Leith Docks 5 year plan confirmed with news of £125m Gamesa plant

The rumours have come to an end and we're pretty sure that most people would agree with the First Minister - it's welcome news for Leith.

Spanish firm Gamesa has announced it's intention to invest more than £125million in Leith Docks to create a new manufacturing facility for offshore wind turbines.

The development has the potential to create 800 jobs in the area, with the potential of at least a further 200 local jobs supplying the facilities.

The development will only go ahead if Gamesa and Forth Ports, who own the land, can reach a mutally acceptable agreement. This is pretty likely given the scale of the incentives on offer from the Scottish Government.

Leith Docks was recently designated as a 'Low Carbon Enterprise Area' by the Scottish Government, which means that the firm will be eligble for tax breaks and other support from the government in locating on the docks.

Scottish Enterprise is already working with Forth Ports and the City of Edinburgh Council to put together a new Masterplan for the docks. These three organisations have a five year plan, which we revealed earlier, to improve the infrastructure of the docks with the aim of making it conducive to manufacturing.

Who is going to pay for the infrastructure improvements? Now that a private sector manufacturer has come on board at Leith, we can expect further public subsidy announcements from the Scottish Government towards the end of the year, who have a £70m funding pot allocated for backing the renewable industry through the National Renewable Infrastructure Plan (NRIP) funding pot.

The NRIP estimates that around £35m would be required to bring the port infrastructure up to scratch for manufacturing. According to the NRIP, this could include the construction of a whole new tidal berth on the northern, seaward side of the docks, to accomodate larger ships. There may therefore be the potential of lots of other short term construction jobs too.

In addition to tax breaks, infrastructure subsidies and a 'strategic dialogue' on planning, the city of Edinburgh Council also has authorisation to borrow an additional £84m in order to improve the physical infrastructure of the area.

And then there's the Green Investment Bank, which will be headquartered somewhere in Edinburgh.

Given all this, it is hard to imagine that the development will not go ahead in some form.

All major developments raise questions of course.

What impact will the development have on the business case to bring a tram to Newhaven? Will the factory announcement see Forth Energy come back with another giant power plant proposal? What does this announcement mean for the options presented to Leithers in the Local Development Plan consultation? And what will happen to those protected terns in the middle of the docks?

Questions for another day perhaps. In the meantime, most Leithers will be pleased to hear some good news for the neighbourhood.

Forth Energy send Leith Biomass plan up in smoke. Finally.

The first blog post we wrote about the Forth Energy power plant plan on Leith Docks was in January 2010.

Since then, there have been nearly sixty more blog posts, five consultation responses, protests, stalls, public meetings and petitions.

After all this, and some two years later, it has come as a welcome surprise to learn that Forth Energy have finally seens sense and abandoned their proposed Leith Biomass plan. 

You can read the full press statement that was released by the firm here.

Now we can only speculate at the real reasons behind the company's decision to abandon the project. 

• Was it because it was the most unpopular project in Edinburgh's planning history?
• Was it because they realised they wouldn't be able to overcome the objections from the statutory consultees like Scottish Natural Heritage?
• Was it because the subsidies are getting pulled left right and centre?
• Did they blink first in the back room negotiations between themselves, Scottish Enterprise and the City of Edinburgh Council over the future of the site?
• Are they about to announce a big wind turbine manufacturing deal on the docks which is more lucrative?
• Or is it just a clever move from a firm used to playing 'subsidy tetris' with its land holdings?

The reality is, it's probably a little bit of all those things. 

Over the months that we've been following, and campaigning against, this proposal, it's been amazing to see civic Leith join forces in opposition against the plan. 

The numbers of local people, especially in the No Leith Biomass campaign group, who have put in hours and hours of time to digest tedious, and very technical, planning documents has been remarkable.

Not to mention the effort that went into producing leaflets, manning stalls, protests, lobbying, producing mock up images, and so on.

The politicians who backed residents also deserve a thanks. It was heartening to see that politicians from across the political spectrum could work together to oppose the plans.

Indeed we've lost track of the number of Holyrood motions that have been lodged, and parliamentary questions that have been asked, urging the Scottish Government to reject the project.

There is even another Holyrood motion that has been lodged today, by the Greens.

