Scotland Makes Fuel from Whisky

Leave it to Scotland to figure out a way to get renewable energy from the whiskymaking process. The land of whisky connoisseurs will soon have a plant run on energy created from byproducts of the distilling process. The company turning this grand idea into reality is ‘Combination of Rothes Distillers Limited (CoRD), joining up with Helius Energy to build a combined heat and power (CHP) plant along with a fertilizer factory.

From MatterNetwork:

Called GreenSwitch, the modular CHP unit will employ biomass made from biproducts of the distilling process and sustainably-harvested wood chips. Right next door, the GreenFields plant will turn a liquid biproduct [sic] called pot ale, into a concentrated organic fertilizer.

This £34 million project will take 18-24 months to ferment, at which point the GreenSwitch plant will produce 7.2 megawatts of electricty [sic], enough to power 9,000 homes. Although still in the planning stages, the venture already won the Best Environmental Initiative Award from the Scottish Green Energy Awards last December.

Scotland has dozens of whisky distillers, so if this idea caught on, it could be a great way to power not just the distilleries themselves but possibly even homes and businesses in the area.

Mmm, Glenlivet 18-year. I’d love it even more if the plant were run with green energy!

Link [MattersNetwork]
Photo credit: Flickr user tienvijftien

Donald Trump Set to Destroy Pristine Scottish Habitat

Donald Trump is a jerk. That’s his shtick. Yell a lot, push people around, say ridiculously offensive things and pat yourself on the back as often as possible – such is The Donald’s way of interacting with others. So, it’s no surprise that he pushed so hard to gain permission from Scottish officials to destroy a huge swath of their pristine sand dune habitat, and ultimately wore them down. He’s now been given the okay to get started on what he calls “the world’s greatest golf course”, which will include high-rise timeshare apartments and an 8-story hotel.

As we reported back in June, Trump has claimed that his golf course would be “good for the environment” despite the fact that it would displace a rich variety of wildlife, suggesting that his golf course would be an improvement over the natural state of the area.

The Sietch Blog has this to say about it:

So at what point did Trump give a voice to the rest of the biosphere when he decided to promote golf – a leisure activity – over the natural world? Take your plans for “repopulation” and “improvement” and show them to the lives that have built up a natural, sustainable ecological balance over the last 10,000 years. Now show them to the other life forms in the habitats that have been ruined by the 32,000 (and rising) golf course throughout the world. Now start to lose a little sleep over one man, Michael Forbes, who could shatter your dream – and save the lives of countless organisms.

There are clear signs when a culture has lost its moral compass entirely. When we value a game over an ecology then we have lost it big time.

So, Trump got what he wanted, as usual. The man’s got nothing but dollar signs in his eyes, so this is to be expected. It’s a shame that Scotland didn’t stand up to him, though. What a bully.

Link [Sietch Blog]
Photo credit: Flickr user azrainman

Trump Wants to Build Golf Course in Scotland ‘for the Environment’

Donald Trump gets a lot of flak, and he likes it that way – it’s attention. I really believe that his bizarre hair is a carefully orchestrated part of a highly choreographed persona that he has created. How else can you explain that this billionaire, despite much teasing from the public, won’t let a stylist near his hair? Maybe he’s hiding a golden egg under there. Anyway, The Donald is creating controversy once again by stating that the golf course he wants to create on a stretch of untouched land in Scotland is ‘green’.

The Independent has it:

Donald Trump wants to create the world’s finest golf course on an unspoilt stretch of northern Scotland. Merely creating a “world class” course would not be good enough; it has to be better than the Old Course at St Andrews, he claimed yesterday.

The US billionaire was giving evidence at the opening day of a public inquiry into his plan to develop a site that includes sand dunes that are home to a rich variety of wildlife, on the Menie estate near Aberdeen. Mr Trump presented himself as an ecologically concerned entrepreneur, but when he described himself as “an environmentalist”, the reaction from the public gallery was so loud that the inquiry chairman, James McCulloch, demanded silence.

Mr Trump claimed his golf course was more likely to improve the local environment than damage it. He suggested the site was not very attractive in its present condition, though he agreed that it had the potential to be one of the finest sites in the world.

Of course, environmentalists have objected, and the development was turned down by the council in Aberdeenshire. Trump, in return, threatened that turning it down would be bad for Scotland because it would discourage future investors. Scotland’s first minister is still trying to bring the project to fruition, noting that it would create jobs.

Perhaps the birds that Trump’s golf course would displace can take up residence in his hair instead.

Link [The Independent]
Photo credit: Flickr user azrainman

Scotland Building a 300ft Bridge for Squirrels to Cross Traffic

Poor squirrels. There’s just one example of animals that we’ve displaced with all of our strip malls and highways, but a highly visible one. No wonder they raid our birdfeeders and gardens – we’ve made it a lot harder for them to go about life as they’re meant to. That’s why we’re glad to hear about Scotland’s new squirrel bridge. That’s right: it’s a bridge just for squirrels.

From Scotland on Sunday:

The aim of the Kingcausie Wildlife Overbridge, as it is known, is to give safe passage to the area’s colony of red squirrels and other wildlife as they cross between their newly- divided territory. The animals will be expected to scamper above the heads of motorists as they travel along the bypass in a road cutting below.

The structure – the longest of its type in Scotland – will be similar to a pedestrian footbridge, but ‘planted’ with shrubs to create a natural-looking corridor. Engineering experts said it could cost as much as £100,000.

However, the owner of the Kingcausie Estate says he wants to preserve the red squirrel habitat as it is and the bypass should be re-routed away from the wood.

Scotland officials are determined to save the red squirrel, and are doing what they can to ensure that foraging habitats of the little creature are left intact. They’ll be watching to see how the squirrels adjust to using the bridge.

Look at the picture of this thing. Cuuuuuute!

Link [Scotland on Sunday]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons