Didcot Power Station: Greenpeace occupation ends!

© Greenpeace/Kate Davison
Twenty-five of our climate campaigners were arrested at 5.30pm, after spending two days occupying Didcot, Britain's dirtiest power station, succesfully cutting Co2 emissions by stopping coal from being fed into the facility. Their point? To show that there's cleaner, more efficient ways of generating energy - like decentralised energy.
Oddly enough, Tony Blair happened to be in the area, and was in a local ITV studio during the Didcot occupation. Greenpeace UK's chief media officer, Ben Stewart - on top of a smoke stack at Didcot Power Station, managed to question Blair on the government's stance on climate change and carbon emissions! And we've got a video of it...
Oddly enough, Tony Blair happened to be in the area, and was in a local ITV studio. Greenpeace UK's chief media officer, Ben Stewart - on top of a smoke stack at Didcot Power Station, questions Blair on the government's stance on climate change and carbon emissions.
Full story: Occupation of one of UK's biggest power station ends »
Power station occupation enters day two »
Earlier entry: Activists shut down UK's Didcot coal-fired power station »
The Solution: Decentralised energy »
Podcasts:
Greenpeace UK's chief webbie Tracy talks to two Greenpeace folk that have spent the night at Didcot Power Station.
Greenpeace UK's campaigns director Blake Lee-Harward talks about the over night occupation of Didcot Power Station » (2.6MB)
Ben Stewart's Greenpeace UK's chief media officer, talks about why he's on the smoke stack at Didcot, and what it's like being up there all night » (2.6MB)

Didcot Coal Field
© Greenpeace/Kate Davison

From the top of the Didcot tower
© Greenpeace/Kate Davison

Comments
Hi, I am a student at didcot and I would just like to point out that greenpeace did not actually manage to stop coal being fed into didcot A because they chained themselves to the wrong conveyer. I remember their argument being based on burning gas (not decentralsied energy) instead of coal. Didcot B is a gas and biofuel fired power station. Didcot A is due to be decommissioned within the next few years and it would be for more energy inefficient to knock it down now and build another gas station. The people at didcot are dedicated to reducing carbon emmisions just as much as greenpeace is. I also happen to know a safety manager at harwell who remembers greenpeace breaking in and demanding they switch to coal instead of nuclear for generating energy! Harwell is not even a powerplant, it is a researc facility that is being decommisioned. Why cant greenpeace work with these enormous companies instead of getting in the way of them? I am very much an environmentalist and i know there are other ways of producing clean energy other than wind and solar. Solar, by the way uses more energy in producing the cells than you would gain from 100 years of running them! Proposals such as nuclear actinide transmutation techniques, blue power water desalinisation and carbon neutral biofuels are far more promising.
Posted by: Chris B | February 15, 2007 1:35 PM