Locals also received support from city-wide and national organisations too, like Friends of the Earth and Biofuelwatch. The Cockburn Association put in a particularly well worded objection to the proposal.

All of the people involved will be glad to see their hard work has paid off. And indeed a celebratory drink is certainly in order.

And it would appear that some people have learned so much about the real environmental impact of the Forth Energy proposals that they may well continue to support campaigners in Rosyth, Dundee and Grangemouth where the firms big biomass plans are still very much alive.

Just as importantly, many local businesses in Leith who depend on tourism and attracting visitors from elsewhere in the city will be hugely relieved that one cloud on their horizon has been removed. 

However, it's clear that Forth Ports might come back with a new plan. 

If they do, we hope they'll have listened to some of the things we said about How Forth Energy Could Win Friends and Influence Leithers.

Greener Leith has always said that if they work with local residents to support the development of a really decentralised, community owned, low carbon district heating network, then they might get somewhere. 

And you might say it'll never happen in Leith. But the council is already moving ahead and installing a shared heating system in Cables Wynd House this year at a cost of more than £2million.

This will lower the heating bills, and the carbon footprint, of 200 households in Leith.

Could that development be the first in a series of 'heat islands' that might one day form the basis of a genuinely decentralised heating network in Leith? 

Only time will tell. 

What they said:

Leaked: Future of Leith Docks all at sea

It may feel like the regeneration of Leith has been frozen in time, ever since the financial crash.

This week there has been a flurry of announcements about Leith Docks. We'll provide the simplified version here: 

1. The Leith Biomass plant planning application is unlikely to be considered by the City of Edinburgh Council until June 2012 at the earliest. 
2. As we predicted, councillors have decided not to spend £84million pounds on infrastructure improvements in the docks area until there is clarity about "plan B" for the docks.
3. Alex Salmond announced in the Scottish Parliament that Scottish Enterprise will be funding detailed studies into what could amount to that "Plan B." The first tender for a new docks masterplan is worth £400,000-£500,000 with more public cash to come. As yet, no wind turbine manufacturer has confirmed they want to invest in Leith.
4. The Scottish Government says that they will spend a £100million+ windfall from Westminster on developing "renewables infrastructure," and the Scotsman reckons that a good chunk of this may end up being spent on port infrastructure at Leith.
5. And in more exciting, albeit slightly unrelated news, Leith docks based wave energy machine manufacturer, Pelamis, delivered one of their giant red snake things from Leith to Orkney, and learned that they've been short listed in the Scottish Green Energy Awards. 

This matters, because there's an important planning consultation going on that could shape the future of Leith Docks for many years to come. We'd encourage as many local residents to try to digest some of this information and take part in the Local Development Plan consultation. 

If you can feel yourself ageing at the very thought of it, a civic minded councillor helpfully leaked this briefing to Greener Leith today. It was produced by senior planners for local councillors. But there's no reason why councillors should keep this stuff to themselves is there? Here's the official position at the moment:

Leith Docks Briefing Note to Elected Members 

Basically Leithers, there seems to be two choices on offer. Potentially lot's of industry and no business case for a tram. Or some industry, some houses, and maybe a tram at some point.

The former option seems to be being pursued by the Scottish Government and Forth Ports. The latter seems to be the favoured option by planners in the City Council.

And in both cases, neither the Scottish Government, or the council, would appear comfortable backing the giant Biomass plant that Forth Ports would still like to build. 

If you put in a submission to the Local Development Plan consultation, please do share your response with us. Greener Leith will publish a response in due course. 

You have plenty of time to ruminate on this. In fact you can do it over the entire festive period.

If you want to speak to a council planner to explain things in more detail, then there will be some sort of stall at Ocean Terminal on the 7th of January, 11am-3pm.

This post was updated on the 12th of November, with new information about the Scottish Enterprise tender, and details of the Scottish Government announcement of more money for renewable infrastructure.

Leith Biomass plan could go up in smoke if subsidy cuts approved

A multi-million pound hole may have appeared in the Forth Energy buisiness plan for their proposed Leith power plant. 

Last week, the Scottish Government announced proposals that could see large, electricity-only biomass fueled power plants, such as the one proposed by Forth Energy on Leith docks, lose their entitlement to claim renewable energy subsidies entirely. 

