I was appalled to see that an article about the successful gaining of an important funding bid for further development of renewable energy sources was accompanied by a picture with the caption: 'Cutting Edge Technology: Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station', in last weeks edition of the Evening Post's 'Business Post'.
The article
The article was published on Tuesday 25th September and titled 'Institute's Impact Will Be Massive'. It celebrates the victory of the Energy Technology Institute which is to become "the national centre for research into low-carbon new energy technologies to combat climate change". The institute which was set up by the East and West Midlands Development Agencies as well as the Birmingham, Nottingham and Loughborough Universities. The institute has just won a £1bn funding bid, which has been hailed as great news for the region. I'm all for it, as a lot more research into renewable low-carbon technologies are needed if we are to look forward to a more sustainable future. It is just a shame that the editors make such a mistake with picturing one of the most polluting and last-century technolgies as something 'green'.
I rang the editor of the Business Post that same day and he mentioned that renewable energy sources are 'difficult to picture', indicating that the picture of Ratcliffe-on-Soar was one ready to hand. I pointed out that windturbines can be seen in Rushcliffe Country Park and solarpanels along the roofs of nursing homes in Clifton. He did seem open to the suggestions, but it felt to me as though the caption (reffering to a coal fired powerstation as 'cutting edge') was put in without much thought. He did mentioned that E-ON are investing millions into 'green energy' at a research centre, which is based at the Ratcliffe site. This of course must meant that all the operations at the site will now be 'cutting edge'....
The issue with this article showed me that a lot more is needed in educating people (incl. journalists) about the energy industry and what the various aspects really are, especially as corporations and businesses will put whatever resources they've got into portraying themselves as being 'green', 'good', and 'cutting edge', when they are in actual fact far from it. It seems energy giant E.ON has managed to jump into the current energy debate pretty well with putting a nice spin about their operations at Ratcliffe-on-Soar. It is probably time to do something again and keep the debate about Ratcliffe-on-Soar an active one...
Links: Coal comeback pushes up UK emissions | Greenpeace on Coal | The coal industry and climate change | Drax the Destroyer | End The 'Smash And Grab' Of Opencast Coal Mining Say Local Communities | How green is green electricity? | Carbon Dinosaurs: Ratcliffe-on-Soar | Climate Activists Bring Powerstation Operations To A Halt | Wikipedia on the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station | Concerned about Climate Change? Spring Into Action Now! - an audio piece
Greener Vision Photographic Archive Needed to Energise the Post!
06.10.2007 08:29
Are there photographers with good archives who present themselves to papers like the Post?
It seems that it's about whether the Post sees what you have to offer as educationally credible enough to buy.
That means having an archive of all aspects of renewable project activity. Maybe good documentary photographers just don't think the Post is important enough to concern themselves with and maybe the Post considers the word more important than the image.
It needs addressing!
It's interesting, because the photgraph of the smoke rising from Ratcliffe On Soar does confirm what's written in one sense: the simple, shorthand version of the story that traditional power sources are dirty and renewable energy (in the text) promises a different future.
Bit dull though. The Post could have sent a photographer down to the new project at Ratcliffe and taken some good, positive, human pictures...of jolly happy researchers.
Paula Sharratt
e-mail:
poly.sharratt@btinternet.com
Smoke or steam?
28.04.2008 17:18
Lee Hutchinson