''Dreams of Power''

‘‘Dreams of Power’’

Peter Dowling

09006043 We as architects tend to avoid the question of the act of building, the motion of machines the action of cranes, the force of trucks and the labour of people, in this act we manipulate nature to fit our needs as a society to make the spaces in which we live. In the image above the artist is portraying a world free of fossil fuels it is a speculation based on an alternate history where the industrial revolution as we know it never happened, to me it begins to demonstrate the spatial implications of power in this world. We live in a time where energy is a real concern and has a future which is relatively uncertain.

. 1 ‘’you can’t change anything without expending energy’’

Fundamental to all life is the provision of energy, in our biosphere this comes fundamentally from our sun, evolution was fuelled by this reliable steady source over hundreds of millions of years. From the simple organisms which first perfected the process of photosynthesis in our oceans, the precursor to the evolution of trees and plant life that in turn provided energy in to the entire animal kingdom underpinning food chains both at land and at sea.

Humanity first as a hunter gatherer and later as early agrarian societies also depended on this steady then mysterious source of energy, settlements appearing around systems of collective farming, and tribes existing within the natural systems of forests as hunter gatherers. The scales of these societies were essentially determined by their ability to reliably extract resources from nature (this limited earlier growth). These earliest of societies often fell victim to their acute reliance on natural systems; despite this the relative stability facilitated the accumulation of knowledge.

by the time of the roman empire humanity's ability to adapt had begun to take effect, the romans learning from other civilisations that came before them attained a new mastery over nature tapping the power of water flows on a large scale for the first . ‘’YOU are probably reading this on a piece of ex-tree. Felled by a petrol-guzzling time allowing them to develop a more steady supply of food and water to their chainsaw, it was carted to a paper mill in a diesel-powered truck. Or perhaps these growing capital, advancements in transport (roads) allowed the empire to grow to sentences are on a tablet, with plastic components that started life as crude oil, and stable at a scale never seen before its scale capable firstly of supporting its capital, a metal smelted with coke produced from the tar sands of Canada. Either way, the city of one million people. words are probably lit with electricity from a coal-fired power station. Maybe you are even sipping wine, grown with fertiliser made using natural gas, in a glass created in In a way rome itself was the pinnacle of renewable civilisation, food shipped or 1 carted from the corners of the empire to feed the burgeoning capital a city powered an oil-fired furnace.’’ by nothing but the sun the air and the earth, over time for various reasons the roman empire eventually collapsed and with it the city of Rome also became but a spectre ! ! 1. Le Page, Michael . "What would a world without fossil fuels look like?." New Scientist 219, no. 2291 (2014): 10. 1. Le Page, Michael . "What would a world without fossil fuels look like?." New Scientist 219, no. 2291 (2014): 10. 2. Mumford, Lewis. The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 2. Mumford, Lewis. The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 1961. 3. Mumford, Lewis. "Technics of Agglomeration." In The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New 3. Mumford, Lewis. "Technics of Agglomeration." In The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: 3.Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 457. York: 3.Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 457. 4. Hawking, S. W.. "Our Future Star Trek Or Not." In The universe in a nutshell. New York: Bantam Books, 2001. 158. 4. Hawking, S. W.. "Our Future Star Trek Or Not." In The universe in a nutshell. New York: Bantam Books, 2001. 158.

‘’The dirt roads, the sail-power, the horse-power of the eotechnic transportation system had favoured a dispersal of the population: within the region, there were many points of equal advantage. But the relative weakness of the steam locomotive, which could not easily climb a grade steeper than two feet in a hundred, tended to 2 concentrate new industrial centres on the coal beds and in the connecting valleys’’

With this change in power source, the nature of production also shifted, steam worked best on a large scales as a result large scale production began to take over from the small scale, and a shift from local individual production to large scale operations functioning on a national level. The resultant economy was plentiful with resources which helped to nurture rapid technological development. Machines powered by coal heated steam ultimately replaced horse and river, coke refined steel became plentiful and began to revolutionise engineering and ultimately architecture, creating the structures and infrastructure needed to facilitate the rapid development ahead.

