So much for going green! Fuel for SNP's 'eco-ferries' has to be transported ... trends now
The SNP’s delayed ferries have been hit by a new farce after it emerged that their special ‘green’ fuel must be imported 8,000 miles from Qatar then driven thousands more miles each year by road.
The vessels were designed with ‘dual-fuel’ engines which can run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), designed to cut emissions, as well as conventional diesel.
However, eight years after work began on the ferries Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, the Scottish Government says there is no clear date for when LNG tanks, known as a bunkering facility, will ever be built here.
As a result, LNG must be imported in diesel-powered ships from Qatar to a terminal in England and then driven 450 miles to Scotland.
It is feared that will lead to emissions far in excess of savings generated by the supposedly environmentally friendly engines.
The complex dual-fuel design has been cited as one of the main reasons behind the shambolic delivery of the vessels for the route from Ardrossan, Ayrshire, to Arran.
The special ‘green’ fuel for the Glen Sannox must be imported 8,000 miles from Qatar
Fuel from Qatar will be delivered to a terminal in England and then driven 450 miles to Scotland as ferry ports do not have storage facilities
Meanwhile, ongoing maintenance problems at Ardrossan mean that the ferries will likely operate initially from Troon, 15 miles south, again a port with no LNG facilities, meaning thousands of delivery road miles.
Ferry company CalMac has also identified potential problems with the transfer of LNG from tanker to ship, fearing road delays could spark daily timetable chaos.
Professor Keith Hartley, an economist at the University of York, who has provided evidence on national shipbuilding strategy to the UK Parliament’s Scottish Affairs Committee, described the
