Depending on Wylfa B blighting economic development

by Dr Carl Iwan Clowes FFPH
(Ynys Mon)

Ireland today has 100,000 jobs in IT and yet the Economic Development Department of Ynys Mon council are unable to say how many there are in their area.

This is a travesty in economic planning for such an important industry as, extrapolated to the population of Ynys Mon, some 1,750 jobs would be expected, more than enough to counter the closure of Wylfa in 2010.

Is there a policy for energy conservation on the island. Clearly not, but again, extrapolating from UK figures, not only could we expect to save 20% of our existing energy use but create 95 jobs in doing so.

In Germany today 250,000 people are working in the alternative energy sector. The comparable figure for the UK is 25,000. We are clearly fiddling while "Mona" burns !

The picture could be so different with appropriate leadership for here on the island we have some of the best opportunities for job creation in the alternative energy sector of anywhere in western Europe.

Those fighting for the May council elections should take note that the existing agenda for the island is blighting a sustainable future and they will need to show much more vision if we are to overcome the drift of young people away from the area and overcome the lowest GVA in the UK 53% of the national average.

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Comments for Depending on Wylfa B blighting economic development

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Sep 24, 2010

Ireland not a good example
by: Fergus O'Reilly

I see you use Ireland as an example of success. Sorry, but take a look across the Irish Sea today, and you would not want to be copying our model.

The economy is in a terrible state, and we are going to have a double dip recession.

Mar 20, 2008

Alternative Energy offers a Future
by: Anonymous

The aging Council elite have been focused on an increasingly unreliable nuclear plant inevitably moving to close-down. Let's get real about alternative enegy.

Energy from the tidal currents in the Skerries is there for the taking, with a whole new industry in Marine Current Turbines just round the corner, with jobs in engineering, manufacture, installation and export.

Vote out the past and go for the future!

Mar 20, 2008

Renewable Energy Vision for Anglesey
by: Marianne Jones

I completely agree that Ynys Mon Council suffers from a lack of vision in relationship to job creation. All its energies seem swallowed up by a fixation on another nuclear plant which 80%(local polls) of its people do not want.

Do not want! Why?

First and foremost, nobody in the world knows what to do with the radioactive waste which this industry produces and which will remain dangerous for thousands of years.

Sea levels are set to rise (melting ice, glaciers) and our nuclear power station is on the coast. There is a geological fault in the Straits which can cause earthquakes.

There are raised levels of childhood leukemia around nuclear power plants (scientifically verified).

We don't want a terrorist target sitting on our island. In the event of a nuclear accident (they still happen), we have only 2 bridges to escape across (impossible gridlock).

Furthermore, it is a lie that nuclear provides 'baseload electricity' - our plant has been shut down on several occasions - once for 18 months.

Blessed with a well educated population and huge amounts of tidal, wind and wave power, there is a big opportunity here for the invention, building of parts, and setting up of plants - jobs - using renewable energy.

Let's hope we have the vision to do so.

Mar 20, 2008

Nuclear New Build and Tidal Power the Answer
by: Neil Reed

Encouraging and supporting the alternative energy sector on Anglesey as suggested by Dr Clowes and Mr Wolff is great.

The island can attract graduates with the engineering skills and the projected increase in apprenticeships will also meet the inevitable skills gap that will develop.

However, none of this means that we don't need new nuclear as part of the UK energy mix. In fact from an employment and skills standpoint, having a new generation of nuclear power stations will be great news because it will resuscitate the natural sciences and engineering courses in our universities.

The demand will be there for graduates for the next 30 years or more and so universities can plan ahead with confidence and maybe some of the companies bidding for nuclear new build contracts can offer scholarships.

So, the bottom line is that Anglesey can pull away from having just 53% of the average UK GVA by proceeding with new nuclear build and other renewables such as tidal energy, as piloted by MCT Limited in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland and now off Skerries, Anglesey.

Wind would not be the answer because it does not address the crucial baseload electricity supply like nuclear and to a lesser extent tidal power.

Mar 20, 2008

Huge worldwide demand for wind turbines
by: Gerry Wolff

Yes, in addition to the many opportunities in IT, renewable energy is exploding around the world.

Wind power is growing so fast that it has created a worldwide shortage of wind turbines. With a little imagination and leadership, this would be a great opportunity for employment on Anglesey. It is the kind of relatively clean light engineering that would go well on Anglesey.

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