Yard owner Ped Rossiter removes spare parts from a old, end-of-life Ford Transit as it is processed at Pylle Motor Spares and Metal Processing, a licensed scrap yard near Somerset in the UK in 2017 when the UK government had announced its ban on the sale of petrol and diesel powered cars and vans from 2040. The move followed similar pledges in France and has seen a number of car manufacturers offering substantial savings or 'scrappage' deals on new cars if customers trade-in older more polluting cars. Matt Cardy / Getty Images
Britain announced that it will ban sales of new diesel and gasoline powered cars in 15 years last week. That was five years earlier than expected, but necessary for the UK to reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a statement from the prime minister's office, as CNN reported.
<p>The UK's Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps, revised that number this week, when he told BBC Radio 5 Live it could happen by 2032, adding there would be consultation, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51474769?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science_and_environment&link_location=live-reporting-story" target="_blank">BBC reported</a>.</p>
<p>"Michael Gove announced the original 2040, the Prime Minister last week said actually we would like to do that by 2035 at the latest," Shapps said in the interview, as the <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1241215/petrol-diesel-car-ban-transport-secretary-grant-shapps-electric-cars" target="_blank">Express reported</a>. "We have said 2035 or even 2032. That's in consultation, we will say 2032-2035."</p>
<p>The 2032 target puts the UK in line with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/Scotland" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scotland</a>, which, three years ago, pledged to ban sales of new combustion engine cars by 2032. However, Scotland does not have the authority to ban new cars, so it plans to phase out the need for combustion engines, by reducing the number of gas stations and adding many more charging stations, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51474769?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science_and_environment&link_location=live-reporting-story" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported.</p>
<p>Glasgow, in Scotland, will host COP26 later this year, and the UK government is laying out its environmental proposals in the build-up the November UN conference, as the BBC reported. </p>
<p>The proposed ban also includes hybrid cars, so the only sales that will be allowed are fully electric or hydrogen cars and vans, according to the BBC.</p>
<p>Predictably, representatives from the automotive industry have balked against the timeline, raising concerns about whether the government would continue to subsidize sales of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/electric-vehicles" rel="noopener noreferrer">electric vehicles</a>, a dearth of charging infrastructure, and potential job losses, as CNN reported.</p>
<p>"It's extremely concerning that government has seemingly moved the goalposts for consumers and industry on such a critical issue," Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said in a statement, as CNN reported. "With current demand for this still expensive technology still just a fraction of sales, it's clear that accelerating an already very challenging ambition will take more than industry investment."</p>
<p>The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders's numbers show that while electric car sales rose 144 percent last year in the UK, they make up less than two percent of the total number of cars on the road, as the Express reported. In 2019, nearly 1.5 million new combustion engines cars were sold in Britain. Only 37,000 electric cars were sold. </p>
<p>Since charging infrastructure is not in place yet, many car buyers have anxiety about running out of a charge and being stuck. In his interview, Shapps sought to ease anxiety by assuring the public that additional infrastructure for electric cars was part of the government's budget.</p>
<p>"We have domestic car producers and we want to help them to transition so we are doing a lot of work," Shapps said in his interview, as the Express reported. "In fact tomorrow I'm meeting with the car manufacturers on this very subject. We are putting in about £1.5billion at the moment and there is more to come."</p>
<p>Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged that no driver will be more than 30 miles away from a charging station. Yet, a considerable investment is needed to make that claim a reality, according to the Express.<a href="https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1241215/petrol-diesel-car-ban-transport-secretary-grant-shapps-electric-cars" target="_blank"></a></p>
<p>The commitment pairs the UK with several countries phasing out greenhouse gas emitting combustion engines, including <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/Norway" rel="noopener noreferrer">Norway</a>, which wants all new passenger cars and vans sold in the country to be zero-emission vehicles by 2025, and India, which has called for new cars sold there to be powered by electricity by 2030, as CNN reported.</p>
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By Joe Lo
The burning Amazon rainforests, with their jaguars, monkeys and colorful birds, have grabbed global attention in a way the destruction of the world's mossy peatlands never has.
Yet protecting the world's peatlands, which store at least twice as much carbon as forests, is critical in the fight against climate change.
<p>Peatlands, also known as bogs, are created when the remains of plants are submerged in waterlogged lands, turning them over time into peat with the plants' carbon still stored inside. They cover around <a href="https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/geography/research/projects/tropical-peatland/what-are-peatlands" target="_blank">3% of the world's land</a> and are found in 175 countries, mostly in northern Europe, North America and Southeast Asia.</p><p>Scotland has a particularly high coverage, with bogs amounting to <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00532096.pdf" target="_blank">20% of its land</a> (roughly 1.7 million hectares) mainly in its lesser-populated north and western islands.</p>
<h2>Decades of Degradation</h2><p>However, the Scottish government <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00532096.pdf" target="_blank">estimates</a> that roughly a third of the country's total — roughly 600,000 hectares — have been degraded. Scotland's peatlands, created mostly in areas left water-logged from the melting of Ice Age glaciers, lay untouched for thousands of years until farmers began to drain the land, building ditches so the water would run downhill into rivers.</p><p>While such ditches date back to Roman times in parts of Britain, their building intensified in Scotland in the 1950s with the advent of new machinery and government grants aimed at improving grazing.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1MjE0Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTk1MDU1Nn0.33ShRbFqxIDlAA9W9HAZvgk1MAQ7byfpveCZIS-iUYg/img.jpg?width=980" id="1b370" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="82775eca8d3a7819e9bcd3c318c46517" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Peatlands in Scotland cover roughly 20% of its land.
<p>Without the bogs' acidic water there to preserve them, the dead plants in the peat start to degrade, releasing their carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. The degradation is sped up by the sun and wind they are exposed to without their water coverage.</p>
<h2>Restoration Plans</h2><p>To correct past mistakes, landowners are being offered grants by the Scottish government to block the drainage ditches their predecessors were encouraged to dig. A total of €16.3 million ($18 million) has been made <a href="https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,scottish-government-announces-11m-funding-to-restore-scotlands-peatland_10484.htm" target="_blank">available this year</a>. The hope is that 50,000 hectares will have been restored by the end of 2020, and 250,000 hectares by 2030.<br></p><p>The restoration happens in two ways according to Andrew McBride, who works for Scottish Natural Heritage, the government agency responsible for handing out grants. It can either involve a ditch being filled in with peat from nearby, or a wooden dam being built inside the ditch to slow down the loss of water and spread it across the bog.</p><p>When the ditches are blocked, rainwater increases the water level, erosion stops and within two years, plants such as moss return. Within five to fifteen years, the bogs are back to fully functioning, McBride said.</p>
<h2>Speed Is Key</h2><p>"We want to do things as quickly as possible," he told DW, "because obviously there's a climate emergency."</p><p>McBride says that landowners are often keen for restoration on their property as the farming benefits of drainage were not as great as previously thought. It only really improved the land right next to the bog, he says, adding that the drainage of ditches cause its own problems. On large estates, wandering sheep often fall into the ditches and can't get out.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1MjE0OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTQwNzU3MH0.4jC1ddcMfIyNGUeLW7RdcSDpkkseAN65JSK3skJvQz8/img.jpg?width=980" id="f4c7d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d3d20512842a1d07925954dc4c6ab849" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Peatlands can store up to twice as much carbon as forests.
