We now know that we live in an Orwellian2019
where there are two main rules
#1 Anything thy lib-tribe do is good ..and holy
#2 Anything non-lib-tribe do is bad

Furthermore anything non-lib-tribe do, can be named as outrageously bad
So that the lib-tribe can start an OutrageBus & claim VICTIM status
... and make great political capital

Thus we get major hypocrisy
of saying that anything Farage or Sargon says is evil
but anything Jess Phillips or Jo Brand says is holy ..and harmless

So we often politicians screaming one minute about reducing CO2
..and the next moment they are championing some VANITY project

The latest project that has come up is the London's Bridges lighted artwork
called Illuminated River

We know that any new consumption, has an ecological footprint
so any £40m art project will add to CO2 etc.
.. but the PR people have to pretend that is not the case .

We know that not spending money is zero carbon
... and that occasionally you can have a genuine new innovation which is worth investing in
cos it's initial investment will be quickly paid back by increased efficiency.
But for that you should have both a proper Cost-Benefit Analysis beforehand
and quality monitoring fterwards to check that is what happened.
We know that is not the way Green projects work
..rather they are pushed through on a dream
..which mostly doesn't work out.

Surely this Londons Bridges floodlight project will have a helluva CO2 footprint cradle to grave ?
If one bulb costs thousands
\\ During the next year or so, 15 of London’s bridges across the Thames will become glimmering art installations decked in glorious fountains of light. It’s a £40m project (funded, you will doubtless be pleased to learn, largely by private donors including the Rothschild Foundation) designed to bring the Thames to life at night.

But we’re not talking about tacky coloured amusement-park fairy lights, this highly engineered project is by the American artist Leo Villareal, who designed the stunning illumination of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge.

Architect Charlie Luxton accompanies a nervous Villareal during a test run at Waterloo Bridge and dangles in a harness from a bridge as he helps to fit a light.
Just one light (these are top of the range, not domestic bulbs) costs £3,000 and takes an hour to install.
Still, it should look lovely when it’s done //

So I tweeted under their photo
Massive #CarbonFootprint of #IlluminatedRiver project
Our overlords the MetroElite say cos the common man is a great sinner the skies are warming
So they have imposed a great penance upon him
.. Yet they have also ordered a huge art installation illuminating London’s bridges ! https://twitter.com/IlluminatedRiv/status/1067114556277907456 …

#1 They deleted their tweet I quoted
well they are a PR team with a job to do of promoting the project they don't want me spoiling it.
(I simply tweeted another image under it anyway)

#2 They replied
Wrong. Most of the bridges are already highly illuminated with v inefficient metal halides & fluorescents & we r reducing their current energy consumption by about 50- 75%.
So bridge owners happy.
We also persuaded them to turn off at 2am instead of dawn as they currently do.

I replied
- so your bridges will be dark to night-time shipping ? Is that legal ?
- One should count CO2 cradle to grave
& £40m of spending & £3,000 bulbs will have a manufacturing & installation carbon footprint
pls Give a link to back your consumption stats

They replied
Hi good questions. navigation lights do stay on.
Check consumption stats on our website http://illluminatedriver.london .
We r v keen to use renewables on site but water turbine tech not great
am hoping we can use more during lifetime of project,
keep monitoring & trying to reduce further

Despite the word "wrong" my argument still stands
You can't have the "All other things being equal" argument (Ceteris paribus)
Cos in the real world things are changing anyway
Yes some of today's bulbs will be inefficient
..and yes the project may use eco-bulbs
but all bridges will have had a rolling programme of replacing bulbs
so it a few years time their energy consumption would have been lower anyway

Similarly you can claim that currently lights stay on all night (I doubt that is true)
..and that this projects switch off time of 2am will save energy.

Well you could have an early switch off time for FREE
without making a £40m art project.

"reducing their current energy consumption by about 50- 75%. "
I asked for source
..they indicated their website

"FAQ
Will the scheme use more energy than the current lighting on each bridge?
By replacing inefficient metal halides and fluorescents with the latest LEDs we aim to reduce energy-consumption by up to 50% on some of the major bridges.
We are also committed to using 100% renewable green energy where we can.
Find out more about Illuminated River's our energy usage.//
https://illuminatedriver.london/faq

The actual page uses PR weasel words "UP TO 50% on SOME"
So that contradicts her 75% claim
Their 50% saving might include the earlier switch off or might just be the lower bulb consumption per hour

Another page https://www.illuminatedriver.london/discover/energy-usage
"Using smart LED technologies, Illuminated River will replace the current outdated and inefficient lighting on the bridges, providing a more long-term sustainable solution for lighting the Thames at night. Switched on shortly after sunset and turned off at 2am, the artwork for each bridge uses no more energy than some common household appliances. "

"Our energy for Cannon Street Bridge is supplied by Ecotricity, who use 100% renewable green energy. The electricity supply for Millennium, Southwark and London bridges comes from City of London’s appointed supplier which provides 40% of its energy from renewable sources. The City of London aims to increase this to 100% during the lifetime of the Illuminated River project."

Ecotricity hide their stats within a graphic so I OCR'd it
\\Energy Usage Per Night
SOUTHWARK BRIDGE LONDON BRIDGE 3KW.. formerly 6kw

London Bridge 7KW .. formerly 18kw

Cannon Street 5KW

MILLENNIUM BRIDGE 19 kw “This uses 4kw less energy than Foster and Partners original ‘Blade of Light’ scheme (23 kw)"
\\ Ecotricity providing 100% renewable electricity during the lifetime of the Illuminated River project //

=============================
The PR person had tweeted
"We are also committed to using 100% renewable green energy where we can."
The PR person has not read the Ecotricity line ..saying all the energy will be renwable

We here know that is a fiction, that is so holy It is not able to be questioned by the media.

There will be windless nights where much of the power is coming from GAS power stations etc.

Oh hang on Ecotricity is not supplying all the bridges
It's just Cannon Street Bridge

"Energy Usage Per Night" : they only quote kW, they should be quoting kWh
but then I guess it depends how many dark hours there are in a night.

The other 3 bridges making ,85% of the power is from another supplier
claiming a 40% renewable rate

===============================

So these fancy light installations vary from 3kW to 23kW
..what do the engineers here feel about those stats ?

I make that a 12amp rig to 100 amp rig

3000 watts is 150 x 20W bulbs
5 spans would make 30 bulbs per span..would that be enough ?

As I said ..count full cradle to grave so add in the huge installation and security costs
Someone will be wanting to steal £3,000 bulbs

Well @AK since you watched the prog ..tell us if it looked like a lot of energy
You can't spend £40m without generating a lot of CO2 surely ?