Hansard

It gives me great pleasure to speak in the debate on such a positive announcement for our islands, Scotland and the world. I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests: I have invested in Islay Energy Community Benefit Society and am a member of Islay Energy Trust and, of course, Islay is my home.

In November last year, I had a virtual visit to Port Ellen primary school. It is one of the four primary schools on the island, all of which take climate emergency and the environment very seriously. In our discussions, we talked about what Islay could do to reduce its carbon footprint and become carbon neutral. Many ideas were suggested, such as an island electric bus network, green ferries, better insulation in houses and capturing the energy of the sea and the sky.

Those are ambitious projects, but elsewhere on Islay there are testimonies to the skills of previous generations of Scottish innovators. The villages of Portnahaven and Port Wemyss boast a magnificent Stevenson lighthouse and a Telford church and manse. The Museum of Islay Life holds a Campbell-Stokes recorder, which was invented by Islay man John Francis Campbell in 1853 to record sunshine. Those great Scots rose to the challenges of previous generations and islanders continue to rise to the challenges of climate change.

As the cabinet secretary recently said in her evidence to the RAINE Committee about carbon neutral islands,

“The initiative is exciting because our islands are at the forefront of innovation. With all the work that is happening in renewables throughout our islands, we really want to capitalise on the opportunities that exist and to work closely with islands in reaching carbon neutrality.”—[Official Report, Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee, 4 May 2022; c 23.]

When I first moved to Islay, there was one man who had a renewable vision for Islay: the late Philip Maxwell. He understood that the future of energy generation lay with sustainable, cleaner power sources and he recognised that Islay had that potential, with wind and tidal power on its doorstep. However, he also knew that it would need local efforts to ensure that local communities would reap the full benefits.

Philip established Islay Energy Trust, a community-led charity whose main purpose is to generate financial and social benefits from renewable energy operations for the island. Over the past 16 years, IET has hugely raised awareness of the importance of renewables on Islay, Jura and Colonsay, where solar panels and heat pumps are used to provide domestic energy. It has also championed the importance of fuel economy, home insulation and carbon saving.

Working with Philip and others, I helped to establish Islay Energy Community Benefit Society. We raised more than £500,000 from the community and negotiated a bank loan for the balance that was required to establish the community-owned wind turbine, which was completed in 2014. That project will bring in up to £2 million for the community over its 20-year life.

That is a success story, but challenges remain. The island’s estimated current energy demand is 250GWh per year. More than 85 per cent of that is imported fuel oils, 10 per cent is electricity and the balance is wood, coal and peat.

The reason for oil consumption being so high is that whisky distillation, which is expanding, is a highly energy-intensive process. The cost of imported energy is in the region of £13 million per annum and is increasing. The whisky industry is well aware of its carbon footprint and is rising to the challenge. Making Islay one of the six islands that aspire to be carbon neutral has sent a powerful message to the distilleries, and they have begun the journey to carbon neutrality.? I do not have time to list all the work that they are doing, but I will give a couple of examples. At Bowmore distillery, hot air from the stills is piped to the malting floor during the heating process, and that system?also heats the local community swimming pool next door. As part of Lagavulin’s 200-year anniversary celebrations, Diageo funded peatland restoration on 700 acres of its land; I know that other distilleries are taking similar steps. Bruichladdich’s glass bottles, outer tins, card liners and outer cases are 100 per cent recyclable.

Of course, there is more to Islay than whisky.? Islay Energy Trust has been working with—and, importantly, learning from—others to cut carbon emissions and increase the island’s resilience and sustainability through tidal power, biomass and geothermal energy. Islay Energy Community Benefit Fund, which is associated with the turbine project, supports initiatives including tree planting, pathways and modernising home heating systems.

Islands are full of gifted, outward-looking folk who want to do their bit and share their experiences, as the cabinet secretary said. For example, on Iona, the community is working on a local heating system; on Bute, new carbon neutral houses have been built; on Jura, Inver has its own hydro system, which has provided back-up to the national grid; Mull and Iona Community Trust has a community hydro scheme; Tiree has a community wind turbine that has allowed the community to expand its community-owned assets; and, of course, Gigha has its four dancing ladies. I think that I have mentioned six islands in Argyll and Bute alone.

Our islands are profoundly important not just to Scotland but to the whole world. They contribute hugely to our culture, heritage, environment, identity, landscape, economy and society. The carbon neutral islands project will embrace the opportunity for island communities to lead the way in realising Scotland’s climate change ambitions.