<p>Scotland is also trying to restore bogs by cutting down trees. In the 1980s, the UK government introduced tax incentives encouraging landowners to drain bogs to plant trees. This was a double hit — first drainage dried the land and then the trees sucked out even more of the moisture.</p><p>Although the trees absorbed carbon as they grew, that didn't cancel out the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by the peatlands' destruction.</p><p><a href="https://www.theflowcountry.org.uk/flow-facts/flow-fact-4/" target="_blank">Protests from conservationists</a> eventually ended the tax incentives and now even the Scottish government agency Forestry and Land Scotland is aiming to transform <a href="https://forestryandland.gov.scot/news-releases/fls-peatland-restoration-gets-3-million-boost" target="_blank">2,500 hectares of forest</a> back into peatland over five years.</p>
<h2>Animal Threats</h2><p>Sheep and deer that eat and trample the plants are the third major threat to peat bogs. With natural predators such as wolves and lynx, long exterminated, deer have overrun much of Scotland, <a href="https://www.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/S4/SB_13-74.pdf" target="_blank">damaging many of its ecosystems</a>. To try and control their numbers, deer management groups have been set up across Scotland.</p><p>The groups are set up by neighboring landowners who work to keep deer numbers down, mainly by shooting the older animals. "Increasingly, deer management groups are expected to coordinate peatland projects and woodland extension projects as a contribution to the climate change agenda," said Richard Cooke, chair of the Association of Deer Management Groups.<br></p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1MjE2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ1MTc2N30.IElzSp_VK1pmZpKZKfNITlYGzwx-ZOu1HUiINBKzmaA/img.jpg?width=980" id="99fce" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a44fcc93a2f9aa4a58b12eea962a5fa4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Firefighters dealing with peatland fire in Indonesia earlier this year.
<p>In April 2019, Scotland <a href="https://climateemergencydeclaration.org/climate-emergency-declarations-cover-15-million-citizens/" target="_blank">declared</a> a 'climate emergency' and its government aims to reach 'net zero' emissions <a href="https://www.governmenteuropa.eu/net-zero-scotland-by-2045/94854/" target="_blank">by 2045</a>. Emissions from peatlands are not currently included in the UK's official <a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/reducing-uk-emissions-2019-progress-report-to-parliament/" target="_blank">estimates</a> but they will be in the future so unless they are restored, reducing Scotland's emissions will be much harder.</p><p>Bogs across the world, and particularly in Europe, face similar problems to Scotland. Hans Joosten, a leading researcher on peat bogs, told DW about half those in Europe have been drained, particularly in the densely populated western, central and southern regions.</p>
<h2>Global Preservation</h2><p>Across the world, countries are trying to restore their bogs <a href="https://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/sites/default/files/2019-07/IUCNGlobalSuccessApril2014_0.pdf" target="_blank">like Scotland</a>. In <a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/reducing-uk-emissions-2019-progress-report-to-parliament/" target="_blank">South Africa</a>, conservation has been combined with poverty relief as the government's €56.6 ($63 million) 'working for wetlands' program has created 15,000 jobs in rewetting and controlling the erosion of 20 bogs.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1MjE3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjUwNjA4Mn0.v9-vQE285AIAxc9h-MOf9iJTrSDM344UCBxUjRGL7b0/img.jpg?width=980" id="4bfa0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bca30fd9039428bdda463700523b5634" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Restoring peatlands is key to reaching Scotland's climate targets.
<p>While there has been no major new drainage in Europe since 1990, it continues elsewhere. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/peatland-restoration-and-ecosystem-services/international-carbon-policies-as-a-new-driver-for-peatland-restoration/EF6CFC770695532B99185370631B67D4" target="_blank">Malaysia and Indonesia</a> now account for half of the world's peatland emissions. Their tropical bogs have <a href="https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/geography/research/projects/tropical-peatland/threats-to-tropical-peatlands" target="_blank">been drained</a> so that products like palm oil can be grown, leading to frequent wildfires. In Uganda and Peru's Western Amazonia, peatlands are also <a href="https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/57401" target="_blank">increasingly being drained</a> for agriculture.</p><p>Joosten dedicates his life to restoring bogs but is keen to emphasize that natural solutions will only ever be part of the solution to climate change. "Peatlands are not going to save the world," he said. "We have to reduce our emissions ourselves, that will never be compensated by peatlands or by other ecosystems."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/scotland-restores-its-peatlands-to-keep-carbon-in-the-ground/a-50915166?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>
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It may seem innocuous to flush a Q-tip down the toilet, but those bits of plastic have been washing up on beaches and pose a threat to the birds, turtles and marine life that call those beaches home. The scourge of plastic "nurdles," as they are called, has pushed Scotland to implement a complete ban on the sale and manufacture of plastic-stemmed cotton swabs, as the BBC reported.
