• Energy

In Scotland’s Stormiest Waters, Offshore Wind Is Thriving

• offshore wind
• renewables
• Scotland
• wind energy

by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer The world’s first floating wind farm off the coast of Scotland is breaking records for energy output. Three years after installing the offshore turbines in the rough North Sea waters 15 miles off the coast of Aberdeen, it’s the UK’s best-performing wind farm with the highest average “capacity factor” […]

• Ocean

Brexit Trade Deal has Fisherman Throwing Fish Back

• Brexit
• climate change
• fishers
• Scotland
• shellfish

Scottish fishers are scrambling to stay afloat during COVID-19, and Brexit red-tape is making it even harder. Attempts to navigate new border checks and customs rules have been met with paperwork issues and administrative errors, causing delays in shipments to the European Union.

Why This Matters: Brexit isn’t the only thing threatening the Scottish fishing industry. As the North Sea warms, fish distributions shift and change, and experts say Scottish fisheries are largely unprepared.

• Land

For Peat’s Sake: Protecting Scotland’s Bogs

• #30x30
• 30 by 30
• carbon sequestration
• peat bogs
• peatland
• Scotland

by Ashira Morris, ODP Contributing Writer Scotland’s Flow Country could soon be home to the globe’s first peat bog protected as a world heritage site. The blanket bog covers over 1,500 square miles stretching across the northern tip of Scotland. Peatlands like the ones in Flow Country are one of the most efficient carbon trappers […]

• Energy

One Cool Thing: Gas Heating to be Banned in Scotland’s Castles

• natural gas
• Scotland

Scotland is surging full speed ahead with its sustainability goals and is on track to source 100% of its energy needs from renewable sources. As such, Scottish institutions such as the Historic Environment Scotland (HES) are doing their part to help meet the government’s goals. HES said it aims to be “net-zero” by 2045 in […]

• Energy

Scotland Surging on Renewable Power

• decarbonization
• renewable energy
• Scotland
• wind power

In the first half of 2019, Scotland generated enough wind energy to supply homes with electricity two times over. Wind turbines produced more than 98 million megawatt-hours of electricity – which is univalent to enough power for 4.47 million homes.  And just last week, a new £6 million renewable energy project in Stirling — the first of its kind in the UK — using cutting-edge technologies to harness energy from wastewater from the city’s sewage works.