The Director of one of Wales’ leading environmental organisations, Sustainable Wales, is backing the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.
Margaret Minhinnick, Director of Sustainable Wales says that the project will have a key role to play in generating the promised 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
She said, “Based in Porthcawl, Sustainable Wales has been aware of the potential of tidal energy from the Bristol Channel for many years. We believe this project is a realistic one, both in terms of cost and the amount of energy it will produce. We also saw at first hand the recent extraordinary storms in the Bristol Channel. The forecast from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) is that the regularity and violence of such storms will increase with climate change. Renewable energy HAS to be part of the answer to this.”
“As a nation, we have to reduce our carbon emissions by 750 million tonnes between now and 2030. We also have to reduce the use of fossil fuels by 20-30% against their projected use in 2030 and we aspire to a lead scenario of 30% of electricity being generated from renewable energy. That’s a huge challenge for us all at a time when climate change is threatening the basic elements of our lives,” she says.
“Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon will produce 9% of Wales’ domestic energy needs and will provide carbon savings in excess of 236,000 tonnes per year, contributing to the commitments made by the UK to reduce emissions at the international level. What’s more, as the first of a potential network of lagoons that could provide up to 10GW of reliable, renewable generating capacity, Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is an essential first step in the UKs fulfilment of renewable energy production targets and emissions reduction at the EU level.”
“As a sustainable development body, we advocate good practice by citizens, producers and politicians. Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon will help us to reduce our carbon footprint and give Wales the opportunity to be at the forefront of an alternative energy future that is clean and green.”
Bridgend's Green Leftie 
Wildlife conservationists should be united in opposing this madcap scheme.
The impact assessment regarding the environmental consequences of industrialising more than 1/3 of the sea in Swansea bay is shockingly inept and lacked even the most basic knowledge of the habits and life-cycles of the fish species that will be adversely affected – but then fish aren’t warm and cuddly so who cares?
http://tinyurl.com/p7wlb7l
The only thing that’s “green” about this proposed concrete monstrosity that will blight our coast for generations are the people that support it.
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A belief in tidal power does not address the issues of whether this scheme worthy of public funding and is an acceptable use of the publicly-owned Swansea Bay, despite likely detriments. How far would it increase silting of the channel to the dock and what impact on the beaches of disrupting the tidal current circulation in Swansea Bay? Priority for public funding would go to a tidal lagoon without such big downsides, such as the scheme off the Rhyl coast.
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