Whilst Forth Energy have never put a figure on the level of subsidy they expect to receive for their proposed Leith plant, we have previously calculated that the firm could have expected to earn at least £800m - £1billion in subsidies over the twenty year lifespan of the power plant. This is over and above the income they would receive for selling the electricity it would generate.

Last year, Greener Leith called on the Scottish Government to remove subsidies for large electricity-only biomass plants on the basis that their economic and environmental impacts were less than clear cut, to put it mildly.

Therefore, we are delighted that the Scottish Government appears to share our view that the best way prevent large companies proposing schemes that do little to support Scottish Government policy for biomass is to withdraw subsidy for them.

Calum Wilson, Chief Executive of the firm behind the Leith biomass plan has said in local public meetings that without the public subsidy the Leith project is far less likely to go ahead.  If the Scottish Government does decide to proceed with these proposals it could potentially bring a swift end to the Leith plant plan.

You can find details of the Scottish Government consultation here.  

If you, or an organisation you are involved in responds to this consultation, please do share it with us.  

For a limited amount of time you can view and comment on the draft version of our response to this consultation here. 

Update on October 30, 2011 by Ally

Whils the consultation process runs until January the 13th, it would seem that Energy Minister Fergus Ewing has wasted no time in highlighting the merits of the stance taken by the Scottish Government, when compared to proposals by the government south of the border, where biomass subsidies are to be retained.

In a government annoucement made this week he said: 

"I have grave concerns about the UK Government's ambition for biomass electricity. Large-scale woody biomass used for electricity generation is much less efficient than smaller scale neighbourhood plants.

"Huge electricity-only biomass plants require vast quantities of wood - far more than the UK can provide. Even if every stick of wood grown commercially in the UK went to biomass, it would supply less than a third of the fuel we will require by 2020 if the UK Government's plan for biomass goes ahead.

"Large scale electricity-only biomass will make us reliant on overseas timber markets for our energy. Both oil and gas prices have shown us the importance of a secure, local supply, and if we rely too heavily on imported timber there is a risk of energy security problems in the future.

"Extensive use of large scale biomass for electricity only is likely to push up timber prices and risk hundreds of jobs in traditional wood industries.

"That is why I am urging the UK Government to join the Scottish Government in removing subsidies from large-scale biomass electricity generation."

So, his views are pretty clear then.

And as if that weren't bad news enough for the Leith Biomass plant, it would seem that in the unlikely event that the developers do manage to find a heat customer, the additional subsidy they may have been expecting to receive for distributing the heat has just been cut by nearly two thirds by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.  

Although we hear rumours that Forth Energy staff are hopeful that the City of Edinburgh Council will delay the planning application hearing for a further six months, so far we understand that the planning committee still intend to consider their application in December. After all this subsidy news, it will be interesting to find out whether Forth Energy still have a business plan that would make it worthwhile.

EU scuppers big biomass subsidy whilst Forth Energy ramp up PR

Forth Energy, the developer behind a huge proposed power plant on Leith docks, have embarked on a new round of promotion for the four power stations they've planned.

Just yesterday, their manager Calum Wilson managed to get 300 terribly reassuring sounding words in the Scotsman. However, for the layman, it may not have been clear what he meant.

In his piece, which we re-produce in full below, Mr Wilson says that, "debate is good and the facts should be aired and understood." So, we've added some FACTS to his copy to make it easier for everyone to understand. His original text is in italics.

"AL GORE applauded Scotland's plans to become a major player in renewable energy."

FACT: There is no evidence that Al Gore made any reference to the Forth Energy biomass proposals. He spoke mainly about wave, tidal and wind power, and supported the Scottish Government renewables policies. These policies do not support large biomass plants like the ones proposed by Forth Energy.

"There is already considerable discussion about Forth Energy's proposals to site wood-fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) plants at Rosyth, Grangemouth, Dundee and Leith. Debate is good and the facts should be aired and understood."

FACT: There has indeed been considerable debate. Not much of it supports the Forth Energy proposals. In fact SNH have formally objected to the Leith plant, whilst Falkirk Council have objected to the firms similar Grangemouth power plant proposals. This last objection will trigger a public enquiry into the Grangemouth plant so it's very good that Mr Wilson welcomes debate, as there will be more of it.

