In the classic Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds there are the following narrated words by Richard Burton Interspersed amongst the song “Forever Autumn”.
“As I hastened through Covent Garden, Blackfriars and Billingsgate, more and more people joined the painful exodus. Sad, weary woman, their children stumbling and streaked with tears, their men bitter and angry, the rich rubbing shoulder with beggars and outcasts. Dogs snarled and whined, the horses bits were covered with foam…. And here and there were wounded soldiers, as helpless as the rest. We saw tripods wading up the Thames, cutting through bridges as though they were paper — Waterloo Bridge, Westminster Bridge…. One appeared above Big Ben.”
Whilst this was set some time ago it was a futuristic perspective of what could eventuate. Blackfriars Bridge (spanning The Thames in London) is now the focus for anther futuristic perspective. But unlike War of the Worlds this futuristic perspective is happening now in the form of the installation of of over 4,400 solar photovoltaic panels as part of the construction of Blackfriars station. There has been a lot of suggestion that solar energy will be an important source for future power needs – the Blackfriars project seems to think so as this solar ‘factory’ will generate an estimated 900,000kWh of electricity every year and provide approximately 50% of the energy needed by Blackfiars station.