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Ayrshire and Arran
Lates news from Ayrshire and Arran
Geophysics backs consultants
When consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers announce that Shale oil is the next energy revolution, the cynical might be tempted to wonder how many of its clients are involved in the shale oil and franking business business? But as geophysicists from the august Royal Astronomical Society's British Geophysical Association claim that decisions about future energy challenges are too often hindered by propaganda, half-truths and limited grasp of the science that informs the choice and use of hydrocarbon and other resources, it is probably time to ponder the issue very carefully.
Southern & border wind farms
E.ON is to begin early engagement with the local community for three onshore wind farms in south west Scotland and is sending details of its proposals to all residents within 15kms of the sites. It will also be hosting a series of information sessions in the coming weeks. Meantime Scottish Power Renewables starts construction on the £160m Harestanes farm in Jedburgh, south Scotland.
Broadband for half of Scotland
One week to comment on Highlands & Islands' final broadband consultation for half the country's geography. With superfast broadband rollout across the region looking set to begin in 2013, the H&I Enterprise launches a public consultation on current levels of service, asking broadband providers to confirm any plans they may have to upgrade to superfast, and seeking information from local people and businesses about their current service quality.
Arran & Holy Isle fight biomass plant
Northern Energy Developments plans to open a wood-fired combined heat and power plant, using 40,000 tonnes of wood per year from Arran forests, at the Heights, an area of felled woodland between the towns of Lamlash and Whiting Bay in the south of the island.But the plan is encountering widespread opposition on the island itself
SSE gains Irish portfolio
Having just confirmed that its 25.1% stake in the £1bn Cumbria Walney Offshore Windfarms officially commissioned this year, have now been completed with all the 102 turbines fully operation and exporting electricity, its expected share being 92MW or around 1GWhr/day, SSE plc has now agreed with Endesa Generacion SA, to acquire the shares of Endesa Ireland Ltd, assets which include plant in operation, under construction and with development consents, for a total £256m plus an estimated £34m for working capital.
Riverside Campus opens
SAC and University of the West of Scotland (UWS) have officially launched their new £81m Riverside Campus in Ayr, a new 18,000m2 campus is situated on the Craigie Estate, next to the River Ayr and an innovative learning environment for students.
Anderson returns to wind burnt Shetland power
The founder of Shetland Wind Power, Michael Anderson from Hoswick is to buy back some of the assets of his old company, sold to Glasgow private equity investors Nevis Capital last year and which went into administration on Friday. He is to start up a new operation looking after the needs of the company’s turbine customers in the islands.
Big cable plans for energy
Wales suddenly seems to be a focal point in a whole set of cable issues as it involves energy supply with Ofgem moving to recognise the benefits of the February public consultations for a 2GW £1bn cost high voltage undersea cable from Scotland to England initially via Wales and as it involves fibre optic broadband cables and its FibreSpeed network.
Software and council savings
Dunfermline-based Exactive is urging that MicsoftLync used by Scottish councils could save tens of millions of pounds in operating costs each year by implementing systems that vastly improves efficiency in their computer and telephone networks.
Prestwick goes holographic
Glasgow Prestwick Airport has selected Cambridge Consultants to provide the first stage in a radar mitigation system design aimed to solve the problem of interference by wind farms turbines. This turbine radar mitigation system design and Part 1 Safety Case will be based on Cambridge Consultants’ groundbreaking holographic radar technology, and potentially removes a major barrier to wind farm development.
Wind, biomass & flashfloods in Scotland
Two wind farms in South Ayrshire have recently been unveiled in Scotland, supplying green electricity to around 100,000 homes while Norway's Statkraft is to construct Baillie Wind Farm in Caithness by 2013 and Lagan Construction of Belfast will build a wood pellet and biomass power plant at Girvan in a former textile factory site while Edinburgh's Waters of Leith get flashflood attention.
Only three can win
The UK is to put forward 12 projects for consideration by the European Investment Bank for its New Entrants Reserve, the €4.5bn fund for spending on C02 Capture & Storage (CCS) and “innovative renewable projects” (IRPs). There are seven CCS projects and five IRPs. Scotland has scores three out of the CCS and an awesome four out of five in renewable projects.
Music: conviction and complexity
An Ayrshire woman has become the first person in Scotland to be convicted for illegally sharing music files online. In Los Angeles, at the NARM Convention Microgen's senior VP of North America, Tom Crawford tackles the hidden risks and potential profits associated with managing payments for digital music downloads.
Ailsa Craig: collector's piece
For sale: Ailsa Craig, asking price £2.5m. The volcanic plug lying 10 miles off shore in the outer Firth of Clyde comes complete with a Thomas Stevenson lighthouse, ruined castle one 'good' cottage and three other cottages, and has been uninhabited since 1990.
Lamlash bay starts marine recovery
Scotland’s first fully protected marine reserve, and only the second in the UK, is after two years in operation, showing positive signs for both fishermen and conservationists according to new research by the University of York and the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST)
Hang in there coastal waters: technology to the rescue
The proposed modernisation of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency will only require 48 coastguards, located at two national networked centres and five substations. Improved radio, Cloud computing and virtual reality will do the rest. Let's hope Chevron drills safely.
A future for more than 40 fragile rural communities
Building on a long history of support in remote areas, HIE is to invest in encouraging selected communities which want to develop and implement plans for local growth. The agency plans to spend almost £1.5m over the next three years on this aspect of its strengthening communities remit. HIE is also utilising up to an additional £1m from the European Union's LEADER programme and local authority sources.
Ayr campus gets computing
University of the West of Scotland is extending its range of courses being delivered at its Ayr Campus, with the introduction of computing programmes at the Campus from this month.
BT landline blackout blamed on corrupted data and a Glasgow computer
Last week more than 55,000 people across south west Scotland found themselves without a landline phone service as the lines across the region and in Ayrshire went down for four hours due to a computer fault at a BT office in Glasgow.
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