"These plants will generate reliable supplies of renewable, low carbon electricity and heat for industrial processes and residential, community and commercial space heating from internationally-sourced, sustainable resources."

FACT: In the planning application Forth Energy have submitted for Leith they make absolutely no commitment to using the huge amounts of heat generated by the power station. In fact they acknowledge that without a further public subsidy to pay the one million pounds per kilometer (plus extra to install heat pipes into buildings) that a heat network will cost, they actually plan to just dump all the heat generated into the sea. 

FACT: There is still no confirmed additional public subsidy available to pay for the installation of the giant heat network Forth Energy would need to make efficient use of the heat the proposed Leith plant would generate. This is because the UK government just pulled it at the 11th hour after the EU said the proposed rates for big biomass were too high.

"These plants will produce not just reliable, renewable electricity (500MW – or around 9 per cent of Scotland's predicted 2020 demand), but 320MW of heat too – nearly a third of the Scottish Government's 2020 target of 11 per cent of heat from renewable sources."

FACT:  There are plenty of studies, including ones conducted by the Scottish Government themselves, that indicate Scotland will have no trouble keeping the lights on, or meeting its renewable energy targets regardless of whether these plants are given the green light.

FACT: The Forth Energy proposals do nothing to support current Scottish Government policy, which is for small, decentralised units which are scaled to an identified heat demand, and located off the gas grid. 

"This heat provides the opportunity for Scotland to create a renewable heat industry – with the potential for district heating networks nearby."

FACT: Forth Energy admit it'll be difficult to build a heat network in the planning applications - you should read the feasiblity study - and that's why they haven't committed to doing any of it without a huge amount of public subsidy. Apart from cash there are many other practical problems associated with using the heat. How will Forth Energy persuade thousands of private home owners, most with relatively low carbon gas heating already, to install a whole new heating system? Are local residents prepared to tolerate their streets being dug up again?

"Low carbon? From burning wood? The Scottish Institute of Sustainable Technology at Heriot-Watt University projects the carbon intensity of Forth Energy's plants at well inside the Scottish Government's threshold while also meeting all UK and EU emission limits."

FACT: The Scottish Institute of Sustainable Technology figures have never been peer reviewed, or published anywhere apart from the Forth Energy website. There is no clarity on what assumptions have been made in the Forth Energy figures about heat use. If the track record of the firm is anything to go by, then it is likely these claims are based on an assumption that heat from the plants will be used. But, as we've already established, the planning documents contain no firm commitment that any heat will in fact be used.

FACT: Forth Energy have produced new promotional leaflets with graph-like-pretty-pictures like the one below, also with no information on how these figures were derived:

 
Is it sustainable to ship wood from overseas? We will buy wood fuel from certified sources, grown and managed to international standards.

FACT: Forth Energy have carefully avoided committing themselves to any international forestry standard in their planning application. Even if they did there isn't one that guarantees that forests will be managed in a way that ensures the carbon they store is not reduced as it is harvested and managed. This fact has not stopped them using the widely respected FSC logo in their presentations to politicians.

FACT: If Forth Energy get planning permission for these power plants it is likely they will be able to burn timber from wherever they choose. It is very rare for biomass power plants to have planning conditions attached to them that specify the source and standard of the fuel. 

"The carbon intensity of our wood fuel (including processing and shipping) averages 79 per cent lower than coal and 44 per cent less than gas."

FACT: In their planning application, Forth Energy use several different methods that are likely to overstate the carbon savings that their proposed plants will deliver. We identify some in our objection to the plant, but if you don't believe us, Government body, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency also have concerns. 

"This £1.7 billion investment creates important opportunities for Scotland. In addition to 1,350 construction jobs and 285 permanent operational roles, these plants will generate £26-£32 million per year in local economic growth. They will support existing local businesses with low carbon heat and encourage industrial hubs at both Grangemouth and Rosyth, while supporting new renewables manufacturing hubs at Dundee and Leith."

FACT: The renewables manufacturing hubs proposed at Dundee and Leith are a bit like the plans to build a massive heat network. They sound great, but they're totally unconfirmed, and unlikely to happen any time soon.