<p>The Marine Conservation Society praised the move as a "fantastic win" for the sea and wildlife, as <u><a href="https://news.sky.com/story/scotland-bans-sale-of-plastic-cotton-buds-in-uk-first-11833570" target="_blank">Sky News</a></u> reported. Over the last 25 years, the group says its volunteers have collected more than 150,000 plastic cotton bud sticks from Scottish beaches. </p><p>"I am proud that the Scottish Government has become the first UK administration to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds," said Scotland's Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham, as <a href="https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/environment/scotland-cotton-bud-ban-comes-force-14-10-2019" target="_blank"><u>Packaging News</u></a><a target="_blank"></a> reported. "Single-use plastic products are not only wasteful but generate unnecessary litter that blights our beautiful beaches and green spaces while threatening our wildlife on land and at sea."</p><p>The Marine Conservation Society, which has consistently ranked cotton buds in its top 10 of beach litter, believes there is more to be done. Catherine Gemmell, conservation officer at the organization, said "We look forward to more ambitious action from the Scottish government and to working with them on future actions needed to stop the plastic tide," as <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-cotton-buds-ban-scotland-uk-beaches-pollution-a9153031.html" target="_blank"><u>The Independent</u></a> reported.</p><p>The move to eliminate plastic cotton swabs follows a ban on the sale and manufacture of plastic micro beads, which was passed in June 2018, as the <a href="https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/4827769/scotland-first-uk-plastic-cotton-buds-ban/" target="_blank"><u>Scottish Sun</u></a> reported. Manufacturers like Unilever and Johnson and Johnson have responded to the ban by changing what the stems are made of, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-50016878" target="_blank"><u>BBC</u></a>. All major manufacturers and supermarket brands have either followed suit by switching to biodegradable paper or promising to do so. </p><p>"Cotton buds are some of the most pervasive forms of marine pollution, so a ban is very welcome step and one that we hope other countries will follow," said Lang Banks, director of World Wide Fund for Nature in Scotland, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-50016878" target="_blank"><u>BBC</u></a> reported. "We know plastic is suffocating our seas and devastating our wildlife with millions of birds, fish and mammals dying each year because of the plastic in our oceans. Plastics are also finding their way into the food we eat and the water we drink, so saving our oceans will require further ambitious action from governments, industry and consumers."</p><p>Scotland is ahead of the curve on its commitment to meet the standards set out in the <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/05/21/council-adopts-ban-on-single-use-plastics/" target="_blank"><u>European Union's</u><u> single-use Plastics Directive</u></a>, which will ban items plastic cotton buds along with plates, food and drink containers, and balloon sticks by July 2021.</p><p>"This ban builds on work already underway to address Scotland's throw-away culture, and we will continue to take action on other problematic items in the coming years as part of our efforts to reduce harmful plastics and single-use items, protect our environment and develop a thriving circular economy," said Cunningham, as <a href="https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/environment/scotland-cotton-bud-ban-comes-force-14-10-2019" target="_blank"><u>Packaging News</u></a> reported. </p><p>"We are facing a global climate emergency and must all work together to reduce, reuse and recycle to ensure a sustainable future for the current and next generation."</p>
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A group of wind turbines in a field in Banffshire, Northeast Scotland. Universal Images Group / Getty Images
Scotland produced enough power from wind turbines in the first half of 2019, that it could power Scotland twice over. Put another way, it's enough energy to power all of Scotland and most of Northern England, according to the BBC — an impressive step for the United Kingdom, which pledged to be carbon neutral in 30 years.
<p>The Scottish wind turbines captured nearly 10 million megawatt-hours of electricity in the first six months of the year. That was enough energy to supply power to 4.47 million homes, which is far more than the 2.6 million homes Scotland has, as <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/scotland-s-wind-turbines-are-now-generating-double-what-its-residents-need" target="_blank">Science Alert</a> reported.</p><p><br/></p>
<p>"These are amazing figures, Scotland's wind energy revolution is clearly continuing to power ahead," said Robin Parker, the Climate & Energy Policy Manager at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Scotland office, in a statement. "Up and down the country, we are all benefiting from cleaner energy and so is the climate."</p><p>March set a new bar for wind energy generation in March with nearly 2.2 million megawatt hours produced in the month, while May was the low-water mark with nearly half that.</p><p>"These figures show harnessing Scotland's plentiful onshore wind potential can provide clean green electricity for millions of homes across not only Scotland, but England as well," said Parker. "It's about time the UK Government stepped up and gave Scottish onshore wind a route to market."</p><p>In a world of increasing temperatures, extreme natural disasters, and melting polar caps, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/renewable-energy" rel="noopener noreferrer">renewable energy</a> provides a constant source of good news. More countries are investing in wind, solar, and hydroelectric power. Increased capacity coupled with more efficient technology has made those sources more powerful than ever.</p><p>Yet, not every country can produce similar results, which is why Scottish wind energy desperately needs to enter the marketplace. Wind power, like <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar" rel="noopener noreferrer">solar power</a>, depends on the right environment to optimize its efficiency. Scotland, with its blustering winds, long jagged coastlines, and steep hills that create wind channels, is a wind power paradise.</p><p>It may be difficult for other countries to follow suit. Like with solar power, wind farms need the right environment to maximize their output. Scotland has the advantage of strong wind patterns, ample coastlines and other natural traits that make it paradise for wind power. Its small population also allows it to have excess energy that needs to be exported, providing further evidence that renewables are scaling up to levels where a future without fossil fuels is actually achievable, as <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/15/scotland-wind-power-twice-as-needed/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAN37McFroX_iDFfBhdHc09nBROnsFUBf4drE294hDnC2rw9TTKQ8_pY8gsDC6ZDWjabqd2AnSGaXpwLdEmsbNc5UQy_ibU92PGe3Bh-O_5NKdFIQdDcbmnR-eKEo460f3CejJsOQrDbFCOSH2xYcWdQlPlzl4B3uUcnoKTNhwfbt" target="_blank">Endgadget</a> reported.</p><p>The Scottish government wants to supply all of the country's energy from renewable sources by 2020, according to <a href="https://www.gov.scot/policies/renewable-and-low-carbon-energy/onshore-wind/" target="_blank">a policy statement</a>, a target it is likely to meet thanks to the energy production of Scotland's wind farms.</p><p>"These figures really highlight the consistency of wind energy in Scotland and why it now plays a major part in the UK energy market," said Alex Wilcox Brooke, of Severn Wye Energy Agency, in a <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/scotlands-wind-could-power-every-home-across-scotland-and-north-england" target="_blank">WWF Scotland statement</a>.</p>
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The rare white-letter hairstreak butterfly was spotted in Scotland for the first time since 1884. Ian Kirk / Wikipedia
By Lucy Goodchild van Hilten
A towering elm tree stands 30 meters (approximately 98 feet) tall, somewhere near the border between England and Scotland, defying the fate that so many of its cousins met when Dutch elm disease ravaged the species in the 1970s. One of relatively few elm trees left, it is a haven for wildlife. Look closely and you can see the erratic fluttering of a small brown butterfly, with a W-shaped white streak across its wing.
This butterfly is making history: It's crossed the border into Scotland, where it has settled happily in a native wych elm tree and been sighted in the country for the first time in 133 years. The white-letter hairstreak—Satyrium w-album—has been squeezed slowly out of its habitat over the last 40 years, but now it seems to be getting a helping hand from an unexpected source: climate change.
