Classic Cars at NAFC
10 June 2016 - The NAFC Marine Centre played host last week to many of the classic cars in Shetland for the 2016 Shetland Classic Motor Show.
The Shetland Classic Motor Show 2016 brought 75 visitors and 40 classic cars to the NAFC Marine Centre to hear about the training and research being carried out at the NAFC through talks and tours around campus. The event was part of the Fuelling the Future project run by Christine Rolin and Rhiannon Inkster, funded by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland, to educate and engage the public in renewable energy research. The NAFC Marine Centre is a partner in a UK-wide research consortium (MacroBioCrude) on developing seaweed-based biofuels, unfortunately the fuel won’t run the classic cars but could be the future for transport fuels in lorries and aviation!
Furthermore, Charlotte Slater talked about the coastal character assessment as part of Shetland’s marine spatial planning. Laura Burden, Mark Fullerton and Howard Thomson talked about the wide range of training courses being offered at the NAFC from fishing and aquaculture to merchant navy cadets and ship engineers, showcasing the engineering workshops and the ship simulators. The classic car enthusiasts engaged in lively discussions on the future of training young people in Shetland and the sustainability of moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy production.
The event was a huge success with visitors commenting on the centres research work as being ‘absolutely fascinating’ and stating they ‘had no idea of the breadth of things being offered at the NAFC’ with more and more students joining every year to make use of the opportunities offered at the NAFC Marine Centre.