News archive - Week ending 24th August 2007

Football Stadium Goes Green

Deveronvale, based in Banff, is planning to build wind turbines on top of two of its four floodlights at the Princess Royal Park Stadium. The Highland League club would become the first in Britain to power its stadium floodlights with wind energy.

A feasibility study of the site has shown that two moderate sized turbines would not only power all of the floodlights in the ground, but could supply all the stadium's energy needs. Outside the football season the turbines may even be capable of supplying electricity to surrounding households and businesses.

The estimated cost of the project is thought to be about £400,000, most of which is expected to come from energy grants. However the plans are dependent on Tesco gaining planning permission to build a store next to the stadium. This move would release cash promised by the supermarket chain for local community projects.

Clean Air Bus in Development

Alexander Dennis Ltd (ADL) is working on a project aimed at developing a bus that will produce fewer carbon emissions than any other currently in mainstream use. The company is using hybrid technology to build single and double decker buses which are energy efficient and cause only low levels of pollution.

The buses are powered by a combination of a diesel engine and an electric drive motor, which are linked to an energy storage system managed by sophisticated computer controls. The system could cut fuel consumption by nearly 40 per cent.

Scotland on Shortlist for Energy Institute

The Scottish bid for the £1bn UK-wide Energy Technologies Institute is included in the short list of three. The Scotland Energy Research Partnership will now be invited to present its proposals to the selection group which will make the final recommendation.
Scotland will be competing against the Midland Consortium (University of Nottingham with Loughborough and Birmingham) and the North East Consortium (University of Newcastle with Durham, Northumbria, New and Renewable Energy Centre and the Centre for Process Innovation).

The institute will bring together government and some of the world¿s biggest companies to establish the UK as one of the leaders in global clean energy development.

Experts to Make Recommendations on Green Housing

The Scottish Executive has set up an expert panel to recommend measures for making houses and buildings in Scotland more energy efficient. The Executive is hoping to emulate the standards set in Scandinavia and experts from Scotland, Norway, Denmark and Austria will advise on how best to implement strict energy standards.

One-stop-shop for Renewable Energy Installation Advice

Scotland's first impartial one-stop-shop for renewable energy installation advice will be launched in Aberdeen this week. Renewables Connection, which aims to lead the way for similar services to be rolled out across Scotland, will hold a special all-day event to demonstrate a wide range of the technologies available and provide free expert advice and information.

Renewables Connection is a pilot project covering Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, funded by Aberdeen City Council, Scottish Enterprise, Save Cash and Reduce Fuel (SCARF) and Shell UK Ltd, with support from Aberdeenshire Council and the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG). The organisation, the first of its kind in Scotland, has been set up to offer impartial advice to householders, small businesses and public sector organisations to guide them through the increasing range of technologies they could use to power homes and other buildings.

Renewables Connection staff can also help with grant applications, planning applications and securing competitive quotes.

Whisky Production Could Supply Fuel

Cars could be powered with by-products from breweries if a project at Abertay University is successful. Researchers have been awarded a grant for a year-long study into how to turn spent grain from beer and whisky into biofuel. The result would be carbon neutral and produce 65% fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Brazil and the USA have both been very successful in creating bioethanol from sugarcane and maize starch respectively. However, these methods have been open to criticism because they have created an increased demand for land for growing energy crops and scientists have been trying to find a simple and cost effective way to produce more biofuels from waste or low value products.

Respondents were also asked what action they took to help protect the environment. Most common was recycling household waste undertaken by two-thirds of respondents. Four in ten said that they walk, cycle or use public transport "a lot" rather than a car. However, overall there was a 25 percent increase in traffic on Scottish roads between 1993 and 2006.

Despite the apparent action of individuals, a survey of public concern showed the percentage of respondents "very worried" about the top ten environmental issues had fallen across the board between 1991 and 2002. In 1991, 42% were "very worried" about global warming compared with 25% in 2002.

The report also records that the percentage of electricity generated from renewable energy sources rose from just over 14 percent in 2000 to more than 18 percent in 2005. While at the same time the amount from coal fell from 33 percent to 25 percent.