Britain's last coal power - Ratcliffe on Soar power station

[@almostanengineer]

Please make a third, these are short, sweet, and interesting 😊

[@tomkirby8902]

As someone who commutes from Birmingham to Nottingham, you’re answering all the questions my mind wonders to while I’m driving

[@normhanson981]

My dad worked here on the repairs for many years , I worked there on the boilers repairs and the cooling towers in 1986 . Thank you . Good memories of my dad .

[@PeteVXR]

Found this because I was in Derby this weekend. Never physically seen these before. Really impressive, I hope they don't demolish the Towers when decommissioned. Gr8 Vid 🙂

[@salus1231]

Of-course they will demolish the towers. Everything will be demolished and given over to housing and business. Nothing will remain just like all the others that have been decommissioned and demolished. It will be like it was never there

[@kevfrombutterley]

What gorgeous footage!

[@thetransporthub]

What a great little channel you've started here! I like the drone footage and your clear VO. Keep it up! you've got a sub from me

[@michaelmiklosofficial]

Very powerful and reliable. Ratcliffe power station is the first in the United Kingdom to be fitted with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology, which reduces the emissions.

[@daveblanchard5383]

Indeed, I worked on the SCR project 2010 - 2014

[@peterkazmierczak7273]

I remember standing alongside one of the 500MW generators at Ratcliffe on full chat - you could really feel the sense of power being created by it. Also I went inside one of the cooling towers; not much to see there but I recall a strong pervading smell of fish...

[@lewisner]

I used to walk my dog along a disused railway and it was crossed by a power line on pylons which hung pretty low. You could feel the electricity in the air, or that's how it seemed.

[@UQRXD]

That was great. Nice details on power out put and all. Thanks. Good background sound too.

[@ArferNower]

Thanks for the video, I had a tour around this power station back in the 80's and picked up a information brochure about the site that I still have

[@AquaMoye]

Nice shots, music a little loud. Whereabouts do you film?

[@DanielDoesYouTube-ze2wp]

I have the ULTIMATE IDEA! rather than demolishing this precious landmark or keep it standing because of costs, let's turn it into the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station Museum, as although we want rid of fossil fuels in the UK and worldwide, we cannot let these 142 years of coal-generated energy go to waste! And it would be great to see INSIDE a coal-power station IRL! Plus it would bring tourism to the area and we'll turn the coal delivery line into a heritage railway! A great tourist attraction, and a reminder to younger generations what we used to do and how we've improved the sustainability of our electricity generation over the years!

[@blink997]

Precious landmark my arse, ugly 60’s monstrosity destroying our green and pleasant land

[@ImBaudits]

Another great idea but they’re not going to I went down today for a look about and get some drone shots now it’s officially closed and the security guy said they’re gonna knock it down in the next couple of years 😢 Feel free to sub and I’ll upload over the weekend when I’ve worked out the editing bit haha

[@justinrovers1]

Loving your videos, it may be interesting to know a little more history maybe, but don’t let me tell you how to do your job! :) well done.

[@tomwilkinson2731]

Great video and love the drone footage. One of Drax would be awesome too.

[@thomash1]

This was awesome, love the commentary!

[@ramwinter2622]

Really hope the chimney and cooling towers are saved from demolition. I live about 10 miles away from the power station and I simply cannot imagine life without those structures.

[@duckydashcam751]

Subscribed straight away. Cracking video bud. Have a good one 👌🏻🦆

[@chloeskedgell3753]

more please!

[@ChunkyJohn]

I have passed this power station hundreds of times. I really do hope the cooling towers are not demolished. They are part of our industrial heritage. The whole place would make a fantastic museum.

[@dansheppard2965]

I'm not a fan of non-renewable power, but it seems crazy not to have a mothballed coal station in our inventory. If there's one thing the last year taught us it's that energy security is national security. If just some of the money we spend on daft military schemes could be diverted to something like keeping a diverse power generation portfolio, we'd be in a much better place. Even if we all hope it's always turned off.

[@margaretarmstrong2445]

It would indeed be wise to mothball the site, Germany are certainly relieved that they have an opportunity to return to reliable energy. Australia didn't have many more in total than the number that Germany are resurrecting. Another of our coal-fired power plants is due to be shut down in April and blown up next year. And we don't have nuclear or the luxury of nearby interconnectors.

