FROM BATTERSEA TO THE CLEAN AIR ACTS. TRANSITION TO ELECTRIC POWER LOCAL INDUSTRY Wolverhampton.
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Transcript of FROM BATTERSEA TO THE CLEAN AIR ACTS. TRANSITION TO ELECTRIC POWER LOCAL INDUSTRY Wolverhampton.
FROM FROM BATTERSEABATTERSEA
TO THETO THE CLEAN AIR ACTS CLEAN AIR ACTS
TRANSITION TRANSITION TOTO ELECTRIC POWER ELECTRIC POWER LOCAL INDUSTRYLOCAL INDUSTRY
Wolverhampton
Barton A 1923 Barton A 1923 (Manchester Corporation)(Manchester Corporation)
Electric Lighting Act 1888/1909Reduced restrictions and LAs as generators
Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 National grid
Barton A “scorching hedges and fruit trees”
Barton A 1923 Barton A 1923 (Manchester Corporation)(Manchester Corporation)
Manchester CorporationElectricity generation gave smoke but their duties arose under the Man. Corp. Act 1914
House of Lords (1929/1930)Overturned decision: cannot rely on
statutory powers to excuse a nuisance
Shock! A decision of
great moment
BATTERSEA ABATTERSEA A
London Power Company used 1926 Act Consent given in 1927 Shock!
POLLUTION WORRY FROM OUTSETPOLLUTION WORRY FROM OUTSET
Could attach conditions (1927) Chimney heights Gas washing Not practical to revoke consent
“This will kill every green thing within two miles of Battersea, rot all the buildings and bleach all the babies.”
G. Fry Prime Minister’s personal secretary
HEADLINES 1929HEADLINES 1929
FAILURE TO FORSEE A DEPLORABLE STEP SULPHUR CLOUD BUILDING IN SPITE OF
PROTEST SUNLIGHT AND SMOKE OUTPOURINGS OF GREAT
CHIMNEYS BATTERSEA’S FOLLY
ALARM THE SITE GAS WASHING FUMES
MENACE NOXIOUS GAS FUME STATION
““BUILDING IN SPITE OF PROTEST”BUILDING IN SPITE OF PROTEST”
Steel-framed building with brickwork hung from the outside, similar to US skyscrapers
Construction 1929-1939 Station B 1953-55 Four-chimney layout
HEADLINES 1934HEADLINES 1934
POWER SMOKE WITHOUT FUMES A RIVERSIDE NOCTURNE BIGGEST POWER STATION IN THE WORLD THE GIANT ROBOT OF BATTERSEA POWER INDUSTRY’S SMOKE BECOMES BEAUTIFUL
OVERCOMING PROTESTOVERCOMING PROTEST
“the building was too large and would be an eyesore, and those who were worried about the pollution. Ignoring the latter, the company addressed the former by hiring Sir Giles Gilbert Scott”
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
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10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1927 1937 1947 1957 1967 1977 1987
COMPLAINTS GRAPHCOMPLAINTS GRAPH
PLANNING STAGE
WW2
CONSTRCTION AND SMOKE ABATEMENT STUDIES
CLOSURE
WARTIMEWARTIME
a clear landmark for the bombers of the Luftwaffe
TEMPLE OF POWERTEMPLE OF POWER
Art Deco control room Italian marble turbine hall Polished parquet floors Wrought iron staircases
Fluted white smoke stacks
Turbine Hall as nave
Architects Journal 1939 celebrities vote it their 2nd favourite building
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITIONPHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION
SYMBOL OF PRIDE and MODERNTYSYMBOL OF PRIDE and MODERNTY
BIGGEST POWER STATION IN THE WORLD
THE GIANT ROBOT OF BATTERSEA
STATION B 1953-55STATION B 1953-55
1952 fog Scrubbing success/failure
PAINTEDPAINTED
PHOTOGRAPHEDPHOTOGRAPHED
ICONIC STATUSICONIC STATUS
Pink Floyd Animals 1977
SongbookAlbum cover
The Who Quadrophenia (1973)
Hitomi Yaida The First Reflection (2001)
Also:The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld and Les Claypool's Frog Brigade's Live Frogs
ICONIC STATUSICONIC STATUS
Sir Ian McKellen 1995 film version of Richard III used the Battersea PS as a backdrop
…also Alfred Hitchcock Sabotage (1936)Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life
CLOSURECLOSURE 1975 Station A (out of date) was shut down Public pressure to save the buildings,
notably Station A's Deco interior. 1980 declared a heritage site 1983 production in Station B ended Plans to construct a
theme park in 1988 folded
SYMBOL OF COMMUNITYSYMBOL OF COMMUNITY
DECOMMISIONING DECOMMISIONING ANDAND DESTRUCTION DESTRUCTION