FACT: The other thing the development of the renewables manufacturing hubs and the heat networks have in common is that they're not inexorably linked to the planning application for the giant power plants Forth Energy propose. It is perfectly possible to develop one without the other.

FACT: Earlier regeneration plans for the docks had the potential, according to Forth Ports own figures, to generate far more jobs. Also,  local businesses, Visit Scotland, SNH and Architecture and Design Scotland have all voiced concerns over the negative economic impact of building a large power station on Leith docks. 

Scotland faces challenges if we want to create a sustainable, renewable future.

You can read Calum Wilson's original article on the Scotsman website here.

Malcolm Chisholm calls on Holyrood to toughen big biomass policies

Malcolm Chisholm with No Leith Biomass campaigners at the Foot of the Walk

Today in the Scottish Parliament there was a debate on the "Low Carbon Economy." Local MSP Malcolm Chisholm spoke at length in the debate about his reservations over the Forth Energy proposals for a giant power plant on Leith docks. 

We should add that we're delighted that he has mentioned our work on this issue in the Holyrood debating chamber too and that he has raised, once again, our calls for a moratorium on large scale biomass plants. There are a great many people, working both in and out of the parliament to campaign against the Forth Energy proposals on Leith Docks, and the other power plants they want to build elsewhere in Scotland.

If you would like to show your support for the campaign, there is a public protest this Saturday.  

In the meantime, we reproduce everything Mr Chisholm said today to save you searching for it on the Holyrood website: 

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab): I want to concentrate on energy from a constituency point of view. There are wider agendas in achieving a low-carbon Scotland, including a step change in housing insulation and a serious drive towards a green transport strategy.

I want to ask what should be included in a definition of green energy, and to ask that question in the context of Forth Ports Ltd’s plans for Leith docks. At a recent meeting with the chief executive of Forth Ports, I was told that the company—which has recently been taken over by Arcus—was abandoning its housing plans for the Leith docks area in order to develop a renewable energy hub based on offshore wind and large-scale biomass, the latter as Forth Energy in partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy.

For Forth Ports, these two go hand in hand, but I want to challenge the green credentials of large-scale biomass while welcoming the prospect of Leith docks as a site for the manufacture and assembly of wind turbines, as envisaged in Scottish Enterprise’s national renewables infrastructure plan. There have been massive campaigns in Leith over the past year or more against the proposed large-scale biomass plant at Leith docks. This action has been spearheaded by the formidable and admirable no Leith biomass plant group.

I have submitted detailed objections that cover the many specifically local implications as well as the wider climate change consequences. Given the subject of our debate, I want to concentrate on the latter, although visual, traffic and local environmental concerns are all covered in my submission, which is on my website and the Scottish Government’s website—I thank the Scottish Government for that.

Greener Leith is a key organisation that opposes the proposal, and its website refers to many important reports that question the green credentials of large-scale biomass. For example, it refers to a new report that has been produced by a coalition of European non-governmental organisations, which raises a host of environmental concerns about the growth and use of biomass for electricity generation, and includes a startling graph that shows that a biomass plant that uses a typical European-managed forest would result in increased carbon emissions for the first two and a half centuries. Perhaps that it is not too surprising if we consider that burning wood emits more carbon in the short run than burning coal. The scenario could be even worse if unsustainable plantations are used, and stopping that would be impossible in the future, despite the current guarantees from Forth Energy.

On its website, Greener Leith highlights a key quote from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, which has said:

“In particular, we are concerned that the methodology deployed to calculate the lifetime green house gas savings”

of the scheme—that is, the Leith biomass plant proposal—

“includes an assumption of zero emissions from land within the growing cycle of the fuels ... This is likely to be incorrect and therefore leads to a potentially significant underestimate of green house gas emissions from the fuel. The calculation of green house gas savings from transport may also be underestimated.”

Forth Energy has consistently promoted the idea that burning wood fuel and replenishing crops after harvest limits the levels of carbon that are released into the atmosphere, but an increasing number of environmental organisations have stated that that position is too simplistic. The long-term effects of biomass combustion on the atmosphere and on climate change depend on the type of feedstock that is used, how sustainable the source is, and the alternative energy sources that are displaced by investment in such plants.

