Westray Development Trust has begun establishing their first community business. The new venture will produce an environmentally friendly alternative to mineral diesel called 'bio-power'.

The Trust has secured a 'start up' grant from the Community Energy Unit (CEU) of Highlands & Islands Enterprise to establish the new 'not for profit' business and hope to employ someone part time to carry out its activity.

Bio-power's environmental credentials are impressive. It can be produced from waste cooking oil or from new vegetable oil. It is carbon neutral (so no additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere). There is no sulphur in it so no sulphur dioxide is produced. The exhaust smells a bit like a barbeque and is 90% less carcinogenic. Bio-power is as biodegradable as sugar and as toxic as salt. It can even be used to clean up spills of fossil diesel.

The Westray biodiesel project was undertaken by William McEwen, chairman of the Renewable Energy subgroup of the Westray Development Trust.

He has had a long-standing interest and involvement in renewable energy technologies and his initial knowledge came from attending a Bio-power seminar on how to produce the Modified Waste Vegetable Fat (MWVF) version of bio-diesel.

Willie secured funding from the CEU and has completed a feasibility report and demonstration project on the Trust's behalf. The recommendation of this work was to establish a 'not for profit' community group to produce the fuel because the profit margin would not be sufficient for private enterprise.

Colin Risbridger of the CEU commented 'This is exactly the type of project the CEU was established to support and we are delighted to see the island mapping out its own future in terms of energy' he continued 'It is refreshing to see a group tackle the issue of transport and its impacts regarding climate change, especially when it also creates employment within our communities'.

Towards the end of this study, Orkney Islands Council agreed to support this initiative and supplies of oil started arriving from the rest of Orkney.

The knowledge gained from these deliveries has been crucial and the support of the Council, Age Concern and the local haulier Robert Rendall has been crucial to the success of this venture. The way forward for the new company is to continue to work with these partners and identify other sources of raw material in order to produce bio-fuel.

The Trust has already begun exploring future options with the Agronomy Institute and the Scottish Agriculture College through HIE to identify oil producing crops that could be grown in Orkney.