Power In Scotland From Tides and Whiskey

tsamsoniw writes "Singapore-based Atlantis Resources Corporation, which brings to the table tidal-turbine technology, is partnering with Scotland-based datacenter developer Internet Villages International) to construct a tidal-powered 150MW 'Blue Datacenter,' InfoWorld reports. If all goes to plan, the facility will eventually be powered entirely by clean energy produced by tidal-current turbines in the Pentland Firth, the stretch of water between the far north Scottish mainland and Orkney. The firth's currents could generate 700 megawatts of electricity by 2020." And reader Mike writes "Here's something to raise a glass to: recently the Rothes consortium of whiskey and scotch distillers announced that they have partnered with Helius Energy to install a power plant fueled entirely by whiskey by-products. The completed plant will use biomass cogeneration to convert draff and pot ale from the distillery into 7.2 MW of electricity — enough to power 9,000 homes."

Comments

Whisky

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course in Scotland we call it Whisky...

Re:Whisky

[FTWinston]

Yeah, Whiskey is Irish, Whisky is Scottish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisky

They're very different drinks. Although speaking as a Scot, the only Whisk(e)y i actually like is Jack Daniels, and being american, thats Whiskey too. Meh.

Re:Whisky

[Harold Halloway]

Dunno about Spanish whisk(e)y but Welsh whisk(e)y is 'wisgi'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisky

Re:Whisky

[beelsebob]

and being american, thats Whiskey too
No it's not, it's bourbon.

Re:Whisky

[Anonymous Coward]

No it's not, it's bourbon.

Jack Daniels is definitely not bourbon.
It is a Tennesee Whiskey.

Re:Whisky

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually Bourbon is a type of whiskey. It was named bourbon, because it was originally made in Bourbon county, Kentucky

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_whiskey

Sincerely,

Anonymous Alcoholic

Re:Whisky

[Ngwenya]

Ardbeg 10 year. It'll take the enamel off your teeth.

Not bad. Although the 25 year old Laphroaig is smoother than the other Islay malts I've tried (most of them - never tried Port Askaig). And now the Yanks know why British teeth are so awful - no enamel!

If you can find Ledaig, that's nice too - made in Mull, but the good stuff is rarer than rocking horse shit (the Whisky Shop in Edinburgh's Victoria Street is where I got mine).

--Ng

Re:Whisky

[Funk_dat69]

As long as we're being specific, for whiskey to be called 'Bourbon', it must be made with at least a 50% corn sour mash and must be aged at least 3 years in a new oak barrel.

Re:Whisky

[Dark_Gravity]

Maker's is actually a Jim Beam brand. The spelling is probably just a marketing thing, but who knows.

It appears that is correct now, but that has only been the case since a late 2005 acquisition.

7.2MW for 9000 homes?

[AceJohnny]

That's 800W per home. That's very little. A fridge, a microwave, and you're quickly over it.

What is, actually, the average power draw of a home in Scotland?

Re:7.2MW for 9000 homes?

[Canazza]

The higlands need energy for three things:
Lighting, Milking and if they're lucky, Cooking
that is, if they're near the national grid. If not then they'll be using Diesel generators and will only get their milking and cooking done in darkness. Unless they have a Gas stove.

Re:7.2MW for 9000 homes?

[Canazza]

the funny thing is, Winter in Glasgow, atleast, is generally drier than summer (in which the rain is usually torrential) - no idea why that is, but it's rained about 3 times in the last month here.

Re:7.2MW for 9000 homes?

[DocDJ]

You don't need to store massive amounts of electricity, just massive amounts of energy, in whatever form. That's what pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations do - they pump water uphill overnight using the cheap electricity produced by the coal and nuclear power stations that can't be turned off, and then let it fall during the day, driving the turbines.

Re:7.2MW for 9000 homes?

[Anonymous Coward]

Or you have to come up with a way to store massive amounts of electricity.

We already have that. Thanks to our extensive hydro-electric infrastructure, we're able to use surplus production at times of low demand to pump water into elevated reservoirs which feed the hydro plants at peak demand. We've done it with surplus coal power for many years now.

It's actually TWO huge data centers

[1sockchuck]

The Scottish tidal power project actually involves two huge data center projects. Atlantis is working with Morgan Stanley on a large data center near its planned tidal power generation site in the Pentland Firth. Internet Villages is planning a large data center campus near Dumfries that could eventually include 3 million SF of data center facilities. The alliance will split the responsibiltiies, with Atlantis handling power generation at its own site and a second location nearer the Dumfires project, while IVI will handles the marketing and be responsible for finding customers for both facilities.

Re:Go To Scotland In January

[hoover]

No wonder if you're a Scot. We travelled Edinburgh a few years ago in early May and as soon as the sun came out, the locals were donning shorts, T-shirts, Kilts and the lassies in short skirts... all at around 5 degs Celsius, brrr ;-)

Re:Reclassification needed!

[coleblak]

if it's from Scotland, it's whisky, not whiskey.

New Belgium Beer Power

[Colonel Korn]

New Belgium, the best large scale beer producer in North America, produced a substantial fraction of its operating electricity through methane collection (and burning) from its waste products. They have a few other nifty energy tricks, too. For instance, most of the time they don't run interior lighting because instead they have reflective light pipes bringing in sunlight from the roof through all the floors of their buildings.

If you know their flagship beer, it also shouldn't surprise you that a lot of the employees bike to work. Thanks to being in Colorado, that's comfortable more than 300 days a year.