Found this article on the BBC News website, featuring the opinion of the National Trust. They state that the government should aim to preserve peatbogs.
Apparently, the British bogs store 20 years' worth of carbon emissions by the UK as a whole. However, changes in the environment mean that the bogs dry out in certain areas, leading to a release of the carbon into the atmosphere as CO2 - one of the so-called greenhouse gases.
Now, this has huge relevance here in Lewis as well as across the Highlands. Lewis is covered by a blanket of peat, up to 6 metres (20 ft) thick. When the windfarms, proposed for North Lewis, Pairc and Eishken are built, a large amount of peat stands to be disturbed.
This scientific statement is NOT new, it has been brought up in objections raised against the windfarms. Bearing in mind the shift in government stance on renewable energy (see two posts back), I think it is very important that this be taken into account. I am aware that this is the National Trust (not for Scotland), but the implications are most certainly there for this island.
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