{"id":802,"date":"2025-10-20T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T07:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themazine.com\/newwp\/aelpa\/?p=802"},"modified":"2026-01-04T16:23:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T16:23:47","slug":"bess-farms-the-unknown-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/2025\/10\/20\/bess-farms-the-unknown-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"New Report: The Unknown Risks of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Published:<\/strong> 20 October 2025 &#8211; Edition 1<br><strong>By:<\/strong> ObjectNow &#8211; <a href=\"mailto:campaigns@objectnow.co.uk\">campaigns@objectnow.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Scotland\u2019s Green Future Demands Transparency<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>ObjectNow has released a technical report titled <strong>\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/object.now\/explore\/storage\/2025\/10\/Ed1-BESS-THE-UNKNOWN-RISKS.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Battery Energy Storage Systems &#8211; The Unknown Risks<\/a>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This extensive investigation exposes the <em>unregulated hazards, environmental uncertainties, and public safety concerns<\/em> surrounding the rapid rollout of industrial-scale <strong>Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)<\/strong> across Scotland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Drawing upon scientific evidence, regulatory analysis, and first-hand correspondence with emergency services and agencies, the report reveals how current approval processes have failed to ensure adequate <strong>containment, fire suppression, and emission control<\/strong> standards for these facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without comprehensive regulation and proper environmental safeguards, Scotland risks replacing one form of pollution with another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Findings<\/strong> (limited list):<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lack of Regulation:<\/strong> BESS units are being approved under frameworks that do not recognise their classification as hazardous chemical installations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public Safety Risks:<\/strong> No requirement currently exists for sealed or ventilated containment structures to prevent the release of toxic gases in a thermal runaway event.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulatory Gaps:<\/strong> Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are frequently bypassed or insufficiently scoped.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ethical and Global Concerns:<\/strong> The lithium and cobalt supply chains behind these systems are linked to severe labour exploitation and ecological degradation abroad.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Emergency Response Deficiency:<\/strong> The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and local authorities remain under-equipped to manage large-scale energy storage fires.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>ObjectNow\u2019s Position<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>ObjectNow is formally calling on the <strong>Scottish Government, the Energy Consents Unit (ECU), and the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA)<\/strong> to <strong>suspend all approvals and consents<\/strong> for new BESS developments until a verified and enforceable national safety standard is established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>No BESS project should proceed without:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fully engineered <strong>containment buildings<\/strong> capable of isolating and filtering chemical gases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A comprehensive <strong>EIA and fire propagation study<\/strong> reviewed by independent safety engineers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Evidence of <strong>supply chain transparency<\/strong> and ethical sourcing compliance.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>To continue approving such developments without these safeguards knowingly places communities, first responders, and ecosystems at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Turning Point for Energy Policy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Scotland\u2019s renewable future must be built on <strong>honesty, science, and precaution<\/strong> \u2014 not expediency.<br>This report urges policymakers to align Scotland\u2019s clean energy ambitions with its environmental protection duties under the <strong>Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005<\/strong>, the <strong>Health and Safety at Work Act 1974<\/strong>, and the <strong>Aarhus Convention<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Access the Full Report<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udcd8 <strong>Download the full technical report:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Battery Energy Storage Systems: The Unknown Risks (October 2025 &#8211; Edition 1)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/object.now\/explore\/storage\/2025\/10\/Ed1-BESS-THE-UNKNOWN-RISKS.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download The Techinal Report Here (PDF)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ObjectNow will continue to monitor emerging BESS proposals and regulatory developments across Scotland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Published: 20 October 2025 &#8211; Edition 1By: ObjectNow &#8211; campaigns@objectnow.co.uk Scotland\u2019s Green Future Demands Transparency ObjectNow has released a technical report titled \u201cBattery Energy Storage Systems &#8211; The Unknown Risks\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,59,50],"tags":[44,45,47,46,49,48],"class_list":["post-802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bess","category-investigations","category-objectnow-techincal-reports","tag-bess","tag-farms","tag-fires","tag-objections","tag-risks","tag-runaway"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2960,"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802\/revisions\/2960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/object.now\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}