Orkney Energy Heritage Strategy Phase 1: Scoping
Orkney Energy Heritage Strategy Phase 1 scoping (Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology, UHI Orkney) has begun the first stage in creating a strategy that will function to guide and prioritise current energy heritage initiatives and underpin future ones (e.g., field recording, archiving, curation, oral histories, heritage centre etc). It includes a high-level audit of the types of material, energy sites, broad level industry aspirations and priorities, existing collection policies and strategies and action plans.
The work concludes that there is an urgent need for a heritage strategy to capture living history, knowledge and archive material at a time when research and development is actually happening, with agreed priorities and aims. The collection of oral histories was identified as a clear initial priority amongst a number of cross cutting themes. There is a desire for a permanent facility in Orkney to house the energy heritage archive and to be a place where Orkney’s energy story has a home. For the full report, click here.
Shetland Net Zero Skills and Capacity Gap Analysis
The project was conducted as a gap analysis of the skills and capacity requirements of the net zero transition. Information was gathered through semi-structured interviews with members of Shetland Net Zero, representing a subset of the Shetland business community with interests in the net zero transition. Results of the study highlighted the challenges posed by existing workforce constraints, particularly in the engineering and skilled trades, and the compounding difficulties in meeting capacity requirements with Shetland’s limited housing, small population and low unemployment rates.
Recommendations for further work include growing the capacity of Shetland Net Zero in its role supporting growth opportunities for the local business community; continued evaluation of skills and capacity needs on a sector-by-sector basis to de-risk skills provision and business development; and socio-economic assessment of Shetland’s working population to strategize targeted recruitment to emerging opportunities. For the full report, click here.
Potential impacts of floating solar photovoltaic systems
This combined project between SAMS, ERI, and AES Solar carefully summarised existing field studies and scientific literature to provide an overview of potential impacts of floating solar installations. Increased government policies and attention towards decarbonisation and the rapid increase in ‘Green Energy’ projects and scientific developments make floating solar energy a potential low cost alternative to tidal or wave arrays, especially for developing nations.
As an emerging technology our scientists see floating solar as an important tool to reach the decarbonisation goals of our global energy generation. With advancements in renewable energy being a primary area of focus it is now critical to reflect upon and address the environmental impacts relating to these planned deployments.
The current state of science surrounding floating solar installations regarding environmental impacts and potential recommendations for future work and concerns were summarised in the following paper available here.