‘’In the last two hundred years, population growth has become exponential; that is, the population grows by the same percentage each year. Currently, the rate is about 1.9% a year. That may not sound like very much, but it means that the world population doubles every forty years. Other measures of technological development in recent times are electricity consumption and the number of scientific articles. They 3 too show exponential growth, with doubling times of less than forty years ‘’ while initially those who benefited from the industrial revolution, were those who existed at the top of the social order, over time the advantages of mass ! industrial production began to seep down to the masses, access to goods was increased which cheaper goods being accessible on a large scale, left The emergence of Britain as the world’s first industrial power (in a modern sense), was the first of the fledgling nation-states to take advantage of coal as a power surpluses facilitated rapid technological advancement, machinery became source, this relates to its limited land resources. As an island nation, its quantity of available which expedited agricultural processes, great transport systems forestry and large dam able rivers in by the 18th century according to the historian developed which began to make the world a smaller place. Rolf Sieferle were coming under strain with the growing requirements of metallurgy The age of the telegraph and early electrification furthered this process, and and food production respectively (and transport). ultimately the development of the internet and spaceflight demonstrate to us ‘’In Britain during the late 18th century some streams were so dammed up that no the contemporary of this globalising effect of surplus energy both physically 1 and abstractly, today we can communicate globally almost instantaneously, fresh power could be squeezed out of them’’ just as the international space station physically whirls around the earth at Timely technological developments in steam technology and the use of coke in the inconceivable speeds. production of steel began to erode the nation's relationship with its rivers and forests as a means of power and transport, this in the form of the railroad and the factory ! ! 1. Le Page, Michael . "What would a world without fossil fuels look like?." New Scientist 219, no. 2291 (2014): 10. 1. Le Page, Michael . "What would a world without fossil fuels look like?." New Scientist 219, no. 2291 (2014): 10. 2. Mumford, Lewis. The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 2. Mumford, Lewis. The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 1961. 3. Mumford, Lewis. "Technics of Agglomeration." In The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New 3. Mumford, Lewis. "Technics of Agglomeration." In The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: 3.Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 457. York: 3.Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 457. 4. Hawking, S. W.. "Our Future Star Trek Or Not." In The universe in a nutshell. New York: Bantam Books, 2001. 158. 4. Hawking, S. W.. "Our Future Star Trek Or Not." In The universe in a nutshell. New York: Bantam Books, 2001. 158.

5. Mumford, Lewis. "The Invisible City ." In The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: 5. Mumford, Lewis. "The Invisible City ." In The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 565. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 565. We have evolved from a world of steam driven machinery to a world of ‘’Imperius woke his eyes straining in the morning sun, which burst into his quarters electricity, in the majority of our plants material is burned and changed into illuminating his surroundings, the light reflecting off a passing cloud though the energy which is distributed via the electricity network dense lattice work of grids and girders which kept him seemingly afloat an almost unknowable distance from the ground below, he had been working late the previous This unifies the efforts of the individual components into a system that delivers night on designs for a new collection that he and his subgroup had so fervently the energy required to industry and the individual simultaneously in a way conceived only weeks ago, today the designs would be made public and he arose making energy universally accessible from his bedding eagerly to see what feedback had been received, hardly yet dressed he sat down to his console and quickly requested his particular thread, ‘’Each unit in this system has a certain degree of self-sufficiency and self- tapping into the ever present unsleeping masses that had been working while had direction, equal to ordinary occasions. But by being linked together, the power peacefully slept, he flicked through the thousands of variations that had spawned so stations form a whole system whose parts, through relatively independent, can far presented in any medium imaginable, enthusiasts had been making their opinions upon demand work as a whole, and make good what is lacking in any known about the work, the feedback was vast, some of the examples were purely 4 personal twists on the design, others were simply brilliant unforeseeable alterations, particular area ‘’ he had come to expect this, a billion attentive minds could never be silenced, he knew that the prototyping had probably begun already in the workshops below, under ! the watchful eyes of Helena (a member of his subgroup and a renowned Today our computerised society harnesses power with a networked approach, seamstress) the apprentices would have picked already their favourite variations and it is a network based largely on centralised dedicated stations which generate began producing them, the atmosphere on these days was normally electric, materials produced from the Aeroponic and industrial bays would arrive to the energy on a huge scale, these larger plants are still fuelled largely by non- workshops instantaneously and in with the input of person and machine alike would renewable sources turbines are still pushed by steam although now the bring life to the images dimensions and abstractions on his mere console screen. physical process takes place far from the workers who utilise its potential. In a future possibly without fossil fuels we are not assured yet of such an Imperius quickly departed his quarters into the main space, a vast vertical hall, arrangement. illuminated at its heart by the nexus which glowed with a warmly, rhythmically pulsating as materials and resources flowed through it, the lifeblood of the colony. For example in a renewable world, without the centralising effect of fossil-fuels as he spiralled down through the city the clang of construction rang out high above settlement/industrial patterns could again disperse as our reliance on natural jaunting and reassuring, the hiss of pans and the chatter of crowds bombarded his systems returns Without the ability to dominate surrounding resources senses as he drew ever nearer to his destination, the energy of the place undemocratically as Rome did, large cities as we know them could face compounding the urgency he felt. extinction, or perhaps our rapid development will find alternative solutions which continue us on our current trajectory. In the text below I am attempting Breathless he paused momentarily and looked outwards past the steel and to explore such a future, one where society has utterly separated from the commotion of the colony, the horizon was visible now the sun hung lazily in the midday sky and a seemingly endless forest swayed gently below , it brought peace natural systems of the earth, existing in its own closed artificial eco system. to his heart.’’ ! ! ! Empire of the sun ! the sun is the heart of our solar system, all action and potential seen so far on earth (except the tides) has come ultimately from the energy emitted from its fusion core, ! the rain falls the winds blow forests and algae form all under the motherly gaze of our sun. ! This is not a one sided affair however, like reactors on our terra firma the sun also exposes our earth to potentially deadly forces, strong solar winds consistent of 1. Le Page, Michael . "What would a world without fossil fuels look like?." New Scientist 219, no. 2291 (2014): 10. 2. Mumford, Lewis. The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, deadly charged particles are regularly hurled at our little planet.. However we are not 1961. 3. Mumford, Lewis. "Technics of Agglomeration." In The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New defenceless, within our own core lie decaying radioactive elements which shift York: 3.Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 457. molten metals generating our magnetosphere, which in the form the light of the 4. Hawking, S. W.. "Our Future Star Trek Or Not." In The universe in a nutshell. New York: Bantam Books, 2001. 158.

5. Mumford, Lewis. "The Invisible City ." In The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961. 565. ! aurora borealis, deflects these deadly rays from our planet allowing life as we know it to develop unaffected by our potentially deadly sun. our earth is powered by the sun high beyond the sky, distant but intimately connected, our technology is largely powered by our yellow star the food we eat the fuels we burn the wind water and light we attempt to capture and harness are all relatable back to this one phenomena in the sky a giant gravity lead fusion reaction that drives everything on our planet. that was until the success of the Manhattan project, when for the first time we as a species tapped true cosmic power, emulating (admittedly in a limited way) the workings of our most essential sun, we took basic elements and converted them for the first time into pure (sort of ) energy, our artifice beginning to grip the most fundamental of forces in a potentially applicable way, it awed and terrified us as the energy seemed untameable wild and profoundly dangerous, with it we made weapons so terrifying, that global conflict became futile, with nations now capable of bringing such forces to bear that utter annihilation would be the most likely outcome, as a result we coveted this power reserving the majority of its potential for military purposes. today we exist in a context where natural systems are beginning to buckle under the weight of a population that is both rapidly developing and growing, putting pressure not only on our water systems food production and earth based energy resources but also spatially in terms of what nature can provide as habitable land, proponents of renewable energy suggests a society in which we embrace these natural systems and live in harmony with them to master the suns energy as it reaches earth growing our dependency on the very natural systems that we by our presence are destroying that we slow down our civilising of the world in the name of concepts such as sustainability and renewable energy, that our dizzying pace of progress over the last one hundred years will spell the end of us, this has become representative in architecture in very evident forms, strange ideological complex efficient structures that attempt to have ‘zero impact’ on the environment, they largely come into being in a hybrid way, generally ultimately dependent on fossil fuels when implemented on any large scale. we do this with the promise that renewable technology is improving and will finally give us the answers that we crave, but as architects we tend to ignore the fact entirely that as a civilisation our understanding of the basic physical principles of the universe are also improving.... our understanding of high energy reactions have been developing parallel to this, a thread which would suggest another future for mankind that is rarely explored or considered, one where we secede from the empire of the sun. ! ! ! ! ! ! In relation to those notions of power and its impact on society (the project Ard Na Crusha is interesting in relation in this context as it exempliﬁes the drive of a nation to tap natural resources in order to facilitate modernisation and independence in terms of energy, this scheme both nationally and environmentally also, demonstrates the exponential growth in energy requirements which has occurred over the past century, architecturally more than just a plant it embodied a lot of the hope of the new state and represented the progress and hope which the newly formed state was to embody.!

