A BUSY Scottish hospital could soon be getting its heating by burning potato peelings.
Fife Council has lodged plans for Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline to join the town’s community energy scheme, where buildings are powered by gases produced by residents waste.
The £2.5million plans would see the hospital the sheriff court, police and fire stations in Dunfermline’s existing district community energy scheme.
James Leiper, director of estates, facilities and capital services at NHS Fife, said: “The project, involving links into Queen Margaret Hospital, is in the earlystages, but would be a great opportunity if this could be delivered.
“We look forward to working with our Fife Council colleagues on it.
“If deliverable, the project would become part of a wide range of initiatives that we are already using to help us run our facilities in the most energy-efficient way.”
Dunfermline district community heating scheme, with power generated from gases produced by waste at Lochhead landfill site, has been running for seven years.
It provides heating for a range of buildings, including multi-storey flats and seven public buildings, including its sheriff court and police and fire stations.
Fife Council’s senior sustainability manager Chris Ewing said he hoped to extend the scheme into a £15.5million anaerobic digestion plant, transforming Fife’s food and garden waste into power – will start testing in June, and when operational will produce additional power which could see the network expanded.”
He said: “It is about potential ways to unlock this development.”
