A little-known and groundbreaking infrastructure project from the 1950s shows how London needs to think differently to clean up its filthy air
Why is London's air so toxic?
London is in the midst of a pollution crisis. The £10 T-Charge on diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2006 is the city’s latest attempt to improve air quality.
While it affects 34,000 motorists a month, it is unlikely to be enough. More than 9,000 Londoners die prematurely every year because of poor air quality.
But it’s not a new problem. The Great Smog of 1952 caused the deaths of 12,000 people in just four days. Back then, as London choked on chimney fumes, one project had an innovative solution.
Pimlico District Heating Undertaking (PDHU), which opened in 1950, was the UK’s first major initiative to tackle London’s air pollution ahead of the Clean Air Act of 1956. The concept was simple: use waste heat from nearby Battersea Power Station to heat and provide electricity to thousands of homes. It was also the UK’s first smokeless housing development.
Climate Change
Why is London's air so toxic?
And it’s still operating today. The huge heating system is now powered by gigantic combined heat and power engines and gas fired boilers. Running at around 84 per cent efficiency, it provides heat and power to 3,200 homes and three local schools.
At the centre of the facility is the giant thermal store, which holds 2,500,000 litres of boiling water. And it’s still expanding. New homes and businesses continue to be added, removing more small-scale boiler flues that pump out more and more pollution into London’s air.
Earlier this year, WIRED visited the facility and spoke to Gavin McKenzie, contracts manager at PDHU operator CityWest Homes, to find out what lessons we can learn from past innovations to help solve our current pollution crisis. Watch the video above to see what we discovered.
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