[@lorrainedimmock4096]

You have got to remember, that most if not all governments have very little in the way of common sense and looking to the future, they are the dunces running our lives....

[@TheFcjensen]

great video except the background music is way to loud

[@ImBaudits]

Went here today for a nosey about and to get some drone shots now it’s officially closed - was amazing! Will get it uploaded over the weekend 😁

[@lukemorton8431]

Please more great videos very extremely interesting :)

[@Radio.Raptor]

There was a time Ratcliffe power station seemingly was in everything I saw on here from the east midlands... Cruising The Cut and rail videos from Don Coffey being two examples. Now hearing it is still chugging along I feel the curse that one can never truly escape Ratcliffe power station is more warranted. 🤣

[@nickedwards2904]

am not sure "merry go round" is applicable anymore for the rail delievery. It was called that as it used to be a train that went from pit to powerstation back to pit back to powerstation and so on. These engines and wagons did the same trip for weeks on end and these areas had sheds of engines just for the work. Nowadays you get the occasional train from a dock somewhere , not really a MGR task anymore

[@CORNERofTECH]

HS2 will stop there.

[@mickyday2008]

Closing this is madness

[@cameronsteele7289]

Emitting up to 10 million tons of CO2 annually is madness

[@margaretarmstrong2445]

@@cameronsteele7289 There is far more C02 produced in the cradle to grave story of 'green' energy. Most of it is not declared. The shipping alone which has massively increased as a direct result of green energy must be taken into consideration. Shipping is one of the highest contributors to anthropogenic C02. Raw material, which have already created large amounts of C02 to be mined, has to be shipped to different parts of the globe to be processed. Rare earth processing creates not only C02 but a huge amount of black toxic sludge which is problematic to dispose of and contains varying levels of radiation. All mining has increased significantly as a direct result of green energy, particularly coal. The processed materials are then shipped off to the manufacturer where further C02 is created. Coal is essential not just for the coal-fired power plants in China, where almost all green infrastructure is built nowadays, but also for the coal-fired furnaces to make silicon ingots and as an actual 'ingredient' for manufacturing wind turbines and solar panels. The manufacture of silicon ingots to make the wafers used in crystalline silicon solar panels requires three thermal processes. Just one of the thermal processes utilises coal-fired furnaces and requires the heat to be held at 1100C for five days. They make billions of these solar panels. Half of the resulting silicon ingot is lost when sawn into wafers. They are then polished in acid solutions. There is large amounts of problematic toxic waste in the manufacture of so called green energy, farmland has been poisoned. Do you honestly believe that anyone could get a hold of accurate C02 audits of all this? The manufactured 'green' infrastructure is shipped out across the globe where in then needs to be transported in huge trucks to its destination. The government here in Australia has decided that our region is a great place to stick up Ruinables and we are 300 kilometres from the port. They are halfway through the planning process and up to 700 turbines just for our region. That doesn't take into account the tens of millions of solar panels. All this will take thousands of trucks journeys to and from the port. That's just to transport the infrastructure! Do you really think the developers are keeping track of C02 emissions? Industrial solar is only commercially viable for a little more than 20 years, wind is less than that and batteries less again. So within around twenty years the whole process has to be repeated. Less than that in reality because the replacement infrastructure needs to be operational before the old system is decommissioned. The old wind and solar sites are meant to be decommissioned within a certain time frame. Who polices this? No one even talks about who is responsible for the clean-up. Who pays for it? We were told by a developer that it would take almost as long to dismantle the project and rehabilitate the land as it did to build it, which in this case is 34 months to install the infrastructure. So even being conservative, it will take more than five years to build and dismantle a project that will only last approximately 20 years. How much C02 will be created in all this? We are not told the truth. The figures we are given are from proponents of renewables so you know that most of it won't be included, and they are quoting C02 figures from products once made in Europe where nuclear energy would have been used. As in Australia, the C02 emissions output from the UK is around 1% of the anthropogenic total. That has come at great cost to the UK in regards to loss of manufacturing and the resulting energy crisis, we are heading in the same direction. The anthropogenic contribution to the global total C02 emissions to is 3%. Your country is responsible for 1% of that 3%. Why would you attempt to reduce it further when China is producing 30% of that 3%. Your C02 emissions are not doing anything to affect climate/weather, they are already in fact too low. China is contributing close to a full percentage of the global total! As with Australia, yours barely registers. But the fact is, C02 has not reduced in any single country, they have simply exported it to China. The manufacture of renewables is a criminal waste of raw materials for a product that is short lived and can produce energy on average for only 30% of the time. On top of that without backup you have no reliable energy. We have been sold a massive lie so that obscenely rich people can gain more wealth and power. They are robbing us of power in more ways than one. In the process there is grave environmental damage being done.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

