Age of Stupid award?   Why not see the film and make up your own mind?   The film will be showing as part of a double bill with the controversial film “The Great Global Warming Swindle” at the Bedford Film Society on Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th November at Bedford High School Sports and Performing Arts Complex, Bromham Road, Bedford,   MK40 2BS.  Shows start at 7.30 PM and non-members can attend as a guest for a cost of £3 at the door.

For the alternative view, there is an article on the Bedford Today Website, dated 8th June 2007, which makes the case against the wind farm.   The article was entitled: Protestors welcome wind farm report.

Richard Gillard