Some weeks ago in the deepest cold of January I was driving by the large power plant north of Munich, which is an impressive sight even by daylight, and was facing a beautiful sunset which I never can resist, much less so when I have my camera and tripod in the car with me.
Now looking at this image, at first I wondered, is this nature photography? It could be argued that this is an architectural image, or at least a very technical subject. But my answer is that the main effect of this photo is caused by nature in the form of the sunset colors, so it definitely is nature photography.
But of course given we all have been educated by Al Gore about climate change I was still surprised how hard it was not to think about CO2 emissions when looking at this photograph.
Every period has it’s icons.
The real story is of course more complex – even if this power plant is fueled mainly by coal, it also is fueled by waste combustion, and is a co-generation power plant that also generates heat, which is used for heating and hot water generation within the Munich city district. I personally do believe the only way to get to a cleaner energy mix is to reduce power consumption wherever possible. Just changing the source for the energy will not work out in the long run.
This particular power plant actually won the “Power Plant Award” in 1993 for environmental compatibility. Standards might have changed since then and public awareness increased, but obviously some 15 years ago this one was not to blame, but to celebrate.
Times change.
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