ARTICLE FROM NEW ENERGY WORLD NETWORK:
Biomass could play a key role in helping Scotland reach its ambitious 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020 target, according to project developer Lifetime Recycling Village.
Through supporting more renewable projects which involve biomass, Scotland will place itself in a strong position to meet the ambitious 2020 target, the company said.
While the Scottish government has high hopes for its country becoming a leader in wind and marine power and has facilitated this through ongoing investment, biomass has until recently been largely sidelined.
Scotland’s new Energy Minister Fergus Ewing this month shifted the country’s political focus from wind onto bioenergy by introducing the Renewable Heat Incentive, one of the UK government’s flagship clean energy initiatives. The scheme will now reward producers of renewable heat in Scotland, as well as the rest of the UK, through payments for the energy they produce.
Lifetime Recycling welcomed comments made this week by Mark Hanafin, director of Centrica Energy, in the House of Commons. His comments emphasised the benefits of energy from biomass in terms of its reliability. Hanafin stressed that biomass is an important renewable energy source as it is not affected by intermittency issues.
Lifetime Recycling managing director Neil Gallacher said, ‘The advantage of schemes like ours is that we can guarantee a supply of reliable, green electricity. Energy generation from biomass is not affected by unpredictable weather patterns, which can often have an adverse affect on the capacity for other types of renewable energy generation.’
A recent report produced for the Department of Energy and Climate Change by consultancy firm Arup indicated that waste biomass sector is likely to double by 2020.
To view the article online, click on the following link:
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Eastwood Today on Lifetime Recycling Village Job Creation
An article in Eastwood Today last week discussed the job creation and apprenticeships that Lifetime Recycling Village would bring to East Renfrewshire and the surrounding areas
Waste chief in jobs vow
Courtesy Eastwood Today (Thursday 30th May 2011)
Report Roy Beers
JOBS-hit East Renfrewshire really will benefit from the giant incinerator planned for Loganswell near Newton Mearns - and so will neighbouring areas including unemployment black spot South Lanarkshire.
That was the forthright message to Eastwood Today readers this week from Lifetime Recycling Village managing director Neil Gallacher, who says his firm is calling for the renewabies sector to take the lead in offering training schemes.
Critics of the controversial plan to open Europe's largest incinerator at Loganswell have poured scorn on claims that the project will bring meaningful employment to the area, and say estimates of how many real jobs would be created are continually being revsied,
But Mr Gallacher says the project and the sector generally - offer a jobs lifeline to areas like West Dunbartonshire, with more than 40 people chasing every available job; and South Lanarkshire, where there's been a 90 per cent increase in the number of benefit claims between March 2005 and March this year.
He says recent political announcements in support of apprenticeships have received a warm reception from the team behind the proposed Lifetime Recycling Village for the West of Scotland, and has called for the renewabIes sector to take the lead in offering training schemes.
LRV says that in the run up to the recent Scottish Parliament Election apprenticeships were a key campaigning point for the SNP.
SNP leader Alex Salmond, now First Minister, wrote to Scotland's 200 biggest companies and the Federation of Small Businesses to reiterate the benefits to employers of taking on
apprenticeships, and last week announced that a £34.5 million package to support thousands of additional employment, training and college places will be part of next year's Scottish Budget.
Mr Gallacher Said: "The renewable sector is a key area of growth for our economy, and so it is vital that we are proactive and take the lead on this.
By increasing the number of apprenticeships available in the sector now, we will ensure the long term future and stability of employment in renewable energy in Scotland and the rest of the UK".
If its proposal for the Lifetime Recycling Village is approved, the company has pledged to help improve employment conditions not only in East Renfrewshire, but also in neighbouring local authority areas.
Mr Gallacher said: "We are actively seeking to offer apprenticeship places on our development, and will encourage anyone that we enter into business with or sign contracts with to do the same.
"There is a clear and pressing need for the local workforce to advance their skill levels, as unemployment levels in
West Dumbartonshire and South Lanarkshire are among the worst in the UK".
As extensively reported in Eastwood Today over recent months the local MP and MSP, as well as the area's two list MSP's, are all firmly opposed to the scheme, which is argued set to destroy the amenity of Newton Meams while threatening the wider area with traffic chaos and the threat of pollution.
It's also argued around 100 jobs will be lost if the project gains the go-ahead as several businesses operating at Loganswell would close or re-locate.
However LRV insists its plan answers a well-established recycling problem, and that the scheme would bring real benefits to Eastwood and neighbouring areas through jobs and generous grants for community projects.
Courtesy Eastwood Today (Thursday 30th May 2011)
Report Roy Beers
JOBS-hit East Renfrewshire really will benefit from the giant incinerator planned for Loganswell near Newton Mearns - and so will neighbouring areas including unemployment black spot South Lanarkshire.
That was the forthright message to Eastwood Today readers this week from Lifetime Recycling Village managing director Neil Gallacher, who says his firm is calling for the renewabies sector to take the lead in offering training schemes.
Critics of the controversial plan to open Europe's largest incinerator at Loganswell have poured scorn on claims that the project will bring meaningful employment to the area, and say estimates of how many real jobs would be created are continually being revsied,
But Mr Gallacher says the project and the sector generally - offer a jobs lifeline to areas like West Dunbartonshire, with more than 40 people chasing every available job; and South Lanarkshire, where there's been a 90 per cent increase in the number of benefit claims between March 2005 and March this year.
He says recent political announcements in support of apprenticeships have received a warm reception from the team behind the proposed Lifetime Recycling Village for the West of Scotland, and has called for the renewabIes sector to take the lead in offering training schemes.
LRV says that in the run up to the recent Scottish Parliament Election apprenticeships were a key campaigning point for the SNP.
SNP leader Alex Salmond, now First Minister, wrote to Scotland's 200 biggest companies and the Federation of Small Businesses to reiterate the benefits to employers of taking on
apprenticeships, and last week announced that a £34.5 million package to support thousands of additional employment, training and college places will be part of next year's Scottish Budget.
Mr Gallacher Said: "The renewable sector is a key area of growth for our economy, and so it is vital that we are proactive and take the lead on this.
By increasing the number of apprenticeships available in the sector now, we will ensure the long term future and stability of employment in renewable energy in Scotland and the rest of the UK".
If its proposal for the Lifetime Recycling Village is approved, the company has pledged to help improve employment conditions not only in East Renfrewshire, but also in neighbouring local authority areas.
Mr Gallacher said: "We are actively seeking to offer apprenticeship places on our development, and will encourage anyone that we enter into business with or sign contracts with to do the same.
"There is a clear and pressing need for the local workforce to advance their skill levels, as unemployment levels in
West Dumbartonshire and South Lanarkshire are among the worst in the UK".
As extensively reported in Eastwood Today over recent months the local MP and MSP, as well as the area's two list MSP's, are all firmly opposed to the scheme, which is argued set to destroy the amenity of Newton Meams while threatening the wider area with traffic chaos and the threat of pollution.
It's also argued around 100 jobs will be lost if the project gains the go-ahead as several businesses operating at Loganswell would close or re-locate.
However LRV insists its plan answers a well-established recycling problem, and that the scheme would bring real benefits to Eastwood and neighbouring areas through jobs and generous grants for community projects.
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