@@cameronsteele7289 but the irony is we are closing it to just depend on gas and then imported LNG not renewables or nuclear..

[@underneonloneliness2]

@@cameronsteele7289 You enjoy paying ridiculous high energy bills then?

[@gufpott]

@@cameronsteele7289 There is about 420 parts per million (ppm) CO2 in the atmosphere today (that is, 0.042%). 1 ppm is 7.8 Giga tonnes. 10 Mte CO2 is 1/780th of 1 ppm. The madness is the indoctrination of climate cultism which will seriously hurt people when these things are closed for no good reason.

[@blink997]

This is fantastic, first major economy to close all coal - who’s next? Plus money saving as coal was imported and we were propping up other coal industries

[@brianwillson9567]

The uk NEEDS 50 of these stations.

[@CORNERofTECH]

To ruin the environment?

[@margaretarmstrong2445]

@@CORNERofTECH once you understand the difference in energy capacity and efficiency, the trade off between coal and wind and solar very clear. Coal power actually takes up far less land than renewables for an equivalent output of energy and gives you reliable power 24/7 for many years. Renewables need far more land so destroy far more of the environment including wildlife and can produce energy on average over a year for only 30% of the time without backup. On top of that the lifespan of renewables is not much more than 20 years for industrial scale solar installations and less than that for the rest.

[@CORNERofTECH]

@@margaretarmstrong2445 What about geothermal, nuclear, wave, tidal?

[@margaretarmstrong2445]

@@CORNERofTECH Australia isn't suitable for geothermal, we wasted 90 million dollars on it decades ago without success. Countries like Iceland use it successfully, they have the volcanic activity that we just don't have. I don't know the lifespan of geothermal energy generators. I know nothing of the efficiency of wave driven energy, the material requirements to build, the efficiency or the lifespan which often determines if they are cost effective. We are also not well suited to hydro electricity of which we have very little. The geography doesn't lend to this form of energy in many places here and neither does the fact that we suffer severe drought periodically. We are currently adding to one of our few hydroelectricity schemes to create pumped hydro. What a debacle that is. This project was approved in 2015 at a predicted cost of 2 billion dollars and was supposed to be completed last year. The cost has blown out to 12 to 14 billion and at least up until last week it was expected to be completed in 2028. The tunnel connecting the two reservoirs is 27 kilometres long and last week the tunnelling machine hit a sand cave which collapsed in on the machinery. A few days ago they were talking about the potential for the cost to blow out to 20 billion dollars and who knows when it might be finished. Even when it is completed, a long drought will be problematic. And though it's built in one of the few places in Australia that receives regular snowfall, it's only during the winter months so unlike places with very high mountains there isn't year-round snowmelt to feed it. So don't throw pumped hydro around as an easy storage solution. A past prime minister, in his wisdom, put in place a moratorium against nuclear energy many years ago. Most Australians would love to see that lifted. Nuclear power is the highest density form of energy on the planet. Clean, reliable energy delivered 24/7 without the need for backup or new transmission lines and lasting as much as eighty years. Despite the propaganda and the movies that were made, nuclear power has a high safety rating and few people have lost they lives to it. Modern nuclear plant engineers have learnt from past accidents and have put in place even more stringent safety measures. SMR's (Small Modular Reactors) are happening now, though sadly not here. They take up a fraction of the land of wind and solar and are less obtrusive. The waste can be recycled for other uses where the depleted uranium suits the requirements. But there is far more toxic waste produced from wind, solar and backup batteries, and it is already becoming problematic. No, Australia is shutting down 5 coal-fired power plants in the next decade, two of them this year. And they tend to blow them up here. So wind, solar and backup batteries, if there are enough resources and we can afford them, will be all we have. They are already warning us to expect extended blackouts from 2027. I think it will be sooner than that. Australia is screwed, by design.

