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Shetland's Oil/Windfarm money...


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At the moment everything seems to be migrating towards Lerwick and its surroundings.

The only reason stopping me from living in Unst, Yell or Whalsay would be the ferries, i hate them!

 

Me too.

 

The ferry isn't long to Yell, but it's the timetabling that I couldn't live with. Always having to get there in plenty of time to ensure you get on or worse, missing one and having to wait for an hour (sometimes) for the next one.

 

I would imagine the islands will continue to de-populate over the years. Probably for the simply reason that people don't want the inconvience of the ferries. Fixed links are certainly a way around that problem.

 

A bridge/tunnel island hopping to yell would also provide a good place for tidal power generation......?

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  • 3 weeks later...

You will all have noted the SIC's plan to build a new abbattoir in Shetland at a cost of £2m+. This proposed development comes at a time when farm animal numbers are dwindling, basically due to the fact that crofters/farmers now get paid subsidy whether or not they have livestock.

 

I hope that locally some alarm bells are now ringing after a report in Saturday's newspaper that the first new slaughterhouse to be built in Scotland for 25 years has gone out of business after only being officially opened by the Princess Royal in September 2006.

 

The Linlithgow plant cost £4m to build and it processed pigs, lambs and cattle.

 

If we assume that the Linlithgow plant had a higher catchment area for its services, but still failed spectacularly, then what hope in the current agricultural climate for the Shetland proposal?

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I think the problem with that was that they found a lot of people just pissed it up the wall and it was never put to any long term good use, it actually caused more social problems than good. Yeh it would be good to get an extra bit o money now and again but i think that the council etc. has put the money to much better use for future generations of Shetlanders.

 

That may be a slightly uninformed comment there. As a recipient of the Alaska Permanent Fund for many years whilst resident in the State, when the cheques came out every year there was a major boom in the Alaskan economy, with all kinds of businesses, airlines, etc, offering great deals to help you spend that money.

 

The people that were pissing it against the wall were doing that every week, with every other bit of money they got! A family getting a cheque for each family member could be pulling in some pretty significant sums of money.

 

 

Would there be £200m in the bank now if they'd handed out loads o cheques to people in the seventies, most o which aren't even here anymore coz their wealthy oil jobs have gone too?

 

The Alaska Permanent Fund is currently valued at $37,694,000,000 and still manages to pay a dividend and grow significantly. An examination of the strict governance of the fund and its expenditures might be a good investment of time and effort for the SIC.

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I would be quite happy with free power.

This was also my initial thought, but after thinking about it would people not use more power if they didnt have to pay for it? that defeats the purpose of a greener world. I would rarther see our care homes, hospitals, schools and public buildings having free/cheap power so the monies saved could preserve the excellent service we all enjoy now.

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The Alaska Permanent Fund is currently valued at $37,694,000,000 and still manages to pay a dividend and grow significantly. An examination of the strict governance of the fund and its expenditures might be a good investment of time and effort for the SIC.

 

Phil, do you know (roughly) how much the dividend is? Does it depend how long you have been resident in Alaska?

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  • 1 year later...

I quite like tunnels myself, though they are usually awfully expensive to build, but are nice to stick trains in..

 

But, I'd suggest using the money to invest in business ventures to make more money, several projects so your risk is spread, looking at how others make a few bob, I might suggest:

 

Large scale hydroponics, would also create export potentional, like they are doing in Kent:

 

http://www.smartplanet.com/news/food/10001438/is-thanet-earth-the-future-of-low-carbon-food.htm

 

 

Satellite launching, works for these guys:

 

http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/sealaunch

 

Perhaps go for a different approach thats more eco-friendly and lower costs:

 

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/us-military-developing-gigantic-magnetic-21600mph-slingshot-225717.php

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