Edinburgh News: environment
Interest Free Loans For Homes Installing "Green" Energy Equipment
The Scottish Government has launched a new £500,000 interest free loan scheme for householders installing micro-energy generating equipment. Loans will be available for a range of renewable heat and electricity technologies, such as heat pumps, solar panels, micro-wind turbines, or biomass boilers.
Edinburgh Council and Businesses To Trial Electric Scooters
Edinburgh City Council staff are getting on their electric bikes this Summer. Electric scooter service provider Go Zypper is providing the Council with four scooters, for free, to be trialled over four to six months from 1st May. Staff will use the bikes to commute to and from work, go out on Council business and for personal use.
Science Festival '11 Brings Bangs, Bubbles, and the Big Blue
Between the 9 and 22 April, this year's Edinburgh International Science Festival will see over 200 adult and family events taking place in 38 venues across the city.
Women's Wildlife Project To Bloom at Craigie
West Craigie Farm started its Local Food Project over two years ago, with the help of social enterprise funding, to grow food for the farm shop and cafe. Farmer John Sinclair supplied a poly tunnel and some ground for the project.
Mountain Bike Areas Planned For Local Parks
Three areas of Edinburgh have been suggested as possible areas for mountain biking in new reports. Local community groups working in the areas commissioned the reports with the help of the City of Edinburgh Council Countryside Ranger Service and funding from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
Historic Scotland Starts Traffic Reduction Campaign in Holyrood Park
A campaign to reduce traffic passing through Holyrood Park starts this month. The goal is to make drivers aware that the park's roads are for the sole use of non-commercial traffic. Coach drivers will also need a permit from April.
Final Bids In to Build New Forth Crossing
The two consortia bidding to build a new bridge across the Forth have submitted their final proposals to Transport Scotland for consideration before the contract is awarded in April.
Kerbside Pick-up for Batteries and Bottles Introduced
Edinburgh residents can now recycle plastic bottles and old batteries using the council's kerbside pick-up. From this Monday, 31 January, plastic bottles will be picked up from the red kerbside boxes while batteries will be picked up from the blue kerbside boxes for recycling.
China Gifts Breeding Pair of Giant Pandas To Edinburgh Zoo
China has given "a gift" of a breeding pair of giant pandas to Edinburgh Zoo. A historic agreement was signed today which will see the first giant pandas reside in the UK for 17 years. Witnessed by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, and Vice Premier of China, Li Keqiang, the agreement was signed at Lancaster House in London by Donald Emslie, chairman of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), which owns Edinburgh Zoo, and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA).
25,000th Bike Rolls Into Bike Station
Six years after its launch, Edinburgh bicycle recycling depot the Bike Station has taken in its 25,000th bike. The bike was a Fifties, British-built, ladies bike, still in very good condition, although made of a heavy steel frame.
More Weather Disruption At Edinburgh Airport
You thought it was over? Seems BAA, who run Edinburgh Airport, are still getting to grips with the local snow. The airport was closed again early yesterday after a larger than expected overnight snowfall.
Community Groups Invited To Bid For Climate Change Cash
Communities, small and large, across Scotland, are being encouraged to get proactive in the fight against climate change with the help of government funding. The Scottish Government's Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) has been extended and is open to applications for the 2011/2012 round.
December Was Second Coldest Month In Scotland In A Century
The Met Office has today confirmed that December 2010 was not only Scotland's coldest December on record, but that it was also the second coldest month that the country has experienced in 100 years, beaten only by February 1947.
Weather: Christmas Was White, Will Hogmanay Be Alright?
Christmas day in Edinburgh 2010 was "white" by both definitions: the city was covered in snow and the Met Office officially recorded snow flakes falling in the city. At least one flake must fall on 25th December for it to be technically called "A White Christmas" as far as the bookies are concerned.
Trains Continue to Struggle With Freezing Cold
Has day-to-day freezing ice and snow become the new normal? It seems to have been going on for ever. First it was Snowvember, now De-icember, in what has been the worst weather conditions in living memory. With climatologists (such as former government chief scientific advisor David King) suggesting that cold winters come in multiple years, we may need to get used to these bitterly cold conditions.
Travel Delays as Edinburgh Whitens For Christmas
The weekend snowfalls, plummeting sub-zero temperatures, and freezing fog are continuing to make travel trickier this morning.
Edinburgh Plunges Back into Winter
Edinburgh residents woke up this morning to find the city had reverted to winter snow conditions again.
Scotrail Trains Get Dressed Up in Warm "Skirts"
Scotland's main railway company Scotrail has come up with a novel way of dealing with the kind of freezing conditions that caused most of its trains North to grind to a halt in plummeting temperatures around a week ago. It is going to dress its trains in warm skirts.
New Transport Minister Appointed
Alex Salmond has appointed Keith Brown (pictured), formerly Minister for Skills and Lifelong learning, to replace Stewart Stevenson as Minister for Transport and Infrastructure.
"Unprecedented" Weather Claims Climate Minister
After the deep freeze on the roads, the political heat proved too much. Stewart Stevenson was forced to resign from his ministerial post yesterday.
