Receive our free weekly newsletter - Click here to subscribe now!

Custom Search

Orkney Islands

Latest news from the Orkney Islands

The Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) tug support for The Minch, the west coast and the Western Isles was withdrawn from service on cost grounds by the UK government. But ForArgyll records that a cargo boat grounded 10.45pm on 19th March on an island off North Uist highlights the very urgent need for ETV protection to be reinstated.

A rare species of fish described as “faceless and brainless” was among the unusual finds made by marine scientists off Britain’s coast during 2011, according to a recent Scottish government report. Amphioxuus is a prehistoric species, reaching two inches length and with no fins, recorded off Orkney.

The Westminster government recently extended by three months the temporary contract for the two coastguard tugs stationed in the Western and Northern Isle, reports ForArgyll. It did so, while announcing from the end of this contract that the oil and gas industry agreed to provide coverage from its own ‘vessels’

Wave energy company Aquamarine Power has received £7m in new funding and commitment for further investment from existing shareholders by 2014 for the commercialisation of its Oyster technology. The news came from First Minister Alex Salmond during his opening address in Edinburgh at the Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference.

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.

A proposed floating container port plan for Scapa Flow one of the largest natural harbours in the world off the Orkney Islands, could bring “substantial” benefits to the Scottish economy and be blueprint for a transhipment port, among the greenest in the world. It might even provide the location for a floating datastorage hub.

Hammerfest, the Norwegian energy company, is to build the first of its HS1000 marine turbines at BiFab’s yard at Arnish in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. The turbine whose development model was tested in the waters of Orkney, will first be deployed in Argyll Sound of Islay with an array of ten to be installed there by 2013, generating enough energy to power 1,000 homes.

Acquamarine has been awarded over £3m from the Scottish Government to support the development of its next-generation Oyster wave energy device. It received the grant from the £15m Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support (WATERS) fund designed to support the construction and installation of pre-commercial full-scale wave and tidal stream device prototypes in Scottish waters.

Pelamis and Aquamarine Power with their respective partners have been granted development rights to four major offshore wave energy project sites. Three off the north coast of Scotland will be home for Pelamis, while an area of the seabed of the coast of Orkney will be the oyster bed for Aquamarine Power.

Two news stories on the University of the Highlands and Islands, currently the UHI Millenium Institute, report respectively that the organisation is on the brink of achieving full University status but this is subject to the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) recommendation which has asked for a stronger university structure.Regardless of the outcome, law firm Harper Macleod, is providing funding by for two three-year UHI PhD research projects, suggesting that commercial Scotland endorses it's long awaited and hard worked for 15th University.

Advertised in February 2009, the overall Scottish Government new £170m Framework agreement has a budget of between £130m - £170m over the possible four-year-period across all six Lots.  It is understood that 23 suppliers have been appointed to the framework according to the initial advert.   The framework will be involved in the procurement of design, print, display materials, promotional Items and DVD replication and duplication services throughout Scotland.

One of Scotland's most innovative energy developers is asking the public to suggest a name for a multi-million pound device that generates electricity from the sea. Orkney-based Scotrenewables, is pioneering the development of technology which harnesses energy from tidal currents. The seas around the Pentland Firth and Orkney Islands are recognised as some of Europe's best locations for wave and tidal power developments.

Believed to be one of the largest genetics studies ever an international team of 174 research centres has identified 13 new gene variants associated with blood glucose and insulin, with five linked to Type-2 diabetes. The findings - published in Nature Genetics - raises hopes of better treatments for the condition.

Scotland, Computer News in Scotland, Technology News in Scotland, Computing in Scotland, Web news in Scotland computers, Internet, Communications, advances in communications, communications in Scotland, Energy, Scottish energy, Materials, Biomedicine, Biomedicine in Scotland, articles in Biomedicine, Scottish business, business news in Scotland.

© Compute Scotland 2010

Website : beachshore