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FISH and chips was the aim of the game in Cairndow last Friday but not in an entirely edible sense.
A unique project, believed to be the first of its kind in Scotland, was unveiled to more than 50 interested members of the public at the village’s Lakeland Smolts.
Linking forestry and aquaculture, a new state-of-the-art biomass boiler will be used to maintain water temperatures at a level that creates the best growing conditions for smolts – young salmon.
The project was the brainchild of local community group, Here We Are (HWA) and is the only community owned fuel supply project to win funding from the Scottish Biomass Support Scheme, delivered by Forestry Commission Scotland.
Entitled ‘Our Power’, the project supplies wood chips for the bio-fuel boiler, which in turn has created a total of 1.5 new jobs for the community as well as sustaining a further 15.
Officially opening the boiler system, Dr Bob McIntosh, Director of Forestry Commission Scotland, said: ‘Woodfuel and biomass energy systems are highly sustainable and are increasingly popular across the country.
‘They offer communities and businesses opportunities to use local resources to create new markets and new jobs that will strengthen rural and local communities.’
Christina Noble, HWA project director, added: ‘It had to be ‘Our Power’ because as well as providing power, the project has also empowered us.
‘The project has had a positive impact on the community and we hope it will encourage other communities to think big and consider their own local energy projects.’
