Seòmar agus comataidhean

Monica, there are lots of follow-up questions. If you want to stay on the subject, please do, but if not, I am tempted to bring in other members.

Magnus Linklater, now is your moment.

Not on the whole bill, and not for the whole session.

I struggle when we talk about natural capital in relation to, for example, Gresham House. It has relatively small landholdings scattered across Scotland, but it becomes quite a big landowner when you put all the holdings together. I am not sure that I have heard how you would deal with that in relating to lotting.

The problem with lotting—having done it when I was a surveyor—is that there is quite an art to getting it right.

No, I mean if it is lotted in a way that does not achieve the best possible price, and the Government has to compensate the landowner. The compensation could be massive, could it not?

Thank you, convener. I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I own part of a wild salmon fishery. I should also point out that I managed fisheries on the Ness and Loch Ness until 2006. My family has a strong connection with Loch Ness, having funded various expeditions to try to find the monster in the 1950s.

The petition has come about because of the work that is being proposed for pump storage in Loch Ness. I accept the importance of pump storage to our net zero demands in Scotland. It provides us with green energy and the ability to have a black start, should there be a complete failure in the national grid.

However, the pump storage at Loch Ness has proven that there are real threats to the environment that we do not yet fully understand. Pump storage will increase the temperature of the water that goes back into the loch. It will invariably require the feeder loch to have its height increased, which is what is being suggested for Loch Ness. That will damage the edge of the loch and cause problems for flora and fauna. The very edge of the loch is probably the most oxygenated area. NatureScot has objected to the proposal.

I know that it would be difficult for the committee to make a recommendation to stop everything when it comes to pump storage, because it is important to Scotland. However, we need to understand what we are doing when it comes to generating electricity.

As a member of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, I say this with a bit of trepidation, because other members might not thank me for it, but this committee might think it appropriate to refer the petition to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee so that it can undertake work to ascertain whether there is a problem. I am not volunteering that committee’s services, because I might be killed when I return to it, but it might be an idea.

I would like to, convener, if there is time.

Monica Lennon, did you put your hand up?

Before I go to Douglas Lumsden, can you just clarify something? I am confused—maybe it is because I have been looking at this for too long. I was told that LNG was an easy fuel to use, that it had been used before, that there was nothing wrong with the design of LNG ships, and that that is why it was chosen for the design of the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa. That came from CMAL and the owners of the yard at that stage. Everything seems to be turned around now and we are told that it is a very new technology. I think that LNG technology was being used before the ships were being built. It is not new technology, it is just that we have had problems installing it; surely that is the right way to say it.