Eigg wins top green award

A SCOTTISH island last night won a major international green energy award for its efforts to use renewables and cut carbon emissions.

The Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust won the top prize of 20,000 in the prestigious Ashden Awards after it reduced household carbon emissions on the island by almost 50 per cent.

The award was presented at a ceremony in London by Sir David Attenborough last night.

Eigg, off the west coast of Scotland, now generates 90 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources, including hydro turbines, solar panels and a wind farm.

Residents are alerted to how much energy is available through a green and red light system and sometimes cut their electricity consumption by using their appliances less.

And local residents devised a system to cap electricity use at 5 kilowatts for households and 10KW for businesses.

If users go over the limit they are automatically cut off, but an alarm goes off when they are close to the cap. Household CO2 emissions have fallen by 47 per cent and are now about 20 per cent lower than the average UK household. Electricity use is now about half the average UK household.

The trust also makes green grants available for insulation, thicker curtains and energy-saving lightbulbs. There are plans for a community transport scheme.

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy reward life-changing ideas, from smokeless stoves in Ethiopia, to green schools in the UK. Five other UK projects and six international winners were given 10,000.

Sir David said: "The Ashden Award winners are champions at delivering real and practical ways of protecting our planet and its precious biodiversity through the use of sustainable energy."

The Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust is a partnership between residents, the Highland Council and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.