£13 million awarded to sustainability projects in the North East of Scotland Scientists at the James Hutton Institute have been awarded over £13 million from the Scottish Government’s Just Transition fund to establish two pioneering action-based research science projects in the North East of Scotland. HydroGlen and the Just Transition Hub will focus on providing sustainable solutions to Scotland’s future food, environmental and water security concerns. HydroGlen is a green hydrogen-powered farming community pilot based at the Institute’s research farm at Glensaugh in Aberdeenshire. Through the development of renewablegenerated electricity, HydroGlen will support the energy needs of both the farm and its community of seven associated households. It will provide a scalable and replicable concept for farming and other rural communities to demonstrate how to become self-reliant, net-zero carbon energy producers and exporters. HydroGlen will demonstrate how 100% of the community’s electricity, heating and transport fuel energy requirements can be self-generated renewably. The Just Transition Hub is a state-of-the-art facility which will be based at the Institute’s campus in Aberdeen. This will see collaboration with a range of stakeholders to develop nature-based, net-zero solutions for issues such as community renewable energy development, flood management, sustainable groundwater access, biodiversity enhancement and peatland restoration. A new building will combine virtual and physical space, which will act as an incubator for ‘spin out’ companies drawing on the Institute’s science to develop new products and services. It will also offer in-person and on-line scientific, institutional and business events and a public café. The Just Transition Hub is expected to create over 200 jobs and bring in £1.6m annually to the regional economy. Speaking of the funding, Professor Colin Campbell, CEO of the Institute said: “Given that around 45% of people in the NorthEast live in rural areas, the potential of HydroGlen to accelerate the decarbonisation of rural energy and transport is large. The Just Transition Hub will be an open and inclusive facility which will work with a range of partners on creating new products, new jobs and encourage investment. These are tremendous examples of our action-based science and will create real impact for our society. My thanks to the Scottish Government for this award and for their continued trust in our science.” Professor Alison Hester, Leader of the Institute’s Climate-Positive Farming Initiative at Glensaugh and who led the HydroGlen bid said: “HydroGlen being selected for funding is a big step forward for green hydrogen innovation in Scotland and beyond. In our changing climate, where the frequency of storms such as Storm Arwen left some rural North East communities without power for many days; the successful development of HydroGlen as a key research and demonstration facility will offer much needed innovative and practical energy solutions for the region and beyond.” Professor Lee-Ann Sutherland, Director of the International Land Use Study Centre, who led the Just Transition Innovation Hub bid, said: “This is wonderful news. We expect the Just Transition Hub to become the ‘go to’ place for net zero research and innovation, not only in the North East but in the whole of Scotland. It will be a place where stakeholders and collaborators from across the world can work with us on providing evidencedbased scientific solutions to the critical challenges that lie ahead for our food and environmental security.” HydroGlen will submit planning permission imminently, with construction expected to commence in 2024. The Just Transitions Hub will see a feasibility study in 2022 and planning permission for the new build will be submitted in 2023 with construction predicted to begin in 2025. 16 Hutton Highlights Comments? December 2022 15 The UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council has awarded £609K to a collaborative partnership led by the James Hutton Institute to understand how a tree’s microbiomes (the bacteria, fungi and viruses that exist in/on the tree) affects its vulnerability to disease. Trees can play a critical role in combatting our current biodiversity and climate crises. The UK aims to increase its woodland cover from 13% to 19% to contribute to its target of being carbon neutral by 2050. In this context, an understanding of the factors governing the arrival and spread of tree diseases, and how they impact tree health, are fundamentally important. A key challenge in tree disease research is to understand how the interactions between the tree and its associated microbiome affect disease incidence and severity. These interactions are affected by the genetic make-up of the tree, environmental conditions, and the combination of microbial species in the tree’s microbiome. The project team includes experts from The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Forest Research, and the University of St Andrews. The team are focusing on the pine tree disease Dothistroma needle blight, a serious pathogen that detrimentally affects the growth and life span of over 100 pine species worldwide including our native Scots pine. Dr Sue Jones, a computational biologist at the James Hutton Institute and lead for the project said: “This is a very exciting opportunity that combines a team with expertise in computational biology, ecological genetics and tree pathology to address how a tree’s genetic makeup and microbiome combine to influence tree health.” The project will use a Scots pine experiment that was planted in 2012 in the Scottish Borders, in which all 672 trees have been genotyped and carefully tracked since planting to measure growth, reproduction, and disease symptoms. Then, before and after disease develops, the project will sequence a ‘soup’ of DNA from needles from each of the trees to identify all the microbes living in/on them and use computer modelling to predict which microbes may influence vulnerability to Dothistroma needle blight. £609K awarded to explore Native Scots Pine trees vulnerability to disease Hutton potato work featured on BBC Scotland Landward We were delighted to have the opportunity to film with the BBC Scotland programme Landward in September. It was a great morning filming with Landwards Cammy Wilson and our Director of Science Professor Lesley Torrance. Lesley spoke about climate change and its future impact on the potato. Also discussed was the Institute’s work in developing new varieties that can cope with rising temperatures and new threats. You can stream the episode here, our feature is from 1:22 onwards. 7
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