Tag: SNP

Anger As SNP Backs Biggest Wind Farm on the Planet Just Days After Trump Condemned Turbines

The SNP has signed off on the world’s largest offshore wind farm in what conservationists are calling “a very dark day for seabirds”.

A group of seabirds floating on the water in front of several offshore wind turbines under a cloudy sky.

From The Daily Sceptic

By Richard Eldred
 

A dead bird lying on the ground near wind turbines, with a cloudy sky in the background.

The SNP has signed off on the world’s largest offshore wind farm in what conservationists are calling “a very dark day for seabirds”. The Mail has the story.

Ministers confirmed that the giant Berwick Bank project off the south east coast of Scotland – which will contain up to 307 turbines – has been given the go-ahead.

Developers SSE Renewables, claim that, if it is fully delivered, then it “would become the world’s largest offshore wind farm”.

Conservation groups raised concerns about the danger that the development will kill tens of thousands of puffins, kittiewakes and gannets, including globally important colonies at Bass Rock.

It comes just days after Donald Trump attacked the spread of “windmills” during his visit to Scotland, saying they were “ruining” countries in Europe. …

The development will feature up to 307 turbines and have two connection points to the grid – one in Dunbar, East Lothian and another in Blyth, Northumberland.

A map showing the location of the Berwick Bank offshore wind farm, with marked areas indicating approved, under construction, fully commissioned, early planning, and development zones in relation to Scottish cities.

But the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and partner conservation groups condemned the decision to approve the development.

Anne McCall, director of RSPB Scotland, said: “This is a very dark day for seabirds. It is a terrible decision on a really bad development.

“Berwick Bank would be catastrophic for Scotland’s globally important seabirds which are already facing alarming declines. In addition, its impacts are so damaging they will make the relative impacts of other wind farms significantly higher.

“This one wind farm is going to make it really challenging to accelerate renewable projects across Scottish seas. We are incredibly concerned that Scottish Government have granted consent for a project which could catapult some of Scotland’s most-loved seabird species towards extinction.”

The National Trust for Scotland said the news was “deeply disappointing”, fearing there will be “significant harm” caused to seabird colonies at the nearby St Abb’s Head National Nature Reserve. …

The approval comes after the SNP Government unveiled a new target of having up to 40GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040, which is a significant ramping up from the existing target of 8-11GW by 2030.

Based on current average operating capacities it would mean an increase from around 1,000 turbines in five years’ time to 5,000 within 15 years.

Worth reading in full.

https://videopress.com/v/GOmaZwU6?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Glasgow’s Strict Ulez-Style Scheme Under Fire After Air Pollution Rises 10%

Despite being implemented to improve air quality by restricting older vehicles, Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone has resulted in a 10% increase in traffic-related pollution levels.

From The Daily Sceptic

By RICHARD ELDRED

Despite being implemented to improve air quality by restricting older vehicles, Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone has resulted in a 10% increase in traffic-related pollution levels. The Telegraph has the story.

Pollution levels of gases linked to traffic rose by about 10% in the centre of Glasgow after the SNP set up a ‘draconian’ Ulez-style scheme, official figures show.

Nitrogen dioxide levels in the city’s Hope Street, which has repeatedly had the country’s worst air quality, were measured at an average of 34 micrograms per cubic metre between June and August this year.

This compared with a figure of 31mg in the same period last year, before the city’s low emission zone (Lez) was introduced – a rise of 9.7%. The legal limit is 40mg.

Levels of another pollutant from motor vehicles, known as fine particulate matter, surged by 11.5% over the same period, from 5.2mg to 5.8mg per cubic metre.

The SNP-run Glasgow City Council said the weather could be responsible for the surge, but the figures prompted further questions about whether cars should be included.

Experts said buses and coaches are the largest polluters and they have been subject to the Lez since the end of 2018. Enforcement of other vehicles started on June 1st this year.

One air quality­ expert, who did not wish to be named, told the Scottish Mail on Sunday: “Buses are the main polluters, hence the reason levels remain more or less the same as before, and therefore y­ou have to question the point of banning cars given all the cost, disruption and inconvenience.”

The Glasgow scheme is stricter than London’s controversial ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) as drivers in older vehicles are banned from entering the city centre, rather than being given the option to pay a daily fee.

An older car entering the zone each day would face penalties of £60, a penalty that doubles with each subsequent breach of rules up to a daily cap of £480 for cars and vans and £960 for buses and HGVs. The fine is reset to £60 if there are no breaches for 90 days.

It emerged last month that the city council was spending £100,000 on renting vehicles to replace those within its fleet that did not comply with the new rules.

Worth reading in full.

SNP admits to felling 16 million trees to develop wind farms

Almost 16 million trees have been chopped down on publicly owned land in Scotland to make way for wind farms, an SNP minister had admitted amid a major drive to erect more turbines.

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Philip Bratby

Almost 16 million trees have been chopped down on publicly owned land in Scotland to make way for wind farms, an SNP minister had admitted amid a major drive to erect more turbines.

Mairi Gougeon, the Rural Affairs Secretary, estimated that 15.7 million trees had been felled since 2000 in land that is currently managed by agency Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) – the equivalent of more than 1,700 per day.

She insisted there was a planning presumption in favour of protecting woodland and wind farm developers would be expected to undertake “compensatory planting elsewhere”.

But Liam Kerr, a Scottish Tory MSP, said the public would be “astonished” at the total and cited concerns about the developments that had been raised with him “by communities all over the country.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/07/19/snp-chopped-down-16m-trees-develop-wind-farms-scotland/

Europe’s biggest onshore wind farm, Whitelee Windfarm on the outskirts of Glasgow.