I READ the article on renewable energy, featuring Orkney, by Lesley Riddoch with interest and not a little frustration (Imagine if Britain’s archaic energy system focused on renewables, May 24).

Some years ago I worked with an Orkney group with a vision way ahead of their time to turn Stronsay into the first completely hydrogen-powered island in the world.

Headed by the redoubtable farmer and Special Constable Eion Stevenson, their technical case was sound and their business case impressive.

We were turned down by funders in London on the basis that the project would only benefit a few hundred people. They simply could not be convinced of the value of a ground-breaking pilot that would have created a transferable model for other far-away-places.

Reading Lesley’s article, it appears that the folk on Stronsay may yet be belatedly commended for their foresight.

Douglas Turner
Edinburgh