<p>Although numbers were up slightly in 2017, the white-letter hairstreak isn't doing well in the UK—the population has fallen 93 percent in the last 42 years, <a href="https://tinyurl.com/ycod9rbr" target="_blank">according to the United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring Scheme</a>, with a 59 percent reduction in the last decade alone.</p><p>This is largely due to severe loss of habitat. Caterpillars feed on elm; when Dutch elm disease spread through the elm population in England in the 1970s and '80s, the caterpillars' source of food—the trees and their leaves—disappeared, and the butterfly declined. As a result, the white-letter hairstreak has made it onto various priority lists of species that need to be conserved. Volunteers across the country have been keeping an eye out for it.</p><p><strong>Return to the Highlands</strong></p><p>It was one such volunteer, butterfly recorder Iain Cowe, who made the exciting new discovery in the summer of 2017, in a field near Paxton, Berwickshire, about 100 meters from the English border.</p><p> "It is not every day that something as special as this is found when out and about on a regular butterfly foray," Cowe <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/17/rare-butterfly-white-letter-hairstreak-spotted-in-scotland-for-the-first-time-since-1884?CMP=twt_gu" target="_blank">told The Guardian</a>. "It was a very ragged and worn individual found feeding on ragwort in the grassy edge of an arable field."</p><p>"Iain is indefatigable—he had an eye to look for it, and he came across it by accident," said Paul Kirkland, director of <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/in-your-area/scottish-office" target="_blank">Butterfly Conservation</a> in Scotland. "A couple of other volunteers found some eggs in the autumn, and Iain's been back this year and found caterpillars, so we now have the full life cycle recorded in Scotland."</p><p>The white-letter hairstreak's northward journey is thought to be a response to the warming climate. It's one of about 15 different butterflies heading north; other species spotted for the first time in Scotland include the <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/50-755/small-skipper.html" target="_blank">small</a> and <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/50-1039/essex-skipper.html" target="_blank">Essex skippers</a> and the <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/11908-1195/comma.html" target="_blank">comma butterfly</a>, which moved 220 kilometers (approximately 137 miles) <a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/climate-change-forces-animals-and-plants-to-flee-equator-1-1803290" target="_blank">from central England to Edinburgh in just 20 years</a>.</p><p>"We assume this is related to a warming climate," said Kirkland. "It's hard to prove anything in relation to climate change, but the fact is that, certainly in the UK, Europe and North America, scientists are recording the northward movement of species that were formerly confined to southern areas. We don't know exactly which aspect is important—more sunshine, warmer winters, drier winters—but the core data shows us that many species in the UK are moving northward at different speeds."</p><p>We've seen this evidence for some time: In 2011, a team at the University of York in the UK <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110818142727.htm" target="_blank">analyzed data</a> from previous studies about animal and plant species. They estimated that, on average, species have moved 12.2 meters (approximately 40 feet) higher in altitude and 17.6 kilometers (approximately 11 miles) northward every decade.</p><p>Chris Thomas, a professor of conservation biology at York, led the project. "These changes are equivalent to animals and plants shifting away from the Equator at around 20 cm per hour, for every hour of the day, for every day of the year," <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2011/research/wildlife-responds/" target="_blank">he commented</a>. "This has been going on for the last 40 years and is set to continue for at least the rest of this century."</p><p><strong>Climate Change: A Double-Edged Sword</strong></p><p>The newly comfortable climate in Scotland opens up a whole new world for the butterfly: The country is full of healthy wych elm trees, which have evaded Dutch elm disease and are still prevalent there. According to Kirkland, this is good news for the white-letter hairstreak."They've only been spotted just over the border, but we're confident that there's so much elm in that area that they'll spread. The upshot is if the white-letter hairstreak can struggle north into Scotland, it'll be a very happy butterfly," he said.</p><p>Even though climate change now appears to be bringing at least one of the butterflies back, it's still bad news. "Although some of us are seeing a short-term benefit, the overall prognosis is pretty gloomy," said Kirkland. Climate change is threatening many species, but it seems to be giving the white-letter hairstreak a boost.</p><p>Species aren't just moving across the border, they're also moving north within Scotland—there is evidence that the northern species of butterfly are suffering due to climate change. Species like the <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/orange-tip" target="_blank">orange-tip</a>, <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/peacock" target="_blank">peacock</a> and <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/679-822/ringlet.html" target="_blank">ringlet</a> have moved further and further north, away from the rising warmth and humidity.</p><p>"It's much harder to prove something's disappearing than appearing, but there are some hints that northern species are retreating northward," Kirkland said.</p><p>But there is hope for other species. Those struggling to survive in England because of intensive agriculture and development might now find a suitable climate—and unspoiled land—in Scotland. For Kirkland, there's one species, in particular, that might do well to move.</p><p>"There's a lovely butterfly called the Duke of Burgundy," he said. "In recent years, it's really been in trouble in England, but I think the climate might be suitable in Scotland now, and there's plenty of habitat here. It won't get here on its own—it's a fussy species, even though it breeds on primrose and pansies."</p><p>Kirkland might be "flying a kite" as he puts it, but it's possible that as the climate continues to change, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> organizations like his could even have a role in relocating butterflies to give them a helping hand.</p><p><strong>A Boost for Some Means a Bust for Others</strong></p><p>Climate change is also giving some less desirable species a helping hand. In the U.S., the Asian needle ant (<em>Pachycondyla chinensis</em>) is causing mayhem—invading ecosystems, threatening native species and even damaging human health with its potentially deadly sting. In a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0075438" target="_blank">study in PLOS ONE</a>, researchers from France and Japan modeled the climate in 2020, 2050 and 2080 to work out where the ant could potentially spread to next. Their findings suggest that the ant's habitat could grow by almost 65 percent worldwide.</p><p><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0075438" target="_blank">They wrote</a>: "Our models suggest that the species currently has a far greater potential distribution than its current exotic range, including large parts of the world landmass, including Northeast America, Southeast Asia and Southeast America. ... The results of our study suggest <em>P. chinensis</em> deserves increased attention, especially in the light of on-going climate change."<br></p><p>There's something strange happening in the water, too. The proliferation of "rock snot"—a kind of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/algae">algae</a>—in eastern Canada was baffling (and angering) the local fishing community, and many thought it was an invasive species brought in by dirty fishing gear. But a <a href="https://tinyurl.com/ycfu7l6w" target="_blank">2014 study revealed</a> that the algae had actually been there for decades, and was just growing more due to the changing climate.</p><p>The blooms, made up of the diatom <em>Didymosphenia geminata</em>, had been undetectable in the 1970s, but were likely there since the 1800s. "We suspect that climate change is favoring this species in several ways," <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rock-snot-gets-a-boost-from-climate-change/" target="_blank">said the study's lead author Michelle Lavery</a>, currently a Ph.D. candidate in animal behavior at the University of Guelph. For example, warmer air means less ice and therefore less disruption to the flow of water in the rivers; the algal blooms survive better when the water moves less. "Instead of having to start over every summer, they can build on themselves and get bigger and bigger," she explained to Scientific American.</p><p>It's not just about warmer temperatures; climate change is also altering the ocean's pH balance, impacting different species in different ways. We know more acidic waters are <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/ocean-acidification-causing-coral-reefs-dissolve" target="_blank">bad news for coral</a>, but the pH is having an indirect impact too, by favoring a predator. </p><p>Adult crown-of-thorns starfish (<em>Acanthaster planci</em>) eat coral—an increase in their number means a decrease in coral. Researchers in Australia wanted to know if the pH of the water affected how much of the coral the young of the starfish eat, determining how many of them survive into their coral-feeding adulthood. In a <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yam78m7f" target="_blank">2017 study</a>, the team grew juvenile crown-of-thorns and their food, coralline algae, at three different pH levels, going down to 7.6, the level expected in the next few decades.</p><p>The results showed that the young starfish ate more in water with a lower pH, possibly because the pH altered the chemical composition and therefore the "taste" of the food. <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yam78m7f" target="_blank">They wrote</a>: "These results indicate that near future acidification will increase the success of early juvenile [starfish] and boost recruitment into the coral-eating life stage."</p><p>There's still a lot we don't yet understand about how climate change will impact ecosystems, and indirect effects like these could be surprising. The <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/6xfyp/" target="_blank">emergence of the field of climate change ecology</a> is bringing many of these issues to light, but we must continue to monitor individual species and mitigate climate change in order to protect ecosystems.</p><p>For now, the white-letter hairstreak is enjoying its new home among Scotland's wych elms, as its cousins are being pushed further and further toward the northern Atlantic coast.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="fd951" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="F131KU1576662118"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1007635894193573888" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">'Fish Fights' Could Erupt as Climate Change Drives Species Across Borders https://t.co/KytZvljuQ6 @foodandwater… https://t.co/rCu90n0tph</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1007635894193573888">1529074092.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p><em>Lucy Goodchild van Hilten is a writing fellow for <a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" target="_blank">Earth | Food | Life</a>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em><br></p><p><em>Republished with permission from our media associate <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/climate-change-is-threatening-many-species-but-one-is-getting-a-boost/" target="_blank">Truthout</a>.</em></p>
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100 mph Winds Kill Two in First Named Storm to Hit UK and Ireland This Season
20 September 2018
Climate
An ambulance crashed into a fallen tree from Storm Ali in Newcastle on Sept. 19. Owen Humphreys / PA Images via Getty Images
Storm Ali, the first named storm of the UK storm season, killed two and sent several to the hospital as winds of more than 100 miles per hour walloped Ireland, Scotland and Northern England Wednesday, The Guardian reported.
