Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 11 November 2015
11 Nov 2015 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Energy Storage Network
I am grateful to Mr Russell for that information. I had not realised that Tom Johnston’s portrait was in Bute house.
In Tom Johnston’s wisdom he recognised that what would benefit the Highlands and Islands would also benefit Scotland, and, in his wisdom, he recognised that what would benefit Scotland would also benefit the rest of the United Kingdom. It is that kind of wisdom that is quite evidently so lacking in today’s unionist politicians. It is sometimes forgotten that Tom Johnston also introduced storage heaters, storing energy at times of low demand, bringing affordable, convenient heating to the Highlands and Islands on a significant scale and utilising energy that would otherwise be wasted by storing it at the household level.
Presiding Officer, I mention that to demonstrate that, even without renewable energy generation, energy storage was and is both necessary and worth while. It is used to help balance the peaks and troughs of demand and supply.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-14440, in the name of Mike MacKenzie, on the energy storage network. The debate ...
Mike MacKenzie (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
SNP
I am pleased to have secured this debate in order to shine a light on energy storage, because energy storage is an often forgotten and sometimes undervalued ...
Michael Russell (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)
SNP
It would be useful for the member to know that the admiration for Tom Johnston spreads across the chamber. I seem to remember that a portrait of Tom Johnston...
Mike MacKenzie
SNP
I am grateful to Mr Russell for that information. I had not realised that Tom Johnston’s portrait was in Bute house. In Tom Johnston’s wisdom he recognised ...
Alex Salmond (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
Tom Johnston also tried to exterminate the Scots midge, but that was less successful. The point that I was going to make was that he took emergency legislati...
Mike MacKenzie
SNP
I am very grateful to Mr Salmond for that further information. Like midges, a lot of small Scotsmen are equally difficult to exterminate. Energy storage is ...
Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I thank Mike MacKenzie and congratulate him on securing the debate. It might not look like the most exciting issue that we will debate this week, but it is p...
Joan McAlpine (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I, too, congratulate my friend Mike MacKenzie on securing this important and timely debate. Last year, I was delighted to host an event in Parliament with H...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
You need to close, please.
Joan McAlpine
SNP
I am just finishing. During last week’s crisis, the price that National Grid paid to some generators reached £2,500 per megawatt hour when it is normally £5...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
I must now ask members to keep to four minutes. Even if they do so, given the number of members who still wish to speak in the debate I am minded to accept a...
Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
One of the first things that I was ever taught in a science class was that energy can never be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to ...
Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Does the member agree that the kind of pumped storage scheme that I see on the Falls of Clyde and across Scotland is a much better model than the centralised...
Alex Johnstone
Con
I might have time later to get on to the subject of diversity of energy sources, which is something that I believe in. The other point that I wanted to make...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Please close.
Alex Johnstone
Con
If we fail to be diverse in our energy sources, we run a much greater risk of that power not coming on. 17:28
David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP)
SNP
First of all, Presiding Officer, I must apologise to you and Mike MacKenzie for not being able to stay until the end of the debate. I thank Mike MacKenzie f...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I, too, congratulate Mike MacKenzie on securing this important debate and I join him in acknowledging and welcoming the work that Scottish Renewables has don...
Nigel Don (Angus North and Mearns) (SNP)
SNP
I, too, thank Mike MacKenzie for bringing this important debate to us. I also thank him for the history lesson about Tom Johnston. I have a family connection...
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
Other members have mentioned Tom Johnston, but one key aspiration that he had has not yet been referred to. He imagined that, with the building of hydroelect...
The Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism (Fergus Ewing)
SNP
It has been an excellent debate, and I thank Mike MacKenzie for securing it. I very much welcome the Scottish Renewables paper “Energy Storage: The Basics”...
Sarah Boyack
Lab
Will the minister take an intervention?
Fergus Ewing
SNP
I would really like to make these points. I am very sorry but I need to make progress. That expert group should comprise senior officials and it should be s...