The hydro electric facility located at Ard Na Crusha on the course of Irelands largest river the Shannon is interesting in relation to this discussion, it embodied the ﬂedgling free state’s efforts to electrify our largely rural island, tapping the mighty Shannon through one of the most elaborate pieces of engineering the island had ever seen, over twenty years it remained at the heart of a rapidly expanding grid that would eventually provide energy to the entirety of the country it was much more than mere infrastructure but a Monument to progress and the capability of the new state.!

At the time of the early days of the free state, access to electricity remained restricted to a few urban centres throughout the country where power was produced locally using gas and coal fired turbines , the benefits of the electrical age were far out of reach for the majority of 2 the islands hydroelectric rural population. ! works including a railway from the Limerick docks to the site The head race canal key to the operation of the facility extended for over 10 kilometres its construction required the The Shannon scheme as we know it was the brain child of civil engineer Thomas movement of over 7.6 million cubic meters of soil and 1.2 million cubic meters of rock, in McLaughlin, an employee at the large German engineering firm Siemens , while proposals addition to this bridges and sluices also had to be constructed to accommodate the changed to tap the Shannon as a source of electrical power dated back to the 1880’s this was the first river. At its height the works of the Shannon hydro electric scheme would have been an to be seriously pursued, with the backing from Siemens he approached the Irish government impressive sight, during the final year of its construction the works received over quarter of a at the end of 1923, the scope of the scheme was tremendous for the newly formed state, the 1 million visitors. ! first stage alone was to cost to the tune of five million pounds, a fifth of the governments budget at the time to be invested in a project that which provided far in excess of what the At the time of its competition the Shannon scheme was the largest project of its type in the state required, despite this the Dail (Parliament) ratified the Shannon electricity act in 1925 world ( to be superseded by the hoover dam), It was recognised internationally as a great and soon after construction commenced ! engineering achievement for the country and a testament to the decisiveness and political will of the Irish free state,! The physical construction of Shannon hydro electrical scheme took place on a massive scale, over a what was to be a three and a half year period, and involving thousands of ‘’Four half a century the country under the British regime toyed with the suggestion of workers, the remote location required the importation of specialised plant and expertise harnessing the Shannon. The British are a hardheaded and practical folk, but they jibbed at from Germany, much infrastructure also had to be built in order to accommodate these such a venture. Then the Free State came into being, and ardent untried administrators,

1. ‘’Building of the Month - June 2009 Ardnacrusha Generating Station, BALLYKEELAUN Td., County Clare’’ http:// 1. ‘’Building of the Month - June 2009 Ardnacrusha Generating Station, BALLYKEELAUN Td., County Clare’’ http:// www.buildingsoﬁreland.ie/Surveys/Buildings/BuildingoftheMonth/Archive/Name,1405,en.html www.buildingsoﬁreland.ie/Surveys/Buildings/BuildingoftheMonth/Archive/Name,1405,en.html

