- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 9 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether an assessment has been made of Scotland’s osmotic power generation potential and, if so, with what result.
Answer
The Scottish Government is not aware of any work that has been undertaken to assess Scotland''s potential for osmotic power generation.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 9 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to recent developments in the field of osmotic power generation.
Answer
Although the Scottish Government is aware of some of the international activity taking place with regard to osmotic power generation, no specific consideration has been given to development in Scotland. The focus of the Scottish Government and its agencies has been on the commercial development of wave and tidal energy given Scotland''s unique resource and significant level of market interest in this sector.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 9 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it has made available to organisations or individuals looking to develop osmotic power generation techniques or facilities.
Answer
Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise offer a range of research and development and investment support and this would potentially be available to businesses looking to develop osmotic power techniques or facilities in Scotland. These agencies would be willing to engage with any potential developers interested in taking forward activity in Scotland. Should this technology emerge as a commercial proposition the Scottish Government would consider options for eligibility through the Renewables Obligation.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can confirm reports that there has been a net decrease in woodland area of 8,000 hectares in the last two years and whether it considers that there will be a net increase or decrease in 2010-11.
Answer
It is not possible to confirm a net decrease in woodland area in the last two years. Based on felling approvals and the area of replanting and new planting in the same reference period, there was an apparent decrease in woodland area of about 5,000 hectares but this takes no account of the time-lag between felling and replanting nor of any woodland expansion through unrecorded natural regeneration. We anticipate a net increase in woodland area in 2010-11 and succeeding years.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to change the definition of a woodland area from land with a 20% cover of trees to land with a 10% cover of trees and, if so, how much additional woodland area this would result in.
Answer
There are no plans to change the definition of a woodland area.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the results of the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland to be published.
Answer
The first eight local authority summary reports* were published in May 2010. Another five** were published in October 2010. The remaining local authority summary reports will be published in batches each spring and autumn through to spring 2013.
The national report is scheduled for publication by summer 2013.
A map viewer, through which the data used to prepare the summaries can be accessed, is available on the Forestry Commission website at www.forestry.gov.uk/nwss.
Notes:
*Aberdeen, City of Edinburgh, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire.
**Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, East Dunbartonshire, Midlothian, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland to identify additional woodland area and, if so, approximately how many additional hectares.
Answer
The Native Woodland Survey of Scotland is determining the precise area and status of native woodlands in Scotland for the first time, and will provide an accurate baseline for future monitoring. It does not include other types of woodlands, so cannot be used to determine overall woodland area. The total woodland area of Scotland is being assessed as part of the GB-wide National Forest Inventory, and we expect results to be published in spring 2011. These will show changes in woodland area compared to previous inventory information.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of woodland area have been cleared in the last two years as a result of (a) wind farm developments and (b) bog restorations and how this compares with the number of hectares planted in the same period.
Answer
A breakdown of these figures is not readily available at present.
Following discussions with the forestry sector this autumn, Forestry Commission Scotland will be piloting the collection of woodland removal data in the period 2000-10 within one of its five conservancies. The focus will be on wind farms and bog restoration, as these are known to be the primary causes of woodland removal this decade.
The pilot exercise will also assess broader trends in woodland removal by analysing forest plans approved in the period 2000-10, calculating areas to be felled and areas to be restocked in each plan period.
Providing the pilot can demonstrate that such information collection would not be disproportionately expensive in terms of cost or time, the methodology will then be rolled out to the remaining four conservancies in Scotland. It is anticipated that data from this project will be available by summer 2011.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from stakeholders suggesting that its tree-planting provisions are inadequate and, if so, from what organisations.
Answer
ConFor has expressed its concerns to the Scottish Government on behalf of the forestry sector regarding woodland creation grant aided under the Scottish Rural Development Plan.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 25 November 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered transferring vessels deployed on the NorthLink Ferries to run on services operated by CalMac Ferries, or vice versa, since 2007.
Answer
The optimum deployment of the ferry fleet available to Scottish Ministers is an important part of effective delivery of ferry services.
