Water to power city's Metrolink

[Metroland]

Manchester's Metrolink has become the first tram system in the UK to be powered using water.

Bosses at Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) have signed a deal with Scottish and Southern Energy to use hydroelectricity.

Metrolink said the decision will cut CO2 emissions, although the trams do not produce pollution at ground level.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7431131.stm

 

[Dennis]

Correct me if I'm wrong but...

when electricity is generated and fed into the national grid, doesn't it get all mixed up; coal, nuclear, HEP all coming down the wires indiscriminantly and not segregated in any way.

So, unless more HEP is actually going to be generated, this announcement is a load of ballcocks - Metrolink will simply be buying their electricity from a supplier to happens to be a major generator of HEP and will not be using water to power the trams.

 

[Metroland]

Yep, technically speaking. Rather like you are me getting a 'green tariff', when we turn the lights on it's still as coal powered as much as anyone else's.

Network rail sources all its energy from British Energy, who are all Nuclear apart from the Coal fired Eggborough. Even so it's not quite Swiss railways who own and run their own hydro plants which feed the catenary.

The electricity companies in future are talking about mico and distributed green generation, so we may well see railways directly powered from hydro/windmills, pumped storage or whatever, but yes, this is I'd imagine just an accounting exercise.

 

[Mojo]

Yet again, I have to argue why more money is being spent on "greenification" of an already green form of transport. Would it not be more environmentally friendly to use the money invested in projects like this in lower fares, station security, etc. which would encourage more people to travel on their network?

 

[Dennis]

The question would have to be is the 'green HEP' deal going to cost more?

Green domestic tariffs are more expensive, but I very much doubt Metrolink would choose to add costs to their operations. More likely S&S offered a lower price supply option to which the PR department has put a bit of green spin on.

BTW - given the logic of the Metrolink announcement, I am pleased to report that as from tomorrow, I'm going nuclear.

 

[Nick W]

when electricity is generated and fed into the national grid, doesn't it get all mixed up; coal, nuclear, HEP all coming down the wires indiscriminantly and not segregated in any way.

Totally wrong, each individual electron is labelled with a destination and negotiates its way across the country

In fact the electrons barely move at all because it's all alternating current. They just oscillate back and forth down the wires.

The electricity companies in future are talking about mico and distributed green generation

I fail to see ho this will be any more efficient than a national grid where excess energy produced somewhere can go elsewhere etc etc.

 

[Metroland]

You do? About time you did some research on it...Google is a wonderful tool you know!