2. “History of the Esb” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/history.jsp 2. “History of the Esb” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/history.jsp

3. ‘’The Quiet Revolution’’ http://www.esbelectricmail.com/_archives/em_archive/archives/index8cbb.html?id=110&cat=1 3. ‘’The Quiet Revolution’’ http://www.esbelectricmail.com/_archives/em_archive/archives/index8cbb.html?id=110&cat=1

4. ‘’Shannon Electricity act 1925’’ http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1925/en/act/pub/0026/index.html 4. ‘’Shannon Electricity act 1925’’ http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1925/en/act/pub/0026/index.html

5. ‘’Nuclear energy back on table as Pat Rabbitte eyes ‘future fuel mix’ ‘’ http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/nuclear-energy-back-on- 5. ‘’Nuclear energy back on table as Pat Rabbitte eyes ‘future fuel mix’ ‘’ http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/nuclear-energy-back-on- table-as-pat-rabbitte-eyes-future-fuel-mix-30268022.html table-as-pat-rabbitte-eyes-future-fuel-mix-30268022.html

6. “ESB MONEYPOINT POWER STATION” http://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/power-stations-pdfs/ 6. “ESB MONEYPOINT POWER STATION” http://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/power-stations-pdfs/ ESB_MONEYPOINT_POWER_STATION.pdf?v=20141216 ESB_MONEYPOINT_POWER_STATION.pdf?v=20141216

The architecture of the completed generating hall and attached structures retained a strong German character the building ultimately a product of German engineering and expertise built by a company with ambitions in the area of developing hydroelectric power, and after its completion it was used as a precedent for similar hydroelectric schemes elsewhere in the world, ! it Is today recognised as one of the major engineering achievements of the 20th century and its far reaching impact give one the impression that it was much more than a piece of infrastructure but also a representation of irish national will and the ingenuity.!

With its ﬁrst stage alone the Ard Na Crusha plant generated the equivalent of the rest of the irish generating stations combined, it was connected initially to important urban centres using high voltage transmission lines, While initially the towns and cities were the main benefactors of he Shannon scheme they demonstrated the advantages which resulted from reliable access to electricity as a result Within 3 years the demand for electricity in Ireland had expanded so much that stage 2 was initiated. the existing energy generating facilities at 1! Ard Na Crusha were upgraded to deal with the growing urban demand.

It was not until 1939 that the rural electrification scheme came into being this project would be delayed by the outbreak of world war two without seeing proper implementation until after the conflict, in 1946 the first rural schemes were rolled out bringing power for the first time to rural communities, it was the begging of a huge task of bringing electricity to the entirety of the island a work which would continue on for the next twenty years before reaching completion, as the grid spread throughout the nation it had a profound impact on the countries agrarian communities, electrical pumps made running water commonplace, and a myriad of other previously manual tasks became automated as a result, this period of time has been referred to as the Quite Revolution, one of the most socially significant events in the islands history, like in previous examples the coming of electricity also helped to better connect previously isolated Communities, telecommunications radio and ultimately

2. “History of the Esb” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/history.jsp 2. “History of the Esb” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/history.jsp

