Renewable Energy Scotland

Wood power renewable energy Lockerbie. As one approaches Lockerbie from the North on the M74 twin chimney stacks come into view gassing the atmosphere.
Stevens Croft Wood Burning Plant, Lockerbie, Scotland, is a €132m 44MWe Bubbling Fluidised Bed plant has been built. The CO2 neutral plant is the UK's largest dedicated wood burning plant, and has been built by a Siemens/Kvaerner consortium. It will burn 475,000t of sustainable wood fuel a year, including 95,000t of short rotation coppice. It will save up to 140,000t of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

Commissioning of Stevens Croft was in autumn 2007. E.ON won Best Renewable Project 2007 at the Scottish Green Energy Awards for the project. It is creating 40 direct jobs and should create or safeguard over 300 jobs in forestry and farming, as well as encourage additional investment in sawmills.
All laudable, the down side is the harvesting of local timber and its transportation. Many road accidents have occurred, buildings and houses demolished, roads rutted and potholed which need repair at tax-payers cost, it's truly a hazard to drive the same roads from Ettrick through Eskdalemuir and Castle O'er forests. Och well, E.ON shareholders can sit happy they're doing their bit for the planet, hearsay is the plant is only 40% efficient. Same stuff, spin v reallity.

The River Tay November 18th

The River Tay by Newburgh North Fife November 18th. A dreich day, dull, murky, cold, wet of a kind that finds ageing joints without much feeling good factor. We have had huge rainfalls along with the rest of the UK leaving much standing water on the land and on the road to Newburgh springs have erupted forcing up the tarmacadam creating ever deeper holes assisted by road traffic. The weather being what it is will change for the better or worse, a tiny impact compared to so many other places. It seems we are into a sustained period of extremes.

Arriving Geese at Flisk North Fife.