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manyMickle |
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Countering Climate Change using Industrial Revolution Infrastructure |
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manyMickle |
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Countering Climate Change using Industrial Revolution Infrastructure |
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Poundlock (visible) |
In October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report, which concluded that humanity had 12 years in which to act if we are to avoid hurtling towards the tipping point where climate change becomes inevitable, catastrophic and irreversible. On 2nd May 2019, the United Kingdom Government declared a Climate Emergency, setting a target for the UK to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050. In doing so, it acknowledged that urgent action is needed if we are to avoid increased flash flooding, water shortages and droughts, more frequent and extreme wildfires, increased air and water pollution and more damage to wildlife and its habitats.
Since then, COVID-19 chased country after country into lockdown. On the one hand, the slowdown gave the environment much-needed breathing space. The reduction in air pollution meant that the Himalayas were visible from the Indian and Pakistani plains for the first time in thirty years; the water of the Grand Canal in Venice became clear enough for the fish to be visible. This had a knock-on effect on public health – improvements in air quality led to a drop in deaths from conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease (Research by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air). But the lockdown also crippled global economies and the promise of a “green recovery” has faltered in the face of a cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine putting pressure on energy supplies.
We’re now 5 years into that 12 years we had to save the world….the time to act is now.
On 1st August 2019 heavy rain raised water levels in the Toddbrook Reservoir near Whaley Bridge, to dangerous levels, damaging the structure of the dam and putting homes downstream at risk. Chinook helicopters flew aggregate in to shore up the dam walls, whilst a portable pumping system returned the water to safe levels. The cost of the helicopters alone was reportedly £32m, which was borne by the UK Government.
And manyMickle was born.
Imagine a renewable energy source which is not dependent on the whim of the weather or the turning of the tides. Unlike a coal- or gas-fired power plant, it does not require time to ramp up or ramp down, but can be deployed on demand, at the flick of a switch. It has no visual impact on the natural beauty of the landscape. And to add a pleasing pinch of poetry, it uses infrastructure built to facilitate the Industrial Revolution that kick-started climate change in the first place.
No single organisation is going to resolve the climate emergency. It calls for the compound effect of myriad small changes effected by businesses and governments worldwide. Likewise, MML’s contribution to the solution is made up of many microgeneration sites which together contribute the equivalent generation output of a modest gas-fired power station.
manyMickle has devised and developed a portfolio of technology including renewable energy generation, power storage and hydrogen production providing a route to decarbonisation for which we have been granted a UK patent (GB2590799).
This is a micro-hydro solution which generates electricity using the head of water of a pound lock in the canal system. The differentiator between manyMickle technology and existing micro-hydro schemes is that all of our infrastructure is located underground, leaving only a service hatch visible on the surface. This means that there is no impact either on the natural beauty of the area (preserving it for leisure use) or on the existing pound lock structures which are grade II listed and an important part of our industrial heritage.
This solution would see the construction of a chamber within a natural or man-made body of water containing a turbo-generator to produce electricity. Adverse visual impact to the natural environment is avoided, either by the sympathetic use of vegetation planted on the top of the structure to give the appearance of an island where the cofferdam extends above the water level, or by completely submerging the structure.
The canal system requires low speed current flow to be maintained to combat stagnation. Many canals branch off rivers which provide natural current. Reservoirs provide the flow to feed the canal where required due to the topography or lack of adjoining river. manyMickle will implement small-scale hydro installations to generate electricity from the water required to maintain the current flow in the canal system.
This innovation produces electricity each time the tap is turned on, an appliance uses water, or a loo is flushed, by using mains pressure to drive a turbo generator. Ideally, the system is paired with solar and an energy storage solution to reduce the carbon footprint of properties.
The creation of a virtual lock provides a micro-pumped energy storage scheme implemented adjacent to any body of water which can be augmented with electrolysis for hydrogen production. An additional benefit of this invention is that it could be used to relieve upstream flooding in emergency.
The public is enthusiastic about the principle of progress towards renewable and sustainable energy sources, but when a move towards greener energy calls for infrastructure which is damaging to local ecosystems, or mars a previously pristine landscape, this enthusiasm frequently falters. And rightly so.
manyMickle’s technology is designed with as much care for the immediate vicinity of its installations as it has for the wider environment. Each of its solutions is intended to be hidden beneath the ground or landscaped to complement its intended location so that it will appear always to have been there. The images above beautifully demonstrates how we can hide infrastructure with only a small service hatch visible as a clue that there is something below ground.