7. “Hydro Development” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/hydro-development.jsp 7. “Hydro Development” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/hydro-development.jsp television arguably lead to an expanded world view, it set the basis for modern irish society 3 as we know it today. ! ! (By 1937, plans were being finalised for the construction of several more hydro-electric It must be noted that beyond the schemes huge material and financial costs the scheme plants. The plans called for stations at Poulaphouca, Golden Falls, Leixlip (all which tamed the Shannon, also had a notable impact on the river and its surrounding in Leinster), Clady, Cliff and Cathleen's Fall (between Belleekand Ballyshannon in County environs Once opened, a majority of the Shannon's water was diverted via the head-race Donegal), Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra (in County Cork). All these new plants were canal to the power station. In accordance with the Shannon hydroelectricity act the ESB are completed by 1949, and together harnessed approximately 75% of Ireland's inland water 7 required by law to allow 10 cubic meters per second (10 m3/s) to flow down the natural power potential)’’ ! 4 channel. ! ! ! With the aforementioned growth of the national grid the countries thirst for power far outgrew This is roughly what the natural flow would be during dry summer periods prior to the weir what the Shannon alone could provide, similar schemes were built built to supplement this being built. All surplus water can be diverted for power generation, as demand increased power, today the Electricity Supply Board Ireland runs similar facilities a total of 10 hydro however the hydroelectric plants impact on the river only grew as described in the text electric plants situated on 5 rivers throughout the country, alongside these structures below.! dedicated thermal power plants began to appear on the landscape of Ireland the first of which was the north wall power station built in 1947, the capacity of these plants proved to The maximum capacity of Ard na crusha is approximately 400 m3/s, 40 times that which is be far greater than their hydroelectric counterparts and spatially they had a fraction of the required to flow down the natural channel (although the power station does not necessarily impact requiring far less infrastructure, Ideally suited to the steady growth in demand which run at this capacity at all times). For the first few years after the opening of the scheme, the ESB was facing, this was an oil fired plant, running on imported fuel, a shift from the water was diverted to the power station only as necessary for the electricity demand at the indigenous power production which had dominated the agenda during the earlier years of time, and thus the impact on the river was not initially severe. However, as demand was the ESB, the ESB plant at money point co.clare exemplifies this best,! increased, more and more water was diverted, until eventually a situation was reached ! where, at all times, all available water was diverted for power generation, and the natural channel was permanently reduced to the minimum water flow allowed (except during extreme conditions). In exceptionally wet periods, the flow of water out of Lough Derg is greater than 400 m3/s, and it is then necessary for the surplus to be are released down the natural channel through Castle Connell. During these brief periods, the Falls of Doonass are temporarily restored to their former glory. How often this occurs depends on seasonal weather patterns: some years there is no increase above the minimum flow at all. This has led to a substantially dried-up riverbed. The most obvious result on the river south of Parteen Villa always being kept at summer levels is the silting of many of the old salmon pools, and the growth of trees and bushes in many parts of the former riverbed, thus significantly altering both the appearance and ecosystem of the river.!

1. ‘’Building of the Month - June 2009 Ardnacrusha Generating Station, BALLYKEELAUN Td., County Clare’’ http:// www.buildingsoﬁreland.ie/Surveys/Buildings/BuildingoftheMonth/Archive/Name,1405,en.html 1. ‘’Building of the Month - June 2009 Ardnacrusha Generating Station, BALLYKEELAUN Td., County Clare’’ http:// www.buildingsoﬁreland.ie/Surveys/Buildings/BuildingoftheMonth/Archive/Name,1405,en.html 2. “History of the Esb” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/history.jsp 2. “History of the Esb” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/history.jsp 3. ‘’The Quiet Revolution’’ http://www.esbelectricmail.com/_archives/em_archive/archives/index8cbb.html?id=110&cat=1 3. ‘’The Quiet Revolution’’ http://www.esbelectricmail.com/_archives/em_archive/archives/index8cbb.html?id=110&cat=1 4. ‘’Shannon Electricity act 1925’’ http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1925/en/act/pub/0026/index.html 4. ‘’Shannon Electricity act 1925’’ http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1925/en/act/pub/0026/index.html 5. ‘’Nuclear energy back on table as Pat Rabbitte eyes ‘future fuel mix’ ‘’ http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/nuclear-energy-back-on- table-as-pat-rabbitte-eyes-future-fuel-mix-30268022.html 5. ‘’Nuclear energy back on table as Pat Rabbitte eyes ‘future fuel mix’ ‘’ http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/nuclear-energy-back-on- table-as-pat-rabbitte-eyes-future-fuel-mix-30268022.html 6. “ESB MONEYPOINT POWER STATION” http://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/power-stations-pdfs/ ESB_MONEYPOINT_POWER_STATION.pdf?v=20141216 6. “ESB MONEYPOINT POWER STATION” http://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/power-stations-pdfs/ ESB_MONEYPOINT_POWER_STATION.pdf?v=20141216 7. “Hydro Development” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/hydro-development.jsp 7. “Hydro Development” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/hydro-development.jsp !

