Mr Finch from Mull and Iona Community Trust came to our class on 17th September to talk to us renewable energies on Mull and show us the Nissan Leaf.
Firstly Mr Finch judged our ‘car of the future’ competition. We had lots of ideas like solar powered, wind powered, hydro powered and biothermal cars. The winner was Finn’s Cow Pat Car. Mr Finch liked the idea of using the methane in cow pats to power a car and thought it would put cow pats to good use.
Finn won a remote controlled helicopter donated by MICT and he got a chance to sit in the Nissan Leaf.
Mull has lots of renewable energy sites. There is 1 hydro-electric site, 7 wind turbines, 29 solar photo voltaic sites, biomass is being used at the bakery, the hospital, the Isle of Mull Hotel, Treshnish House and Finn’s house and there are now electric cars. We are also really good at saving energy and energy conservation.
Mr Finch told us about a new Hydro project being built at Garmony next year. It is hoped that it will produce 925 megawatts (MW) which is enough electricity for 230 houses! He also hopes that it will give an income of £30,000-£150,000 that can be spent on community projects eg housing, sports halls etc. We thought it would be good to invest some of the money in getting more renewable energies for the island! However Mr Finch did mention that Mull is trailing behind some of the other islands. The Isle of Eigg is totally self-sufficient in their energy and is no longer dependant on the National Grid. The Isle of Gigha is owned by the community and they have 3 wind turbines called the Dancing Ladies of Gigha.
We then found out about the electric car that he had brought to the school to show us. The Nissan Leaf is built in a factory in Sunderland, England and it takes less than 1 hour to build! We went to see the car and we thought it was AMAZING! We couldn’t believe that it wasn’t just quiet – it was silent! We discussed the pros and cons of this because we were worried about walkers or cyclists not being able to hear it, but Mr Finch said that you can press a button and it will make a ‘car noise’ when you want it to! Thank you very much Mr Finch for coming to talk and bringing the Leaf.
