News – 2012

Scottish renewable power target ‘exceeded’

Renewable energy sources in Scotland have passed interim targets for meeting the nation’s demand for power, figures have shown. The data comes from the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The Whitehall department said wind and hydro power reached 36% of Scotland’s electricity consumption last year, passing the 31% target set for 2011. January to September this year also saw a 15% growth in output of wind, hydro and other renewable sources. Last year’s figures …

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BBC News »

£80,000 funding up for grabs to support SME resource efficiency improvements

Zero Waste Scotland’s SME Implementation Support Programme has £80,000 available to help SMEs that want to make resource efficiency improvements in their organisations. The closing date for applications is 18 January, so if you act now, you can still grab some of this funding for your organisation.

Zero Waste Scotland »

At the edge of the carbon cliff

The most important number in history is now the annual measure of carbon emissions. That number reveals humanity’s steady billion-tonne by billion-tonne march to the edge of the carbon cliff, beyond which scientists warn lies a fateful fall to catastrophic climate change. With the global total of climate-disrupting emissions likely to come in at around 52 gigatonnes (billion metric tonnes) this year, we’re already at the edge, according to new research.

The Guardian »

Tidal energy projects share £30m in European funding

More than £30m of European Commission funding has been allocated to two renewable energy schemes planned in the west of Scotland. An array of tidal turbines being planned for the Kylerhea straits, between the Isle of Skye and the mainland, is being allocated £15m. And ScottishPower Renewables’s plan to put a tidal array into the Sound of Islay is to receive £17m. The money is coming from levies on polluting industries.

BBC News »

‘Hybrid’ CalMac ferry to be launched from Port Glasgow

The first of two pioneering “hybrid” ferries is to be launched by the deputy first minister from the Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow. MV Hallaig is the first commercial ship in more than five years to be fully built and delivered on the Clyde. The roll-on roll-off ferry incorporates a low-carbon hybrid system of diesel electric and lithium ion battery power. It is the first of two vessels being built at the yard, following more …

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BBC News »