Battersea Power Station has been standing mute defying that fate and death… its rebirth and the removal of a major central London area of blight … would re-energise this part of town
MORE PLANS (2004)MORE PLANS (2004)
24-hour destination- cinema, bars, cafes and shops
750 new flats twisted like ribbon building to create a
"spectacular portal to the site"
IRONYIRONY
Inversion of protest The grid and relocation The loss of urban power-stations
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LONDON SMOG OF 1952
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1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
0 5 10 15
SmokeSO2
g m-3
December air pollution at County Hall
WEEKLY DEATH RATE IN LONDON ADMINISTRATIVE COUNTY 1952
0
1000
2000
3000
DeathsSMOG WEEK
MECHANISMS OF FOG FORMATIONClassically related to
sulfuric acid formation HSO3
- + ½O2 SO4
= + H+
catalysed by dissolved iron
neutralised by calcium
New work considers humic like polycarboxylic acids
hygroscopic
surface active
Yousef Otaibi Talib Latif UEA
GREAT SMOG and GREAT SMOG and PUBLIC IMAGESPUBLIC IMAGES
Cancelled buses, football Animals suffering Lost on the way home
CRIMINALS IN THE ’52 SMOGCRIMINALS IN THE ’52 SMOG
Tiger in the Smoke (1952) Lady in the Fog (1952)
Newspapers incorrectly reported increased crime…
KRAY BROTHERSKRAY BROTHERS
Grateful for the fogs spent the early1950's dodging the Army
Normally crime increased in fogs,
… but in 1952 the Great Smog rendered London virtually crime free
David Bailey
OUTCOME OUTCOME as everyone knows...as everyone knows...
Beaver Committee Private Member’s Bill (Nabarro) Clean Air Act (1956)
How many died? What was the role of SO2?
but...but...
FACTS-FACTIONS-FICTIONSFACTS-FACTIONS-FICTIONS MacMillan
(Housing) Gasmasks Mass Graves Delayed
response
Conspiracy and cover up- driven by fading social memory??
CONCEALING THE DEATHSCONCEALING THE DEATHS
Contemporary analysis was fairly immediate…but
Influenza and longer term impacts
FACTS-FACTIONS-FICTIONSFACTS-FACTIONS-FICTIONS
Deaths Battersea
Re-analysis… can be problematicalRe-analysis… can be problematical
CLEAN AIR ACT (1956) CLEAN AIR ACT (1956) SUCCESS OR FAILURESUCCESS OR FAILURE
Need historic measurements
EARLY MEASUREMENTSEARLY MEASUREMENTS
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25
50
75
100
1700 1800 1900
Fog-daysModel SO2
Day/annum
g m-3 400
200
LONDON FOG and AIR POLLUTION
INNOVATION and IMAGINATIONINNOVATION and IMAGINATION
What was wrong with the smoke clauses of the Public Health Act (1936 )?
Challenges personal freedom by controlling what people could burn in their own homes
"chimney of any building..."
STRUCTURE OF THE ACTSTRUCTURE OF THE ACT
Many clauses PHA (1936) 6 CAA (1956) > 40
Detail in memoranda chimney heights smoke control areas industrial premises
Compare with EC/96/62 Air Quality Monitoring and Management Directive
DOUBTSDOUBTS
Not enough smokeless fuel...
CLEAN AIR ACT (1956) CLEAN AIR ACT (1956) SUCCESS OR FAILURESUCCESS OR FAILURE
Domestic transitions
Smokeless fuels Slow uptake of
smokeless zones in some areas
Failure to address SO2
Declining smoke and SO2 – even outside smokeless zones
IMPACT OF CAA(1956)IMPACT OF CAA(1956)
Regulated smoke not SO2
Applied in “Black” areas Implementaton often delayed
CAA(1956) CAA(1956) AFFECTS OUR CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAFFECTS OUR CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENT
Personal freedom and the automobile congestion charges “public transport will never
cope…” buses make pollution
worse school runs - less than one
in 10 parents believe public transport can get their children to school
Bonfires in gardens Regulation of indoor spaces and furnishings
The world and London has changed – PM, winter NO2, summer ozone
CAA(1956) incorporated into CAA(1993)
Iconic status
CHANGE CHANGE IN IN
LONDONLONDON
THE BIG SMOKE THE BIG SMOKE AND LONDONAND LONDON
I desired to know what brought him so far from the big smoke
The Cruise of the Cachalot
Cleaning up the Big Smoke: Livingstone plans to cut carbon emissions by 60%· Londoners given 20-year target to go green· Flights could drastically affect success of campaign
The Guardian, February 27 2007