Clyde dam

Press, 24 May 1982, Page 18

Clyde dam

Sir,—The implied threat to aluminium smelting in the report by Bruce Roscoe from Tokyo (“The Press,” May 17), suggests that perhaps our power planners and river dammers should get in touch with Japan’s appropriately named “Southern Cross Programme,” whose consultants have just evaluated for Brazil a proposal to produce hydrogen as an alternative fuel using the electrolytic process and lowcost electricity. Unfortunately, according to. Japan Chemical Weekly, the study concluded that such production would not be commercially attractive in Brazil, owing to the lack of sufficient low-cost electricity. The Japanese suggest “it would be more applicable for developing nations where the electricity cost could be reduced to below the breakeven point.” New Zealand must surely appear a suitable candidate. Already, next January, a fleet of 15 Mercedes estate cars, ten running exclusively on hydrogen and five on a hydrogen/ petrol mixture will be taking

to the roads of West Germany.—Yours, etc., ERIC BENNETT. May 19, 1982. Sir,—Last week’s High Court decision on the Clyde dam was not based on "a very fine point of law” as Mr Birch has claimed, but on the requirement for the Planning Tribunal to consider how the electricity will be used. With the probable demise of the illadvised Aramoana smelter project, the power from Clyde will not be needed until the year 2000. By stopping spending on the Clyde dam, the Government now has an ideal opportunity to proceed with its much-heralded cutback in expenditure.- Instead, however, special legislation is planned to sidestep the court ruling. As taxpayers and electricity consumers, we should oppose the wasteful use of our money in building unnecessary power stations; and as responsible citizens (and voters), we should object strongly to the Government’s intentions to put itself above the law by enacting special legislation whenever a court decision goes the “wrong" way. — Yours, etc., A. S. WHITE. May 21, 1982.