More than 250,000 homes and businesses in Ireland lost power and 30,000 lost power in southwest Scotland.
<p>High <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind" target="_self">wind</a> also delayed flights and suspended train service in Edinburgh and Glasgow. </p><p>A cruise ship in Greenock, Scotland with 500 on board broke free from its moorings and had to be rescued by tug boats, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45572946" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. </p><p>The first death occurred Wednesday morning when wind blew a caravan off a cliff in western Ireland. </p><p>"At approximately 7:45 a.m., a report was received that a caravan had blown off the cliff at the above location. A search was carried out at the scene on the beach and after a short time the body of a female in her 50s was recovered," Irish police said in a statement reported by The Guardian.</p><p>Locals identified the woman as Swiss tourist Elvira Ferraii, The Guardian reported.</p><p>The second fatality occurred in Northern Ireland when a tree fell on two men working for Northern Ireland Water in Slieve Gullion Forest Park. One man, in his 20s, died and the other, in his 40s, was injured. </p><p>Another woman in Cheshire County in England was seriously injured when a tree fell on her car. </p><p>A 2017 study found that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> is projected to make wind storms in the UK more damaging, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/15/uk-faces-sharp-rise-destructive-wind-storms-global-warming" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported at the time. </p><p>Even if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the cost of destruction from wind storms could increase by more than a third in some parts of the UK.</p><p>High winds will increase in all parts of the UK except the South and Southeast, and be especially strong in the midlands, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland as warmer temperatures cause the path of Atlantic storms to shift north. </p><p>Head Gardener of the Kilmacurragh Botanic Gardens in Ireland Séamus O'Brien told <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/many-trees-in-storm-fell-because-of-earlier-dry-spell-and-effect-of-climate-change-1.3634876" target="_blank">The Irish Times</a> that he could detect the footprints of climate change in Wednesday's storm. </p><p>O'Brien said that storms were coming from the east instead of the southwest, as they had in the past, and this caused more trees to topple.</p><p>"This is part of the scenario of climate change," he said.</p><p>The total number of trees in Ireland to fall because of Storm Ali has yet to be calculated, but the country has lost many trees to storms during the past 18 months, The Irish Times reported.</p><p>O'Brien said that his botanical garden only lost one tree, while the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin were more impacted.</p>O'Brien said trees were most vulnerable in soggy, wet soil but that <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">droughts</a> like the one <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-europe-heatwave-2590360622.html" target="_blank">Ireland faced this summer</a><p>could also pose a problem, as dry soil made trees "more prone to rocking."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="9e41e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2A8P3B1576663350"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1039710284171096066" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#BBC Issues First #ClimateChange Reporting Guidelines https://t.co/3yUD5G4t1f @Reportingclimat @Greenpeace @GreenpeaceUK</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1039710284171096066">1536721223.0</a></blockquote></div>
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A revolutionary battery has been successfully installed at the Hywind Scotland, the world's first floating offshore wind farm located about 15 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast.
With the 1.2-megawatt storage system known as "Batwind" in operation, it will be possible for the first time to store energy produced from an offshore wind farm, developers Masdar and Equinor touted in a press release Wednesday.
<p>
As EcoWatch
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/battery-storage-renewable-energy-2526629658.html">mentioned previousl</a>y, if we want to accelerate the world's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_blank">renewable energy</a> transition, we're going to need much better <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/batteries" target="_blank">batteries</a>. Energy storage is crucial to mitigating intermittency and optimizing output. In other words, when there's too much or too little wind, batteries can help store or release energy.
</p><p>
"The variability of renewable energy can to a certain extent be managed by the grid," said Sebastian Bringsvaerd, development manager for Hywind and Batwind in a statement. "But to make renewable energy more competitive and integrate even more renewables to the grid, we will need to find new, smart solutions for energy storage to provide firm power. How to do this in a smart and value creating way is what we are aiming to learn from Batwind."
</p><p>
Batwind is located on an onshore substation in Peterhead that's connected to the grid. Testing of the new technology will begin soon.
</p><p>
"We want to teach the battery when to hold back and store electricity, and when send power to the grid, thus increasing value of the power," Bringsvaerd said. "It will be really exciting to see how we can develop the combined battery and software solution and make Batwind as smart as possible."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="53cc3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QOYWE41576662554"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1011968399243710464" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We were delighted to launch #Batwind today with @Equinor in #Scotland, a first of its kind battery storage solution… https://t.co/A9yyOD0YOa</div> — Masdar (@Masdar)<a href="https://twitter.com/Masdar/statuses/1011968399243710464">1530107042.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Bringsvaerd noted that Batwind can one day be utilized for other renewable energy systems such as solar and onshore wind.
</p><p>
"We believe this will expand the market for all renewable energy sources," he said.
</p><p>
The 30-megawatt Hywind Scotland switched on last October. Three months later, the facility was already performing
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/floating-wind-farm-scotland-2535373353.html">better than expected</a>. The floating wind farm churned out 65 percent of its maximum theoretical capacity during November, December and January, according to Statoil.
