My thoughts and comments based my research into this and other similar projects in other places. Offering some alternative views to the Peak Cluster corporate "Glossy Designed Flyers and Brochures" that hide the full effects of this ludicrous project.
I am NOT a climate change denier and do understand something has to change. But just storing it under the sea is not a real answer. Can you imagine the billions of pounds of taxpayer’s contributions that are going to be spent on this unproven technology and the damage to our landscape and lives and problem CO2 is NOT going away!. This money could be used to find alternative uses for this waste "dirty" CO2. We are supposed to be nation of inventors and our only option is to bury it under the sea
Wirral, Cheshire and Derbyshire DO NOT want this destruction of our countryside and coastline.
- We say NO to The Peak Cluster Project. We say No to a Co2 Pipeline through beautiful countryside of the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire and Derbyshire.
- We say NO to the Above Ground Installations (AGI) compression sites/facilities being built along the pipeline
and on the "protected" SSSI coast of the unique Wirral Peninsula and in countryside of Cheshire and Derbyshire. - We say NO to the cost and burden on the tax payer of this poorly thought out project.
Net Zero. This project is NOT Net Zero in "my opinion" as the carbon dioxide is not being reduced, it is just being pumped from far away and hidden under the seabed for
future generations (our children) to deal with later. There are disastrous future consequences if it leaks/seeps out from under the sea by Seismic action, decay of the pipes or valves etc.
It is however an ecological disaster NOW with the 30 metre wide scar of destruction of "green belt" countryside and the devastation to animal habitats along the entire path of this pipeline.
Destruction of ancient forests, woodlands, meadows and moorland, loss of historic footpaths, way stones, stiles and gates that make walking in our British countryside such a unique pleasure for all.
Damage to the Wirral including Cheshire and Derbyshire. The construction of this pipeline will need to create 30 to 100 metre wide work and access areas along the entire route. Can you just imagine the total devastation this will cause. This project will create an ecological scar the width of another M53 Motorway right down the middle of the Wirral Peninsula and across Cheshire and into Derbyshire. Also a huge monstrosity of an industrial sized compression and pumping station (an AGI) on our northern coastline; as our King once said “a carbuncle on a well loved building” and in our case the coastal country park. The middle of the Wirral is our only fully Green Belt of dales, heath land and agriculture, a home to diverse animal habitats in woodlands hedgerows fields and ponds; a place of peaceful leisure and relaxation for the population and visitors of the Wirral alike. This pipeline will destroy the very essence of this area and beyond. Other AGI's are also required in Cheshire (Willaston) and along the route to keep the pressure up in the pipe. More places of weakness and potential leaks of CO2 into the environment.
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The Peak Cluster CO2 pipeline is designed with a diameter of approximately 24–36 inches (61–91 cm), (according to Peak Cluster and Butcher & Barlow LLP). This underground pipeline will transport captured
carbon dioxide from industrial sites in the Peak District and Staffordshire to undersea storage.
Construction requires a working corridor roughly 30 meters wide, (according to Peak Cluster and Butcher & Barlow LLP).
Peak Clusters promise to restore the landscape to “better than before"; I find totally unacceptable and insulting to our environment! You cannot replace ancient trees, hedges and shrubs with saplings!
Animal habitats cannot be restored or historic effects be repaced or put back as they were. Once the topography of the land has been changed it’s changed forever. Trees cannot be re-planted along the
pipeline as the roots will effect or damage the pipe below the surface.
We like our countryside the way it is NOW. This cannot be allowed to happen!
Cost.We believe the millions (maybe billions) of pounds of money being spent on this "unproven" project could be better invested in reducing CO2 at source, such as grants to industry
to be used for the development of “zero” Co2 emissions, making this project totally irrelevant. There are also plans to offer the seabed storage to other countries to dispose of their CO2.
We are becoming a dumping ground for all!!! Wirral has no intention of being the "Exhaust Pipe of Europe".
Who says it cannot be done. Think again:
China succeeds transforming co₂ and water into fuel.
Employment Opportunities. The idea of the Wirral benefiting from future employment in this sector is ludicrous! Once this project is completed who is needed locally for an underground pipe! The AGI’s will most likely be automated and remotely monitored with need only for some on site security. Not exactly a fix for local unemployment, we only see local employment Losses as tourism and leisure industries are hit by this project.
Health Risks. CO2 is not toxic in small quantities but if a large leak or rupture, the liquid CO2 will condense into CO2 gas and this is a heavy gas so it will linger in low areas as an invisible cloud. It is gas that will suffocate living creatures in its path by depleting the oxygen in that area. Think of housing, schools, elderly care homes and animals close to the pipes path. There have been accidents and incidents in other countries where people have been hospitalised and even lives lost eg: Sataria Accident. If it escapes from the seabed storage or the underwater pipe it will kill sea life in that area and cause devastation to the fishing industries.
Comments I hear a lot of people saying about the pipeline itself, "it's only a gas pipe, there are lots underground already". Well, this is not an ordinary pipe, let's just look at the dimensions:
As already mentioned above:
So I created this image below to show the CO2 pipe size are considerably larger than the pipes we see CADENT using to replace our aging network of pipes for domestic gas supply.
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So as you see the Peak Cluster CO2 pipe at its largest size is almost over twice the diameter of our domestic gas distribution pipes! So it's not just another gas pipe!!
This why such a huge work area is needed creating such destruction to the countryside and the enviroment!
If the CO2 escapes from a leak or a rupture it will form an asphyxiating cloud very fast.
Please sign one of the petitions against this project at the links below There are also Facebook action groups in various area you can also join to keep in touch.
Links to petitions:
