The Scottish Executive offered Borders Machinery Ring a Sustainable Action Grant of £35,500 in 2006-07, £39,500 in 2007-08 and £35,500 in 2008-09 for a project, Sustainable Energy in Farming, in the Borders and Lanarkshire, jointly with the Scottish Institute of Sustainable Technology (SISTech), to establish an auditing system to identify opportunities to incorporate renewable energy systems into existing farms and rural communities.
The project aims to establish energy projects which support rural enterprise, involve local communities and promote rural economies while making a tangible contribution to reducing use of non-renewable energy resources. This included establishing a Borders Sustainable Energy Forum for the exchange of knowledge and experiences, developing case studies and holding a conference on Sustainable Energy in Farming. The project should lead to a model that can be reproduced in communities throughout Scotland.
The Borders Energy Farming Forum (BEFF) was set up, with the main point of contact being the website: http://www.energyfarming.org.uk. The website has attracted an average of between 600 and 800 visits per month. With input from this project, a promotional leaflet was produced and distributed by NFU Scotland, targeted at farmers, with details of renewable energy technologies.
In the farm audits, the BEFF advice complemented work of the Energy Saving Trust; BEFF carried out renewable energy assessments and pre-feasibility studies, leaving farmers free to pursue energy efficiency audits from EST as an additional service.
In 2006-07 some initial work was done towards the aim of developing at least four renewable energy projects. The Forum established a farmers' wind energy working group, with 25 members, including representatives of community councils, and held meetings with invited speakers to stimulate ideas and discussion.
In November 2006 there was an opportunity for Scottish Borders councillors and planners to see small-scale wind turbines in a rural setting. This was followed by a detailed question and answer session with the turbine manufacturer, and a meeting with East Ayrshire Council, to allow the two councils to compare and contrast their approaches to dealing with small to medium scale renewable energy planning permission.
The BEFF commissioned and funded three micro-hydro feasibility studies on farms which were former mills, to give farmers an understanding of the work and costs involved, and the likely revenue generated and carbon saved.
A "Farming Energy" Conference in February 2007, organised in conjunction with Scottish Enterprise Borders was attended by 100 delegates. Borders Machinery Ring and the Energy Saving Trust ran stands at the event offering advice to farmers. In January 2008 around 30 farmers attended an event on undertaking carbon calculations for farms.
Renewable energy pre-feasibility studies showed that seven farms had the potential for renewable energy projects to be taken forward. BEFF will publicise any work undertaken so that others can learn from projects and thus be encouraged to develop similar projects.
Experience from some of the farm audits showed that there was demand for a wind monitoring service in the Borders. BEFF undertook research into monitoring options and towards the end of 2007 invested in two wind monitoring kits and was thus able to provide farmers with a 10m or 12m wind-measuring kit suitable for monitoring wind speed over a three-month period. The data from this period can be used to estimate a site's potential for turbines of up to around 20kW. Beyond that, turbines will have a higher hub, while lenders and Council planners may require a full year of data.
There was study of the business case for medium-scale production of wood pellets and more widely on the issues surrounding the establishment and use of biomass heating, covering both wood chip and wood pellets, including a study of the potential supply chain in the Borders, to assess whether biomass heating could be the basis of a renewable energy project. The conclusion was that this is unlikely to develop without either the guarantee of reliable long-term local demand or a long-term supply chain. Either of these is likely to need seed-corn funding to become established.
Good progress has been made in developing contacts with the farming community and related agencies. Interest in the project has been high, and it has benefited from the support of Scottish Enterprise Borders, Scottish Borders Council, NFU Scotland, and the cooperation of the Energy Saving Trust. Farmers and the rural community have been enthusiastic, and well informed on the issues of sustainable energy. After initial delays, energy audits and feasibility studies have been very popular. From these certain sites looked very promising for renewable energy installations, including wind power and micro hydro options.
Contact
SIStech Ltd, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh. EH14 4AS
Tel: 0131 451 8162