</p><p>
The Hywind's five floating turbines produce 6 megawatts each on top of waters more than 328 feet deep. At full capacity, the facility can generate enough power for 20,000 homes.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="8953f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ZHTZMG1576662555"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="996038531817537537" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Tesla's Giant Australian Battery Saved Consumers $35 Million in Four Months https://t.co/0sgrLy8vaF @Tesla… https://t.co/1XIeb68OZp</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/996038531817537537">1526309066.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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Nirzar / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Scotland's Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham confirmed that single-use coffee cups will be banned from canteens in government buildings starting June 4.
Although the disposable cups are mostly made of paper, the vast majority have an inner plastic lining that most recycling facilities are unable to separate and process.
<p>
"The Scottish government is determined to lead by example when it comes to tackling the scourge of plastic littering our countryside and polluting our
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">seas</a>," Cunningham told <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-44296386" target="_blank">BBC News</a>.
</p><p>
<span></span>"By removing single use coffee cups from our main buildings, we will prevent 450,000 cups from being thrown away every year," she noted. "That's enough cups to cover the distance between Edinburgh and Dundee."
</p><p>
The ban will apply to all hot drinks purchased from restaurants and cafes in government buildings, including St. Andrew's House, Saughton House, Victoria Quay, Atlantic Quay, Marine Lab and Buchanan House. The to-go cups will be replaced with reusable ceramic mugs.
</p><p>
Government staff, which first learned about the changes in May, will also be encouraged to bring in their own mugs.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="9d942" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="YSG0ON1576663696"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1001736985701122048" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">.@ScotGov leading by example - removing #singleuse coffee cups from our main buildings - preventing 450k cups from… https://t.co/NyBBR7tPLI</div> — Leslie Evans (@Leslie Evans)<a href="https://twitter.com/PermSecScot/statuses/1001736985701122048">1527667683.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Europe is taking aggressive steps to stem the flow of plastic pollution. On Monday, the European Commission
<a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-3927_en.htm" target="_blank">proposed</a> banning the 10 most common single-use plastic products as well as lost and abandoned <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fishing" target="_blank">fishing gear</a>. The European Union's executive arm targeted the products that are most often found on the continent's beaches and seas, which together account for 70 percent of its marine litter.</p><p>
"We support the EU's vision to reduce single use plastics as far as possible and ensure any single use plastics are easily recyclable by 2030," Cunningham continued in her statement to BBC News.
</p><p>
"We are currently considering what other single-use items can be reduced and removed from Scottish government buildings later this year."</p><p>
In January, Scotland announced plans to
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/plastic-cotton-buds-scotland-2524528383.html" target="_blank">outlaw plastic cotton buds</a>. The following month, the government <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/scotland-plastic-straw-ban-pollution-2019-cotton-buds-a8206636.html" target="_blank">announced</a> intentions to ban plastic straws.
</p><p>
Scotland has emerged as a leader in a range of environmental issues. Last year, a stunning
<a href="https://news.gov.scot/news/record-year-for-renewables-generation" target="_blank">68.1 percent</a> of the nation's electricity came from renewable energy, up 26 percent from 2016.
</p><p>
Last week, the Scottish government introduced a new
<a href="https://climate.scot/" target="_blank">Climate Change Bill</a> to parliament that will make the country's existing climate legislation even tougher. The legislation sets a new 90 percent emissions reduction target for 2050, an increase on the current 80 percent level set by the UK-wide Climate Change Act in 2008.
</p>
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Trending
The world's most powerful wind turbines are now in place in Aberdeen Bay. Vattenfall
The world's most powerful wind turbines have been successfully installed at the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) off Aberdeen Bay in Scotland's North Sea.
The final turbine was installed on Saturday just nine weeks after the first foundation for the 11-turbine offshore wind farm was deployed, according to the developers Vattenfall.
<p>
Incidentally, the project was at the center of a contentious legal battle waged—<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/donald-trump-loses-supreme-court-appeal-against-scottish-wind-farm-1882130050.html" target="_blank">and lost</a>—by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a>, before he became U.S. president. Trump felt the "ugly" <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> turbines would ruin the view of his Menie golf resort.
</p><p>
"I am not thrilled," Trump said in 2006, as quoted by <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/5008624.stm" target="_blank">BBC News</a>. "I want to see the ocean, I do not want to see windmills."
</p><p>
But in 2015, the UK Supreme Court unanimously rejected Trump's years-long appeal against the wind farm, which now stands 1.2 miles from his luxury golf course.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="8e4fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="FSIJZJ1576662765"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="294894585287700481" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Wind turbine syndrome is affecting tremendous numbers of people in their wake—stop ugly turbines.</div> — Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/statuses/294894585287700481">1359143322.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The EOWDC, Scotland's largest offshore wind test and demonstration facility, is scheduled to generate power in the summer. At full capacity, the 93.2-megawatt plant will produce the equivalent of more than 70 percent of Aberdeen's domestic electricity demand and displace 134,128 tonnes of CO2 annually, Vattenfall estimates.
</p><p>
The wind farm features nine 8.4-megawatt turbines and two 8.8-megawatt turbines. The larger turbine, with a tip-height of 627 feet and a blade length of 262 feet, can power the average UK home for an entire day with a single rotation, the engineers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ymn98CfImM" target="_blank">tout</a>.
</p><p>
<span></span>"This is a magnificent offshore engineering feat for a project that involves industry-first technology and innovative approaches to the design and construction. Throughout construction, the project team and our contractors have encountered, tackled and resolved a number of challenges," said Adam Ezzamel, EOWDC project director at Vattenfall, in a statement. "The erection of the final turbine is a significant milestone, and with the completion of array cable installation, we now move on to the final commissioning phase of the wind farm prior to first power later this summer."
</p><p>
Vattenfall also believes it achieved the world's fastest installation of a giant suction bucket jacket foundation.
</p><p>
"One of our 1,800-tonne suction bucket jacket foundation was installed in what we believe is a world record of two hours and 40 minutes from the time the installation vessel entered the offshore site until deployment was complete," Ezzamel said. "What makes this even more significant is that the EOWDC is the first offshore wind project to deploy this kind of foundation at commercial scale while it's also the first to pair them with the world's most powerful turbines."
</p><p>
Watch here for time-lapse footage of the installation:
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="363baa07dc9c74d22ba42084a95ddd02"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KjIVUzyhiXU?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
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World's Most Powerful Wind Turbine Installed in Full View of Trump's Scottish Golf Course
12 April 2018
Renewable Energy
The world's most powerful wind turbine was successfully installed Monday off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland.
This is just the first of 11 turbines that will stand at Vattenfall's future European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), Scotland's largest offshore wind test and demonstration facility.
<p>
Incidentally, the project was at the center of a contentious legal battle waged—<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/donald-trump-loses-supreme-court-appeal-against-scottish-wind-farm-1882130050.html" target="_blank">and lost</a>—by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch">Donald Trump</a>, before he became U.S. president.
