Situated amongst some of the wildest and most remote scenery in the North West Highlands of Scotland, the parish of Assynt is dominated by spectacular mountain landscapes.
Pioneers in the past, leading the first community buyout of land in 1993 ( through the Assynt Crofters Trust) the community of Assynt are again seeking to pioneer approaches to sustaining their future. This time, they are tackling the challenges of climate change through the newly established Assynt Renewables. With support from the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund they are seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of the Assynt Parish area through an energy efficiency project and to secure a more sustainable future through looking at what natural resources can be used for energy.
Chairperson for Assynt Renewables, Alastair Macaskill commented:
“ We are delighted to have been awarded this grant. We will use the £74,220 to employ a project officer for two years and meet project costs. This will be a challenging piece of work as we have housing dispersed throughout a large area along with minimal access to public transport. Looking to the future we know we need to use less energy and find ways to be more sustainable. We know that some 28% of carbon emissions come from householders. This is something we can start to tackle.”
Mark Lazzeri, Development Manager of Assynt Foundation and a member of the board of Assynt Renewables explained:
“ We will start with small steps encouraging householders to take part in an energy audit then look to what solutions we can find as a community to reduce our energy usage. We will investigate ways to make the most of the resources we have around us from food to fuel sources.”
Another board member Chris Chant added:
“One of the exciting possibilities we are exploring is how to reduce our fuel for transport so we investigating options such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Transport is a real issues here and we had a taste of what happens when the price of oil rocketed last summer. We want to be at the front of change rather than on the receiving end of it in the future.”
The specific objectives for the project include:
· Establishing the baseline carbon footprint of the area.
· Carrying out an energy audit of houses, community buildings and businesses
· Supporting a programme of insulation and efficiency measures to reduce the carbon footrpint
· Investigating the feasibility of local microrenewables schemes which could serve clusters of houses and community buildings
· Assessment of options to reduce the transport miles and food miles in the parish through greater use of local food products and greater quantity of local food processing as well as looking at options for electric and/or hybrid power vehicles
· Looking at possibilities for greater use of wood as a fuel
The project is being supported by Changeworks (Energy Saving Scotland Advice Centre for the Highlands and Islands ) and the John Muir Trust. It will work also with Community Energy Scotland in terms of auditing of some community buildings and looking at community run renewable energy options .
Pioneers in the past, leading the first community buyout of land in 1993 ( through the Assynt Crofters Trust) the community of Assynt are again seeking to pioneer approaches to sustaining their future. This time, they are tackling the challenges of climate change through the newly established Assynt Renewables. With support from the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund they are seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of the Assynt Parish area through an energy efficiency project and to secure a more sustainable future through looking at what natural resources can be used for energy.
Chairperson for Assynt Renewables, Alastair Macaskill commented:
“ We are delighted to have been awarded this grant. We will use the £74,220 to employ a project officer for two years and meet project costs. This will be a challenging piece of work as we have housing dispersed throughout a large area along with minimal access to public transport. Looking to the future we know we need to use less energy and find ways to be more sustainable. We know that some 28% of carbon emissions come from householders. This is something we can start to tackle.”
Mark Lazzeri, Development Manager of Assynt Foundation and a member of the board of Assynt Renewables explained:
“ We will start with small steps encouraging householders to take part in an energy audit then look to what solutions we can find as a community to reduce our energy usage. We will investigate ways to make the most of the resources we have around us from food to fuel sources.”
Another board member Chris Chant added:
“One of the exciting possibilities we are exploring is how to reduce our fuel for transport so we investigating options such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Transport is a real issues here and we had a taste of what happens when the price of oil rocketed last summer. We want to be at the front of change rather than on the receiving end of it in the future.”
The specific objectives for the project include:
· Establishing the baseline carbon footprint of the area.
· Carrying out an energy audit of houses, community buildings and businesses
· Supporting a programme of insulation and efficiency measures to reduce the carbon footrpint
· Investigating the feasibility of local microrenewables schemes which could serve clusters of houses and community buildings
· Assessment of options to reduce the transport miles and food miles in the parish through greater use of local food products and greater quantity of local food processing as well as looking at options for electric and/or hybrid power vehicles
· Looking at possibilities for greater use of wood as a fuel
The project is being supported by Changeworks (Energy Saving Scotland Advice Centre for the Highlands and Islands ) and the John Muir Trust. It will work also with Community Energy Scotland in terms of auditing of some community buildings and looking at community run renewable energy options .
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