[@CORNERofTECH]

@@margaretarmstrong2445 I’m talking about the UK here. I appreciate you writing all of this out. The sooner Hinkley Point C is built, the better.

[@1harryrobert]

I could see this from the Travelodge in Loughborough.

[@robindumpleton3742]

Although the 2000MW stations produce 10million tonnes of CO2 annually, the use of the pulverised fuel ash displaces 5 million tonnes of CO2 produced by cement manufacture for building block production

[@quackcement]

Germany gets a third of its power from coal such as brown coal. They are ramping up coal and recently built a new coal plant in 2020, whyyy? Because they shut down all their nuclear plants

[@ImBaudits]

Too much fear mongering on nuclear and bum licking of “green” nonsense 🙃

[@davidoboyle2228]

Love your videos. But please drop all of the background music by 50% as sometimes it's difficult to discern what you're saying.

[@andrewwilson6240]

My office (ironically National Grid) looks over this power station. There is little coal left at RATS. It did run a couple of sets last Thursday. I dont expect it to do much more.

[@ImBaudits]

⁠ I went down today for a look about and get some drone shots now it’s officially closed and the security guy said they’re gonna knock it down in the next couple of years 😢 Feel free to sub and I’ll upload over the weekend when I’ve worked out the editing bit haha

[@00chips]

Great video and super informative. Music volume on this video and your previous one would benefit from stepping down a little though.

[@thedave7760]

really bad mix

[@KRFKnight]

Yes, agree music would benefit turning down.

[@mattcbinns]

The current plans for what the site is going to be used for after it’s decommissioned is quite interesting.

[@paulprescott7913]

If you look at the output stats from Ratcliffe , you will be surprised where the electricity goes. As for shutting in 2024 hmmmm.

[@jamesakrill7742]

Loved the video. Maybe look at Cottam and West Burton Power Stations before they get demolished to?

[@jimparr01Utube]

Thank you for the info. But if you could minimize or ELIMINATE the distracting background music, I - for one - would be grateful.

[@truthandfreedom8145]

Build more coal power stations 💥👍❤️🇬🇧

[@justaguyfromreddit]

Hell no

[@smorkeyyy9845]

@@justaguyfromreddit Hell yes

[@account-now-closed]

Nuclear is better

[@AngelaGiotaki]

Yesss more coal!!!!!!!

[@olivercooper1512]

Really interesting videos and great commentary. Please keep going, but please turn the music down (or better still, off!).

[@kirkhamandy]

Nice video. It's a shame you probably can't make one of these for Torness Power Station (or other nuclear power stations) as I'd like to have seen that but I think flying drones around a nuclear station is probably banned.

[@teup010]

Love it.. But background music is a bit to loud. 😮

[@richardevans6933]

Really good video, keep it up 😊🙌

[@ashdoulton2698]

I love your videos so much

[@chrise2329]

Having been past it really does dominate the area, surprised just how big it is close up.

[@virtualoriginal]

When I was flying out of EMA, we used to call these 'The Kegworth Pots'. When we saw them it was time to stop gassing and sit down. Although we probably should have already been sat down. I did on one occasion not make it to the back of the aircraft and landed stood up. Edit.. I was crew not a passenger.

[@grassytramtracks]

It feels like these days they're pretty strict about sending people back to their seats and strapping in at least 10-15 minutes before landing sounds like a pretty different time

[@grassytramtracks]

These days they're not allowed to land the plane till everybody is strapped in

[@ianspencer9837]

I worked on the turbines as a Parsons apprentice in 1967. I guess it’s like me, past my sell by date.

