Shetland+Resources+Research

Here's some information on the resources the Shetland Islands has been using/has to offer. -Phoebe (Bold added by me)

[] "In the early 1970s, oil and gas were found off Shetland. The [|East Shetland Basin] is one of the largest petroleum sedimentary basins in Europe and the oil extracted there is sent to the terminal at [|Sullom Voe] Sullom Voe terminal opened in 1978 and is the largest oil export harbour in the [|United Kingdom] with a volume of 25 million tons per year. Income from oil, and the improved economic state that oil-related development has brought, has resulted in reduced emigration and vastly improved infrastructure throughout Shetland, leading to an improved quality of life."

Info from the Shetland Islands Council ([]) "Shetland relies on oil and waste gas for **93% of its energy production**. This overwhelming reliance on imported fossil fuel is not sustainable in the longer term. Shetland's energy production fails to take advantage of the islands' **abundant renewable energy sources such as wind, wave and tidal power.** Scottish Hydro-Electric is obliged by law to obtain a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources. However, the **electricity distribution system (local grid) for Shetland is a closed system with limited capacity and cannot cope with large amounts of renewable energy, which tends to produce a variable supply requiring back up power from the Lerwick generator.** By 1999, the Council had only received three planning applications for commercial wind farm developments with none as yet under construction. Nevertheless, there are examples of successful domestic wind generators and the islands of Fair Isle and Foula have had their own wind generated electricity supply schemes for several years."

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 * "Winds and tides** offer the opportunity to generate very large amounts of electricity, far more than the islands alone could ever use. At the moment, though, **there is no electrical connection between Shetland and the UK mainland**, which means that most of Shetland’s electricity has to be generated in Lerwick by a diesel power station. However, some electricity – **sometimes up to about 20% of demand – is generated either by the five turbines at the small Burradale wind farm just west of Lerwick or by those that increasingly provide power to community halls and some houses**."

[] This article is from last year; it's about an energy group (Scottish and Southern)'s plans to build a wind farm in the Shetland Islands.

[] This follow-up in The Guardian is very interesting... here are some highlights. "The proposed 550MW windfarm, sprawling across the centre of Shetland's main island, would add almost 20% to existing onshore wind capacity. But the objectors say the plans could seriously damage breeding sites for endangered birds, including a rare wader, the whimbrel, which was unexpectedly discovered by the windfarm developer's own environmental survey teams. Other species at risk include the red throated diver, golden plover and merlin." "The RSPB heavily criticised the proposal from Viking [|Energy] after initially indicating it could support the scheme. **The RSPB also claims now that installation of the turbines could release significant carbon dioxide from the peat bogs affected, undermining the turbines' potential to combat global warming**." "In a detailed critique of the proposal, Sepa (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) has asked Viking Energy to significantly rethink its plans to cut out and dump up to 1m cubic metres of peat during construction, and asked ministers to impose tough conditions to protect local water quality and freshwater species." This is where the Calera idea comes in... interesting!