World's 1st 24/7 Eco-Island

If you're looking for the ideal eco-vacation, then look no further than the beautiful Isle of Eigg, one of the most beautiful Hebridean Islands, lying 10 miles off the Scottish west coast, south of the Isle of Skye On Feb 1st 2008 Eigg's community wide electricity grid was switched on. For the first time in the UK, locally generated wind, hydro and solar energy are combined to provide continuous power to the community.

Using a mix of ingenuity and sheer will typical of the Scots, the island's residents have managed to go completely off-grid - relying on a £1.6m system that draws power from a mix of local wind, solar and hydroelectric energy sources.

The self-sufficient system, built to supply more than 95% of Eigg's annual energy needs and backed up by a battery storage system and two diesel generators (in case of an emergency), was a project 10 years in the making; engineers from Eigg Electric put the finishing touches on it this February 1. It links a total of 45 households, 6 community buildings and 20 businesses over a 6-mile high voltage network.

Life has not always been to smart and tranquil on this scenic isle. According to the official Eigg historian, "the island found itself involved in every MacDonald rebellion against the Crown and in a good many feuds. A lengthy feud between the Macdonalds and the Macleods in the 16th century led to the death of the island's entire population - almost 400 - in the Massacre Cave.

"The islanders paid a heavy price for supporting their chiefs in the two Jacobite rebellions. The chief of Clanranald escaped to France after finding refuge in another cave at the north end of the island at the end of the 1745 rising. The islanders who followed him were ot so lucky, they wer taken prisoners by the Navy and sent to London for trial: 19 died in prison, 18 were transported to Jamaica as slaves and only 2 came back.

"The island recovered some of its prosperity towrds the end of the 19th century, when its sustained a population of 500, producing potatoes, oats, black cattle and kelp. The kelp industry based on the harvesting of sea-weed financed the building of the main farmhouses on the island, tenanted by old Clanranald families, until the chiefs' policy of raising rents caused many of them to emigrate to Canada.

During WW2, the white sands overlooking the Coolins of Rumit was used for commando training to rehearse the Normandy landing while the islanders themselves were serving in the Navy, many in the Atlantic convoys.

At that time the island was used as a recreational and sporting estate: the Lodge and its exotic gardens were built in the 1920's by Lord Runciman, wealthy shipowner and president of the Board of Trade. After WW2, conditions changed, and even though the island was run as an efficient hill farm, it was no longer profitable.

After repeated clashes with the then owner, Keith Schellenberg, who sold Eigg to Maruma, a German artist of doutful credentials, the islanders embarked on a buy-out campaign which won the support of wildlife lovers and Scottish patriots wishing for a more just system of land distribution.
households are allowed to draw up to 5 kW of electricity at any time - an amount that is only about one-half to two-thirds the amount used by a typical household in Britain (and a lot less than what a typical American household uses) - while businesses can draw up to 10 kw. Today, even though the system is only supporting around 80 people, it is a great testament to the ability of dedicated eco-minded individualswho have had the foresight to wean themselves off fossil-fuels.

Posted by Casey Kazan.

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Comments

[knoxvilledaniel]

The developments & eco - friendly power generation programs on the isle of Eigg are promising for the world, but what is suitable for the North Atlantic won't neccesarily work so well in Manhattan or the hills of TN. These energy programs need to be customized for different parts of the planet.