</p><p>
Trump felt the "ugly" wind turbines would ruin the view of his Menie golf resort. But in 2015, the UK Supreme Court unanimously rejected his years-long appeal against the offshore wind farm.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="af0af" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="662N3C1576663890"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="294894585287700481" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Wind turbine syndrome is affecting tremendous numbers of people in their wake—stop ugly turbines.</div> — Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/statuses/294894585287700481">1359143322.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The 8.8-megawatt
<a href="http://www.mhivestasoffshore.com/" target="_blank">MHI Vestas</a> wind turbine was set-up overnight in Aberdeen Bay and has a tip-height of 627 feet and a blade length of 262 feet.
</p><p>
"One rotation of this enormous structure is sufficient to power the average UK home for an entire day," Vattenfall EOWDC project director Adam Ezzamel
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ymn98CfImM" target="_blank">touted</a>.
</p><p>
The European power company
<a href="https://corporate.vattenfall.co.uk/about-vattenfall/news-and-media/press-releases/2018/worlds-most-powerful-wind-turbine/" target="_blank">noted</a> that the turbine was one of two that was enhanced with further internal power modes to generate more clean energy, from 8.4 megawatts to 8.8 megawatts. That means once the 11-turbine wind farm is complete, EOWDC's total output will stand at 93.2 megawatts.
</p><p>
<span></span>"This allows the facility to produce the equivalent of more than 70 percent of Aberdeen's domestic electricity demand and annually displace 134,128 tonnes of CO2," Vattenfall said.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="425da" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="BUCDAX1576663890"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="984018399654236160" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We mentioned yesterday that 2 of the 11 turbines at #EOWDC have enhanced internal modes, increasing capacity from 8… https://t.co/A22BcjHZ9t</div> — Vattenfall UK (@Vattenfall UK)<a href="https://twitter.com/VattenfallUK/statuses/984018399654236160">1523443243.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
<span></span>Scotland <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scotland-wind-power-2558314966.html">has emerged</a> as a global leader in wind power. The country's onshore wind turbines alone provided more than 5.3 million megawatt hours of electricity to the National Grid during the first three months of 2018, an impressive 44 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to recent analysis of <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/scotland" target="_blank">WWF Scotland</a> wind power data by <a href="http://www.weatherenergy.co.uk/" target="_blank">WeatherEnergy</a>.
</p><p>
Scotland is also home to the
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/floating-wind-farm-scotland-2535373353.html" target="_blank">world's first floating wind farm</a>. The 30-megawatt <a href="https://www.statoil.com/en/news/hywindscotland.html" target="_blank">Hywind Scotland</a>, located about 15 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast, churned out 65 percent of its maximum theoretical capacity during November, December and January, according to its operator, Statoil.
</p><p>
"The installation of the first of these powerful turbines at Aberdeen Bay is another milestone in Scotland's renewables story," Gina Hanrahan, acting head of policy at WWF Scotland
<a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/worlds-most-powerful-wind-turbine-installed-scottish-waters-wwf-scotland-comment" target="_blank">said</a> Tuesday. "Offshore wind, which has halved in cost in recent years, is critical in the fight against climate change, helping to reduce emissions, keep the lights on and create thousands of jobs across Scotland and the UK."
</p><p>
"Developments like this have an important role to play in securing the Scottish government's target to meet half of all Scotland's energy demand from renewables by 2030," Hanrahan said.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="918f7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6WA2ON1576663890"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="960944455892205573" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Europe's Offshore Wind Capacity Grew a Stunning 25% in 2017 https://t.co/GMfiLpbrmH @Greenpeace @foeeurope @NRDC… https://t.co/8F60zWKfOD</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/960944455892205573">1517941986.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Scotland's Record-Breaking Wind Output Enough to Power 5 Million Homes
09 April 2018
Renewable Energy
The Whitelee Wind Farm in Scotland is the largest onshore wind farm in the United Kingdom.
Scotland, which is fast on track to get 100 percent of its electricity via renewable energy by 2020, has broken another wind power record.
The country's onshore wind turbines provided more than 5.3 million megawatt hours of electricity to the National Grid during the first three months of 2018, an impressive 44 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis of WWF Scotland wind power data by WeatherEnergy.
<p style="">
Over that first quarter, enough wind power was generated to supply the equivalent of five million homes with low-carbon electricity. The best day was on March 1, when 110,000 megawatt-hours of wind power could have supplied 173 percent of the nation's entire electricity demand.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzUzMTIzNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTI3MDkxOH0.sLzWHta6_DbT3M6u5jJIxLeK6-s30Y_VAQl2PksLlIc/img.png?width=980" id="f3e1f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0e136e85c156f14ad1f532c1445307a0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">WWF Scotland</small>
</p><p style="">
"It's great to see renewables continuing to power Scotland, adding to the year on year evidence that greater investment in both renewables and
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/battery-storage">storage</a> is the way forward," said Karen Robinson of WeatherEnergy.
</p><p style="">
WWF Scotland
<a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/renewables-record-breaking-start-2018" target="_blank">noted</a> that these figures come fresh on the heels of data showing that 68 percent of Scotland's overall electricity demand was from renewables in 2017, and that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/29/wind-and-solar-made-more-electricity-than-nuclear-for-first-time-in-uk" target="_blank">renewables overtook nuclear</a> as the second biggest source of power across the UK in the fourth quarter of 2017.
</p><p style="">
Scotland isn't just a leader in onshore wind—it's also home to the
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/floating-wind-farm-scotland-2535373353.html" target="_blank">world's first floating wind farm</a>. The 30-megawatt <a href="https://www.statoil.com/en/news/hywindscotland.html" target="_blank">Hywind Scotland</a>, located about 15 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast, churned out 65 percent of its maximum theoretical capacity during November, December and January, according to its operator, Statoil.
</p><p style="">
"Renewables have provided an incredible amount of power during the first three months of this year," Dr. Sam Gardner, WWF Scotland's acting director, said in a statement. "An increase of 44 percent on the record-breaking equivalent period in 2017 is clear evidence the investment made in this technology has paid off for the economy and the environment, putting Scotland at the forefront of the fight against
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change">climate change</a>."
</p><p style="">
Gardner is calling on the rest of the UK government to work towards a low-carbon future.
</p><p style="">
"If Scotland's full renewables potential is to be unleashed to power our economy, heat our homes and charge our cars, then the UK government needs to stop excluding the cheapest forms of power, like onshore wind and solar, from the market," he said.
</p><p style="">
Last year, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scotland-diesel-ban-2482199606.html" target="_blank">announced</a> plans to end the sale of new gas and diesel-powered cars by 2032, eight years ahead of the UK government target. And unlike England, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fracking" target="_blank">fracking</a> was <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scotland-bans-fracking-2492507998.html" target="_blank">permanently banned</a> in Scotland last year and has technically been under halt since 2015.