[@wolstenholme100]

A tribute to coal fired power stations in the UK: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3bSdWyrrdKie9E

[@thingstodoinguernseychannel]

I'm all for the environment and that, but don't get me wrong. But there's nothing better last steam. Powered power station. I think it should be left or if it does close. It should be made a national heritage site because there's not many steam engines even running nowadays in the UK If Fred was still alive, he would be horrified to see how much has gone since he has died. It's a shame

[@samrhodes6387]

What is it smoke that comes out of the cooling towers

[@martinalooksatthings]

It's water vapour ('steam'), some of the hot water pumped into them evaporates, and that cools down the water that doesn't evaporate, which is reused.

[@gerbuk]

Keep these videos coming

[@underneonloneliness2]

Keep these going. Used to see this big chimneys all the time when we went on holiday in the UK. Build more and make our electricity cheaper

[@Legomoviefan2008]

Fun fact I see this place everywhere i go in my city in the distance. My school, my field, my shopping mall. Everywhere. It’s so far away yet so huge from where I live it’s almost blue. The same colour of the sky! Jesus Christ.

[@highfields5365]

Doesnt burn any anthracite, just regular bituminous coal.

[@jeffreyhodge5564]

We will rue the day of closure of coal fired power stations ,we had the ability to produce clean coal burn but scrapped it ,Yes clean electric production must be the future but we need a strategic back up !

[@mor3nk74]

How can something so beautiful be so harmful 😞😞😞

[@martinalooksatthings]

Thankfully this one is a relic now, I'm glad I got some footage of it running before it inevitably closes

[@martynbush]

Very interesting video. But, that overpowering background music is, in my humble opinion, totally unnecessary. Keep up the good work.

[@margaretarmstrong2445]

Interesting video. I have the misfortune of living in a Renewable Energy Zone in Central West NSW Australia. I would put my hand up to have a power station such as this installed, over renewables any day. Reliable energy 24/7 would be sensational! And on a relatively small footprint of land. Maybe do a video on land requirements of one source of energy against another? There will be hundreds of square kilometres of prime agricultural land taken up with wind, solar and backup batteries for just 2GW. But then 2GW nameplate of renewables is not equal to a 2GW coal-fired power station. Onshore Wind and solar produce only around 30% of nameplate capacity on average each year combined. They are looking to install 12GW of renewables just in our region alone. There will be thousands of square kilometres utilised in this way across Australia and it will require 28,000 kilometres of new transmission lines. Countless native animals and birds will be displaced or destroyed. Thousands of truck journeys will be made each day just for the 32 major projects already in the pipeline in our region. Many of these trucks will travel the three hundred kilometre trip to and from the shipping port. Our roads are already a disgrace but with 700 wind turbines already in the planning stages at the halfway mark, the roads won't be fit to drive on. Our beautiful historic towns are popular tourist destinations, not for much longer. All this destruction for a form of energy that isn't fit for purpose. A form of energy with a short lifespan that is weather dependent and weather vulnerable. A form of energy that will always need backup, but even then cannot provide a reliable baseload power. We have a coal-fired power station not too far from where we live. It is being shut down in April of this year and is scheduled to be blown up next year. We have no replacement source of energy in place at this time. Our government doesn't have a clue about energy or the differences between the sources. They are being advised by self interested proponents of renewables who also don't have a clue about the differences between the sources of energy. We are in trouble.

[@margaretarmstrong2445]

