5 December 2013 Stuart McKay - Fossil Fuels

Thursday's meeting returned to its usual venue at the Westlands Hotel following our memorable 40th Charter Dinner last week.

Visiting Rotarian Dudley Booth from Carse of Stirling and speaker Stuart Mackay were welcome guests.

Stuart had previously spoken to the club in 2006 and was returning in his current role as Head of Fossil Fuels and Carbon Capture Storage for the Scottish Government. He explained his role encompassed coal, oil, gas and nuclear sources of energy but his address focussed mainly on the issue of gas as he posed the question 'Do we need a gas supply?' Stuart outlined the main sources of supply for electricity generation, of which gas was the most flexible but more expensive than coal and renewables such as wind and hydro.  Nuclear is the most dependable and secure source but is the most expensive and has the associated issue of waste material disposal. Coal is the fastest growing fuel worldwide, is the cheapest source of fuel, has good availability but also produces the most emissions. Gas, on the other hand, is cleaner than coal and has good supply potential in the UK but these are from 'unconventional' sources such as shale and coal bed methane. Other significant considerations for gas are that it is used in over 80% of domestic heating and is essential for transport and industry as the source of much of the output from Grangemouth, for example. The controversial process of 'fracking' is widely used in the United States where shale gas is 75% cheaper than conventional sources. Even after transport and other costs, it is cheaper to import shale gas from America than to extract from the North Sea. In concluding, Stuart said that the decision to producing gas in Scotland and the UK using alternative sources and techniques will be one which needs to be made but will undoubtedly be controversial. 

Stuart fielded many questions from members before being thanked for a very interesting and informative talk by Peter Holmes.

In other news, Lawrie Orr reported that the Coffee Morning held in Bridge of Allan had raised £500 which will be used to support projects for young people.

President elect Peter Farr reported on his attendance at the recent District Council meeting when the Club was awarded the Silver Salver for the best website and he presented this to club webmaster, Graham Russell.