Hydropower can benefit the environment and gives communities a positive view of renewables, says Mark Simon. It is worth continued investment

There are 29,000 industrial weirs in England, of which about 1,000 are suitable for small-scale hydropower, which could generate 1% of the country’s baseload power. Many of these are on weirs owned by The Canal & River Trust, which would receive revenue from a hydropower plant for the next 100 years. But future projects are unlikely to get built.