Seasonal ...

Not getting out because of the snow, so a photo from almost exactly five years ago ...

Snow Scenes

Snow preventing much in the way of meaningful travel, so some scenes from around the fields ...

The house is somewhere in the mist



The mist never lifted all day.

Snow Again ...

After my last post, went for a walk to clear my head and get a bit of [very] fresh air ....

It had stopped snowing, so set off west towards the steading ...

Headed up to the fields, and found some berries ...

Circled round the top fields...

Then turned for home ..

To be presented with a streotypical winter's scene from the Borders ...

And then follow the road home ...

It's  now snowing again ....  Forecast is for -5C tonight

Offshore Wind....again

Snowbound, so a bit more research ...

Appears ScottishRenewables, which turns out is an offshore wind industry trade association, commisioned a report to see what it ( and it's trade members ) needed to do to meet the maximum target of 10.6GW of generation by 2020.  Unsurprisingly, the report is a bit biased, as any trade report will be.  It's now on the Scottish Government website as a 'Route Map'.  The link is here.  In it, they talk about an extra £7.1bn of income being generated, along with 28,377 jobs.  One has to wonder at such exact figures ...  especially as they 'lost' 100 jobs in the 'Conclusion', but that would just be a typo ...

There is a lot of talk about benefit to Scotland in producing all this energy.  It's interesting to note the major players ...

• Scottish Power Renewables (Iberdrola, Spain)
• E.ON Climate & Renewables (Germany)
• Dong Energy (Denmark)
• EDPR (Portugal)
• Fluor ( USA)
• Fred Olsen Renewables (Norway)
• RWE nPower (Germany)
• Mainstream Renewable Power (Ireland)
• Vattenfall (Sweden)

Timetable as below :-
 
Project Stage Associated Timeline

Pre-application                                      2010 onwards
Application                                            2010 onwards
Environmental Impact Assessment         2010 - 2012
Decision Making to Determination        
Planning                                                2012 - 2013
Procurement                                         2013 - 2017
Construction                                         2014 - 2017 (Installation rate peaking in 2016-17)
Commissioning                                     2015 - 2018

As I've said elsewhere, I'm not against all this per se, but trying to make sense of all the figures and political spin is an issue.  And one has to wonder as to the 'consultation process'.  There seems to be a big drive from industry, with profits at the forefront of their mind.  They are already looking to 'cut costs by 30%'.....

One further thought to leave with.  It appears that if oil and gas companies wish to develop in an offshore wind farm area, then they have to forego the lease.

"If a company was forced to abandon a site, it could have to write off millions in development costs and future revenues. In the UK, an estimated 3.6bn has already been invested in developing offshore wind energy and projects worth another 137bn are in the pipeline"

And it'snow stopped snowing ....  :-(

Winter ...

Well, the snow arrived.  Last night ...

This Morning ...

Winter ...

On a lighter note, we're told Winter is coming this week.  No snow yet, but the frosts have arrived ...

Challenges ...

Came across the following screen shot in an industry presentation.  It is all related to cable laying.  To be fair, the presentation was about sharing issues within the industry, so that they could learn from past mistakes.  But perhaps illustrative of the relative youth of the industry.  

Offshore Wind Energy (contd.) ...

Today was another miserable day weatherwise, so some more research on the offshore wind farm saga.  It's difficult to find unbiased material, and some quotes on the web make for interesting reading ...

"only 20% of the nearly £900m investment had gone to UK firms."

"In a separate boost for green energy, the Scottish first minister Alex Salmond dramatically increased his renewable energy target for Scotland to 80% of the country's electricity.  Salmond said the surge in investment in offshore wind farms and a steep increase in consents for new onshore wind power and hydro projects meant Scotland was capable of far exceeding its existing target of generating 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2020"

"Analysts estimate that up to £200bn in new investment is needed to build the offshore windfarms planned around the Scottish coast, as well as the new docks, construction yards, grid substations and maintenance facilities needed to support the industry."

"Salmond told the Guardian he believed at least two but as many as six major offshore windfarms would be operating in Scottish waters by 2020, with schemes in the Moray Firth and Solway Firth the most likely to be built first."

Makes you wonder at the "consultation process".

Today ....

I should have been paddling...  But it was a typical cold, dreich November day, there wasn't much motivation.  A seven foot swell also meant some interesting conditions.  And the arrangments had fallen through as well.  Given the weather I wasn't bothered.

To brighten up an otherwise dull day, the following dropped through the letterbox ....

Doesn't reallly make any difference, but I guess it's "nice" to have a bit of paper.  Although all it will do is sit in a drawer and gather dust.

Nuclear Particles .....

As I start to read into all this 'green' wind and wave energy stuff, today's headline makes interesting reading ...


( from BBC News )


Caithness seabed fragment most radioactive found so far

A particle linked to the Dounreay nuclear power plant and found on the seabed nearby is the most highly radioactive to be recovered so far.  It contained 100 million becquerels (Bq) of radiation.  The Dounreay Particles Advisory Group (DPAG) consider radioactivity greater than a million Bq of Caesium 137 as a health risk. 
The find was made by a team using a remotely operated vehicle to clean up the seabed off the Caithness site.  The particles of Caesium 137 are filings from nuclear fuel rods reprocessed at Dounreay during the 1960s and 1970s.  Flushed into the sea through the plant's liquid discharge pipe, they have been turning up on local beaches for nearly three decades.  Since August, when the latest phase of the seabed clean up started, 429 fragments have been recovered from the seabed.

Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) said 81 were above the threshold for being classed as "significant".  If left on skin, a particle of above a million Bq could cause serious ulceration after one to two weeks, according to DPAG.  The other 348 were categorised as "relevant" and "minor".  In total, 1,533 fragments have been recovered from the seabed.

 Paddling past Torness will have a different meaning now ....

Reports .... reports ....

The more I look into this, the more my head hurts !   The Scottish Exec have produced a weighty tome called 'Strategic Environmental Assessment :Draft Plan for Offshore Wind Energy in Scottish Territorial Waters'.  That, together with various scoping reports, amounts to several hundred pages of fairly heavy reading.  

Still, easier than going for a run .... :-)

Offshore Wind Power ...

Having done a little bit background reading tonight, it's a bit disturbing to see foreign companies "buying" up rights to parts of our coast.  The bottom line is that they are in it to make money.  Okay, it's all part of this "green" thing, but somehow it just doesn't seem "right".  Luce Bay in the Solway is an example.  Foreign company have taken the initiative, and seeking to build turbines.

More reading required.

Back Yard

It's sometimes surprising what is happening around your local countryside without really being aware of it.  There's been a lot in the news recently about the proliferation of windfarms over the Borders, and Scotland in general.  Southern Scotland certainly seems have it's fair share.  It's hard now to go somewhere without the ubiquitous windmills appearing on the horizon.   Whether you are for / against them is somewhat academic.  They are here now, and with Scotland aiming to produce 50% of it's power requirements by renewable means by 2050, there are only going to be more such projects.

With all the focus on the land, wind farms on the ocean have not been the focus of such attention.  It's fair to say the potential impact is less at sea, but I was a bit surprised to see the plans for the South East coast and the Firth of Forth...

Something I'll be having a look at.  More because I don't know much about them, than being prejudiced against them.

Small Friends

Being down with the cold, resorted to taking a couple of pictures ......