Support small green projects

Sir, - Business, Energy and Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing took advantage of the photo opportunity at the St Andrews University biomass site (April 14).

You reported the minister was “extremely impressed” with progress, and said the project was part of SNP plans to “take full advantage” of Scotland’s natural resources for the production of energy.

As Athole Stewart (April 16) pointed out, the university’s aim to become carbon neutral is laudable but there are valid criticisms of biomass. The large area of new planting required to absorb the carbon emissions means it simply cannot be widely applied to meet energy demands.

The Perth and Kinross Council project for a heat pump using the River Tay, and a tie-in with a solar park, has more potential for general applicability (April 15).

However, this also has significant limitations. A solar park occupies a significant area of land, and not everyone has a river on their doorstep.

And, where’s the sun when you need it for heating your house on a winter’s evening?

Sustainable Cupar’s proposal would deal with all these issues.

The solar panels would be on house roofs, so no additional land is required, and the heat pump would use waste water from houses. Proven technology would store the heat, generated from the sun in the summer, to warm the houses through the winter.

Despite the Scottish Government stating planning of rural towns and their surrounding areas must support decarbonisation of heat, Local Energy Scotland, the Scottish Government’s organisation to “help Scotland’s communities benefit from renewable energy”, considers this does not apply if a big commercial

organisation doesn’t want it to.

Sustainable Cupar is not getting any help there. So much for the Scottish Government’s talk of “community empowerment”.

Is that another difference between the projects mentioned above? The University of St Andrews and Perth and Kinross Council are big public organisations, Sustainable Cupar is just a small community one. Gordon Pay. Coordinator Sustainable Cupar Town Development Group.