{"id":371427,"date":"2025-03-22T19:29:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T18:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=371427"},"modified":"2025-03-22T19:29:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T18:29:04","slug":"crisis-time-heathrow-airport-swapped-diesel-gens-for-net-zero-wood-fired-backup-generator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=371427","title":{"rendered":"Crisis time: Heathrow airport swapped diesel gens for Net Zero wood-fired backup generator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From JoNova<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jo Nova<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turns out, one of the world\u2019s largest airports apparently didn\u2019t have reliable backup generators. This may be just sheer incompetence, but some insiders are saying it\u2019s specifically because it went Net Zero compliant in 2012 and switched diesel generators for biomass ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently some terrorism investigators are looking closely at the cause of the fire, but the crazy thing is, that Heathrow was completely reliant on one substation nearby which went up in a fireball yesterday, and never had even the slightest hope of keeping the airport running. The blackout left something like 290,000 people stranded, with 1,3oo flights canceled or rearranged. A bit like a war broke out or a volcano exploded, except they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fury as Heathrow\u2019s lack of back-up power causes \u2018a contained version of 9\/11\u2019<\/a>: Small fire at power station leaves more than 200,000 travellers, and others forced to turn around in mid-air<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By Martin Robinson, Daily Mail<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One industry source has claimed that Net Zero is to blame because Heathrow is moving from diesel back-up generators to biomass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reform MP Richard Tice said: \u2018It appears that Heathrow had changed its backup systems in order to be, wait for it\u2026Net Zero compliant\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018They had got rid of their diesel generators and had moved towards a biomass generator that was designed not to completely replace the grid but work alongside it. Their net zero compliant backup system has completely failed in its core function at the first time of asking\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBasically, their net zero-compliant back-up system had completely failed in its core function at the first time of asking. It beggars belief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Tice said: \u201cWhy is Heathrow being so silent about this? Are they embarrassed because they have something to hide?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they did win a Sustainability Leaders Award in 2013<\/a> for burning down 13,000 tons of forest.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

They were proud of their effort to change the global weather by (0.0 degrees)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to the DailyMail<\/a>\u00a0the North Hyde substation fire involved a very old transformer catching alight and \u201cinvolved 25000 litres of cooling oil igniting\u201d. Apparently, it burnt the generator at North Hyde and also the backup. Previously it had been running at 106% of capacity, suggesting they were pushing old equipment past its maintenance schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wait, what? This failure was \u201cexpected\u201d?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to believe but in their defense the Heathrow management effectively said they weren\u2019t even trying to back up the whole airport, just some runway lights. Nothing to see here\u2026 it is just critical national infrastructure that could fail at any moment or be taken out in a blink at times of warfare:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[The Telegraph<\/a>]  \u2014 \u2026  Heathrow said in a statement the airport\u2019s back-up energy systems worked \u2018as expected\u2019 when the substation fire started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said: \u2018We have multiple sources of energy into Heathrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018But when a source is interrupted, we have back-up diesel generators and uninterruptable power supplies in place, and they all operated as expected. \u2018Our back-up systems are safety systems which allow us to land aircraft and evacuate passengers safely, but they are not designed to allow us to run a full operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Melville posted:<\/a>  \u201d \u2026as an emergency back up this biomass relic is a farce. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiesel kicks in within seconds, keeping runways lit and skies safe. Biomass dawdles \u2014 hours to reach full power, better for steady warmth than sudden blackouts. \u2026 Net Zero\u2019s noble pursuit has left Heathrow vulnerable, a global hub undone not by storms or foes, but by the folly of prizing untested green tech over proven resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter how we look at this, in every direction, we see incompetence.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

h\/t David Maddison, Anton, Tonyb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turns out, one of the world\u2019s largest airports apparently didn\u2019t have reliable backup generators. This may be just sheer incompetence, but some insiders are saying it\u2019s specifically because it went Net Zero compliant in 2012 and switched diesel generators for biomass ones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":371431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691833979,691818659,691833978,691818154],"class_list":{"0":"post-371427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-airport-heathrow","9":"tag-biomass","10":"tag-emergency-back-up","11":"tag-net-zero","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0heathrowfire_2025_03_22_09_55_00.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1yCL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":371318,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=371318","url_meta":{"origin":371427,"position":0},"title":"Net Zero Blamed for Heathrow Shutdown","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Net Zero has been blamed for the complete shutdown of Heathrow after an aviation industry expert told Reform\u00a0MP and Deputy Leader Richard Tice that Heathrow is moving from diesel back-up generators to biomass and the system failed \u201cat the first time of asking\u201d when a local electrical substation went up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Airport Disruption\"","block_context":{"text":"Airport Disruption","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=airport-disruption"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/01_SDC_MDG_-_8400JPG.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/01_SDC_MDG_-_8400JPG.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/01_SDC_MDG_-_8400JPG.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/01_SDC_MDG_-_8400JPG.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/01_SDC_MDG_-_8400JPG.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":371392,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=371392","url_meta":{"origin":371427,"position":1},"title":"Why Did Heathrow\u2019s Backup\u00a0Fail?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Chaos at Heathrow Airport can be blamed on the drive for net zero by successive governments, according to Reform UK MP Richard Tice.","rel":"","context":"In \"green targets\"","block_context":{"text":"green targets","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=green-targets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0AA1BmOtm.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0AA1BmOtm.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0AA1BmOtm.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0AA1BmOtm.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0AA1BmOtm.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":246639,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=246639","url_meta":{"origin":371427,"position":2},"title":"Crash landing for dream of \u201aguilt-free flying\u2018? Scientists find no clear green alternative to jet fuel","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/03\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The four leading alternatives, from biomass to hydrogen, are expensive and\/or would require huge imports or swathes of farmland, we\u2019re told. Another fail for climate obsessives it seems. Is Plan B \u2013 choking off demand \u2013 on the fanatics\u2019 drawing board yet?","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-109.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-109.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-109.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-109.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-109.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":371416,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=371416","url_meta":{"origin":371427,"position":3},"title":"Why Heathrow Ditched Its Diesel\u00a0Generators","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2017, Heathrow announced they were going to be sourcing all renewable power. 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