@@ABunchOfSpanners C02 is not a pollutant, rather it's an essential element of life. Australia's C02 contribution, and I believe the UK's also is a little more than 1% of the total anthropogenic contribution of 3%. The output of C02 is therefore, at least in our case, a tiny fraction of the total anthropogenic contribution. In the total global output of 100% our contribution to C02 would barely register. If you consider C02 a problem however China emits around 30% of anthropogenic emissions, almost a third of all man-made emissions or getting close to 1% of total global emissions. Most of the wind turbines, solar panels and backup batteries utilised on the planet are now made in China. And in reference to your C02 comparison of coal and renewables, surely you don't think that there is less coal used as a result of going down the renewables track? Coal is a necessary ingredient in the manufacture of steel. Metallurgical grade coal is also an 'ingredient' in the manufacture of silicon ingots for crystalline silicon solar panels. That along with mined quartz, hardwood timber and charcoal. The manufacture of the silicon ingots requires three thermal processes, one of which requires the coal-fired furnaces to be held at 1100C for five days. After all that half of the silicon ingot is lost when sawn into silicon wafers. The wafers are then polished with acid solutions. Billions of these solar panels are being manufactured. The life cycle of renewables creates an extraordinary amount of C02 most of whichis not recorded. Mining of 82% of all mined materials, particularly coal has increased on a massive scale as a direct result of the production of 'green' infrastructure. The materials are mined in many countries across the planet and shipped around the globe to countries who are will to accept the toxic waste that comes with processing it. The processed materials are then shipped to the manufacturer where more C02 and toxic waste is created, the next step is shipping the finished product to far off destinations. Shipping today is at the highest levels of the history of the industry, it is also one of the greatest contributors to the rise in anthropogenic C02. But the contribution to C02 does not end at the port. The renewables projects here in Australia are massive. Our country will require thousands of wind turbines, billions of solar panels and and unknown quantity of backup batteries. Our particular location is three hundred kilometres from the port. Each turbine requires two heavy vehicles to transport each of the three blade as well as support vehicles. That's just for the blades. Just one project near us will have 70 to 80 heavy truck movements every day and up 130 during peak build. That's every day for the life of the project which is expected to last for three years. That doesn't include small vehicles. We have 32 projects in the planning stages at the moment and we are only just over the halfway mark of the total required infrastructure. This infrastructure is short lived, produces energy for only 30% of the time on average each year that it's capacity is reducing. It cannot exist without the backup of fossil fuels. If what I have said to you hasn't painted a more realistic picture of just how much C02 renewables are responsible for, then you need to take into consideration that it doesn't end there. At end of life it all needs to be undone and we've been told that it will likely take almost as long to take it all down as it did to put it up. More large vehicles over a long period of time. More C02, more toxic waste. You must know how big these things are. What will happen to them? They are being buried in many countries, or simply abandoned because there was never a plan for end of life. This infrastructure is being installed on prime agricultural land here in Australia. Australia has a total of only 6% arable land. Is this where this infrastructure will be buried too? Rural communities are being torn apart here. This doesn't even take into consideration the horrific humanitarian issues in regard to the production of renewables. Did you know that 40,000 children are working in the artisanal copper and cobalt mines in Africa? The adults are earning only a few dollars a day. This infrastructure is cheap off the back of slave labour and taking advantage of third world countries. Coal mines and coal-fired power plants take up a fraction of the land as opposed to renewables and provide reliable energy 24/7. They will do far less damage to the environment over their lifetime and modern HELE coal-fired have reduced emissions considerably. They also have to put up a bond towards end of life decommissioning and land rehabilitation which wind and solar are not required to do. Nuclear energy would be the way to go in reality if people really are worried about C02. They also produce far less toxic waste than renewables and produce the highest density clean and reliable energy available to man.

[@margaretarmstrong2445]

@@ABunchOfSpanners The truth doesn't come in short bytes. Listening only to propaganda is easy but you don't learn anything.

[@martin-mi3cg]

What you say is so true, but our voices won't be listened to at least in the UK. I'm afraid we are locked into a dogma of extreme climate alarmism and bullshit that's nothing to do with common sense or statistics. When we next get a proper cold winter we are in real trouble and the hideous armies of white windmills across our green and pleasant land won't help much !

[@whattodoinsalou1077]

My Dad built one of those stacks! ( not on his own obviously)

[@HOHLfmly]

don’t tear down the building that houses all the connections to the power grid. If you tear it down with permits and loss of time, three years would be $13 million. Clear the rest of the property for solar and wind turbines build a battery backup station in your can hook right up to the grid probably three years

[@AnthonySpringall]

This power station has to be available (at a minimum) for use while the Russian - Ukrainian war is continuing

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

You should do drax and sizewell B And the LNG terminals and port talbt

[@martinalooksatthings]

I'd love to cover the nuclear projects, but there's a 2 mile drone exclusion zone around them for security reasons and I don't think you can even apply for permission!