It is remarkable that Forth Energy continues to categorise biomass energy as carbon neutral, as a large body of evidence has been produced by groups such as Friends of the Earth to demonstrate that biomass is not anywhere near as efficient as alternative clean energy sources, which represent far more effective use of Government funding and deliver instant carbon reduction. Biomass would not only displace traditional fossil fuel sources; it would affect the ability of wind and tidal power to distribute clean carbon-neutral energy throughout Scotland.

The moving planet march that will take place in Edinburgh this weekend will aim to highlight the fact that moving from fossil fuels to clean energy sources is essential in tackling climate change and poverty. As outlined in Friends of the Earth’s recent briefing on the event, that means that policy must be directed to ensuring investment in appropriate sustainable technologies.

Kevin Stewart: What are Mr Chisholm’s feelings about small-scale biomass, such as the biomass boiler that is being used to deal with the energy needs of the new Marischal college project in Aberdeen, which has received European funding?

Malcolm Chisholm: I was going to come on to that issue, although I may not have time to cover everything that I wanted to cover. Small-scale biomass—particularly for combined heat and power—is exactly what we need, rather than large-scale biomass. I was going to refer to an earlier Friends of the Earth publication entitled “Energy from Biomass: Straw Man or Future Fuel?” which made that particular point. It supported small-scale biomass plants and highlighted the issue of transportation of biomass material. That is, of course, a major concern for the proposed Leith plant, because the wood would be brought in from thousands of miles away. We must take all such factors into account. I am seriously concerned that the plant that has been proposed for Leith docks is not small scale, that the proposal would involve intensive harvesting overseas and long-distance transport, and that no concrete plans have been provided to date on how the heat by-product of combustion would be effectively distributed to the wider city.

I realise that there is a live application, but I do not see why the Government should not have a policy against large-scale biomass. It has a policy against nuclear power stations that does not rule out submission of individual applications. The Government should therefore have a policy against large-scale biomass. If it will not go that far, it should at least have a moratorium, pending further research on its climate change implications.

Forth Energy kick Leith Biomass plant into the long grass

An artists impression of the biomass plant, made using Google Earth. This view looks down Constitution Street from a tall building.If you take a look at the Forth Energy website, there's nothing on it to indicate that their plans for a giant power plant that they propose to build on Leith Docks have been put on the back burner.

Indeed, the firm has been busy of late, churning out glossy PR brochures for the other biomass plants they propose in other parts of Scotland called things like, ahem, "Greener Grangemouth." The brochures contain the same virtually meaningless pledges on fuel sources and questionable carbon savings claims that their planning applications do.

The only change now is that they've got some titles that imply in some way that they're part of an environmental organisation. Although imitation is the greatest form of flattery, as you can imagine, we've had some of Scotland's finest legal minds poised to sue for trademark infringement the moment Forth Energy publish their equivalent, "Greener Leith," newsletter for weeks. But for some reason it hasn't happened.

Recently, local MSP Malcolm Chisholm shed some light on the apparent delay at a Leith Links Community Council meeting. He said he'd managed to meet with Charles Hammond, head of Forth Ports and he confirmed that the Leith Biomass plant will be the last to be pursued by Forth Energy (Forth energy is part owned by Forth Ports).

Not only that, Mr Hammond apparently told Malcolm Chisholm that the council will not now consider the planning application in December as we'd previously be led to believe, but "later." Given that every single candidate in the recent City Centre by-election said that they'd vote against the Leith biomass plant proposals, it's probably an astute move on their part to push consideration of the proposal beyond May - as they may be hoping to avoid the proposal becoming a political issue in the next Scottish Local elections.

Judging by the way the politics is playing out, this would seem unlikely. We've already seen that the Leith Biomass plant remains a critical local issue, in large part due to the sterling efforts of the No Leith Biomass campaigners. But it's not just a local issue - the questionable environmental wisdom of burning lots of imported timber just to generate electricity is rising up both the policy and political agendas throughout the UK. 

Recently, the independent statutory body set up by the UK government to advise Westminster and the devolved administrations on climate change issues, The Committee on Climate Change, released a report that was pretty skeptical of using biomass for power generation in the way that Forth Energy proposes to do.

