2017

NT3764 : Oilseed Rape at Southside

taken 7 years ago, near to Dewartown, Midlothian, Scotland

Oilseed Rape at Southside
Oilseed Rape at Southside
An autumn-sown crop. Looking south towards Vogrie Country Park. In between the rape and the park's trees is a long swathe of biomass Willow. For a similar view, but with barley in the field, 6 years earlier see NT3764 : Barley and biofuel
Carbon Credit Craziness?

A short rotation coppice of Willow about 5-6 years old. Assumed to be for biomass production when seen in May 2010 NT3763 : Willow plantation. Discovered being ‘harvested’ in July 2010. Apparently the crop belongs to Scottish Coal, and is part of a carbon credit programme. Not sure how this works, however, since the stems are just being shredded and left to recycle in situ in the environment – the nearest biomass power station that could use it is at Steven’s Croft NY1285 : Steven’s Croft Power Station and Timber Processing Facility, [see also NY1284 and NY1285], about 110 km away, so not economic to take it there. The harvester [John Deere 7500] is 6m high, weighs 11 t, has a 580 bhp engine and uses about 600 l of diesel a day, so that will have a noticeable carbon footprint [you could get a 3-yr old one for £120000]. And the contractor [coppiceresources.com] was from Nottinghamshire. No energy will be created, and the decay of the shredded willow will result in the rapid return of carbon to the atmosphere [invertebrates, fungi and bacteria all respire to produce CO2].


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright M J Richardson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Lowlands Farm, Fishery, Market Gardening Place: Midlothian Crop: Oil Seed Rape Willow Near: Dewartown Primary Subject: Crop other tags: Then and Now Biomass Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Field [5] · Oilseed Rape [3] · Tree [3] ·
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NT3764, 23 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
M J Richardson   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Friday, 27 January, 2017   (more nearby)
Submitted
Tuesday, 31 January, 2017
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 3730 6417 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:51.9965N 3:0.2064W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 3723 6429
View Direction
South-southeast (about 157 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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