I’ve been out and about at the CLA Game Fair over recent days so have only recently caught up with two pieces of news from Scotland.
The campaign to prevent the construction of a coal-fired power station on the Clyde at Hunterston has appeared regularly in these posts – though not recently. You can catch up with the story here, but in essence, the combination of damage to a Site of Special Scientific Interest and the substantial ramping up of the production of damaging green house gas emissions means that there is substantial opposition to this proposed development.
Plans to fit carbon capture and storage technology to the new power station miss the mark because the new station will still add to emissions (CCS won’t capture the total output). We argue that the CCS kit should be used on existing coal plants to actually reduce emissions.
So recent news that the planning application has been amended by the developer, Peel Energy, to add an extra 46m to the chimney (making it 200m tall) in response to concerns about local emission issues – aren’t really a comfort. You can add your voice and say no to this damaging proposal here.
Aedán Smith, Head of Planning and Development with RSPB Scotland said: “We will need to assess the additional information in detail but this looks suspiciously like a green-wash. These amendments appear to do nothing to address the fundamental problems with this proposal. This unwanted and unneeded coal plant would still destroy a nationally important wildlife site, important for wading birds and waterfowl, and contribute to massive global environmental damage through a major increase in climate-wrecking greenhouse gases. It is particularly disappointing that Peel Energy do not appear to have even attempted to compensate for the wildlife habitat that would be lost”.
Any move to a low-carbon economy must be based on well-planned renewable projects that are in the right place to avoid unacceptable damage to the natural environment. Wind energy has a vital role to play, but badly designed schemes are both a real risk to the natural environment and undermine the reputation of the industry.
So a recent planning decision to refuse consent for a 14-turbine wind-farm at Stacain, near Inveraray in Argyll is very welcome.
This is the second time that Ministers have turned down the project, following a six-year planning process involving two formal Public Local Inquiries.
The proposal by developer, Bagmoor Wind, would have been located within the Glen Etive and Glen Fyne Special Protection Area (SPA) for golden eagles and, if approved, would have posed a significant threat to the birds, due to habitat loss and risk of collision with turbines.
Aedán has been in demand for comments recently and this time he was very positive about the outcome: "We’re very pleased with Scottish Ministers' decision. It’s the right one for wildlife and renewable energy. This proposal would have caused serious harm to golden eagles and to the reputation of wind farms, making it more difficult to deliver the renewable energy we need to tackle climate change.”
"We were particularly pleased to see robust opposition to the proposals from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). RSPB Scotland, SNH and the local community have had to invest a major amount of time and money to fight this completely inappropriate proposal for over 6 years. It’s enormously frustrating that we needed to do this when our efforts, and those of developers, should be going towards delivering renewables in the right place that do not harm Scotland's precious wildlife and habitats."
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