SPECIAL REPORT | 3THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2009 THE SCOTSMAN
332MW � enough to supply the
electricity needs of every home
in Scotland's largest city.
The colossal project took up a
huge area across moorland and
would normally have attracted
dozens if not hundreds of objec-
tions. But crucially the moor was
neither a national park or a na-
tional scenic area and there had
also been developments in the
areasuchascommercialforestry
and grazing, so that the turbines
did not detract from what was
going on around them.
There was a very positive re-
sponsefromthelocalcommuni-
ties to the initial plan, with an
opinion poll showing approxi-
mately three to one in favour,
andattheendofalengthypublic
consultation process, the num-
ber of letters of objection
amounted to just 30.
Mark Ruskell, communica-
tions manager for Scottish
Renewables, says: "There are
signs of a growing acceptance of
wind farms which has come on
the back of schemes being actu-
ally built and operated.
"Some of the early myths
about wind farms, for example
concerning noise levels, are a lot
easier to de-bunk now more
schemes are running and people
have had a direct and positive
experience of them."
Anti-windfarm
protestors at
Silverburn,
Midlothian
chose to burn a
wicker turbine
Picture: Julie
Howden
As the owner of much of the
coastline and seabed around
Scotland, the Crown Estate is
crucial to the whole process of
meeting the climate change
targets by providing licences for
offshore wind farm sites.
The estate has already carried
out two extended rounds of bid-
ding for licences to site offshore
wind farms off the Scottish
coast, and a third round is
presently under way.
Tom Mallows of the Crown
Estate's office in Edinburgh said:
"Weareworkingcloselywiththe
various organisations who are
interested in bidding, and they
believe their individual targets
are achievable. We are working
alongside the government to
achieveitstargetsandwebelieve
that those overall targets are
achievable.
"The Crown Estate is plan-
ning, along with the Scottish
Government,theotherdevolved
administrationsandtheUKgov-
ernment, a set of supply chain
events which will take place in
early 2010 to make sure that the
benefits to the UK economy
from potentially large invest-
ments in the offshore wind
industry are maximised."
A massive co-operative effort
isintraintoensurethatScotland
benefits from marine renew-
ables both environmentally and
economically, and the evidence
of such development would be
there for all to see � out at sea.
Scottish visionary Blyth among first
to generate electricity from the wind
ANDREW COLLIER
HE WAS the original pioneer
who put wind into the sails of
the green energy industry � a
Scottish scientist who first saw
its potential and paved the way
for a revolution.
Professor James Blyth was the
visionary who foresaw the
immense opportunities which
layincapturingthepowerofthe
wind and using it to generate
electricity.
Blyth was born in the small
village of Marykirk near Mon-
trose in 1838. He went to Edin-
burgh University, taught at
George Watson's College, and
was appointed Professor of nat-
ural philosophy at Anderson's
College in Glasgow � now part of
Strathclyde University � in 1880.
He was widely respected as a
teacher, but was fascinated with
electrical problems as well as
other inventions of the age � the
telephone and microphone.
Blyth was granted a number of
patents to protect his inventions
and, as his knowledge and cu-
riosity grew, he became inter-
ested in the concept of wind
power.
DavidInfield,whoisProfessor
of Renewable Energy Technolo-
gies at Strathclyde University,
explains: "He was a very distin-
guished teacher, researcher and
inventor.Whenhisparentsdied,
he took over their Marykirk
home, and it was here that he
built a windmill in his garden,
with large and hollow cylindri-
cal shaped blades fixed to a cen-
tral vertical shaft by horizontal
arms. He was able to use the
windmill to demonstrate how
electrical current could be gen-
erated from the wind."
Professor Infield continues:
"According to his son, Blyth
began his windmill experi-
ments in 1885 or 1886, and kept
upaninterestuntiltheendofhis
life by trying out various design
improvements."
Blyth was keen to share his
interests with the local com-
munity and held a series of
popular lectures and
demonstrations. He proved
the concept of wind power,
and then offered the
surpluselectricityhegener-
ated to the people of the vil-
lage to light the main street.
Amazingly, they turned
down his offer because they
believed that electricity was
the work of the devil.
Undeterred, Blyth used his
turbine to charge accumulators
developed by the Frenchman
Camille Alphonse Faure to pro-
vide power for the lights in his
own cottage, making it the first
house in the world to have its
electricity generated by wind.
Healsomanagedtopersuadethe
localasylumtousehiselectricity
as an emergency power source.
The turbine he built to power
the accumulators was 33 feet
high and fitted with sails made
of cloth. He installed it in his
garden and used an outbuilding
ments, Blyth won the support of
another great Victorian Scots
scientific pioneer, Lord Kelvin,
who is renowned as a physicist.
Kelvinthoughtthegenerationof
electricity by wind would be
possible and encouraged his
colleague in his efforts.
Sadly, little is left in Marykirk
today to mark Blyth's achieve-
ments, although the cottage still
stands and the outbuilding
which contained the ancillary
equipment also still exists.
In 1892, he was awarded the
Brisbane Gold Medal by the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
in recognition of his work.
When he died in 1906, a
colleague at Anderson's
College, Professor James
Muir, paid tribute to "the
magnitude of the work
done" by Blyth and added
that his hard work "did not
go unnoticed".
Another colleague, Dr
James Colville, called him "a
true man of science".
At Strathclyde University
today, as Professor Infield
explains, Blyth's legacy lives on.
"Today, this is the UK's leading
academic centre for research
into wind energy technology,"
he says.
"ADoctoralTrainingCentrein
wind energy systems starts next
month, supported by a
�6 million investment from the
Engineering and Physical Sci-
ences Research Council. Profes-
sor Blyth would have found this
both fitting and exciting."
to house the flywheel and gear-
box.
The original turbine was first
erected in the summer of 1891,
withthepowergeneratedstored
in a bank of 12 batteries. These
turned out to be able to power a
total of 10 25 volt bulbs in what
was described as a "moderate
breeze". He also demonstrated
that they could be used to power
a small lathe.
In total, Blyth used three dif-
ferentdesignsofturbine,thelast
one continuing to provide elec-
tricity to the house for 25 years.
Before starting his experi-
James Blyth 1838-1906
Edinburgh Guernsey London
Princes Exchange 1 Earl Grey Street Edinburgh EH3 9EE
Telephone: 0131 228 8111 Fax: 0131 228 8118
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