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

@@martinalooksatthings maybe UK nuclear police would offer drone footage for media purposes. But the UK has 3 LNG terminals like dragon in Wales which is important for our energy security Redcar steel remains and port Talbot are interesting industrial sites

[@RBJZ]

The amount of pollution this thing causes is insane. I’m glad they are closing it in September. Those on here who are commenting we need more please do your research.

[@bikerguychris33]

With today's technology, they can greatly reduce the pollution and emissions from a coal fired power station, one technology that particular power station has, is Selective Catalytic reduction technology which removes nitrogen oxides (NOx) from flue gas emitted by power station boilers and other combustion sources. Of course we'd all like nuclear Fusion power stations to produce 24/7 reliable electric just as coal fired ones have for a very long time, but we're decades away from the technology maturing enough for fusion power stations to be built and mainstream. Renewables, such as Solar, Wind, hydro etc... won't provide anywhere near enough power for us all, so they'll need other forms of power generation to bridge that gap, and avoid power outages and our country grinding to a halt as a result. The national grid barely manages at the best of times, we need more generation, not less. I think we need a diverse range of power generation methods/fuels, and the same with fuel as a whole, In vehicles for example, I believe that Electricity simply can't fully replace Petrol and diesel like for like, as we just can't produce enough of it in our country, Instead we need a variety of different alternative fuels, like fully Synthetic carbon neutral liquid fuels, fuels made from waste, biomass, Hydrogen, as well as electricity.

[@waynecartwright-js8tw]

yes coal ash is a problem , my grandad died in his 50s mining glorious coal. Im 59 and as my father in law worked all his life with the CEGB we watched them all go over 40 yrs.

[@aztekarchive]

If we carried on using coal our energy prices would be a fraction of what they are today. We should have had a nationalised coal company that didn’t make a penny in profit and supply it to the power stations to then be used to make power for a nationalised electricity supplier

[@xaiano794]

That fraction would be 5/2. It always amazes me how the ignorant people in these comments loudly and proudly advocate for more expensive electricity

[@aztekarchive]

@@xaiano794 here come the communists aye!

[@xaiano794]

@@aztekarchive Coal is significantly more expensive than other forms of power generation, that's why it's being phased out

[@kacperdolega8771]

Wait , So what is Drax then?

[@garyward6673]

It burns wood pellets

[@GIOGS]

Can you speak quieter, I can’t hear the music

[@martinalooksatthings]

😅👍

[@dps3346]

If this gets ploughed in 2024 were Gona have blackouts

[@whyareugay4730]

That’s the problem we need at least 3 or 4 coal power plants online to keep sufficient energy supply

[@paulnolan1352]

It’s happening. The last Coal Train ran at the end of June 2024. Labour Government now in.

[@hhdchamara]

End of an era. UK will shut down this coal-fired power plant end of this month. (2024 September)

[@ImBaudits]

Such a shame it was closed! Should’ve converted it to nuclear but instead they’re gonna knock it down ​​⁠should deffo be converted to nuclear but they’re not going to I went down today for a look about and get some drone shots now it’s officially closed and it was awesome being so close to it! Feel free to sub and I’ll upload over the weekend when I’ve worked out the editing bit haha

[@trickyd-wc7bq]

Why are we not drilling extremely deep boreholes next to thse power stations, removing the burny bits and converting them to run on geothermal energy instead of pulling them down?

[@martinalooksatthings]

I think in most (or all?) of the UK the hot stuff is too deep down for it to work

[@xaiano794]

It's too deep under Britain, under extreme pressure rock is no longer solid and acts more like toothpaste, crushing any shaft dug

[@oneplusfourfourteen]

see it from near my house slightly

[@SantoshKumari-ov2ey]

Jay shree ram ji 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🌹 Jay shree Hanuman ji 🙏🙏🙏🌹♥️

[@brianholding4357]

can;t hear over the background noise!

[@nottyash100]

I worked on the design of this station, and ferry bridge C and many others. These stations can be converted to burn Gas , but all the new owners of our country want is to make as much profit as possible to hell with all the jobs , that depend on cheap power, and heating the homes of the citizens of our country. The net zero talk has never been proved, so China carries on building coal fired plants similar to this, Also India. Both parties in Westminster are to blame for selling our national assets to foreign control, so we become slaves in our own country to the bidding of fat cat billionaires, who care nothing for the People of GB.

