Green Whisky

No don't be alarmed they aren't adding dye to Scotland's favourite dram but Diageo are linking up with energy company Dalkia to create a bio-energy plant at Cameronbridge, Fife. Using two of the distilling industries bi-products the wash and steam used at the plant to create the largest non-utility company plants of its kind in the UK.

The net effect of using 90,000 tonnes of residue that would normally need transporting off site to would result in the project seeing a cut of 56,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, the equivalent of 44,000 family cars. Its good to see big industry not just thinking about how to go green but also working in combination with energy companies in how they can use waste products effectively to help combat climate change as best they can.

Although this particualar scheme set for Cameronbridge is on a large scale there are many smaller schemes that could be implemented by other producers and careful consideration should be taken by companies setting up or expanding and the Government in how to encourage and develop these alternative fuel sources and provisions.

Harnessing Solar Power Like Nature Intended

Consider the lilies.

Well if it's good enough for the bible. Imagine the scene a pond in summer, the sun blazing down and the water lilies covering it are soaking up the sun's rays to provide the energy for them the grow and flourish.

Well Glasgow based company ZM Architecture have used that imagination to take the step one stage further. They have observed this happening in nature and have come up with a new way to utilise that idea to micro generate power by large lily-esque solar panels on the River Clyde in the middle of the city to help cut the carbon footrpint of Scotland's largest city. It is an ingenius scheme and one that many of the world's major cites should be able to take on as well as they are usually built on some water course of coast.

As the energy is created locally little of the it will be lost in transportation to end user, and it utilises an now underused part of the reason the city was located where it was. It will prove to be a useful addition to local energy production in our urban areas.