</p>
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The world's first floating wind farm only switched on three months ago but it's already performing better than expected—and that's despite a hurricane, a powerful winter storm and waves as high as 8.2 meters (27 feet).
The 30-megawatt Hywind Scotland, located about 15 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast, churned out 65 percent of its maximum theoretical capacity during November, December and January, according to its operator, Statoil.
<p style="">
In comparison, the typical capacity factor for a bottom fixed offshore wind farm is 45-60 percent during the same winter months, Statoil pointed out.
</p><p style="">
"We have tested the Hywind technology in harsh weather conditions for many years and we know it works," said Beate Myking, senior vice president of offshore wind operations in Statoil.
</p><p style="">
"It is very encouraging to see how well the turbines have performed so far. Hywind Scotland's high availability has ensured that the volume of electricity generated is substantially higher than expected."
</p><p style="">
These results show great promise for the emerging technology. As EcoWatch <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/worlds-largest-floating-wind-farm-gets-green-light-1882117440.html" target="_blank">previously detailed</a>, floating turbines have been deployed before, but mostly in small-scale projects, such as the 7-megawatt system built and operated by the <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2015/08/05/world-largest-solar-wind-projects/" target="_blank">Fukushima Wind Offshore Consortium</a>. In contrast, the Hywind's five floating turbines produce 6 megawatts each on top of waters more than 328 feet deep. At full capacity, the facility can generate enough power for 20,000 homes.
</p><p style="">As <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-18/world-s-first-floating-offshore-wind-farm-begins-operating" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a> explained, typical offshore wind farms are installed on seabeds in relatively shallow seas. But with a floating system, countries like Japan, the U.S. West Coast, and the Mediterranean—where seabeds drop steeply off the coast—can also utilize the technology.</p><p style=""><span></span>Statoil sees "great potential" to build more floating wind farms on top of waters around 200 feet in depth, even in areas with extreme environments and weather conditions. In October, the Hywind survived <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-ophelia">Hurricane Ophelia</a>'s 77 mph winds. It then faced even stronger winds in December, with Storm Caroline's 100 mph gusts and walls of large waves. Although the farm's wind turbines were shut down during the worst of these winds, they automatically resumed operations afterwards, Statoil said. </p><p style="">"Knowing that up to 80 percent of the offshore wind resources globally are in deep waters (+60 meters) where traditional bottom fixed installations are not suitable, we see great potential for floating offshore wind, in Asia, on the west coast of North America and in Europe," said Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president for New Energy Solutions in Statoil.<br></p><p style="">
The developers are looking to expand the technology and hope to reduce the costs of energy to €40-60 ($50-$75)/MWh by 2030, making it cost competitive with other renewable energy sources. The cost of onshore and offshore wind has seen significant reductions in recent years, with the UK's latest renewable energy auction dropping to 57.50 pounds ($76) per megawatt-hour, Bloomberg noted.
</p><p style="">
"This is an ambitious, but realistic target. Optimized design, larger and more efficient turbines, technology development and larger wind parks will drive down costs, improve infrastructure and logistics," Rummelhoff said.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="adae5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5Y1AXS1576664058"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="927956705748684800" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Wind Turbines Supplied 99% of Scotland Electricity Demand Last Month https://t.co/bv0YgKHdBY @350 @greenpeaceusa @foe_us @ClimateNexus</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/927956705748684800">1510077093.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Wind Turbines Supplied 99% of Scotland Electricity Demand Last Month
07 November 2017
Renewable Energy
The Whitelee wind farm in Scotland. Ian Dick / Flickr
Another month, another renewable energy record for Scotland.
Scottish wind turbines, propelled by Hurricane Ophelia's strong winds, sent more than 1.7 million megawatt hours of electricity to the National Grid in October, according to WWF Scotland, citing data collected from WeatherEnergy.
<p style="">
Scotland's total electricity consumption for homes, business and industry was around 1.75 million megawatt hours in October, meaning wind turbines alone generated 99 percent of the country's electricity needs.
</p><p style="">
If we were just to look at households, wind power generated enough electricity for 4.5 million homes last month—that's almost twice the number of actual households in Scotland.
</p><p style="">
"No one will be surprised that October proved to be a spectacular month for wind energy, with some high winds, including the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia," WWF Scotland's acting head of policy Gina Hanrahan told the
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-5057127/Wind-turbines-provided-double-energy-needed-homes-October.html" target="_blank">Press Association</a>.
</p><p style="">
"Fortunately our infrastructure coped well with the windy weather which provided enough to power nearly twice the number of households in Scotland and almost all of our electricity demand."
</p><p style="">
Just this past Oct. 2, wind generated enough electricity to power 7.116 million homes, or about three times the number of Scottish households.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="8701b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7C6KQJ1576664188"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="915114023691210752" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Can this be right? #Scottish wind turbines yesterday managed a whopping 86,467MWh - enough for electricity for over 7 million households</div> — Weather Energy (@Weather Energy)<a href="https://twitter.com/weatherenergy/statuses/915114023691210752">1507015159.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p style="">
"We're blown away by these figures but they are part of a pattern of increasingly green power production made possible thanks to many years of political support in Scotland. Across the year, renewables now contribute over half of our electricity needs," WWF Scotland's Director Sam Gardner
<a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/strong-winds-again-deliver-more-scotlands-entire-electricity-needs-new-data" target="_blank">said</a> at the time.
</p><p style="">
But as Huffington Post UK
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/wind-power-provided-double-the-energy-needed-to-power-scotland-in-october_uk_5a018e31e4b066c2c03a014e" target="_blank">pointed out</a>, while these figures are impressive, the problem with so much wind energy is that all of it needs to be distributed so it does not go to waste. To solve this problem, perhaps Scotland can take a page from Germany, whose grid operators sometimes have to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/germany-wind-surplus-electricity-2502355011.html" target="_blank">pay customers</a> to take electricity off the grid because its renewable energy mix is generating so much power.
</p><p style="">
Another method would be ramping up the nascent grid-scale storage industry. The Scottish government is already trying this with its Hywind Scotland—the
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/worlds-largest-floating-wind-farm-gets-green-light-1882117440.html" target="_blank">world's first floating wind farm</a>, which officially <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/floating-wind-farm-2498041408.html">switched on last month</a>. The farm is integrated with Statoil's Batwind, a lithium <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/batteries" target="_blank">battery</a> that can store one megawatt-hour of power to help mitigate intermittency and optimize output.
</p><p style="">
While one megawatt-hour is not a lot—about the capacity of over 2 million iPhones—"it is the first step in a larger-scale rollout of battery solutions for renewable energy," HuffPo UK noted.
</p><p style="">As Karen Robinson of WeatherEnergy
<a href="https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/scotland/wind-turbines-provided-double-the-amount-of-energy-needed-for-homes-in-october/" target="_blank">said</a>, "October was an extraordinary month and provides more evidence that greater investment in both renewables and storage is the way forward."
</p>
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