You can read their whole report below:

CCC_The Renewable Energy Review

This report, suggests that biomass should not be used for power generation without being fitted with Carbon Capture and Storage technology (which currently doesn't exist) and is probably not a good use of scarce global biomass resources.

This report has not gone unnoticed in Scotland. SNP MSP for the Falkirk area, Angus MacDonald ("Greener Grangemouth" is in his constituency) has submitted this motion in the Holyrood parliament:

Motion S4M-00748 - Angus MacDonald ( Falkirk East ) ( Scottish National Party ) : UK Committee on Climate Change Comments on Biomass

That the Parliament notes the recent publication by the influential UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) of its review of the potential for renewable energy development; in particular notes its comments on biomass, including its preliminary conclusion that without CCS (carbon capture and storage), biomass would probably be of more value when used outside the power sector"; considers that this conclusion runs counter to Forth Energy's large-scale biomass proposals in Grangemouth, Rosyth, Dundee and Leith; welcomes the Scottish Government's preference for biomass to be deployed in heat-only or combined heat and power schemes, generally prioritised in off gas-grid areas, at a scale appropriate to make best use of both the available heat and local supply; looks forward to the CCC's more detailed assessment of biomass later in 2011, and calls on Scottish ministers to reject Forth Energy's proposals that require ministerial consent.

That motion is interesting as it explicitly calls on the Scottish Government proposals to deny Forth Energy consent for all four of their proposed large biomass plants.

Another recent motion at Holyrood may also be of interest too. Several Edinburgh MSP's have backed this one, which gives support to a planned protest march against the Biomass proposals later this month.

Motion S4M-00616 - Jim Eadie ( Edinburgh Southern ) ( Scottish National Party ) : Moving Planet March

That the Parliament supports the Moving Planet march and rally on Saturday 24 September 2011, called by the international non-governmental organisation, 350.org, to mark the Global Day of Climate Action; notes that 350.org calls for a sustainable energy future for the world at 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is what many scientists consider to be the safe upper limit; notes that the event will coincide with the world car-free day and that it will aim to put pressure on global leaders to commit to reducing CO2 levels in advance of the UN Climate Summit in Durban, South Africa, in November 2011, and welcomes the parallel aim of this event, to draw attention to opposition to the proposed Forth Energy biomass plant at Leith Docks.

Despite all this Forth Energy insist the Leith Biomass plan is still on the table. If you wish to support the campaigners who are trying to put the Leith Biomass plan in the long grass permanently, and you were wondering what else you can do now that you've put in your objection to the Leith Biomass plant, you can do these two things:

1. Use www.writetothem.com and urge your all your local MSP's - especially your list MSP's - to support both of these motions. Malcolm Chisholm, constituency MSP for Leith, has signed both, but there are still some list MSPs who have not.

2. Take part in the planned protest event on the 24th of September. You can find out more about the event here.

Leith Biomass: More carbon emissions than coal for 270 years?

The developers proposing to build a giant biomass fueled power station on Leith docks will probably not enjoy this graph. 

It is taken from a new report into the issues surrounding the use of woody biomass for electricity generation that has been produced by a coalition of European NGOs including Friends of the Earth Scotland and Birdlife International. It provides more evidence to back up our call to the Scottish Government to cut renewable energy subsidies for large, inefficient biomass plants like the one proposed by Forth Energy on Leith docks.

The report raises a host of environmental concerns over the growth in the use of biomass for electricity generation, but the graph that stood out is the one above which shows that a biomass plant that burns woody biomass from existing 'managed forests' for electricity - which is pretty much equivalent to the Leith Biomass proposals - could take almost 300 years to generate any carbon saving at all.

As climate science shows we need to cut our carbon emissions quickly, and the Scottish Government seeks carbon savings of 80% by 2050, it is difficult to see how anyone can claim that the Leith Biomass plant will justify the hundreds of millions of pounds worth of public subsidy for "renewable energy" it may qualify for in its first twenty years of operation if it gets the go ahead in its current form.

Forth Energy may not be saying much in public about the Leith Biomass plant at present, and the City of Edinburgh council is not set to formally consider the Leith Biomass application until December for reasons we can only guess at.

In the meantime, you can read the full report below. 

Woody Biomass for Energy: NGO Concerns and Recommendations