Tuesday, 26th August 2008
Scottish Government to think twice before destroying our peat bogs
Dear Sir,
I was very pleased to learn that a leading think tank has recommended the government stop funding subsidies for biofuels, and instead use the money to help protect rainforests and peatlands. However, I also found their advice rather ironic as it is our own peatlands that are under risk and our own Scottish Government, whether under the control of Labour or the SNP, that has done the damage.
Many planning applications to construct windfarms on peat have been approved over the last few years despite warnings that the erection of giant turbines on deep pea releases more CO2 into the atmosphere than will be saved over the lifetime of the wind farm. Peat is a global carbon sump and any major disturbance to deep peat causes the release of thousands of tonnes of CO2. The construction of the steel towers themselves and the huge concrete bases under each turbine, together with the associated access roads, borrow pits, pylons, overhead lines and other infrastructure, will ensure that the carbon footprint at these windfarms tramples on any potential carbon savings the site could have hoped to achieve.
I believe that the think tank, Policy Exchange, has suggested the right way forward to make a positive rather than a negative contribution to tackling climate change. Rather than conspiring to wreck our global air-conditioning system by destroying Scotland's peat bogs, the Scottish Government should be taking a leaf out of their book.
Yours sincerely
Struan Stevenson MEP
