This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Renewable energy on new campus
07/03/2006
A £400,000 grant is financing a hi-tech biomass heating plant at the new multi-million pound Queen Margaret University College (QMUC) campus on the edge of Musselburgh which is due to open to staff and students in autumn 2007.
Visiting the new site for a tree-planting ceremony, Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen said:
"Queen Margaret University College should be congratulated not only for their ambitious plans to build this state-of-the-art campus but for incorporating sustainability in every aspect.
"This first new higher education campus to be built in a generation will be a lifelong learning hub for its students and the local community. It will also provide a welcome economic boost with employment attributable to the new campus of around 1,200 and approximately 500 jobs on site during the construction phase.
"Queen Margaret in the first higher education institute in Scotland to embrace biomass technology. This is certain to encourage other similar projects throughout the country.
"This is Energy Week, and in Scotland we have very ambitious plans to increase our generation and use of renewable energy.
"It's not just wind farms and tidal schemes that will help make Scotland a global renewables powerhouse. Schemes like QMUC's biomass heating system also have a vital role to play in reducing our carbon emissions.
"I'm also delighted to hear their plans to increase their participation in research and development. With such a forward thinking approach to their students, building and the local community, I believe that this campus will be a huge success and will help attract new businesses it the area."
Current QMUC sites at Corstorphine and Leith are at full capacity and not suitable for redevelopment. The new campus will be home to around 5,000 students and staff and is the first new HEI campus to be built in Scotland in a generation.
Through employment and education opportunities and joint activities with businesses and healthcare providers, the institution has the potential - estimated by the Fraser of Allander Institute - to boost the local economy by £32 million, and the Scottish economy by some £90 million.
The £50 million contract to construct most of the new buildings at Craighall was won by international construction company Mowlem, and the £30 million contract to build an 800-bed hall of residence by Sanctuary Housing, one of the UK's leading not-for-profit housing providers.
QMUC has included in its proposals for the new campus to use a biomass system to heat the new buildings. Biomass technology uses renewable energy resource derived from sources such as timber industry bi-products, agricultural crops, raw material from the forest, and major parts of household waste and food.
Biomass does not increase carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as the raw material absorbs the same amount of carbon in growing as it releases when consumed as a fuel.