[@margaretarmstrong2445]

You are correct. This transition to renewables is more a transfer of wealth, as opposed to an investment in the future. The developers make their 'profits' from subsidies, our taxes. The infrastructure isn't fit for purpose and needs to be backed up so there are no further profits, just higher electricity prices. Not sure about GB but the average lifespan of commercial solar is only 21years in America, wind is less. You might be interested in my other comments.

[@nottyash100]

@@margaretarmstrong2445 looks like you and I are on the same page, my thoughts are with those sitting in one room trying to keep warm under a blanket.

[@marvintpandroid2213]

It would be fair to say that CCGT is more cost effective but both coal and gas should be kept in reserve while we turn to cleaner sources of power.

[@Kwarduk]

I’ve been hearing of concepts in the US to replace the boilers in these power stations with equally sized nuclear reactors, which would be even better, some of our power stations like Aberthaw and Fiddlers Ferry would’ve been perfect for this conversion, being next to large bodies of water, but they’re still being pulled down regardless. Alas, I do hope the three R’s are applied with West Burton when they finally get around to sticking a Fusion reactor there. Also, I wonder if those plans you worked on are within the public domain and can be accessed. I would love to see them 😊

[@functionatthejunction]

And finally this nasty thing is shutting down and Britain will at last be coal-free.

[@paulkerry69]

I hope it never closes. Its been with me all my life

[@AngelaGiotaki]

It will never close mr functionatthejunction!! Let that be a lesson to ecologists and you..

[@enriquemelendez4547]

2024

[@benfletcher6767]

Music way too loud

[@paulineclough]

It’s not the last, Drax still exits.

[@martinalooksatthings]

Drax burns biomass now, I think it's Canadian sawdust pellets

[@lewisner]

"Thanks to the ongoing energy crisis" - caused by closing coal power stations.

[@patrickcannell2258]

Doing this everywhere in the world! Green brigade madness

[@xaiano794]

Coal power is among the most expensive form of power production, it's madness that ignorant people in these comments are aggressively calling for more expensive power.

[@patrickcannell2258]

@@xaiano794 actually not. But it must be scrubbed. Per kWhr is is amongst the cheapest.

[@xaiano794]

@patrickcannell2258 are you crazy? Have you seen the cost of coal? In 2000 it was £25/ metric ton for power plants. It's almost £120 per ton. I get the distinct feeling you're basing your opinions on decades old information on the assumption that it has never changed

[@patrickcannell2258]

@xaiano794 In the UK, you are right as most of your coal mines have shut down. Most of Europe is dependent on imported coal. What needs to be understood, is any large power system does need a portion of rotating machines synchronised to stabilise it under fault conditions. That in simple terms is coal, hydro (if you have sufficient rivers), gas or nuclear. Wind and solar are inverter based. They can provide very limited reactive power for a very short duration. I am a power systems engineer. I do appreciate your comments.

[@xaiano794]

@@patrickcannell2258 I understand that and while pumped storage is ideal, Gas is far better than Coal as it does not have the long start up times (as much as a full day in older plants) Our old coal power plants were designed to run long term and with a growing wind, solar and nuclear output, that is no longer necessary and while I agree coal could perform such a reactive service, it is expensive and impractical for such a use case. Wind is by far the cheapest form of power generation currently, and while you're right that you can't base your entire grid on it, coal is the worst choice on cost, practicality, pollution and transport (a big factor often overlooked) Gas can simply be piped anywhere you need it to go.

[@petefletcher2993]

If you make a third video, please, please don't include that awful inappropriate music, it spoils an otherwise reasonable video.

[@jezcolborne6329]

What are you in about. I love this music its nice and calming

[@jezcolborne6329]

I ment on about

[@airvicemarshalsirgeorgemas2083]

Get your stock of candles in.

[@updistant705]

Interesting video ruined by unneccessary 'music'

[@RussellFineArt]

This power station must close, asap!

[@margaretarmstrong2445]

Why?

[@DefaultMale_]

I'd love for something based around my area liverpool :)), or the steel manufacturers in sheffield where i grew up!

[@surreyscouse2873]

Once B has gone but Fiddlers is still there.