On 18th April, local Conservative campaigner, James Heappey, attended the Sustainable Severn Conference held at the University of the West of England. This excellent event, organised jointly by Bristol City Council, UWE, Bristol Port and the Sustainable Severn Think Tank was well attended by experts and stakeholders from across the South West and South Wales.
The conference was focussed on the ways that the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel could be used to provide cheap and clean sources of energy without damaging the environment and the existing maritime related economy.
“There were some really interesting views being put forward this morning and everyone was in agreement that we must make the most out of the energy generation opportunities offered by the estuary and the Channel” said James. “Most of the delegates were against a full Cardiff to Weston barrage and I very much take that view too. But what people perhaps don’t realise is that there are so many other ways that we could harness the power of the tides without using a barrage and I’m very excited about exploring those options further.”
“Developing technology for making electricity out of the tides will be great for the environment but also great for our local economy as the coastal parts of the South West will be at the forefront of an industry that could be exportable to almost every country with a coastline. The opportunity for clean air, energy security and job creation seems like a no-brainer to me!”