This coal burning facility is the largest operating power station in the country, reflecting the While there is certainly abundant energy in nature it is difficult to see as a society how we aforementioned shift, this plant is largely powered by imported coal, its supporting are to live around it. Imagine for the sake of this discussion that every ship on the ocean infrastructure consists of a large dock capable of unloading literally hundreds of thousands today was once again wind powered (sail), global trade as we know it would transform as of tonnes of material, similarly a coal storage area, capable of holding millions of tonnes of the global flow of goods relied once again on the navigation of natural systems rather than fuel exists on the site open to the sky it is only able to store enough material to run the plant simply the raw power employed during the last century, suddenly the world would again feel for a number of weeks requiring a constant stream of imported material to ensure the plants like a bigger more divided place, leaving earths nations perhaps more physically dependent running, as the scale of the Shannon schemes infrastructure impacted the landscape and on their own local resources to meet the everyday demands of their inhabitants.! waterways in its vicinity the combustion and storage of these vast amounts of carbon at Today we run a hybrid system, the vast majority of power is derived from thermal plants, Money point pose a threat to its surrounding environs in terms of degrading water and air which is offset by energy from renewable sources (sort of like a sail boat with a motor quality, using efficient operation by its operators as a means of mitigating its potential impact 6 strapped onto it), this is arguably a transitory arrangement as we ween ourselves from non- on the environment. ! renewable sources steadily whilst technology finds ever more effective ways to master In comparison to the aforementioned Shannon scheme it produces upwards to ten times the renewable energy sources, that unlike the industrial revolution there will no be social output of the hydro electrical facility, this comparison tells us of the nature of power geographical side effect from such a fundamental change. Or perhaps this arrangement production in Ireland, a majority of the islands energy is produced using thermal combustion allows us to prolong our disconnection with a revolution that might have profound plants which have been for many years the most suitable solution to growing energy needs! implications for all of us.!

It is expected that the plant at Money point will be operating at maximum capacity by the ! year 2020, a milestone reached at a time in a context where this form of energy production is coming under growing scrutiny as global changes to the environment have started to ! become evident and in a context where pursuing new forms of energy has become very 5 challenging. !

Wind and solar as the leading alternatives tend to function contrary to the centralised system which was initialised by the Shannon scheme and perpetuated by facilities such as money point, our large interconnected grid ( and as a result much of the modern lifestyle) depends on a reliable and predictable supply of electricity, the weather by its very nature is relatively unpredictable and unconcerned with our demanding modern world. ! ! ! !

3. ‘’The Quiet Revolution’’ http://www.esbelectricmail.com/_archives/em_archive/archives/index8cbb.html?id=110&cat=1 2. “History of the Esb” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/history.jsp

4. ‘’Shannon Electricity act 1925’’ http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1925/en/act/pub/0026/index.html 3. ‘’The Quiet Revolution’’ http://www.esbelectricmail.com/_archives/em_archive/archives/index8cbb.html?id=110&cat=1

5. ‘’Nuclear energy back on table as Pat Rabbitte eyes ‘future fuel mix’ ‘’ http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/nuclear-energy-back-on- 4. ‘’Shannon Electricity act 1925’’ http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1925/en/act/pub/0026/index.html table-as-pat-rabbitte-eyes-future-fuel-mix-30268022.html 5. ‘’Nuclear energy back on table as Pat Rabbitte eyes ‘future fuel mix’ ‘’ http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/nuclear-energy-back-on- 6. “ESB MONEYPOINT POWER STATION” http://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/power-stations-pdfs/ table-as-pat-rabbitte-eyes-future-fuel-mix-30268022.html ESB_MONEYPOINT_POWER_STATION.pdf?v=20141216 6. “ESB MONEYPOINT POWER STATION” http://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/power-stations-pdfs/ 7. “Hydro Development” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/hydro-development.jsp ESB_MONEYPOINT_POWER_STATION.pdf?v=20141216

7. “Hydro Development” https://www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/hydro-development.jsp