Up here in Shetland, where the oil and gas flows, where tankers line the horizon, where hundreds of towering wind turbines will soon dominate the landscape, up here in the ‘energy isles’, people can't afford to heat their homes.
The Shetland Islands, the northernmost part of the UK, located about 170 kilometres from the Scottish mainland, have long endured a perfect storm of poor housing, a wet, cold climate and very expensive fuel.
There's a deep irony here: it's possible, from certain locations, to see the high flare of burning gas at the Sullom Voe oil terminal – you can watch this spectacle as you shiver in your damp, cold house while the almost constant wind rattles the windows.
