Director's Blog
Wednesday 23rd September 2009
Oops its been a while since my last entry...sorry!
Lets talk Marine renewable energy today. Shetland is one of the richest sources of wave and tidal energy in Europe...thats a proven fact. The whole idea behind Marine Renewable Energy is that we harness that energy and utilise it to reduce our dependance on fossil fuels such as gas, oil and coal. Its clean and will last forever. Sounds easy I hear you say..why haven't we done this before you cry!
Well, like most things, the devil's in the detail. Firstly you need to develop a device that will stand up to the ferocious environment in which this energy is found, which for us is either the North Sea or North Atlantic Ocean. The devices need to be incredibly robust but also able to be serviced and moved when required. They also need to be able to be attached to the sea bed to prevent them from moving or being lost. Then you need to ensure that the electrical energy produced by the wave motion can be carried to the shore...which means a sub-sea cable of some kind. None of this is easy...but we are getting there. There are a number of devices on the market now that have been successfully deployed and tested and are ready for commercial use.
At the moment Shetland doesn't have any marine renewable devices deployed off its coastline but the local council have developed a Renewable Energy Strategy that clearly states Shetland's commitment to marine renewable energy moving forward. As part of this strategy a project has been funded at The Marine Centre to look at possible viable locations in and around the Shetland coastline for the siting of Marine Renewable Devices. This work will follow on from the highly successful Marine Spatial Plan that The Centre developed and published earlier this year and will work in consultation with all key stakeholders.
Watch this space...
Monday 7th September 2009
On Friday afternoon Shetland saw a large scale search and rescue attempt which had been triggered by a short VHF Radio trasnmission which seemed to intimate that a vessel was in serious distress off the Shetland coast. The signal seemed to originate from the Scalloway area. Within minutes the emergency service machine swung into action including the Coastguard helicopter, 2 lifeboats, and the coastguard coastal search & rescue teams all along the west coast...but the result was negative. There was no sign of the vessel or its crew.
At about 4pm I was able to chat to some of the Coastguard crew who came into our Da Haaf restaurant for a quick brew (which we gladly supplied) and to warm up and dry off. They were very concerned and were not going to be able to relax until they had found the vessel or knew one way or the other what had happened.
To cut a long story short at about 4.30pm someone contacted the authorities to tell them that it had been a "false alarm". My immediate reaction was one of relief. Relief that there wasn't a vessel out there somewhere in distress with a crew who were clinging on waiting for help to come. But then quickly my reaction changed to one of disbelief and then anger. The search and rescue had been on a large scale, a helicopter, 2 lifeboats and many, many people had all been involved...and for what? A waste of tax payers money...and what would have happened if a real distress call had been received whilst all of these resources were already committed? I chatted to one of the coastguard team who also works here at The Centre about how I felt...his response? There is no such thing as "cry wolf" in this scenario. Every call is real and immediate...and it is far better to be told that the call was a "false alarm" and know that no-one is in danger or has lost their life than the alternative....wow!
So imagine how dismayed I was to learn this morning that the word "on the street" in Shetland is that the false alarm signal came from The NAFC Marine Centre. I suppose it is understandable that people will try to put 2 and 2 together in situations like this, to try to put some sense behind the irrational act...and aportion blame somewhere...anywhere. The interesting thing is that no-one has actually come forward and asked us. If they did I would be able to tell them that the signal did NOT come from The Centre. All of our radio training is carried out using internal simulation equipment...our cadets don't have the opportunity nor the equipment available to be able to transmit external signals. Plus our radio training room has been out of action for the last 3 weeks whilst we had a new heating system fitted. But I doubt anyone will ask....as I actually believe that deep down they already know the answer.